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“A new recruit approached me telling that the reason they had signed up was because they wanted to see how a war was fought so badly. At the time I reflected how lucky they were. A war hadn't been fought that badly since Olaf the Hairy, high chief of all the Vikings, accidentally ordered 80,000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside.” - Sir Edmund Blackadder in a lecture to Oxford students, 1927
The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me:
For me the angels sing-a-ling-a-ling,
They've got the goods for me.
Oh! Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling?
Oh! Grave, thy victory?
The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me.

Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1915-1917:
 Richard Hannay
James Bigglesworth
Sir Denis Nayland-Smith
John Clayton, Lord Greystoke
A.J. Raffles
Simon IffIt was 1914 and war was breaking out. All across Europe, the tensions that had built for decades were about to finally be unleashed in a fury of blood and carnage. Few suspected the length of the war that was to come, nor the sheer brutality that would follow. But, even in the opening days, all could see the storm clouds that had gathered.This was especially true for Richard Hannay, who had helped uncover the Black Stone, a group of German spies in Britain, and stopped them from stealing naval secrets for Britain's defence. The former mining engineer had done a great service and signed up for the army immediately afterwards, but his true potential was elsewhere.Having been promoted to Major before being injured at the Battle of Loos, Hannay was approached by the British government to deal with a task. The war was forcing the nations involved to go far beyond what was conventional and find new ways to fight it. Or even ancient ones, as the old, forgotten magic was being researched by both sides in a desperate bid to gain an advantage.To aid in the struggles with the war, the British government was calling together the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and wanted Hannay to be the leader of it.The move wasn't surprising. The British government, in fact, many of them, would call upon private individuals during times of crisis to fight against a major threat that conventional forces couldn't face. Hannay was given a great deal of latitude to recruit whoever he saw fit for a mission that would take place in Africa.The first person that Hannay contacted was a young (Although how young wasn't revealed until later on) pilot by the name of James Bigglesworth. He was an ace flyer who had proven himself over the fields of France and had managed to retain coolness under fire, with a reputation second only to Marco Pagot. He and Hannay had known each other previously, having met during the war and Hannay could think of no one better to fly them to their destination.Another swift recruit was A.J. Raffles, former soldier and thief. Although not as young as he used to be, Raffles still had the skills as a master thief to be useful to the League. His patriotism was enough to convince him to join regardless of his relation to the law. Despite having been injured during the Boer War and 'retired', the promise of one more great adventure convinced Raffles to return to the fray.Two more recruits were attached to the League, neither had known Hannay beforehand and, indeed, one of them was all but forced upon him. Simon Iff, protege of John Wellington Wells, was a man with an interest in the occult, being one of the premier British sorcerers of the day. His attachment to the League was due to rumours of the hidden artefacts in Africa that they were hoping to be found, as well as his own skills. Hannay objected to this, being a strict rationalist himself, but was overruled.Sir Denis Nayland-Smith made up the final member of the League. An officer of Scotland Yard, he was a stranger among the group, but had a solid reputation as an investigator and a member of the British police in its Indian territories. A wildly travelled and experienced man, he was seen as a good hand to have when the League would travel to their destination.The destination in question was the legendary city of Opar, a lost colony of Atlantis. The ruler of the city, Queen La, had allied herself with Germany in a bid to gain the power needed to restore her kingdom to its former greatness. In doing so, she allowed German forces to stay in her lands, giving them an area to build up resources to drive the British from Africa under the command of General von Furstenburg.After braving the threat of German submarines, the League arrived their way to Africa, where they were met by another agent for the British government, John Clayton II, Viscount Greystroke. Or, to give the name he had used for his life, Tarzan. Having lost his family to a great cat which stalked the area where they had been marooned, Tarzan was then raised by the apes that lived there, becoming a protector of those that lived in the jungle.In this case, Tarzan agreed to serve as a guide for the League as they travelled to Opar, essentially becoming another member of it. Although he had some disdain for the likes of Iff, Tarzan felt that the threat posed by La and her allies was enough to get him to aid their enemies. He guided the League towards Orpa, revealing the true extent of the German encampment there and their schemes. Namely, to build up a powerful force that would march through Northern Africa and strike at Suez Canal, cutting the British Empire in half. A fantastical scheme, but the resources that von Furstenburg had at hand made it possible.The true horror of the scheme became apparent when the troops under the General's command were revealed to be human golems, corpses brought to life by some unholy power. Such an army could march anywhere without logistics and could strike terror into the hearts of soldiers. The League would have to act quickly to put an end to it.Needing information, Raffles and Tarzan would help Simon Iff infiltrate Orpa. The first two would try to convince Queen La to turn away the Germans, while the third would investigate the mysteries of the occupying Germans to see what could be found. Bigglesworth and Nayland-Smith would do what they could to destroy the burgeoning German army. They located planes and fuel tanks that were going to be used for the march and the two decided that destroying them would be best.In Orpa itself, Tarzan would confront La over her choices, her love for him getting her to agree to turn away the Germans, especially as she had found that they were using her people for their own experiments and churning out more undead soldiers. Such an agreement was disrupted by Simon Iff having drawn away from his original plan to instead delve deep into Orpa and take notes on the magical artefacts that had been left behind by Atlantis. Their long forgotten purpose drew the magician to them to uncover their mysteries.Enraged by this betrayal, La ordered her followers to kill those with Tarzan, as well as the Germans, leading the League members to flee her palace as a battle broke out between the factions. Outside, Bigglesworth used the distraction to steal a plane from the Germans, getting Nayland-Smith to then use some grenades to bomb the fuel tankers and send the German camp into chaos as fire spread across Orpa.In the chaos, the League managed to escape, having completed their mission, but with Queen La and Tarzan banishing them from their domains under pain of death. Despite this, Tarzan allowed the League to comb through the remains of the German camp for any clues as to where they had gained the power for such an army. They uncovered the truth before being forced to leave, although it did little to comfort them.Victor Frankenstein III, unlike his brother, Frederick, was eager to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and conquer death. His work had seen him attached to the German military after he had semi-successfully replicated an elixir of life that he had stolen from a figure in China. Although it didn't allow him to bring the dead back from the life, or even prolong life completely, it had allowed him to create ghoulish flesh abominations that had strength beyond mortal men and could follow orders. Orpa had been an experiment on his behalf to see if such an army could be successful. With the disruption of the plan, Frankenestein was forced to look closer to home, that being the Western Front.Although the latter part was unknown to the League, they did quickly recognise the threat that Frankenstein's work represented and reacted accordingly. They found that he was doing his research in Saxony, being watched over by Prince Wilhelm of the region, and so began an infiltration mission to stop him. The League would once more be aided by an outside force, this time being Polish resistance fighters led by Anna Kos, who had seen their fellow Poles being taken away as part of Frankenstein's experiments.Locked away in a castle in the Zittau Mountains, Frankenstein performed his work on creating an army of flesh golems that would win Germany the war. For himself, it was the ambition to outdo his own grandfather that was the greatest appeal, to find a way to overcome death completely. He had spent countless hours trying to replicate the elixir of life he had stolen, but had seen only limited results.The experiments were to be cut short as the League and their allies approached Frankenstein's laboratory. The scientist was protected by a detachment of Germans, as well as his own creations. Hannay worked with Kos to devise a plan to strike at Frankenstein. The majority of Polish resistance fighters and Bigglesworth would look to serve as the distraction on the main armed forces while the rest of the League and a small group would break into the castle to destroy Frankenstein's work. As the battle broke out outside the castle walls, Raffles would lead the others through an easy way to to get at their target.It wasn't too long before they found Frankenstein, but not as they expected. A battle was already raging within the castle as a third faction had infiltrated it before the League and their allies and was trying to kill Frankenstein. A three-way battle broke out with the flesh golems of the scientist proving to be a match for the other two sides of the fight.It was Nayland-Smith who would manage to reach Frankenstein first, the two struggling amidst the latter's laboratory. Nayland-Smith would throw Frankenstein into his equipment, causing it to overload and explode, killing Frankenstein and starting a fire. In the chaos, Simon Iff grabbed what notes he could of Frankenstein's before everyone fled from the castle, the creations of the mad scientist perishing in the flames as well.Their mission done, the League made their way slowly through Europe to avoid being found as they went on to Italy and then returned to Britain. Iff managed to decode Frankenstein's notes in the meantime and discovered the origin behind the elixir of life that he had used with his creations. Frankenstein had stolen it from a figure in China and it promised to heal all wounds and provide immortality.The man who had created the elixir was a minor member of the old Imperial Family, who had allegedly been exiled from court over a century ago as he had tried to expose corruption and had narrowly avoided being executed. He had then devoted himself to studying science and philosophy as the Qing Empire began to decay. He had discovered the elixir and used it to prolong his life and a few devoted followers as he set up a secret society to try and fight back against the unequal treaties and foreign interference with China, having only limited success. It was this society that had attacked Frankenstein's castle to kill the treacherous scientist and destroy all hints of the elixir's existence.The man, who is recorded only as being 'the Manchurian' in Frankenstein's notes, was approached by the scientist after hearing legends of his reputation and offered to help mass manufacture the elixir to restore China and create a golden age for all. The Manchurian, surprisingly, agreed to allow this stranger know his greatest secret. Perhaps he saw the potential. Perhaps Frankenstein represented an intellectual equal that he could speak with. Or, perhaps, after so many years of blood, death and frustration, he just wanted to believe that such a thing could be doneWith the discovery that an elixir of life existed, the British government became desperate to get their hands on it. With thousands dying in way on a regular basis, an actual elixir of life could stem the bleeding and give the Entente the ability to win. As Frankenstein's notes gave the location of the Manchurian's home, a secluded spot in Yinan, the League were sent to take the elixir by any means necessary. Some would object to this, having seen the results of Frankenstein's work, but were swayed with the promise that they could bring about a way to win the war.After tracking down the Manchurian's whereabouts, the League once prepared to infiltrate his fortress and steal the elixir. Their foe was one step ahead of them though, having anticipated such a mission against him. The League were quickly captured and brought to the Manchurian after getting close to his home. He was swift to press forward and kill the League, as a way to eliminate all threats to his mission.It was Simon Iff who managed to think of a way to distract the Manchurian. Iff bargained for the League's lives by saying he had studied Frankenstein's notes and found a way to do what the Manchurian could not, replicate the elixir of life by mixing the mystic with science. The offer was considered, before being accepted, at the cost of the League's lives if Iff failed to do as he said he could on the spot.This proved to be the distraction needed for Raffles, who stole a gun from one of their guards and slipped it to Bigglesworth. As he did this, Iff called forward Hannay, who was able to quickly realise that Iff was creating a small amount of explosives alongside his actual attempt at creating the elixir of life. By the time the Manchurian realised that, it was too late as Hannay, a former engineer, put it to great use in throwing it at their captors and blowing up a good amount of the room they were in for good extra measure.Chaos followed as Bigglesworth then began fighting their guards, Raffles and Hannay following, while Nayland-Smith grappled with the Manchurian. The fires spread around the palace and destroyed what work Iff had managed to do on the elixir, as well as the sample itself. Seeing this, the Manchurian was distracted enough for Nayland-Smith to shoot him, apparently killing him on the spot.The League fled, but not without losses. Raffles had been killed in the fighting, Bigglesworth refusing to leave his body behind as he took it back with them to be buried. Such was the level of pandemonium that the group managed to escape while the Manchurian and all he had tried to accomplish burned behind them. Not only that, but the full extent of the Manchurian's influence was exposed as he had been one of the few people managing to keep the various factions of China under control. With his death, civil conflict was inevitable. After returning to Britain, the members of the League agreed to simply go their own way, their last mission having left a bitter taste in their mouths. Not only because of Raffle's death, but also due to the fact that they had caused such destruction of something that could have helped mankind, regardless of its use.Bigglesworth returned to the air-force, becoming a hero of the service as his rivalry with the German Bruno Stachel became legendary. Nayland-Smith would be posted to anti-espionage work with Scotland Yard in order to further disrupt German intelligence efforts in Britain. Iff retreated to his studies and detective work, having managed to learn more than he had let on from the adventures. He was able to piece together the fact that magic was becoming more widespread in the world faster than many others, realising that something had awakened it.Hannay returned to the army and the front, where he served with distinction until its end. He was never quite satisfied with the final result, believing that the war had only just started the century and things were going to get worse. Even with peace, the lights around the world had been switched off and there was no telling when they would be turned back on.

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“It wasn't really a time for work, you understand, especially for a man of my background. Oh, I knew those who did, practised honest toil and so on. Swore by it in fact. Never could get the hang of it myself.” - Bertie Wooster, writing in his memoirs, 1968
Now, when I die, bury me in my straight-leg britches,

Put on a box-back coat and a stetson hat,

Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain,

So you can let all the boys know I died standing pat.

…Folks, now that you have heard my story,

Say, boy, hand me over another shot of that booze;

If anyone should ask you,

Tell 'em I've got those St. James Infirmary blues.
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1927-1928:Lord Peter WimseyMervyn ButcherEvelyn CarnahanDoctor DolittleAlfred William BarnstableMowgliFor those who had genuine hope and naivety, it appeared that the war to end all wars was exactly that. Of course, this was not to be and two more wars would consume the globe before the twentieth century was done.Even if this had not been so though, there were still threats to the world that had to be faced, one way or another. The war had ended, but it had left instability in its wake. Monarchies that had endured for centuries had been cast down and in their place, shaky republics had formed. Even those that had endured the war had done so grievously wounded and there was a sense that it was only a matter of time that they too would fall.It was this sentiment that stirred one individual into action. Hugh Drummond, known as the 'Bulldog' by others, was a veteran of the Western Front and saw himself as a gentleman adventurer. That he pursued adventure to recreate the excitement he felt in the trenches really should have been an area of concern even then.After years of his own adventures, Drummond got bored of them, having killed off those who had opposed him and was looking for something even greater. Looking back to the days of the war, he recalled that several artefacts had been rumoured to have been found and 'acquired' by the British Museum during the chaos that followed the end of the war. Among these were the Sinaia lead Plates, which had been uncovered in Romania and, according to Drummond's sources, had been successfully translated. They told of great things that had been left by Alexander the Great in India. Allegedly, these artefacts could be enough to forge a new empire entirely.The war had weakened the British Empire greatly with the loss of life and power being immeasurable. Drummond, believing himself to be a patriot, saw the rise of independence in the colonies as a threat to everything he fought for and broke into the British Museum, stole the Sinaia Plates and their translation, before making his way east to India. There, Drummond believed he would found the British Empire anew, regardless of how many would die for it.Upon learning what Drummond had done, the British government naturally panicked. It was one thing to seek out artefacts, but Drummond looking to use them and possibly reignite a war that would consume the globe once again. With Drummond longing for the days of the trenches, it was no surprise that absolutely no one believed his actions would do anything but return the world to a time of relentless bloodshed.The British government was quick to call forward an agent that would be able to counter this threat, one who was actually familiar with Drummond. Lord Peter Wimsey had fought beside Drummond in the trenches for a brief time. They had gotten along well enough, regrettably sharing some views, but Wimsey had been haunted what he had experienced, rather than glorified in it like Drummond did. Hearing of what his former comrade was planning, Wimsey instantly agreed to head a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, his own skills, intelligence and knowledge of Drummond making him a sought after member.As ever, Wimsey was accompanied by his loyal batman, Mervyn Hunter, the latter all but the former's shadow. As the British Museum had managed to make several copies of the Sinaia Plates, Wimsey was next to contact Evelyn Carahan. Her adventures in Egypt with her soon-to-be husband had marked her out as a woman of interest and skill. Evenlyn's knowledge of ancient languages, civilisations and recent run in with the mystic also made her a prime candidate for the League.The next choice for League membership was far more unconventional. The aged Doctor Dolittle had lived far beyond the years of a normal person, his ability to speak with the animals had led him to learning the secrets of great longevity from the turtles and other beasts. Sadly, the secrets were constantly lost in translation whenever Dolittle had tried to transcribe them and he had subsequently given up. As the location where Drummond was purported to be in was said to have no humans, but plenty of wildlife, Dolittle made an oddly fitting candidate to go on this journey. Another strange choice for the League, on paper at least, was a journalist by the name of Alfred William Barnstaple. He had gained notice the notice of the British government for a zeal in his work second to none, determined to uncover the worst in the world and shine a light on the best. Barnstaple had shown to be a great investigator with his skills impressing Wimsey and the former's dedication to stopping a war before it could start provided ample motivation for him to join up.Having gained their members, the League were then began their swift pursuit of Drummond across land and sea to get to India. They travelled through a world that was rapidly changing as technology from the last decade allowed greater travel and communication than ever. Socially, things were rapidly changing as the old order had been struck a fatal blow.It was a decade of huge strides in science with the likes of Doctor Emma Barlow forwarding biological understanding and possibilities beyond the hopes of even a few years ago. Gangsters roamed the streets of America as Prohibition proved to be harder to implement than thought and names like Larcen Tyler became infamous. It was a time of dizzying heights that were to be followed by tremendous lows.Magic, once the trade of a few selected sorts, had rose to prominence as well. The growth in population over the last century, as well as changing attitudes towards it, had seen magic becoming more accepted and studied. Simon Iff, for one example, had retired from adventuring and detective work to join the newly opened Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, becoming a teacher in spell casting and logic. The decade itself had opened to an event of great acclaim when a séance at Warwick Manor in Scotland at had helped the mystery of a decades old murder. The old ways were becoming new as magic was growing in notice and acceptance.All this was reflected on by the League as they had to stop some of those old ways being used for carnage and death. They arrived in India and travelled through the country as swiftly as possible, following the route of Drummond as they went deep into the sub-continent until arriving on the outskirts of a mighty jungle.At this point, the League were aided by a stroke of good fortune. While Dolittle had looked to act as a guide for the League, his advanced years truly began to show at this time as he struggled to meet the physical demands of the journey. After passing through Gopal and reaching the jungle, the League was forced to slow down due to the toll it was taking on his body.At this point, the League stopped in a small village where they met a man who possessed the same ability to talk to animals that Dolittle had. The man, whose name was Mowgli, had been raised by jungle animals and could speak with them as well as Dolittle could. Having seen the devastation that Drummond caused by coming through his village and killing some who had approached him, Mowgli agreed to join the League to aid them in their mission.With their newest member on hand and with Dolittle agreeing to remain behind in the village for now, the group made their way through the jungle and made haste towards Drummond's location. Thanks to Mowgli's knowledge of the area, they were quick to catch up with him, a small distance from where the hoard of Alexander the Great allegedly laid.Wimsey tried his best to appeal to his old comrade, arguing that Drummond's course of action would only lead to further destruction. Drummond swiftly brushed him off though, simply wanting a return to the thrill of the War. A fight swiftly broke out with Wimsey, Hunter and Mowgli taking on Drummond. Carahan focused on the true prize, the Sinaia Plates, eager to get them out of Drummond's hands.Despite being outnumbered, Drummond held his ground well against his three opponents, fighting them to a standstill and almost killing Hunter in the process. Carahan provided the distraction as she had taken the Sinaia Plates and held them over a nearby ravine, threatening to send them down into the darkness below unless Drummond surrendered himself.Drummond did no such thing and made a mad grab for the Plates, only to knock Carahan and himself into the ravine. As he tried to reach the Plates, Drummond would plunge to his death while Carahan just about managed to grab onto the side of the ravine, where she was quickly pulled up by the others.Lamenting the loss of Drummond and the Sinaia Plates (Although mostly the latter), the League then made with way back to Mowgli's village, expecting to then go their separate days, their job complete. They didn't expect that Dr. Dolittle had been told by a little bird that a message was already coming their way. It appeared that the League was needed elsewhere and Mowgli, interested in seeing more of the world, agreed to come with them for now.The news turned out to be surprising and disturbing. The notes of Van Helsing had been stolen from the private museum of Cambridge Museum. These detailed the methods in which he and others had hunted down Dracula and killed him. As the notes were constantly studied to prepare Britain for the return of Dracula, as well as any vampire threat in general, many feared that this was a sign that Dracula, like vampires were wont to do, would return.The League returned to England in all haste, Wimsey going over the details of the crime from afar to try and determine who would be able to pull off such a theft and why. The answer would be a foe from someone Wimsey was familiar with. He was in correspondence with Sexton Blake, a fellow detective who recognised several tell-tale signs within the theft, pointing towards the famous thief, Zenith the Albino.The League were quick to push towards Paris and Zenith's last known whereabouts. There, they found that someone had already beaten them to the punch as his quarters were on fire and Zenith's burned remains were discovered in the wreckage. The trail seemed to end there as little could be found, until Barnstaple dug into what few bits and pieces that had been salvaged from the fire and uncovered a hidden message within one of them. It simply said 'CALIGARI'.Barnstaple pressed on with his investigation, convincing the others that this was the cause behind Zenith's death. They tracked the name to Germany, where a notorious string of murders had taken place that were masterminded by a former director of an insane asylum who had used that name. They had fled upon being discovered and vanished from notice. Upon seeing what Zenith had left behind though, it seemed as if Caligari had reappeared. After using criminal records to piece together a description of Caligari, the League then began their pursuit of the former doctor and the stolen notes. They made their way into Germany, which was still scarred from the War, despite the seeming prosperity and cultural renaissance that it was undergoing. Surprisingly, Caligari would be tracked to the village of Wisborg that had recently seen the outbreak of the plague. Quarantine was enforced and the League refused entry into the village. Fortunately, Dolittle and Mowgli were able to speak to the animals of the area to find out what had happened. A mass number of rats had suddenly appeared in the area, bringing with them the diseases. Dolittle, one of the premier veterinarians of any era, was able to identify exactly what they needed to do to avoid such creatures and even managed to convince several birds to bring one of the rats to the League for interrogation.The full truth was soon discovered as the League discovered that it wasn't Dracula behind this, but Orlok, a vampire who had perished in Wisborg, but had been brought back to un-life and was gathering strength. He had forced Caligari to become his slave, slowly turning the inhabitants of the village into his thralls thanks to his own powers and Caligari's hypnotic abilities. Orlok had then ordered Caligari to find Zenith so that the thief could steal Van Helsing's notes and uncover what was known about vampires, so that he could see what weaknesses others would look to exploit of him.Having gained what he sought after, Orlok had then killed Zenith before retreating back to Germany to build up his forces and become unstoppable. It was now up to the League to try and find a way to put an end to Orlok before he unleashed a reign of terror upon Germany and, eventually, all of Europe.Time was of the essence and the League prepared themselves to strike at the crack of dawn and put an end to Orlok once and for all. Dolittle was forced to remain behind, unable to physically keep up with the challenges ahead, but the others descended into Wisborg, shielding themselves from the rats as they began to search for Orlok's coffin.It was a long, arduous task as Orlok had hidden himself well and the sun had begun to set before they finally found his resting place. The vampire rose in the darkness just as the League found him and he furiously battled the group, desperate to hold them off until the Sun set and he would be at full strength. Despite their numbers, it seemed as if the League would be undone.That is until Mowgli, in a last-ditch effort, rushed forward with a broken piece of wood and thrust it into Orlok's heart, killing the vampire and turning him to dust. With that done, Orlok's control over the village broke and the rats fled in all directions, Caligari following them before the League could catch him.Their mission successful, the League returned to London, except for Barnstaple, who began to track down Caligari himself, determined to bring him to justice. With the crises now averted, the League was ready to disband and go their separate ways. Wimsey and Hunter returned to their lives as detectives, eager for the next case and adventure where they could test their abilities against criminals of all kinds.Although having born up his travels well, Dr. Dolittle had found the strain of it all too much to bear and retired to his zoo, living just long enough to finish his diaries and sort out his business before finally passing away. In Mowgli, he had found someone who had shared his gift and felt not so alone in his final days, so Dolittle bequeathed a considerable amount of his estate to him in his will, his zoos especially. Mowgli took this to heart and used Dolittle's wealth and resources to maintain the zoos, as well as expand them to include all manners of different animals and help preserve them.Evelyn Carahan returned to her fiancé, just in time for them to be married, although the quiet life was never for either of them and their adventures would continue and be shared with their son. Alfred William Barnstaple would succeed in bringing Caligari to justice and then returning to Britain to carry on his quest for wider changes to create a utopia.For a while then, it seemed as if things would be calm and the good times might yet come. But the decade ended with an economic crash like no other and the political instability that had marked the decade would be dwarfed by the years ahead. Storm clouds had begun to gather and few would be able to see the full extent of the horrors that were on the horizon.

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“You had those who spoke of it as if it was the last golden time before the world went mad. Where society was polite and everything was in order. This wasn't true in the slightest, of course. I should know, I encountered as many murders during that time than anyone else has done afterwards.” - Miss Jane Marple in an interview with a criminologist, 1954
I'm going to California

From there to Des Moines Iowa

Somebody will tell me that you

Need my help someday

Crying, baby

Baby, don't you want to go?

Back to the land of California

To my sweet home Chicago
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1937:Sherlock HolmesThe Night Hawk (Thurston Kyle)Blackshirt (Richard Verrell)Jean Armand DuplessisSlim CallaghanMarya ZaleskaThe decade started with a time of great hardship and depredation for many. Countless people across the globe were without work and in poverty as the economic situation reached a critical point. This was added to by the political situation, which only worsened as the years went on, with nations turning towards political extremes and the spectre of war loomed over the world. For many, it was a time of great uncertainty and fear.Yet, there was hope amongst this chaos. Patriots in China rallied around a man who rebelled against the foreign dominance of their nation. Chen Zhen was a man who inspired many to stand against the invaders, even under threats against his life. In the poverty stricken American South, a group of escaped criminals made good with luck and a hit song that earned them redemption in numerous meanings of the word.For one man above all, it was a time of opportunity. His name, the one he gave himself anyway, was Fantômas. Known as the greatest criminal ever produced in Europe, his influence and crimes stood above even James Moriarty. Fantômas had left a trail of death and despair in his wake that went back decades. No depravity was too vile for him, no crime too small. He sought to break down society and leave nothing but ashes, his motivations were unfathomable, except possibly for the sheer delight he found in such evil.For decades, it had been believed by many that Fantômas was a myth, a creation of a lone police officer who was chasing shadows. Slowly though, it became undeniable that some great evil was at work at the heart of France. It was said that Fantômas had taken no side in the war, but had happily played both to create as much carnage and destruction as possible. It was this that had alerted others as to the reality of Fantômas and that he needed to be brought in.Despite that, Fantômas had managed to elude capture and continued his string of crimes, protected by his own cunning and the society that he built up around him. But, even a man like Fantômas could not escape the ravages of time. His actual age at this point in time remains unknown, but there was no doubt that he was getting quite old as the 1930's wore on and he would have to come to terms with his mortality.For a man like Fantômas, this was hard to accept, especially when the world seemed to be getting closer and closer to a precipice that could destroy everything. Fantômas could not risk dying before seeing the greatest crime of all take place and so decided to push forward with his own plans. The rise of Fascism had seen him come to admire the ideology, in a way, and he wanted to live long enough to see it reach its apex.To that end, Fantômas saw a chance for his greatest crime, the destruction of France and paving the way for Fascist domination of all Europe. It would be his masterpiece and lasting legacy on the world.One man knew of this and was determined to put an end to it. Inspector Juve, Fantômas' most ardent foe, did everything he could to stop the criminal's deeds. But, he realised too late the full extent of Fantômas' influence in France and how he had made foiling his plans impossible. To that end, Juve fled from Paris and went to England, hoping that he would be able to alert the British government of the scheme. Unfortunately, Juve was stopped in the middle of his mission, the ageing policeman shot down by one of Fantômas' most fearsome assassins, Zaroff, former general of the Tsarist army.But all was not lost. Jules had prepared for this eventuality and two people were aware of his work, with his notes being sent to them upon his death. The first was his contact in England, a private detective of Irish extraction called Slim Callaghan. Although mostly a lone worker, Callaghan was also an infrequent agent of the British government, taking on tasks that they themselves felt best to allow a more independent person get to.Having received Jules' notes and warning, Callaghan went to one person he knew he could trust, that being Richard Verrell, the former thief turned vigilante known as Blackshirt. He and Callaghan had met before when the latter had been hired to investigate a crime that the former had been blamed for. Despite their different temperament, both recognised the skills of the other and a mutual respect had formed, along with a partnership that saw both of them share information on particularly difficult cases.It was to Verrell that Callaghan made his way to in order to find some way to get this information to another source. He was pursued the entire time by Zaroff, who was eager to cut off all loose ends. Callaghan's knowledge of London served him well though and he made it to Verrell's flat without injury and with Jules' notes intact.Realising what they held, Verrell and Callaghan knew that they had to act quickly. By now, the authorities were aware that Zaroff were in Britain thanks to his over-eagerness and lack of caution when pursuing his targets. The assassin needed to kill everyone who knew of the notes and quickly, before he displeased his master.Zaroff's presence did not go unchallenged, however. The chaos of the decade had brought with it great upheaval and those looking to take advantage of the chaos, but there were still champions of justice as well. Among these masked figures that stood outside the law were the Shadow of New York, the Red Panda of Toronto and the Night Hawk of Britain, among many others. It was the last one that hunted down Zaroff, fittingly enough, considering what the former general had done to countless animals and people beforehand.Night Hawk and Zaroff would clash as the latter tried to kill Callaghan and Verrell in the latter's home via sniping them from a nearby roof. Swooping down from above, Night Hawk began to fight Zaroff, with those around them soon taking notice of the battle on top of a nearby building. As the police were called, Night Hawk finished it with a blow that sent Zaroff plunging to his death on the street below.While normally such an act would have seen Night Hawk dealt with to the full letter of the law, the British government agreed to look the other way in return for Night Hawk joining the latest version of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as they had become aware of Fantômas and the need to counter him. Night Hawk swiftly agreed, as did Callaghan and Vellers once they were offered as the true scope of Fantômas' ambitions became apparent.Thanks to the investigation of Inspector Jules, the British government was able to piece together what Fantômas was planning. The discovered that British scientist Dr. Jack Griffiths had inadvertently discovered a formula for invisibility. Fantômas had kidnapped the scientist and forced him to recreate the formula for his own designs.These designs centred around creating an army of invisible agents to wreak havoc through France, killing those that might oppose Fascist Germany. Once enough chaos had been created, Fantômas' agents within the French Senate would call for a full meeting of the French government, allowing Fantômas to kill them all in one fell swoop and allow underlings to take control and latch onto Germany as an ally.Realising the full scope of such plans, the British government instantly called upon those already involved to form the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as well as other names. The leadership would fall to a man whose intellect would be able to (Hopefully) match that of Fantômas, Sherlock Holmes. The aged detective wasn't as physically fit as he once had been, but his intellect was still unmatched and wits were sharp. He was convinced to come out of retirement one last time to put his wits against the greatest criminal of the age and throw himself into work as he still grieved the loss of his beloved friend, John Watson.With the three men with him, Holmes also gained two more members to the League, one of them being the second man that Inspector Jules had kept informed of his investigations and one who was also an implacable foe of the criminal, Jean Armand Duplessis. An unquenchable lust for adventure had brought Duplessis across the world and to Juve's attention as a possible opponent for Fantômas, something that the former noblemen had taken on with enthusiasm. While having acted as an agent to the British government before, Duplessis eagerly agreed to become a member of the League and join its exalted ranks.The last member of this iteration of the League came from a most unexpected source. Marya Zelaska was (Allegedly) the daughter of Count Dracula and a woman who struggled with her vampiric instincts. Zelaska had been approached by Fantômas, who had promised her as many victims as she wanted in return for her loyalty, something Zelaska had fled from, fearing what Fantômas might turn her into. Afterwards, she had thrown herself on the British government in the hopes of a cure and in return, agreed to join the League. Zelaska was aided by a jewel that granted her powers of hypnosis that were almost impossible to break away from and would prove invaluable in the coming months.With the League assembled, the need to strike came quickly. Holmes deduced the most likely areas where Fantômas would be gathering his agents to attack France once they had turned invisible. Unable to trust most European agencies due to their hostility or Fantômas having infiltrated them, the League had to rely on their own wits and strength, which they held in abundance.Blackshirt, Duplessis and Night Hawk provided the strength on their attacks against Fantômas' organisation. Holmes and Callaghan were able to piece together the clues needed to look into what Fantômas was planning and his next strikes. Although Zelaska was unwilling to fight for fear of giving into her bloodlust, her ability to send anyone into a trace was a vital aid in getting agents of the arch-criminal to talk and tell the League what they needed to know moving forward.For the first time in his life, Fantômas found that he had an opposition that he struggled to defeat. Against a mixture of logic, cunning, power and supernatural abilities, the man who had so dominated Europe's criminal underworld discovered that he was unable to counter his foes as he had once done so easily. Now, he had to fight against them tooth and claw lest all of his plans collapsed.It proved to be something that Fantômas found hard to accomplish. Times had changed from when he had been at his height. Out of the League, only Holmes proved to be a man of the past as much as Fantômas had been, but even then, the Great Detective proved willing to defer to Callaghan when his own conclusions proved out of time. Fantômas had no such connection with anyone like that and against the skills arrayed against him, he had no one to turn to help him.The League's actions, although following a similar pattern each time, nevertheless proved effective. Holmes would point in the right direction with what they knew and Callaghan would then refine and pinpoint, often going undercover to discover what he could from local criminals. Blackshirt and Night Hawk would then scout the location that Fantômas' agents were gathering before they and Duplessis would lead an attack, Callaghan joining them. Once the group had been captured, Zelaska would then hypnotise them into giving them the information to attack the next group and whatever else they knew of Fantômas' organisation as a whole. Such a method proved effective and Zelaska would gain attention from Duplessis especially, as the two would grow very close through their time together.By doing this, the League were able to pinpoint the largest gathering of Fantômas' agents that would occur. Although it was of no surprise that it was in Paris, the hidden labyrinth in the Palais Garnier Opera House would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the League's efforts. Having been built by the original architect to use as a lair, the passageways and caves now were used by Fantômas in his last bid to destroy France.It was not to be. With Duplessis using his contacts in the French police, he managed to gain the aid of Police Inspector Maigret and his 'faithful four', who leant their aid to the League and were among the few that could be trusted for this mission. Working together, the enlarged group attacked the catacombs of the Palais Garnier and scattered Fantômas' agents while destroying the last of the formula that would have turned them invisible.The chaos that followed started a fire that soon spread to the Palais Garnier... again. The rebuilt opera house burned as many of Fantômas' agents perished in the flames. One of them was Jack Griffiths, who had been trapped in the catacombs and forced to work on his formula. As a result, when he died from the smoke inhalation, it was with almost a sense of relief.Before he died though, Griffiths gave the League the location of where Fantômas might be hiding, the Grand Budapest Hotel in Zubrowka. The League made all haste towards the hotel, determined to end Fantômas' threat once and for all. After encountering failure on such a scale for the first time, Fantômas seemed to be at a loss when the League found him. That isn't to say he wasn't still a threat, as a cornered cobra can still bite. He had set several traps in the hotel before the League arrived, too tired to keep on running and desperate to hurt his foes one last time before he was brought to justice.Once again, the League proved to be able to counter Fantômas' efforts. Zelaska hypnotised the manager into evacuating the hotel and allowing the League to move forward slowly and deactivating the traps. Of all things, it was the simplest that caught them off guard. A mere bucket of blood that Fantômas kept in his room was thrown at Zelaska, the taste and smell of it as it struck her provoking her senses and sending her into a frenzy. She threw herself on Fantômas and killed him, draining him of his blood.Rather than fall upon her comrades though, Zelaska realised what she had become and what she would continue to do unless they stopped her. She pleaded with them to kill her before she became like her father, something that the League sadly agreed to. Duplessis performed the killing blow, driving a stake into Zelaska's heart and freeing her of the curse that had haunted her for so long, yet in a way proving that she had become more than it.It was with a heavy heart that the League returned to Britain, despite having succeeded in their mission. Fantômas was dead, but his goal seemed closer than they would have liked. War was coming and there was little that the League itself could do to stop it, even if they had mitigated the worst that could have happened.Holmes returned to his retirement, having once more proven himself the world's greatest detective. He was content to live out the remainder of his days tending to his bees and writing various treatises until his death, where he was buried with full honours next to John Watson. Callaghan remained as a private detective, but found himself joining the war effort as a counter-agent to the Fascists that threatened Britain.Night Hawk and Blackshirt continued their adventures and would become key agents against the Fascists when the war came to British shores, never ceasing in their efforts for justice. Duplessis would scatter the ashes of Zelaska in a hidden location before returning to his adventuring ways, becoming a well known figure in the titanic struggle that was to follow.Clouds were falling over the world and perils like it had never known were apparent. It would be the struggle of entire nations and peoples to see it come to its end and with that, an even greater cost.

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“It was awful, there's no doubt about it. But, looking back, there was some good that came of it all. For all the horrors we experienced, there was a connection you could make with others. It was our saving grace. No matter what happened, you could still rely on others, at the end of the day.” - William Beech in a documentary about World War II, 1979
The empire too, we can depend on you

Freedom remains

These are the chains

Nothing can break

There'll always be an England

And England shall be free

If England means as much to you

As England means to me
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1940-1943:George SmileyWilliam Joseph ‘B.J.’ BlazcowiczCaptain HurricanePrivate ‘Maggot’ MaloneSir Reginald MacDougall ‘Master of Death’Miss Eglantine PriceCommander Francesca ‘Franky’ CookFor the second time in the twentieth century, the world would be plunged into war. It would not be the last time this would happen, as there would be one final global conflict before the century was over, but no one knew that at the time.Instead, the focus was on the here and now as the Fascist nations of Europe and Imperial Japan began their push towards a global war. This had already begun at the end of the last decade and spilled out into the new as Britain and France geared themselves for a grinding conflict, much like the last one had been.It was not to be. With a risky gamble that paid off, the German army broke through French lines and soon had the country on the ropes, forcing its surrender. This left Britain alone (Well, alone as it could get when it had Canada, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Australia, Kenya and every other part of the Empire) against a nation that dominated Europe in ways that hadn't been seen since Napoelon. This time however, it was pure evil that looked to control everything and that meant doing what Napoleon never could, conquer Britain.To this end, Germany had managed to create a machine that could make weapons of war far beyond the speed and capacity of even the most efficient of factories. This Fabrication Machine helped craft hundreds of vessels that were soon put to use as Fascist Germany sought to invade and conquer Britain as it had done to all other nations that had stood in its way.Operation Sea Lion lacked various things however. Surprise being key as the network of spies for the British in Germany had alerted to them to the approaching invasion. Defences were built at incredible speeds and the British government prepared every resource at its disposal in order to fight off the inevitable blow. In doing so, they turned to the one man who had helped alert them to the threat of invasion more than any other, George Smiley.Short, unassuming and effortlessly polite, Smiley didn't appear to be the kind of person who fit into the spy mould. But behind that middle-aged facade was someone who was the epitome of cunning and ability in the field of espionage. It was Smiley who had set up the network in Germany that aided Britain so well during its dark hours and he would be called upon to perform another duty now, to reform the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.It was of little surprise to anyone that, in the meeting where Smiley was invited to perform this task, he already had a fully prepared dossier in hand with candidates he wanted for the League. While Britain and the Empire had numerous great heroes, they would have to be spread out in the battle against Fascism and Smiley focused on a group with varied abilities that he felt would best serve to counter a variety of threats.The first name was Captain Hercules Hurricane, a Royal Marine Commando who had been gifted with incredible strength triggered by losing his temper. Although initially reluctant to leave the front, Hurricane was convinced to join the League, along with his batman, Corporal Margot, under the promise that he would see some action very soon.Remaining in the armed forces, Smiley's next choice was Commander Francesca Cook of the Royal Air Force. A protégé of James Bigglesworth, who had himself rejoined the RAF upon the outbreak of war, Cook had pushed herself harder than anyone else in her piloting skills. Her determination to prove herself as great as any male pilot in the face of the sexism of the era had produced one of the greatest pilots of the time, as well as a sharp shot with any gun. She was delighted to join the League and further show what she could do.A turn to the theatrical was next, as one of the many masked vigilantes of the period was chosen. Sir Reginald Crawford was a man who had lost his wife in a freak accident and had blamed a centuries old curse that had been placed on his family. Forsaking his wealth and title, Reginald took on the identity of the Master of Death, a healer who would fight for the innocent. Although Smiley didn't have too much truck with the supernatural, he recognised the potential of an agent who had absolutely nothing to lose, as well as his other abilities, and so recruited him into the League.Although Smiley was a man who regarded the material world as the one he had the most experience with, he didn't rule out the supernatural, despite his own natural inclinations. Miss Cackle's Academy had made magic in Britain even more public and accepted and several of its graduates were committed to the war. Miss Eglantine Price was one such witch. She had control over matter and was able to traverse between worlds almost effortlessly. Price accepted the invitation to the League in the hopes that she could help the war effort.All of these members of the League were rounded up by a volunteer from overseas. William Joseph Blazcowicz was an American of Polish-Jewish extraction who wasn't content to sit idly by while his country insisted on remaining neutral in the war. He made his way to Britain to join the effort to kill Fascists and had proven himself to be exceedingly good at it during the retreat from France. Blazcowicz was invited into the League as he was a soldier with proven skills and a way to test just how much potential he had.Having assembled the League, Smiley then put them to good use straight away as Sea Lion struck. It was the hope of Fascist Germany that they could overwhelm the British with numbers and strength. But, as the Royal Navy was about to show them, it might have took the Germans a few months to assemble their fleet, but it took centuries to create a strong naval tradition.Operation Sea Lion got started by striking at the shores of Britain where the villages of Walmington-On-Sea and Bramley End were the targets for the attack. They were greeted on shore by both the British army and the League itself, Smiley's intelligence network having told them of the targets of the upcoming attack.Aided by the heroic, if rather misguided, efforts of the local Home Guard, the League took the fight to the Germans that landed on the shores of Walmington-On-Sea, throwing them back into the water without much effort. With Cook flying over and giving recon while also providing some cover from the enemy planes, the rest of the League were able to hit hard at the Germans with Hurricane, Margot, Death and Blazcowicz leading the charge. Price held back, using her abilities to turn the German's own machines against them.With the League having born the brunt of the attack, they handled themselves well and sent the Germans back into the Channel. The rest of the invasion went just as badly and the damage done to the Fascists would have been completely destructive, if not for the Fabrication Machine being forced to make more and more war machines to make good the losses.With that in mind, Smiley decided that the League would have to strike at the Fabrication Machine itself. To that end, Smiley went through British Intelligence to learn of its whereabouts. It took some tracing of potential contacts. The first clue came from Paris, where one of Smiley's agents, a Miss Clavel, passed on information she had heard from German officers talking at a local cafe. Smiley would that thread, Smiley was able to use another agent, Horatio Smith, to pinpoint the Fabrication Device's location as being in Bavaria.With the Fabrication Machine now found, the League was then assigned the mission to destroy it. They were to infiltrate Europe via the neutral Principality of Eylstadt and then make their way to Bavaria to destroy the Fabrication Machine before it could produce even more weapons of war. A combination of Smiley's network and those that resisted the Fascists, as well as the League's own innate abilities, saw that they were able to make their way to Bavaria where the Fabrication Machine dwelt.It was while infiltrating the immense factory that held the Fabrication Machine that the League became aware of the true extent of its abilities. Not only was it creating weapons of war such as tanks, guns and planes, but the Fabrication Machine itself was an artificial intelligence that was able to reflect upon the designs it created and even improve them. Not only that, but it was even going so far as to create other artificial life. Not the twisted parodies of life such as Frankenstein had created, but beings that were machines instead and ones that could cut swathes through enemy forces effortlessly.Realising the threat that the Fabrication Machine posed not only to Britain, but the entire world, the League acted quickly to destroy it. Cook was the one to act as the lead in the attack, stealing one of the planes that the Fabrication Machine had created and then using it against the factory to draw attention away from the League's infiltration. This was also aided by Hurricane and Margot, who led a ground attack as the former's strength saw him toss aside tanks and only adding to the chaos as the soldiers present in the factory felt as if they were under a full scale attack.With the German forces so distracted, the next part of the plan came into action as Price waited until the German soldiers had all revealed themselves and then turned their own weapons of war against them, bringing them to life as they began fighting amongst themselves. The Fabrication Machine was something that hadn't been designed to combat such things as magic and this unknown element allowed Smiley, Death and Blazcowicz to make their way into the factory where the engine running it was found.The Fabrication Machine was able to spot the infiltrators and turned its weapons against them, but Blazcowicz was having none of it. Showing skill and fury that could match an entire regiment, he fought off the machines attacking them while Death got to the Fabrication Machine itself, planting explosives that destroyed it. Smiley took the opportunity to grab what he could in terms of blueprints, but failed to secure anything relating to the Fabrication Machine itself and instead snagged several works on artificial intelligence.With their job done, the League were picked up by Cook who managed to fly them to Eylstadt without interruption. The reason for this became apparent when Cook tuned in the on-plane radio and found out that only two days before, Germany had invaded the Soviet Union. By destroying the Fabrication Machine, the League had probably saved the Soviets from being overwhelmed.There was no time to rest on their laurels, however. When the League returned to Britain, a new enemy was arising. It was no secret that Japan had ambitions to form an empire over Asia that would dwarf those of Europe. Now though, as France and the Netherlands had been conquered and Britain was fighting against the Fascists in Europe, there was no better time for an attack to be launched and for Japan to cement its place as a global power. To that end, the spy network known as the D-Agency, under the leadership of its new head, Keigo Kyogoku, had begun to attack British forces in South-East Asia and weaken them in preparation for a major attack.With Europe currently at a stalemate, the League was sent to India in the hopes of stemming any kind of attack in Asia and uncovering the true extent of the D Agency's plans. The League arrived in India and then moved onto Burma, where they encountered several assassins that Keigo had sent after them once he had heard of their arrival. Those that managed to survive Blazcowicz's counter-attacks were swiftly interrogated, but little information was given.It was then that military intelligence provided the League with one of their own agents, Suiko, as a guide to where it was believed the Japanese military was building up their forces. She led the League into Southern China, going past countless perils in doing so. Suiko, however, was a double agent was leading the League to an ambush by the Japanese army, believing that it would be enough to kill them. In this, she was wrong. Despite the strength arrayed against them, the League rallied and fought back their attackers, Hurricane and Blazcowicz especially proving themselves to be terrors to the enemy.With the forces before them thrown back, the League took Suiko captive where she revealed the full extent of the D-Agency's influence in South-East Asia. Not only that, but while the League had been travelling through China, Japan had launched an attack across the Pacific and were now marching onto Singapore. With little time on their side, the League seemed to be lost and alone in an isolated part of the world. Price came to the rescue however, enchanting a tank to be able to fly. The amount of magic this would take was a strain on her, as well as the risk that came from the League being spotted while using such a machine, but there was little choice. They used the tank to fly across China down towards Singapore.While Price held the machine together as best she could, helped in navigation by Cook, it became too much for her and the tank began to falter and drop. Price managed to rally just enough to give the tank a relatively smooth landing right in the rear of the Japanese force sent to capture Singapore. Never ones to waste an opportunity like this, Hurricane, Margot, Cook, Blazcowicz and Death fell upon their ranks while many were still panicking over this brand new weapon of war that had fallen amongst them. Smiley and Price held back, the former seeing to the latter as she had passed out from sheer exhaustion.Confusion and panic spread throughout the Japanese ranks, the soldiers already suffering from being at the end of very long and tenuous logistical lines. They soon fell back in chaos, abandoning equipment as it was believed this was the start of a full British assault to the rear. Singapore had been saved and the Japanese advance faltered as they tried to find out exactly what was happening, allowing British reinforcements to be rushed to the area.With the lines stabilising in Asia, the League were once more called back to Europe, where the Fascists were becoming desperate. With the destruction of the Fabrication Engine, America entering the war and the Soviets forming the Heroes Of Our Time to fight on the Eastern Front, things were starting to look bleak for the Fascists. That is, until they found an ally who they hoped would turn the tide.Heinrich Kemmler had first brought himself to the attention of Fascist Germany by his ability to raise the dead to being unthinking servants, achieving in an afternoon the same results that had taken Frankenstein far longer. Kemmler was a necromancer who had spent his life studying the dark arts and mastering them in a way that no one ever had done before. He offered the Fascists an inexhaustible army in return for further chances to experiment with his magic and power in the world they would forge.As an additional bonus, Kemmler had enslaved a great and powerful evil to his cause. Rasalom had been an ancient sorcerer who had been reckoned as the most powerful between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryus. But Rasalom had been magically trapped within a spot in the Carpathian Mountains until Kemmler broke the enchantment holding him there simply to enslave him. Because that's basically how Kemmler rolled.With Kemmler looking to create an army of the undead to sweep away the Soviet Union completely and Rasalom acting as his attack dog, the League now had to face their greatest threat yet. Two agents within occupied Europe, Blake and Mortimer, had uncovered Kemmler's activities and had reported it to the British government, emphasising how little time there was to put an end to the threat.Once again, the League quickly left the shores of Britain to make their way to Germany, going to the centre of the country where Kemmler was building up his forces. Knowing that this could decide the fate of the entire war, the League were eager to face this threat and put an end to the Fascist attempts to take over the world once and for all.There was no time for grand plans or strategy as Kemmler's army was on the verge of completion. At his word, it would march east and swipe away all opposition. Even the Heroes Of Our Time would have been buried under such an assault, with the psychic Nadya or soldier Alexei Voronin being overwhelmed. It had to be ended here and now.Kemmler would be found at the heart of the army and the League attacked as hard as they could, directing their assault towards the necromancer. Price engaged him in a magical duel while the rest held off the undead army and Rasalom, the latter being even more dangerous than the former. For all her powers though, Price didn't match up to Kemmler's strength and she would have been killed, had the duel not technically ended in a disqualification due to Hurricane throwing a tank into Kemmler's face.It was at that crucial point that Smiley saw that an amulet that Kemmler had been wearing had come loose, causing Rasalom to hesitate in his attack and turn towards his master. Quickly realising its importance, Smiley directed the League towards destroying the amulet. With Kemmler still smarting from the thrown tank and being dogpiled, Cook was able to slip in and shoot the amulet point blank with numerous blasts of a shotgun, destroying it.Now free of his master, Rasalom turned against the necromancer, looking to drain him of his life force completely and get revenge for his enslavement. The two sorcerers struggled as they tried to kill each other. Despite being the older of the two, Rasalom lacked Kemmler's power and was blasted to dust after a short, sharp fight.The distraction was all that the Master of Death needed to drive forced, blade in his hands, as he pierced Kemmler's heart with the sword. Kemmler screamed and there was a flash of light, the sorcerer vanishing from sight and his undead army decomposing to dust before the eyes of the League. Whether Kemmler had actually died was another question, but the threat had ended for now.With their victory secured, the League made their way back through Europe. They reached Belgium, where they were aided by Tintin, a reporter who had eagerly passed on information to the British ever since the war began and was one of Smiley's best agents. A ship captained by a British sailor named Haddock then took the League back to Britain, narrowly missing being swept aside by the invasion of mainland Europe as the Allies began began its liberation.What followed was another year of war where the Fascists were forced to rely on more conventional methods as their more outlandish attempts had come to nothing. It was a grinding war, but one that eventually saw the Soviet flag being raised above Berlin and the division of Germany into Westalis and Ostania. Not long after, nuclear bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender and the world was at peace. At least, for the time being.For the League, it was disbanded in the final year of the war as its members were directed to more conventional roles, although they remained on standby to be recalled should the need have ever risen. Much to the relief of many, it never became necessary. Captain Hurricane and Margot happily returned to the army with the two being among the first soldiers to cross the Rhine in the drive to Germany. Both men would remain in the army after the war, with Hurricane becoming one of the most decorated soldiers since Richard Sharpe.Blazcowicz would soon be attached to the US army as it fought in Europe, becoming a highly decorated soldier who spoke out against Fascism at home as well as abroad once the war was over. Fearing what might happen should the same evil be allowed to fester elsewhere, Blazcowicz fought against the racism present in the US and was a strong campaigner for equal rights.As the other veteran of the group, Cook returned to the RAF and became a terror of the skies for the rapidly diminishing Fascist defences. She would be a trailblazer for women in the army, as well as one of Britain's top pilots and a candidate for the space program that was created in the aftermath of the war.The Master of Death returned to his lone crusade, determined to break free of his family curse and protect innocent people. Considering it was rumoured that he found love and eventually had a family, it is reasonable to assume that his efforts during the war did just that for him.With her having done so well in using her magic and finding new approaches for it, Price returned to her studies and role as a teacher at Cackle's Academy. She published several treatises that would form the cornerstone of magical study for several decades. She was also more than happy to tell tales of her adventures to others when asked.Lastly, George Smiley returned to his role in British intelligence, turning his anti-Fascist network to one that could be used against the Soviet Union as the war ended. Although peace had been achieved, the Cold War was about to begin. It would end forty years later in a war even greater than what had just transpired, though no one knew that at the time and people prepared for the challenges this new world would face.The League had risen to the challenge once more and helped stop one of the greatest evils that the world had ever known. This was not an end to the need for the organisation, however, as the next decade would show. There was always a threat to be faced in some form or another.

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“People might say that times change, but some things do stay the same. No matter how many times I walk this beat, you see the same old crimes and criminals. Mind you, the good things stay the same as well, honesty, generosity and all that. The world may change, but you're going to find that places trundle along as they've always done.” - Sergeant George Dixon in a programme looking into British policing, 1961
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song

I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long

If anyone asks you who composed this song

If anyone asks you who composed this song

If anyone asks you who composed this song

Tell him it was I and I sing it all day long
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1953:Dr. Bernard QuartermassMiss MarplePeter BradyWilliam SampsonRobot ArchieThe 1950's was a period of great change and upheaval. The Cold War was now in full swing, the first signs of it having happened as Berlin fell to the Soviets. The Iron Curtain had descended down upon Europe with large portions of the world pulled into two large camps of capitalist and communist, both sides trying to gain an advantage over the other.The conflict would heighten throughout the decade, a particularly infamous example being the tensions that would arise thanks to the role of Tropico in the Caribbean. Its newly installed president juggled the demands of communists and capitalists while skilfully playing both sides against each other and benefiting his own people, even if nuclear war almost broke out numerous times because of it.Conflict between the great powers wasn't only limited to Earth anymore. The growth in technology allowed for humanity to look beyond its home and start to explore the Universe. Satellites and probes confirmed Venus being a dense, jungle-like planet with signs of civilisation. Mars showed that its dry, barren surface once held life. Ruins could even be made out on the surface of the Moon, pushing plans to explore it further and faster as a space race began.In this time of fear and hope, the British Empire slowly became less and less. Having lost the Indian subcontinent, Britain itself found itself slowly becoming a junior partner to the US, although not without influence. Singapore and Hong Kong still flew the Union flag and the Mediterranean still saw British control over Malta. Britain was no longer a great power, but thanks to the dedicated work of its people and heroes, it was still ready to face the challenges ahead.Said challenges didn't take long to makes themselves known. The exploration of space came with the risks of alerting alien beings of Earth's presence. One of which was hidden under the surface of the Moon, but still observing outside events. These were the Lunarians, one of several remnants of a mighty inter-stellar kingdom that had been destroyed centuries ago. The leader of this particular group, Retik, saw the threat that Earth would be to his own regime and so decided to strike first. Using ancient technology, Retik's army began to make their way down to Earth to probe its defences.Such an approach didn't go unnoticed, of course. One scientist in particular alerted the British government as to the approaching threat, Bernard Quatermass. A visionary in rocket science, Quatermass had worked with the British government for years, his research providing the basis for Britain's own initial space exploration.The approach of the Lunarians were noted by several governments once the general alarm had been raised and many waited for the first contact with aliens, wondering if the small approaching fleet would be friendly or not. What most did not expect was the fact that the Lunarians were already among the populace, having infiltrated it to make their attack much easier. Most of the world powers had at least some presence of Lunarians, aided by the fact that they were so similar to humans in appearance.Had it not been for several brilliant minds among the human population, it's possible that the Lunarian infiltration would have gone unnoticed by everyone. One of these minds was none other than Jane Marple, who was spending a weekend in London visiting a friend who worked for the foreign office and noted the oddness of one of the people who worked in his department. Further investigation allowed her to find out that he wasn't who he claimed to be, allowing British intelligence to uncover the conspiracy in the very centre of the government.Realising that the Lunarian influence spread further than thought possible, the British government decided to act on its own initiative and reformed the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to face this challenge. For her work uncovering the conspiracy, Jane Marple was invited as a member, something she accepted. Quatermass soon joined her, having the technological knowledge needed to anticipate the capabilities of the Lunarians.Joining them would be a technological marvel that it would be hoped could counter whatever advantage the Lunarians held over the inhabitants of Earth. The Mark II Remote Robot had been designed for World War II, using technology that had been engineered from the Fabrication Machine's own work. Although it was manufactured too late for conflict in Germany, the robot had proven its worth in Korea and the use of robots would provide a boon for them moving onwards. Given the name 'Archie' by someone who was feeling rather whimsical that day, there was no doubt regarding the pure strength that this member of the League could provide. It was considered an improvement over the Mark I, which seemed to obey the commands of random people rather than those issued its remote control and the line had to be discontinued.Adding another more practical bend alongside the intellectuals of the group, British intelligence attached William Sampson to the League. Once one of the best intelligence agents Britain had in India, Sampson had been transferred to more freelance work across Asia. His work preventing a North Korean agent simply known as 'Red' from disrupting the UN forces lines during the Korean War being one such mission he had been attached to.The final member of the newest iteration of the League was someone who was believed would be helpful with stealth for obvious reasons. Dr. Peter Brady was a man who had researched the work of Jack Griffiths and had come to the conclusion that there were alternate ways to gain invisibility through light refraction. A test on his theories had gone quickly awry though and Brady was turned permanently invisible. Finding it more of an inconvenience than anything else, Brady had returned to his research for a cure while also doing work for the British government in return for aid in his endeavours. With the League having assembled, they then turned to the possible location of where the Lunarians would land on Earth. The truth would come in the form of Retik having contacted one organisation that he felt would help him, a group of criminals and mercenaries called SMOG. Their leader, a Vietnamese woman known only as Miss Ylang-Ylang (Although it was doubtful if that was truly her real name), agreed to help Retik and the Lunarians for true power in the new order.The second agent that Retik would convince to help him would be far more one of circumstance than anything else. Dr. William Barton had been in the Caribbean, looking for a monster that had recently escaped American custody, when he was offered a deal by a Lunarian agent. In return for helping search for the monster and give him greater game, Barton would give the Lunarians access to scientific research currently being run by the US. After the Lunarians sweetended the deal by promising to kill any romantic rivals for Barton's wife, the scientist eagerly agreed to it and sold out his country and species without a second thought.Thanks to this, America began to grow increasingly compromised as the Lunarians infiltrated them. Had it not been for the work of the League and British intelligence working hard in the Caribbean, it's entirely possible that their efforts would have gone unnoticed until it was too late.After being made aware of strange activity in the Caribbean as the Lunarians hunted down the monster, British agents in Jamaica passed it onto London and the League was sent out. Quatermass was able to quickly identify the Lunarian craft with Marple and Sampson proving to be a surprisingly effective duo in tracing down the reason for their activity. It made no sense as to why they would go after the monster, so their must have been an alternate reason for it. Once several young men attached to the work done by Dr. Barton turned up dead in unlikely circumstances, the League managed to gain an idea of what was going on.Brady was sent to infiltrate Barton's lab, finding him in communication with the Lunarians as they had uncovered the location of the monster. Brady then called in the rest of the League as they captured and interrogated Barton, finding out the full extent of his betrayal. Realising that the secrets he had given were related to American security, the League deduced that this is where the Lunarians were looking to stage their takeover.After a desperate search, aided by agent Logan of the CIA, one of the few Americans that the League felt that they could trust, they tracked down the landing site of the Lunarian fleet to be near Roswell, New Mexico. Using the resources from SMOG, their own technology and what information that they had gained from their infiltration, the Lunarians would then strike out and take over the US, followed by the rest of the world.The League made all haste to Roswell, where they would join Captain Rinaker of the US army and a contingent led by Lieutenant-General Shannon Rogard as they looked to put an end to the Lunarian threat. They would uncover SMOG setting up a small military base in preparation for the landing with the fleet swiftly approaching. The time for action had come.Archie led the way, attacking the SMOG members and Lunarians as they set down. With their focus on them, the Lunarians and SMOG agents were also picked off by the Americans that were surrounding the area. Sampson moved in and also fought with his famous knives, coming across Retik as he entered battle with the leader of the Lunarians.Despite the element of surprise, the Lunarians and SMOG agents proved to be tough opponents, aided by having the advantage in numbers. Quatermass, with help from Brady, infiltrated one of the Lunarian ships and managed to turn their technology against them, using the weapons of the ship on the stockpiles of weapons around the area. The distraction was all that Sampson needed to finish the fight, killing Retik where he stood. Seeing that their leader was dead, the Lunarians quickly surrendered, the surviving SMOG agents following suit, although Miss Ylang-Ylang managed to slip away. She would later reform the organisation, but had become a target for every nation on Earth thanks to her selling out the planet for power.With the Lunarian invasion threat finished, the nations of Earth took a much greater interest in the Moon as they looked to make contact with the peoples living on there. The fractured remains of the once great civilisation were approached in time and soon entered diplomatic relations once constant transport was made possible between Earth and the Moon.Having completed their mission, the League returned to Britain with great acclimation. Quatermass went back to his work with rocketry, the British space programme being his focus as he would help Britain reach the stars along the other great powers. Miss Marple would go back to her detective work and eventual retirement, seeing her work with the League as simply another case to be solved and that the Lunarians had shown, in their own way, to be the same as the people of Earth.Having proven that he could stand up against a knock down fight, Archie was further developed, eventually being able to develop a personality and voice, albeit one that sometimes grated on others. Still, he remained a key part of British defences going forward and was one of the main creations that would come to define British robotics, a field that would get more focus in later years.Sampson returned to his work as a British intelligence agent in Asia, finding that the changing world was growing beyond him as the ideologies and methods evolved. He eventually retired towards the end of the decade after a long service. Brady would go onto help change the world as he perfected his invisibility techniques, while also being able to reverse it, making for a potent weapon for British intelligence as the Cold War continued and espionage became ever more important.Despite all this, the world carried on as it ever did. Such an example could be found in the Scandinavian city of Koriko. Life remained similar there as to how it had ever been for centuries for its people. Change came about in the form of the first witch to be made welcome in the city, showing that magic was becoming more accepted as time went on. The fantastic was becoming ordinary, but never mundane, as the witch proved herself to be a hero when the time called for it.The same could be said for many others, as the following years would soon show.

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“You could say it was the Cold War that did it, but I think that it was likely inevitable. Once you get enough people thinking they're cleverer than anyone else and have the money to try and prove it, then it'll become an absolute pain to deal with. Fortunately, there's always someone around to bring them back down to Earth.” - Cate Archer, writing in her memoir, No One Lives Forever, 1991
We were talking about the love that's gone so cold

And the people who gain the world and lose their soul

They don't know

They can't see

Are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find

Peace of mind is waiting there

And the time will come when you see we're all one

And life flows on within you and without you.
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1967:John SteedModesty BlaiseWillie GarvinAustin D. PowersThe SpiderMiss Eglantine PriceRobot ArchieThe 1960's were a time of great upheaval. Political and social norms began to crumble as a new generation began to make itself heard. It was a time of potential. It was a time of challenge. It was a time where the skies themselves seemed within reach.But for others, it was time for revenge.Despite the passing of the years, Heinrich Kemmler hadn't forgotten his defeat at the hands of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He had rarely lost before and never in such a brutal fashion. With the loss of his greatest chance for ultimate power, Kemmler had spent over two decades recovering from his almost fatal wounds, using every bit of his magical knowledge simply to keep him alive before he could try and cure himself.It was when the 60's were well on their way that Kemmler began to feel like his old self and started to plan for revenge. The question was, how? With the end of World War II, Kemmler had run out of ready access to resources and his recovery had cost him even more. Still, if opportunities weren't on hand, the necromancer decided to simply make them.He had known of one of the League's enemies who had come closest to foiling their plans. The man simply known as Fantômas. It took some time to bring the man back from the dead, his passing having been nearly thirty years ago. Still, Kemmler accomplished it and gave the revived Fantômas an offer, aid him and gain revenge on the League and Britain itself. Soon learning the truth of the fall of fascism, Fantômas was eager to agree to this and an unholy alliance was born.While Kemmler's power and Fantômas' brilliance were a powerful combination, they still needed the resources in order to achieve anything. In this, they decided simply to replace the head of one organisation with Fantômas himself, rather than building from the ground up. The two looked towards the most powerful criminal organisation that existed at the time, that being the Evasive Visionary International League organisation headed by Maximilian Von Klein.While Von Klein was no slouch when it came to conspiracies and murder, he was simply outdone by Fantômas, who had invented many of the tricks that current diabolical geniuses used. It was a brief, nasty conflict that took place, but saw Kemmler and Fantômas emerge the victors after tricking Von Klein into burying himself alive in his own underground chamber. The two swiftly took over his organisation and began to direct it to their ends.As they did this, they were approached by someone else who recognised their plans and desired to join them. The man who was simply known as the Manchurian had survived the destruction of his home by the League. Like Kemmler though, he had spent years in seclusion to recover, not helped by his advanced age and the need for the rare ingredients for his youth elixir to be found before he could fully heal.Initially, the Manchurian had been desperately focusing on China after he had recovered, trying to stabilise it. But he had been too late. The war with Japan and the incompetence and corruption of the Chinese government had allowed the Communists to consolidate their gains and take over. And now, artefacts and historial treasures were being destroyed as madness took over. The China that had once existed was dead and only revenge remained.Believing that it was Britain and its League that had ruined his chances to prevent China going down its current path, the Manchurian offered his knowledge, organisation and resources in order to destroy the nation that he felt had destroyed his. Thus, a powerful alliance was born that could threaten an entire nation. They brought others into their conspiracy, Miss Ylang-Ylang having to do so in order to survive as she continued to be hunted by all the major powers. She soon proved to be a loyal and able lieutenant of the trio. In time, the group would earn the unofficial name of the 'Triumvirate'. Such a group couldn't go unseen for too long, however. The clandestine efforts of the trio came to the notice of Britain thanks to the efforts of an agent in Hong Kong called Lorna. She had infiltrated a drug ring that had links to Ylang-Ylang and her backers and alerted British intelligence as to some shadowy organisation that was swiftly gathering power in the criminal world. Sadly, the full scale of the threat was underestimated and few actually took notice, believing it to be one of many criminal organisations that were fighting for influence at the time. That said, further investigations were made to try and track down Ylang-Ylang.Perhaps the time period helped matters, in some way. The 60's saw the bizarre and surreal become practically normal in fashion and lifestyle. The British Invasion took place with the Rutles leading the way, bringing British culture back to American shores in a way it had never seen before. New technologies, spurred by the space race and trade with the peoples of the Moon allowed for brand new possibilities, once people could figure out how to make them practical.It was this new technology and sense of the odd that the Triumvirate took advantage of to go unnoticed. Their agents used the outlandish times to infiltrate the world of fashion, commerce and make their way into the halls of power, ready to strike at their master's command. Had it not been for a piece of good fortune, they might have just succeeded.It was actually a Dutch agent who uncovered the scale of the conspiracy, even though it was quite by accident. Hendrik Ijzerbroot had been looking into a diamond smuggling ring run by the Soviets when he stumbled over evidence of the return of Fantômas. The Dutch government, remembering the reign of terror the master criminal had inflicted upon Europe, soon raised the alarm, although many were sceptical. Fantômas had been dead for decades at this point, how could this be possible?There were those who had longer memories, however. George Smiley, now the head of counter-intelligence in British intelligence, was quick to point out that he had helped face off against Kemmler. The necromancer had never actually been found dead, after all and a stab in the heart could be countered by particularly strong magic.Smiley followed on with his investigation as discreetly as possible, although he found that he was too late to stop the initial movements. Fantômas, breaking from his associates, had struck first in the name of revenge. The rumours swirling around Fantômas' return had seen one of his old enemies go out to seek him.Jean Armand Duplessis had been forced to kill someone whom he had cherished because of Fantômas. Upon hearing the arch-criminal had returned, he had made it his mission to track him down, despite his advanced age. This was something that Duplessis wouldn't have normally been able to accomplish, had Fantômas not allowed him to do so.The trap had been expertly set and Duplessis walked into it with his usual bravado. Still, even surrounded by all sides by men with guns trained on him, the adventurer refused to back down and goaded Fantômas into revealing himself. Unable to stop himself from trying to make Duplessis suffer, Fantômas did just that, crowing over his victory and being able to kill the man who had once helped inflict the first defeat the arch-criminal had ever felt.But even then, Fantômas himself fell for a trap. Thirty years of technological advancements had been hard to catch up on for a man who had only recently returned from the dead. Having a small radio receiver on his person, Duplessis was able to broadcast his final confrontation with Fantômas to French intelligence, confirming the return of the villain, as well as his alliance with Kemmler and the Manchurian.It didn't save Duplessis, but he had the satisfaction of knowing that there was no way for Fantômas to hide himself now. As the gunshots rang out and the old adventurer fell, it was with the knowledge that he had struck a blow against an old enemy.Soon, all of Europe was alight with the confirmation of Fantômas' return. It had confirmed Smiley's worst fears and he acted quickly. Needing someone he could trust, Smiley called in one of Britain's foremost counter-intelligence agents, John Steed, with the mission of reforming the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. As one of Smiley's top proteges, Steed was quick to act and already had several candidates in mind.There would be some familiar faces to this League this time. Knowing that Kemmler was involved, Steed approached the only magician who was known to go toe to toe with him and survive, Eglantine Price. The witch had become renowned for her actions during the war and had been an accomplished teacher at Miss Cackle's Academy. The growth in magic in the decades following the war had meant that the demand on the Academy far outstripped its ability to house so many students. As a result, Price would be one of the founders of the Luna Nova Magical Academy, allowing for even more magical education in Britain. She eagerly accepted the invitation to rejoin the League, wanting to protect her country once more.Another returning face was Robot Archie. Now with am artificial brain that gifted him a personality and able to learn from experience without needing a remote control, Archie had gone on to show how far the development of artificial intelligence had come. Such advancements put Archie ahead of other designs such as robots built independently by scientists like Dr. Krupp.Looking to more traditional channels, Steed contacted two of the freelance agents that he had worked with before. Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin were both former criminals that had joined the side of angels, mostly out of boredom. Being offered a chance to take on the greatest criminal minds brought together proved to be a challenge neither could ignore.It was a similar motivation that brought about the next member of the League. Known only as the Spider, he had clashed with Modesty Blaise before when she was a criminal. After hearing of the return of Fantômas, the Spider demanded a chance to put wits against him. He approached Blaise and offered his services to the League, something that Steed accepted, reasoning that they would need an underhanded cad if they were going to help fight the Triumvirate.The last choice for the League was, on paper, the most conventional of the choices, but he was still outlandish in his own way. Austin Powers had made a name for himself by proving his skills as one of Britain's top intelligence agents and his embracing of the culture of the 60's. Dressed to the nines in the latest Carnaby Street fashions, Powers was a follower of free love and was a true child of the era, something that hid his competence and exceptional abilities as a spy really quite well.Just as Steed finished assembling the League though, the Triumvirate made their first move. An attempt between escaped German officials and Egypt to produce weapons to attack Israel had been discovered and hijacked by the triumvirate for their own ends. The manufacturing of missiles loaded with biological agents were slow going and they lacked the know-how to maximise the payload. Kemmler helped as he looked to infuse his magic with the biological agents, turning those killed by them instantly into undead that would obey his directive for them to kill any living thing they could find.Such work needed scientists to help build such weapons of death and the Triumvirate struck by kidnapping numerous biologists from around the world, succeeding in their aims. With scientists such as Dr. James Marcus, the Triumvirate now had the knowledge to inflict mass destruction upon Britain. And, with the resources at their disposal, time was short. The League worked quickly to piece together what they could, although it was little. They eventually managed to latch onto Ylang-Ylang as their only lead and so made all haste to Hong Kong. The Spider made himself known and willing to use his criminal credentials to break through the local gangs to find out Ylang-Ylang's whereabouts. Managing to put his reputation and own actions to good use, the Spider soon had the League in the right direction as Ylang-Ylang had made her homebase on a small island in the South China Sea.Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin were quick to infiltrate the island, alerting the League as to its security measures before Robot Archie was called in. Striking at the weak points, Archie made short work of the defences, bringing in most of the attention of the guards before the rest of the League attacked and destroyed the island's airfield. Without any method to escape, Ylang-Ylang was trapped as the League closed in on her. Realising that there was no way out, Ylang-Ylang went to kill herself as, even if she did betray the Triumvirate, it still wouldn't be enough to save her from a prison cell, or worse.She was stopped in the nick of time by Austin Powers. His sheer animal magnetism was enough to make Ylang-Ylang hesitate in her plans, as well as convince her to tell them where to find the Triumvirate. She did so, but was stopped from going further when the League realised they were coming under attack. One of the missiles the Triumvirate had built was now being fired at them so that they could wipe out the League and any loose ends in one fell swoop. Price quickly enchanted a pile of scrap to turn into platform she could fly them to safety. Ylang-Ylang refused to get on, reasoning she was as good as dead either way. She fled before the League could stop her and they made their way from the island, narrowly avoiding being caught in the blast and being turned into Kemmler's undead minions.Despite the carnage they were leaving behind, the League had the Triumvirate's main base. It was in Antarctica, built on the remains of an American scientific station that had been abandoned after an alien incursion in the 1930's. The Triumvirate had built on and expanded the former station, going underground as they used it as a cover to hide their operation. The cold and hostile conditions made it a perfect hiding spot.For Archie, however, it was a minor hindrance. He was able to break into the base without being held back by the winter, his actions in doing so actually working against the guards on the base as the environment impacted them far worse. The rest of the League had an easy time of breaking, having prepared themselves against the cold.What they were less prepared for was the dead end they suddenly reached. Beyond a skeleton crew of guards, the Antarctic base was empty. The Triumvirate had already left, having built want they wanted. Few traces of their presence remained. The League had arrived too late and had little clue what to do next.Making matters worse was the issue of the Cold War, something that the Triumvirate were taking advantage of. The countries of Westalis and Ostania were at the forefront of the Cold War, with NATO and the Warsaw Pact heavily involved in both nations. Agents of the Triumvirate sought to distract the powers by instigating a false flag attack on Ostania, driving up tensions as they believed Westalis was behind it.As NATO and the Warsaw Pact brought their forces to the brink of war, the League realised that they were on their own and acted accordingly. They desperately scoured the base for any clue of where the Triumvirate could have gone, eventually finding several coded papers. Blaise and the Spider poured over them, eventually finding several references to 'Phraxos'.The name was that of an island some distance off the coast of Greece where Steed had been stationed during the war. From there, the Triumvirate would launch their missiles towards Britain, killing almost everyone and turning the entire nation into Kemmler's undead slaves to spill out into the world.After alerting NATO as best they could, the League made haste to Phraxos, knowing that they were going to be on their own as any major troop movements could trigger World War III. The Royal Navy sent in what forces they could, but the situation meant they had to be minimal. The Greek Navy followed suit, although managed to put the area around Phraxos under surveillance and helped get the League onto it undetected.From there, the League made their way across the island to where the Triumvirate were keeping their missiles. While they could be launched from ships, such as they had done in the South China Sea, the silos that had been built on Phraxos would guarantee accurate hits and confound NATO command once they saw the attacks coming from their own territory. Should the missiles provoke a general nuclear war, then this was fine by the Triumvirate. Kemmler saw it as simply gaining more loyal slaves. Fantômas looked forward to rebuilding a new world in his image after the old one was destroyed. And the Manchurian had given up at this point, having seen everything he had hoped for destroyed, the destruction of the world suited him fine.The League wasted no time in making their way to the silo base, splitting into groups as they did so. Steed and Powers would do their best to destroy the silo controls and prevent the missiles from being launched. Archie and the Spider would go to create distractions in the base. Price would help with that, calling out Kemmler for a battle like they had before and thus distract the Triumvirate's most powerful member at a crucial time. Blaise and Garvin would infiltrate the base and cause further chaos where they could, furthering the League's aims.There was little room for error as the Triumvirate were on the verge of completing their aims. The priority was stopping the missiles from launching and save the world into the mix. Of course, it didn't take long for things to start going quite wrong. It began to go awry when the Spider, offered the chance to prove his superiority to the likes of Fantômas, broke away from Archie in order to track the master criminal down, depriving the robot of much needed back up.With the enemy forces turning all their weapons onto Archie, including heavy duty ordinance, the robot's attack began to falter, allowing the Triumvirate to turn their attention to the rest of the League as it became a running battle between the members and their enemies. This was felt keenly when the Spider managed to confront Fantômas, only for him to be felled by a snake that the arch-criminal had let loose into the room the two met in. The venom did its work and the Spider fell down, dead.Elsewhere, Kemmler and Price met for their magical duel. Determined to prove his superiority for certain this time, Kemmler agreed to a traditional duel with both magicians changing shape in the blink of an eye to outmatch and out-think the other. It soon turned to a stalemate that neither could afford to lose concentration on and denied the League a much needed aid at their most desperate moment.Steed and Powers had made their way to the controls of the missiles, only to find it heavily guarded by the Triumvirates' underlings and the Manchurian himself. As Powers took care of the guards, Steed faced the Manchurian himself, the latter seeing in Steed the very image of everything he wanted revenge on. Steed drew his sword-stick and the two fought, desperately trying to overcome the other.Seeing the way the fight was going, Blaise and Garvin circled back around to help Archie. They arrived too late, as Fantômas arrived to destroy the robot with a barrage of rocket launchers. The loss at least provided Blaise and Garvin the distraction needed to launch their own attack, turning a gun turret on the assembled guards and cutting through them swiftly. Fantômas went to dodge, but was pinned to the wall by a throwing knife by Garvin. An attempt by the arch-criminal to buy Blaise off went nowhere as she gunned him down, killing Fantômas for a second time.Elsewhere, Powers managed to get to the controls of the missiles, only to find that they had already been set to launch. With little other choice, he was left with the only option of changing their target towards Phraxos itself before destroying the controls. Seeing this, the Manchurian gave into despair and allowed a stab from Steed to go through his defences. Everything he had fought for, whether it was China, his own power or revenge, had been taken from him and only death was left. After over a century of struggle, he simply didn't have it in him to fight it any longer.Price and Kemmler had continued their battle, with Price showing that she had put the last twenty years to good use. While Kemmler had been trying to recover, Price had focused on increasing her abilities and becoming one of the greatest magicians Britain had ever produced. Kemmler was the more powerful still, but he was out of practice and Price was more flexible in her thinking, as well as having friends to back her up.The redirection of the missiles were soon known as they launched into the air and Powers and Steed made their way back to the rest of the League to alert them as to what had happened. Realising they were about to be struck, the League rushed towards Price to warn her, forcing her to break off the duel. They also made sure to shoot Kemmler as many times as they could, allowing Price to hit him with the strongest lightning spell she could summon. As Kemmler was in the shape of a tiger at the time, it didn't do him much good.Although they had to leave the bodies of their comrades behind them, the League still managed to escape the blast in time with the captured scientists in tow, the missiles falling on Phraxos and destroying everything completely. Kemmler was at ground zero of this, having survived just long enough to see the missiles plunge down towards him and destroying his plans.Such an explosion didn't go unnoticed and alarmed NATO greatly. They pulled back their forces, strengthening Ostania greatly and allowing the Soviets to leave their military strengthened around the border, which would have dire consequences later on. For now though, the fear that something had happened with the Triumvirate overrode almost other concerns. When the truth was discovered as the League touched down on the Greek mainland, there was a mixture of both relief and frustration regarding the matter.For now though, the League had come out triumphant, although not without cost. While the Spider had brought about his own end, Archie's loss was keenly felt by many and a memorial was raised in his honour, being one of the great strides in British robotics and a true hero.Steed would return to British intelligence, making sure to keep Blaise and Garvin on the contact list for further emergencies. Blaise also remained on Powers' list as the two had developed a very casual and enjoyable relationship that eventually gave way to something vaguely platonic in later years. All would continue their adventures in some form or another as Steed would eventually replace George Smiley when the latter passed away, the former becoming head of British intelligence.Price would return to the Luna Nova Magical Academy, where her students became even more demanding of telling stories of her exploits. Eventually, Price would retire from teaching and adventuring, the first being far more dangerous anyway, and would eventually pass on, leaving behind a legacy that few others in the magical world could match.The 60's would move on as the world turned. Having come to the brink of war once again, the great alliances remained tense, both in the world and above. The Frontiersmen of America had their own adventures in ending the Furon infiltration of Earth, showcasing that it wasn't just the home planet that people needed to keep a watch over. The decade would end with the first official landing on the Moon, although various secret missions had taken place before then, helping firmly establish relations with the nations and peoples there such as the Clangers.Time would pass and the 70's would dawn, with its own host of challenges for those who would face them.

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“It felt like everything was going to pieces, in some ways. It wasn't as bad as it'd get, but things weren't right. It helped to find something to do, to keep your mind busy. With friends on hand, there's always ways to get into a bit of mischief and make things a bit lighter, I've found. That makes all the difference.”- Norman Clegg, talking in a documentary series about Yorkshire through the 20th century.
We can be Heroes

We can be Heroes

We can be Heroes

Just for one day

We can be Heroes

We're nothing, and nothing will help us

Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay

But we could be safer, just for one day

Oh-oh-oh-ohh, oh-oh-oh-ohh, just for one day
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1976-1977:George DixonMax TennysonTom CraneLeeTildy PilqvistThe 70's were a time of change and reaction. After the tumultuous 60's and the enormous social changes that came of them, the question of what was to follow occurred. Those who disliked what had come from it all began to speak louder than ever and the conflicts that followed came from the forces of change and reaction. Added to this was a growing background of political and economical turmoil as the systems that had kept the world going since World War II began to encounter pressures they were hard-pressed to face.It was a time of extremes, when it seemed as if the hopes of yesterday would be forced to bow to the realities of today. But, there was still enough of that earlier optimism and desire for the best that lingered to help inspire others.Others managed to grasp the decade better than others, even if they were ancient in their own right. Dracula and Orlok might have been the most famous of vampires, but they were not the only ones. While those two had become the most powerful, the most infamous of their kind, there were others who took on a more stealthy approach and stuck to the shadows.These were the Camarilla.Vampires tended to come in various forms and had their own long-seated rivalries, but the Camarilla were a group that had managed to forge something that almost came close to an alliance of different clans. Their main task was keeping their kind hidden and out of sight while infiltrating human organisations in order to manipulate events so that they could keep attention away from vampires. Although humanity had long known of vampires and the threat they represented, the Camarilla actually did a good job of keeping them ignorant as to the true extent of their numbers and influence. Outliers like Dracula and Orlok were seen as being as dangerous to vampires just as much as humans, but in a different way.At least, that was the view of those at the top, vampires with centuries of experience of trying to keep things under wraps. There was an undercurrent of vampire society, however, that saw themselves as the top of the food chain, literally. Being made to hide from humanity was an insult when the latter were little more than prey. The 20th century had seen the Camarilla pull their own kind back further and further, cracking down hard on those that would dissent. Tensions between the two sides of vampire society were growing and had been for decades.Enter Johnny Alucard, a human who had links to Dracula himself. His ancestors had served the famous vampire and it had been a duty passed through the generations, even after his death. They waited for the day when Dracula would return and show his former glory. Although not vampires themselves, Alucard's family were known by vampire society and had the ears of some radicals, enough so that they had some protection from the Camarilla's attempts to silence them.After years of study, Alucard thought he had discovered a method to return Dracula to life. He had managed to find the secret writings of Simon Iff and his own musings on immortality and how to pull through the veil of death. After realising the true cost of bringing someone back from the dead though, Iff had demurred when it came to actually performing the rituals involved.Alucard had no such reluctance and he studied the texts thoroughly, soon discovering the truth behind them. In order to resurrect Dracula though, he first needed to eliminate the greatest threat to his efforts, that being the leadership of the Camarilla. Alucard's vision was Dracula returned to life at the head of an empire of vampires. It was a message that attracted many vampires who felt that Dracula returning would be their way to claim the power long denied to them. With it, they would be the rulers of the world.To do this, the would-be-revolutionaries first needed to get rid of the leadership. For this, they used the Camarilla's own strength against them. The organisation had many human operatives working for it, none of them aware of who their employers truly were. This varied from messengers, to bankers to countless criminals. One of them was none other than a man known only as 'The Jackal', an assassin second to none.Given strict, if puzzling instructions, the Jackal followed them as he tracked down leaders of the Camarilla. He had made his name fulfilling contracts with only one failure against the then President of France. Some of the Camarilla leadership, recognising the Jackal's talents, faked his death and brought him under their employ, allowing the Jackal to think that they were the criminal organisation known as the High Table instead.As the leadership of the Camarilla was killed off in a series of shock attacks, the radicals grew in power and influence. So much so that the more established groups saw the writing on the wall and so pulled back, for now. The radicals were able to seize control over the Camarilla, with Alucard acting as their spiritual advisor as he guided them towards returning Dracula to life.Things first started to go awry when several vampires were sent to bring Dracula's coffins from his castle in Transylvania to London. Dracula's purchased home in the city was seen as a place where they could bring him back to life, the old manor having long since fallen into disuse. None had gone near it, the evil air of its crumbling ruins putting anyone off approaching it.As the vampires opened one of the coffins, expecting to find some traces of Dracula that they could use, they instead were rather surprised and more than a little upset to instead be attacked by Prince Mamuwalde. The man who had once tried to negotiate with Dracula and end his involvement in slavery had been trapped and turned into a vampire for his efforts before being locked into a coffin to starve. His sudden finally gave him a chance to gain some measure of revenge, but also allowed him to satisfy his immense hunger after being trapped for centuries.The Camarilla suddenly found that they had an enemy they hadn't anticipated. After killing everyone at the ritual site, Mamuwalde retreated to the city of London, forcing the vampires to start all over again while dealing with a one man war against them. Bodies that weren't human were left strewn on the streets, alerting the authorities as to what was going on.The first person to piece it all together was Sergeant George Dixon. An experienced policeman with decades dealing with criminals and people in general, Dixon was able to put together the pieces quicker than most, realising that this was no ordinary vampire, but a war between factions that dwarfed previous encounters.Even then, the full truth of it all went unseen by many. The Camarilla managed to obscure matters by bringing human assassins, making things look more like a gang war with vampires rather than a vampire civil war. Along with the vampiric influence in high offices, that soon became the official line, although Dixon was far from convinced and continued his pursuit of other inquiries.In this, Dixon would receive help from an unexpected source. Tom Crane was a man who had been found to have psychic powers and had been brought in by the government to help explore them. Crane had used this to track down the murderer of his wife, when he began to sense the conflict arising between the vampires. Believing that there was a cover up in place, Crane had then approached Dixon, sensing that he was one of the few that would actively work into stopping the conflict and the machinations behind it.Dixon and Crane continued to investigate the murders and their suspicions, revealing more and more of the truth. Their efforts were curtailed at every corner by a member of the government who looked to prevent his own connections with vampiric corruption from being revealed. Despite this, the two did receive official help of a sort. John Steed, as head of British intelligence, discreetly contacted the two as he also realised the truth and pointed towards several agents he had called to London in order to give aid.The first of these wasn't even connected to Britain. Max Tennyson was an American agent, dedicated to looking into extraterrestrial activities that had shot up ever since mankind travelled beyond the atmosphere. Thanks to his work with General Rinaker at Area 51, Tennyson was experienced with alien and supernatural phenomena. He had first come to Steed's attention during the incursion of the Invaders in the previous decade. There, Tennyson had proven key in foiling the plans of the aliens and Steed had taken note of his skills. Bringing him into this investigation was key.Feeling that extra muscle would be needed for this, Steed also called upon a man who had worked for Britain in Hong Kong. Lee was a master martial artist and philosopher who had helped bring down the last of the Triumvirate's operations in Asia after their downfall. Steed had him marked down as a man to watch and was quick to make contact with him. With the threat of vampires in hand, Lee had the foresight to have his weaponry blessed by both Christian and Buddhist priests, including his signature nunchucks.Finally, seeing the occult in this, Steed reached out to the Luna Nova Magical Academy, hoping to find someone who could help on that front. He was rewarded by the recruitment of Tildy Pilqvist. Originally Scandinavian, Pilqvist had come to Britain to help study magic and became a teacher in the process. The thought of something terrible happening to her students made her accept the offer to join the League, especially with Eglantine Price encouraging her to do so.With Steed looking into the government to find out the cause behind the blocking of investigations, he gave the newly formed League what protection he could and covered their activities as they tried to find out the truth. They would have to do so without official help and keeping things as stealthy as possible.Not helping matters was the fact that London was now home to numerous assassins that were chasing after Mamuwalde and getting in each other's way. Men such as Lucien Bellon were seen in London, all after the bounty on Mamuwalde's head. Him being a vampire tended not to get mentioned to the human assassins, so those who tried to kill Mamuwalde with ordinary guns or similar methods received a rude awakening for their efforts.The League followed the trail of destruction, trying to figure out the reason behind the carnage and managed to track down Mamuwalde himself to a small flat in Notting Hill. There, the vampire would fight with the League, but find himself quickly outmatched. Weakened and fully realising the kind of monster he had become, Mamuwalde tried to gain some measure of closure by revealing the truth to the League. Dracula was returning and the Camarilla were now under the guidance of fanatics determined to bring vampiric rule over the world.Just as the League was digesting that unpleasant revelation, they were pulled away from focusing on Mamuwalde as a group of vampires broke in, having been sent by the Camarilla to kill their enemy. In the ensuing chaos, Mamuwalde managed to escape as the League killed the vampires, leaving them with little to follow up on. Still, now knowing what foe they faced, the League were able to find new avenues of investigation. Although the Camarilla had managed to keep themselves mostly hidden, there were those who were aware of a power within the vampiric world and kept the society going. Tennyson was able to gain some information from his contacts in America, a reporter named Kolchak who had better sources than most governments when it came to the supernatural. He found that the Camarilla had their hands in all kinds of crimes and one of their agents was returning to London with diamonds that were being used to finance their activities. Dr. Christian Szell was used to serving those with no moral compass, having worked for Fascist Germany with enthusiasm until its collapse. He had since moved onto working for various criminal organisations as a smuggler and using his skills as a dentist to torture others for fun and profit. His arrival allowed the League to get an 'in' on the Camarilla and their schemes.It wasn't too hard for the League to track Szell down and dispatch his bodyguards. Although reluctant to tell the League what he knew, Szell was soon compelled to do so as Dixon's skills at interrogating a subject, backed up by Tennyson, got them the answers. The Camarilla had been bringing even more resources into London, the pub known as the Hare and Eagle being the centre of their efforts to co-ordinate their plans.Rather than going in and alerting the Camarilla as to how far they were aware of the organisation's plans, the League decided on a more subtle approach. Pilqvist set up a spell that would create a trace on all those going in and out of the pub, allowing the League to follow them. Dixon called in several favours to have a disproportionate amount of police around the area to help get a look of those who they were trailing.Within days, the League had a comprehensive list of who the Camarilla were using as agents in London and where they were going for good measure. It was Crane who was able to help track down the most important members as he used his powers to zero in on their thoughts, finding out who would know the most.With this information in hand, the League then made sure to strike hard, cutting through many of the vampires once they had learned what they needed. Alucard, realising that London was too hot for them to handle, chose another area for the Camarilla to perform the ritual to resurrect Dracula. A gravely haunted house with foundations going back to Saxon times, the building known as Taskerlands was one of the most notorious supernatural spots in all of Britain. As Dracula's second home couldn't be used for the ritual, it served as a workable replacement.The League raced against the clock as they looked to disrupt the ritual. The Camarilla, having realised that the League was onto them, sent the Jackal to finish them off. With many of their agents having already died, he was their last ace in the hole. The assassin got to work quickly, laying out a bomb on the train track that the League was travelling along.The League were on guard, however. Pilqvist used her magic to act as an alarm for any potential traps, the bomb soon setting it off. The train was stopped and the bomb disposed of, allowing the Jackal to sneak on board as he looked to finish off the League himself. Here, he was stopped by Lee as the two started to fighting along the length of the train.The assassin and fighter proved to have different skills that would decide the fight. The Jackal's weapons were many and he knew how to use them, but Lee made sure to never give him a chance to do so as they fought through the carriages, never giving the Jackal a moment's rest. Eventually, Lee's skills proved to be too much and he defeated the Jackal with a flurry of blows. Dixon then quickly moved in, making sure to arrest the Jackal to do things by the book.Soon arriving at Taskerlands, the League got themselves ready for the fight ahead. Tennyson and Crane agreed to lead the charge, infiltrating and causing a distraction. Pilqvist would disrupt the ritual itself, dispelling the magic used for it. Dixon, despite his strongest wishes, agreed to hold back and call for reinforcements, as he physically wasn't up to the task of the fight. Lee would provide the muscle to get through most of the vampires, using blessed weapons to cut through them.The reappearance of Mamuwalke quickly threw these plans into chaos. Mamuwalke had tracked down the Camarilla in his own ways and was desperate to stop the ritual before Dracula came back. He fought with the crowd within Taskerlands, causing Alucard to start the ritual early. With no other choice, the League rushed in to stop a disaster taking place.What followed was an outright battle as the vampires gathered within Taskerlands had to deal with Mamuwalke and the League pressing against them from what felt like all sides. Lee cut a swathe through the vampires with his blessed weapons, felling many with his attacks. Crane helped fend off attacks on Lee with his powers and Tennyson provided further cover in the battle as he blasted away with his own weapons.In the ensuing chaos, Pilqvist faced off against Alucard, managing to stop the ritual in its place as she struck the area with various elemental effects. In the confusion, Mamuwalke got in close enough to kill Alucard and end the ritual on the spot. Seeing this, the surviving vampires fled into the night as fast as they could, although many were cut off by Dixon and the reinforcements he had called in with numberous arrests or stakings taking place.His work done, Mamuwalke then ended his tortured existence by falling upon a stake of wood that had been left in the fight. Not willing to be a vampire and having gained some measure of revenge against Dracula, Mamuwalke had decided to end it on his own terms. To many it seemed that things had come to an end.But the League weren't satisfied. There was still the matter of who had been covering up the Camarilla's plans within the government and preventing a proper investigation. Having found evidence in Taskerlands of the conspiracy, the League returned to London and headed straight to the Houses of Parliament. There, Dixon approached and arrested Henry Winshaw as the conspirator, causing an outright scandal in the government.In the aftermath, the conservatives managed to re-establish control over the Camarilla, but the damage that had been done to vampire society was immense. They had lost dozens of agents and many of their own to the battle with the radicals and the attempt to resurrect Dracula. Their influence in many governments was actively curtailed as their agents were exposed and hunted down, leaving the organisation a shadow of its former self. Vampires would retreat even further into the shadows, left greatly weakened.The exposure of the Camarilla led to a good amount of house cleaning by various governments, Britain especially and in America. This internal focus would lead to greater exploitation of the situation by the Soviet Union over the decade, leading to increasing tension as the decade wore on. Having sensed weakness, the USSR was eager to capitalise on it, sending the world down a path towards war.Sergeant Dixon, having led the League and brought the influence of the Camarilla to light, would receive numerous commendations for his efforts before he would eventually retire as a humble police officer. For Dixon, the situation might have been stranger, but it was still another crime that needed to be brought to justice. He would continue his community work in London up until his death, representing what a police officer should be.Now with his role in this case finished, Crane would continue his work with the supernatural, becoming a key part of British research into the subject. While magic was generally mapped out in some ways, the potential of the human mind were only just being discovered. Crane would help with this and lead to further results down the line, with one unfortunate result of this being the Genocyber project.Lee quickly returned to Hong Kong and his martial arts school. His fighting skills would be passed on to another generation as he sought to teach discipline of the mind and body to all students. This would benefit Hong Kong greatly in the coming years as it was the front line of the chaos that would be inflicted upon the world.With her success in using her magic and realising that she was only just uncovering the true extent of her powers, Pilqvist would leave the Luna Nova Magical Academy and returned to Scandinavia to found the Trolberg School of Magic with another witch named Kiki soon afterwards, who had earned her fame in Koriko. She would keep in touch with Eglantine Price until the latter passed away, their friendship having broadened the scope of magical study throughout Europe.Tennyson would also return home to the USA, his work having helped establish even stronger links between investigations into the supernatural between America and the UK. His career would oversee future human discoveries of alien life, especially as the first humans reached Mars aboard Capricorn One later on in the decade and exploration began of the seemingly dead planet.Despite the victory, the League weren't able to help solve the problems beset in the world at this time. Even America felt a general malaise as it saw gangs erupting into revolution in New York as they tried to take the streets for themselves, led by the visionary known as Cyrus. In Chicago, two musicians dealt hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to the city in a successful attempt to save an orphanage from closure. Although these incidents were resolved, they showcased that society was no longer confident in itself or others. Things would have to change, but that change would come at a stark price.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“We were... Well, we were bloody terrified, that's the truth of it. Every day was agony, wondering if the bombs were going to go off, if everything was going to end. And that's on top of the war itself. I don't know how we managed to just go on with things, but we did. You just had to take it a bit a time. You can't understand the relief we all felt when it was over unless you were alive at the time. Everything wasn't alright, far from it, but we felt like we had hope for the first time in years.”- Jimmy Kemp, talking about ordinary people's lives during the Third World War in a documentary
Neunundneunzig Jahre Krieg

Ließen keinen Platz für Sieger

Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr

Und auch keine Düsenflieger

Heute zieh' ich meine Runden

Seh' die Welt in Trümmern liegen

Hab 'n Luftballon gefunden

Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1983 - 1987:William "Bill" Grange 'The Cat'Eric Allan 'Bananaman'Sue Travers 'Tanya'Craig Travers 'The Blue Wizard'Sam Pacey 'Oakman'Manon Deschamps 'Fleur de Lys'Richard "Rick" Rubberneck 'Faceache'It was perhaps inevitable that war would break out between NATO and the Soviet Union. The two sides had faced off against each other in the Cold War for decades, held off from war as both wielded nuclear weapons. Although there were crises and stand offs, the threat of the complete destruction of the entire world held off either side from pushing too far. By the 1980's, relations were tense, but still workable.All this came to an end with the rise of a man simply known as Yuri. His origins are shrouded in mystery, in no small part thanks to the destruction he himself inflicted upon the world, but what can be pieced together was that he was the outcome of a Soviet program investigating psychic powers. As the best result, Yuri also proved to be a master of various fields of science, using his abilities and knowledge to rise high in the Soviet military. Although, there is some controversy regarding how much he used his psychic abilities in order to ease his rise up the ladder.By the mid-80's, Yuri held large sway over the Soviet military and his influence grew on a daily basis. His psychic abilities lent themselves towards mind-control and he soon had the politburo and the higher ranks of the military completely under his sway. Too late, did some realise the threat that Yuri posed, those being the first to be purged as he cemented power. Content to remain behind the throne, Yuri placed a puppet in charge of the Soviet Union while he directed the build up of military forces in the early 80's. Yuri had a vision of a world completely under his control. Free will subsumed by his will instead.The military build up didn't go unnoticed by NATO, which responded in kind. What they failed to realise was Yuri's schemes being the cause behind it all. Mistaking the belligerence as typical Cold War posturing, Yuri's build up of inventions known as 'psychic dominators' were missed. Built throughout Ostania, they were designed to brainwash everyone within their radius to become loyal servants to Yuri and were expertly disguised through various means.Yuri made sure to bring the tension to a boiling point. By 1983, Westalia was brimming with NATO soldiers, agents and spies. It was all exactly according to Yuri's design. When his attack came, it wasn't from missiles or bullets, but his own psychic dominators. In a single afternoon, Westalia, and most of the population, was under Yuri's control. This included the NATO forces in the area, which were now effectively fighting for the Soviet Union.The sheer shock of this spread through what remained of NATO's forces greatly. They fell back in disarray, fleeing back into France as Westalia was now absorbed and reunited with Ostania into a single Germany once more. Yuri was far from done, however. He saw this as the first step of the entire world falling to his grasp and pushed on with his goals. Although the psychic dominators had completed their task in Europe, there was still much to do in the east as well.The Soviet Union and China, despite both being communist states, had experienced their own tensions over the years with both wanting to be seen as being the premier socialist power. Seeing that they would prove to be a threat while the Soviet Union was busy in the west, Yuri had more psychic dominators built along the border with China, repeating his tactic of forcing the bulk of Chinese forces to move directly into the range of the psychic dominators before suddenly switching them on, turning the rival armies into his own forces.Now, Yuri was master of the greatest military force the world had ever known and used it accordingly. The Soviet army, bolstered by their newest 'recruits', pushed forward into Europe and Northern China, crushing all resistance. Nuclear bombs, the thing that had prevented war from breaking out between the powers before, were neutralised thanks to Yuri's psychic agents infiltrating NATO and Chinese command. Along with the help of a Soviet agent known as Electronic, they were able to systematically wipe all the codes of nuclear missiles while also finding out the location of NATO nuclear submarines and neutralising them in one fell swoop. Suddenly, the Soviets held an enormous advantage in nuclear weapons that guaranteed they would could destroy NATO in a strike while suffering only minimal damage themselves. MAD was no more.With each success came fresh ones. New psychic dominators were prepared to be built on the ever changing fronts of war. Yuri envisioned all of Eurasia bowing before him, but he first decided to tackle the greatest threat to the Soviet Union, the United States. As China was forced to surrender the north and regroup in the south, Yuri turned looked to the naval forces that had been built up in the Pacific over the last few years. A mighty fleet was ready to strike out and invade North America, looking to bring that nation to heel as well.As a show of strength, as well as to counter what was believed to be a major attack building up in the city (Which, to be fair, was happening), Yuri ordered Tokyo to be flattened by a nuclear strike. Another bomb had been set to strike Vladivostok, which had been emptied of all but a skeleton amount of military forces first although civilians had been left unaware to further the propaganda of the attack. With that false flag being used as a justification for a retaliatory strike, Yuri gave the order to send a missile against Tokyo, destroying the city and paving the way for the Soviet Navy to cross the Pacific.Through all this, Yuri had kept to the shadows while Soviet propaganda made sure to play up the Soviets as defending themselves against NATO aggression and Chinese betrayal. Thanks to Yuri's mind-control abilities, he had managed to manipulate events enough to portray NATO as being the aggressor in almost every way. Those who weren't directly involved in the conflict, stayed out of it, while those who were seemed to be on the verge of being taken over by the Soviet Union.Desperate and facing the greatest threat to their nations, the remaining members of NATO that hadn't been overrun tried to rally their forces. In a repeat of what had happened over forty years ago, the Royal Navy evacuated as many soldiers as it could from France as it became obvious that they couldn't hold against the Soviet military. Similar scenes were repeated in Italy as the peninsular was invaded. Western Europe was threatened to be overwhelmed while Britain alone remained a safe haven, but only for the time being.Worse news followed as the Soviet Navy invaded America's West Coast and the Baltic Fleet broke out into the Northern Sea as it prepared to do similar to Britain. Not even World War II had placed Britain in such dire straits. In the face of an invasion, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was brought into being.There is, however, some controversy over as to who counts as the League at this time. The calamitous situation caused the British government to call up every agent they possibly could. Numerous groups were formed to help prepare Britain for the inevitable invasion that was sure to take place as the Soviet Navy prepared itself across the English Channel.One such group would be known as the Bunkerton Bunch. Led by Dennis 'The Menace' Law, they were a group of locals who resisted the Soviets when their home-town became the front line for invasion. With members such as Hermione Makepeace, Roger Dawson, Percival Plugsley, Sidney Pye and Kate Pye, the Bunkerton Bunch were renowned for their ability to play havoc behind Soviet lines. Despite this, they were never officially made League members, each person in the group having a strong anti-authoritarian streak that saw them work with the British government only on sufferance.Those who had lost their home nations to the invasion of the Soviets found aid from the British government, as another league was set up. While La Brigade Chimerique were formed by exiles to liberate France, there was also another group that took on such a role. Led by Yoko Tsuno, the Héros Internationaux were a group of agents who stood out, even among their peers. Other members of the group included Bibi Blocksberg, Kurt Dunder, Diabolik and Pepe Carvalho. The group, despite their differences, were determined to make a stand and liberate their home nations, along with others who had been forced back by the Soviet advance.A group which probably have the strongest claim to being defined as the League would be the Dreadnoughts. Led by the sea-themed hero known as Aquavenger, who provided experience and leadership along with his powers, the Dreadnoughts would be the first line of defence going forward against the Soviets. Its membership included the powerful, if delusional, Big Ben, whose patriotic sentiments gave something people could rally behind. Diana Starr, with her jetpack modified to go to extreme speeds, was an active scout for the Dreadnoughts, as well as able to spy on Soviet transmissions with her own specialised radio.The ranks of the Dreadnoughts also included the cyborg Super Sue, a young woman whose super speed allowed her to zoom in and out of Soviet ranks and strength allowed her to tear through steel. King Cobra was another member who used technology to fight against the Soviets, his strength being a great aid against them, while his suit acted as advanced armour that could shrug off bullets. Although much more low-tech, the vigilante known as X-Bow was no less effective thanks to his mastery of the crossbow and hand-to-hand skills.Certainly the most notorious member of the Dreadnoughts was Doomlord Vek. A member of the alien species from the planet Nox, Vek had been sent to judge whether humanity deserved to exist or not. He had judged in the positive, but the Soviet War was making him rethink his position. If the Soviet Union were to win, then he would look to destroy humanity, making him a nerve-wracking ally for the others, but one they could work with for the time being.This isn't counting the many other agents that the British government called up in order to help them on an individual level. This also extended to America, which saw the Frontiersmen being called to action, as well as volunteers from overseas that broke away from their neutral governments to make a stand against the Soviet Union. It was an all hands on deck approach and every avenue of aid was searched for. Which led to those who would be identified as the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at this time. While the other groups had their virtues and supporters to be added to the list of names that had made up the League before, there were enough issues with them that prevented them from being given the most prestigious of names. There was, however, a group that fit a lot of the criteria needed, despite their relative youth.The first name to be brought up on the list was William Grange, also known as 'Billy The Cat' in his vigilante persona. He had been acting as a superhero since childhood, serving the common good with his cousin, Katie. The pair had managed to gain good relations with the authorities and this would stick through the two as they grew up. Eventually, Grange would take on a mentor role for younger heroes through the British government, helping those with great abilities and powers learn how to use them for the greater good. The number of such youths had grown considerably in recent decades and they needed all the help they could get. While Grange focused on this, Katie pulled away from the vigilante side of things to act as a liaison between them and the official police while also being recruited into counter-intelligence as well.The latest group that Grange was mentoring stood out for being some of the odder collections of heroes brought forward as membership for the League. A second mentor figure had been attached to the group, Richard Rubberneck, as a result. A shapeshifter of no minor skill, Rubberneck could take on the appearance and characteristics of people and animals by an ability he called 'scrunging'. Rubberneck had quickly been headhunted by British intelligence and given a similar role as Granger as he grew up, although lacking the latter's diligence.After being chosen as mentors for four young heroes, the two had set about to help them to the best of their abilities. The four they had been chosen to watch over had certainly their fair share of eccentricities, especially for young Eric Allan. As a baby, Allan had been fed a banana that had been laced with the volatile element known as Saturnium. Amazingly, Allan hadn't died and instead gained immense superpowers for a limited time whenever he ate a banana in the future. Once British intelligence had made absolutely certain that this was true and not someone pulling an elaborate prank on them, they brought in Allan as part of their mentorship program, with his strength, invulnerability and flight being seen as a major asset. The KGB agent who uncovered this and reported it to his superiors was subsequently reassigned to an unimportant filing post in Kamchatka.Three other members of the League had come in together, having already been part of a team, although not entirely of their own will. The Amazing Three had been ordinary British children who had simply been in the right place and time for them to receive powers from scientists of the planet Zorr. Having banished the scientist Vogler from their world, the inhabitants of Zorr had meant to sent him to an uninhabited planet for him to live out his days. A meteor shower had thrown his ship off course to Earth, where Vogler had begun his attempts to conquer once more. Once they realised their error, the scientists of Zorr then chose to let someone else handle it by giving powers to three schoolchildren who were in the general area at the time.Those three children were the twins, Sue and Craig Travers and their friend Sam Pacey. Sue was gifted with flight, hypnotism and the ability to shoot lasers from her fingers. Craig was able to create illusions, fire energy bolts, change the shape of others and levitate objects. Pacey gained impenetrable skin, the ability to fly and super strength. The three took on the monikers of Tanya, Blue Magician and Oakman respectively, turning their focus to stopping Vogler and protecting Earth. Their exploits soon brought them to the attention of the British government, where they were given the opportunity for further help and mentorship with their abilities, which they agreed to take.One final member would be attached to the League in order to give it an extra area of expertise, although the addition was last minute. Manon Deschamps, known as Fleur de Lys, was a hero of Quebecois origins, having been a partner of the Canadian hero known as Northguard before the war broke out. She had agreed to be transferred to the front with a Canadian division, but had still been in Britain when the psychic dominators had activated. Fleur was then offered a role mentoring the heroes as a result and took it, although the invasion of her homeland along with the West Coast of America made her perhaps the most eager of the group to take the fight to the Soviets.Initially, the group had been formed to battle the alliance of Vogler and General Blight, a former British soldier whose belligerence and desire for recognition had seen him forced out of the army. Filled with desire for revenge, Blight had contacted the Soviets, who had seen him as a useful fool for their ends and given him some limited support to distract Britain. After teaming up with Vogler, Blight had seen his resources increase dramatically and had become an actual threat as the alliance between the two was aided by a former scientist named Bruno Demonski joining their ranks. With a suit that would protect him from the fires that covered it, Demonski could then shoot out the flames at will, turning him into a threat for everyone in his vicinity.These had been the villains that the young league had been formed to fight in 1983. In this, they had proven to be extremely successful. Demonski, although a terror for those without powers, found that his flame abilities lacked the punch needed to deal with Eric Allan, who had chosen the name Bananaman for his heroic person before anyone could stop him. When the Amazing Three were thrown into the mix as well, Demonski was easily dispatched with minimal difficulty. Despite the general air headedness of Allan, he proved himself to be an amiable sort who was easy to get along with and his addition to the team was soon welcomed.With Demonski taken into custody, Blight and Vogler pushed forward with their plans for the conquest of Britain and then the world. Commanding an army of monsters conjured into existence by Vogler, Blight prepared to terrorise Warwickshire with them before Rubberneck stepped in, disguising himself as Blight and sending the army into confusion as they didn't know who to obey. With that, the Amazing Three, Bananaman and Billy The Kat swooped in to deal with the monsters and take the real Blight into custody.Now with momentum on their side, the group moved on swiftly towards Vogler's hideout to battle the alien himself. Under such an onslaught, Vogler soon found himself outmatched as his machines were destroyed by Bananaman and the Amazing Three cornered him. Vogler tried to flee to his spaceship, but Billy The Cat and Rubberneck beat him to it, cutting off all avenues of escape and trapping the villain completely. After bringing Vogler into custody and then exile once more, the group celebrated their first grand success, just as the Soviet War pushed towards being inevitable.Now, with the Soviets on the verge of invading, Granger was summoned to British intelligence and told that his group would be made the latest iteration of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The League was needed for this, but, as the other candidates were deemed unsuitable for the name, Granger's group were seen as the ones that would help with morale and still follow directives from the British government when they needed to. With the disguises the League took on hiding their ages, the truth was obscured and made things easier, although Prime Minister Jim Hacker would later lament bringing children into the war as the worst moral decision he had made during his Premiership. The League was now formed with Fleur de Lys added to its membership. And not a moment too soon. With their fleet and army ready, the Soviets only had to deal with the English Channel and then all of Europe would be in their grasp. Yuri had prepared for this, as his psychic dominators had been built and ready for deployment the instant they reached British shores. At this point though, Yuri's plans began to go awry.Anya Forger was a young woman and a talented telepath. She had been raised in Ostania by her adoptive parents, who were agents for opposing nations, but didn't realise this until they had already fallen in love. Through a series of dramatic, comical, and very interesting adventures, Anya and her family grew closer together before fleeing to Westalia, where her powers grew from telepathy into others. When the Soviets switched on the psychic dominators, Anya found that she was immune to their effects, even managing to read the minds of those controlling them to find out what the machines did. With this information, Anya quickly fled west to tell those in NATO about the nature of the psychic dominators and what they could do.When she managed to reach Britain, Anya soon found herself approached by Tom Crane. In the aftermath of the conflict with the Camarilla, Crane had found himself soon taking control over Department 7, the government body which focused on those with psychic abilities of various kinds. Anya's abilities were powerful enough to attract his attention within moments of her reaching Britain and her story about the psychic dominators confirmed what many had suspected of the Soviets. Such had been the effectiveness of their offence into Western Europe and China, there had been little chance to actually investigate why so many had defected. Now though, the reason had been uncovered.Knowing what they were up against, Crane and Department 7 put their skills to use. They believed that they could counter the psychic dominators for a time, with members of the department such as Rosemary Black provided the cover needed. With that, other agents could then destroy them and stop their threat. Scouting missions over the Channel helped identify the psychic dominators that were being prepared to be brought to Britain, showing that they were going to be used, but in limited numbers due to many also being used in China and America. The League had their first mission, to destroy the psychic dominators before they could be switched on once they reached British shores, or before they overwhelmed the psychics from Department 7. The former was very much preferred. Aided by the fact that the psychic dominators needed a power supply and a steady foundation to rest on while they were activated, the League prepared for the upcoming battle. The sheer scale of the invasion dwarfed that of Germany in the forties considerably, as the Soviets used brainwashed soldiers from NATO's navies and their ships to bolster their numbers considerably. The same was similar for the Royal Navy, as those who had escaped the brainwashing effects joined the British as they prepared to defend the last free locations in Europe.It was a hot day in August when the klaxons sounded and the Soviet forces were seen approaching. The invasion was on and it was to the death. The Soviets showed this as they struck the British beaches, sending men and weapons of war onto the land as they began the invasion. They were met by soldiers and ships, the English Channel lighting up in a battle that churned the waters and turned them red with blood.Instantly, the weaknesses of the psychic dominators became apparent. Those who were subjected to them could do little more than obey basic orders unless Yuri himself gave them direct commands. While the Soviet side had plenty of numbers to diminish that weakness, it soon began to show as the British armed forces and their allies were able to respond faster and hit harder as a result of their ingenuity.The Soviet invasion continued apace though. Hampshire, East Sussex and West Sussex were occupied with the armies pushing on towards Surrey, paying for every inch of ground with blood. The sky fighting was no less fierce, with pilot Dan Dare rising to fame for the countless sorties he performed against the Soviets during this time and shooting down dozens of enemy aircraft.Behind enemy lines, the Bunkerton Bunch frequently sent Soviet plans into chaos as they wrecked logistical capabilities and took out officers. The Dreadnoughts served as frontline defenders, forcing the Soviet attacks into a crawl and allowing allied troops to withdraw and regroup enough to counter-attack at crucial moments.It was the League that provided the knock-out blow to the Soviet invasion though. The psychic infiltrators were targetted with ruthless efficiency when they were located. Working in conjunction with Department 7, the League were able to destroy every one of the devices before they could be activated before withdrawing to friendly lines. With Granger directing the group and Rubberneck able to flawlessly disguise himself as Soviet officers to sow confusion among the enemy ranks, the rest of the League struck hard at the devices before they could come online.With that accomplished, a more daring operation was devised that would change the tide of the invasion for good. Psychic dominators had been identified on the French coast of the English Channel, within range to keep the ships of the European navies under control and brainwashed. It was given to the League to make their way over the English Channel and destroy them. Considering most of them could fly, this was seen as a natural fit, although Rosemary Black would naturally prove reluctant to it, since she would have to be carried through the air to protect the League from the psychic dominator's effects. She agreed to it, of course, but made sure to be carried by the Amazing Three rather than Allan, as she strongly suspected the latter would drop her in the middle of a battle and not realise it.Despite the reluctance shown, the mission proved to be a major success. The League was able to go in and smash the psychic dominators to pieces, or blown up in a series of rapid attacks that the Soviets couldn't respond to in time. Those ships whose crews had been brainwashed into fighting for the Soviets suddenly regained their free will and turned against their true enemies. The ensuing battle saw the Soviet Navy heavily defeated and forced to retreat with the invasion forces now cut off and isolated from their supplies.A full scale assault by the Allies followed that saw the Soviet invasion force decimated while being forced back towards the sea. This was made possible, not only through the efforts of the League and Allied forces in Britain, but also the other nations facing the Soviets. The Frontiersmen of America performed a daring raid on Leningrad, destroying the nuclear codes and controls that governed the Soviet's nuclear weapons. This put the Soviets on an equal footing with their opponents and gave them the chance to fight back without fear of nuclear reprisals. Yuri had wanted to rule the world, not a wasteland, but the threat of nuclear retaliation had weighed down Allied options considerably.Then there were further blows to be had. Japan had not been cowed by the nuclear destruction of Tokyo, but instead galvanised into resistance. The Divine League struck at Soviet ports along the Pacific, damaging their ability to resupply their forces in America. This was followed up by China launching their own assault on the psychic dominators in the north of the country, freeing up territory and people as their own group made up of incredible individuals, the Great Xian, aided in the attacks.These four blows were damaging, but not fatal to the Soviet war effort. Still, it was enough for Yuri to move forward with something he had been loathe to do, reform the Heroes Of Our Time. As this would be a group of highly experienced and skilled individuals that would be acting with their own initiative, Yuri had been greatly reluctant to call them forward as he despised anything he couldn't absolutely control. Thanks to the setbacks inflicted upon the Soviet war effort though, Yuri was left with little choice. He needed a counter to all the groups inflicting these damages on the Soviet war effort and the Heroes Of Our Time had been a group in Russian history that had risen to deal with such threats successfully.Leading the Heroes Of Our Time was Major Ivan Pronin, the aged, but still sharp police officer. He had prevented many American espionage missions in the Soviet Union thanks to his quick wits and action and held the respect of countless others, making him an ideal leader. Despite his position, Pronin was uneasy. It had been the General Secretary who had summoned him and given him the mission to lead the Heroes, true, but Pronin had heard rumours about the true power behind the Soviet state and his own investigation was pointing him towards uncomfortable conclusions.One who had surprisingly less qualms about the general state of affairs was Mir. An artificial person created to serve as a hero for the Soviet Union as part of the Patriot program, Mir had full faith in the government and believed the propaganda that this was a war of liberation after a treacherous NATO attack. With flight, invulnerability and energy absorption, he was a power to be reckoned with, although his true potential was blocked by mental shields enforced upon him by Yuri's own organisation.Joining Mir in his outlook on the war was Electronic, the artificial lifeform born Soviet science and having successfully taken the blueprints of Britain's own robots via espionage. Electronic had helped rob the Allies of their nuclear capabilities and was attached to the League for his strength, speed and mastery over mathematics that allowed him to break even the most advanced codes within seconds.Another result of the Soviet Union's attempt to create a superhuman soldier was Lenrik Oganessian, also known as Ler, an Armenian athlete who had been gifted with mastery over the rock and soil, able to change it to his will. Lehr had embraced his role when he had first been taken into the Patriot program, determined to do his utmost with the opportunity given to him.Another one who had remained in her prime despite her years was Olga Anvarovna Vorontsova, better known as the Countess. Her youthful appearance came from being a vampire from a Russian clan that had remained loyal to the conservative outlook of the Camarilla. During the attempt by Alucard and the radicals to take over, the Countess' clan fought back and became known to the Soviet government, who offered to overlook their activities if they worked with them. The deal was accepted and the Countess found, much to her aggravation, that she was the one chosen to join the Heroes Of Our Time.Rounding up the Heroes was one whose abilities were of a darker nature and not wholly reliable. Konstantin Sergeevich Vishnyakov had been a cosmonaut who had returned from one mission with an alien creature living inside of him. This creature would seek out humans while Vishnyakov slept, using stealth, strength and speed to consume them. Rather than have the creature examined or killed, Yuri saw its potential as a military asset and had Vishnyakov attached to the Heroes for his role as a cosmonaut being the public face of it. Privately, Vishnyakov was threatened with his son's life to keep him in line.After the numerous setbacks to the Soviet Union during the war, Yuri pushed towards an action that would provide propaganda value, if not anything practical. He wanted to launch an attack on a major capital of a power that was resisting the Soviet Union. However, Beijing was already occupied and the secondary Chinese capital of Nanjing was far behind the borders. The American front had stalled in Colorado, leaving Washington D.C. out of range. Tokyo was still a wreck from its bombing and Yuri saw no value in attacking Ottawa. London would have to be the target.With the British military busy finishing off the last of the invaders and accepting their surrender, the Heroes Of Our Time struck. Pronin, knowing full well that a prolonged mission was suicide, even for his group, instead focused on a symbol of British imperialism, Buckingham Palace. The Heroes tore through it, ripping the palace to pieces while Electronic shut down London's power supplies, rendering aid to the location hard to reach.Adding insult to injury, Ler covered the remains of the palace with dirt, making it so only the foundations remained. Despite this, the Heroes made sure that casualties were kept to a minimum and no civilians were harmed during the attack. Their work done, the Heroes then retreated with them using a submarine to escape. Rather than a Soviet submarine though, this belonged to the Red Shadows, a terrorist group that had been propped up by the Soviets for years before becoming an official mercenary arm linked to the military.In truth, the Heroes felt little more than distaste for working with the Red Shadows, especially their leader, Baron Ironblood. He was a cold, sadistic man who cared for little more than his own power and enjoyment of battle, something he made no secret of. To Yuri, he was an able soldier and agent who was willing to get his hands dirty in order to win the war. This would be the first crack in the belief that many of those attached to the Heroes that they were doing the right thing.Although the destruction of Buckingham Palace was a blow to morale, it was offset by the surrender of the last Soviet forces in Britain soon afterwards. Still,a response was needed, but choices were limited. Europe had become a fortress that was kept under control by Yuri's psychic dominators and the Soviet military. There was little chance of a strike there that would cause lasting damage, at least for the time being. Other nations were becoming more aware of the true threat of the Soviet Union, especially as the role of the psychic dominators was revealed, but weren't willing to attack while it seemed that they were winning the war.With Europe too tough a target at present and the Soviet Atlantic Fleet had battered too much to launch another attack on Britain, the British government decided to send the League to America. There, they hoped that they would prove to be of great use in turning the tide against the Soviets and allow for the liberation of the West Coast. Other groups would look to Europe as well, scouting out positions of the psychic dominators there to destroy then and weaken the Soviet hold over the continent.In America, the League would look to break down Soviet logistics further. Although their advance had stalled and their supplies route had been greatly diminished, there was still enough coming through, as well as the Soviet forces living off the land, that allowed the invasion to continue. If the League could strike this, while acting in conjunction with the Frontiersmen in a grand assault, then the tide could be turned.There was some relief among the League that the Soviet Union hadn't brought psychic dominators with them to North America, but they were limited in number and delicate instruments. Yuri had focused them on Europe and China to break through the defences of his enemies and because he believed that what resistance remained would crumble soon afterwards. This miscalculation would be one of several that would greatly damage the Soviet war effort.Seattle was the League's target as they also looked to provide cover for the Frontiersmen, who were approaching the Pacific in order to aid with the defection of Captain Markos Raimus, who had key military information that would help the US against the Soviets by revealing all their weak points. The League's attack was meant to cause enough chaos to distract the Soviet military at a crucial time, allowing the Frontiersmen to spirit Raimus away.Arriving in Seattle, the League made their way to the docks, aided by local resistance figures. Rubberneck got to work posing as General Boris Krukov, the man in charge of the Soviet forces in America. With him sending out contradicting orders to different units, confusion soon reigned in Seattle, allowing the League to strike swiftly and hard. Grange and de Lys had crafted a plan identifying key ships that carried Soviet equipment.It was at this point that the Amazing Three and Bananaman moved in. They attacked the ships, tearing through the steel in them and sinking dozens while also making sure that they pulled any sailors still on them to safety. The Soviets lost irreplaceable equipment and had no way to respond as they were still utterly lost in confusion due to their conflicting orders and the scale and surprise of the attack. In a few short hours, the League had thrown the Soviets into chaos before withdrawing to safety. What was worse was that the Frontiersmen had used the distraction perfectly and Raimus was now in Allied care, telling them everything he knew and handing over everything he had managed to obtain.Now with Soviet logistics stretched to breaking point, the Americans launched an offensive on a broad front. Krukov had no choice but to call for a retreat, which soon turned to a complete rout as American forces and resistance groups struck at the Soviets. The Soviet army fled west, abandoning equipment by the metric tonne as they tried to reach the coast and get onto a ship to escape. Only half of the army was able to do this as the American military and other such groups kept up the pressure. The League itself was put to work sinking even more ships as they arrived to evacuate the troops, pulling the sailors to land as they did so.America had officially been liberated and the Soviets had suffered an enormous loss. Their navy especially had been devastated in both the Atlantic and Pacific, rendering further operations overseas all but impossible. Rather than try and adapt to circumstances and find a new strategy, an infuriated Yuri resorted to what he knew best, attempting to gain compliance through violence and fear.The Heroes Of Our Time were once more sent out to strike back at the enemies at the Soviet Union, despite the objections of some of the members, who felt that they could be doing more for the war effort by others means. Not wanting to risk the Heroes going out on their own and finding out too much, Yuri made sure they were kept on a tight leash through the Soviet military. Pronin began to talk secretly to the other members of the Heroes, seeing who could be trusted in the event that they needed to make a stand if his suspicions about the true leader of the Soviet Union proved true.For now though, Pronin was forced to go along with what he had been commanded to do. The destruction of several of the psychic dominators in Northern France had allowed the population to regain its free will and show increasing hostility to the presence of the Soviet troops. Resistance was beginning to focus around an aged artist named Thibaut, who had become the voice of those striking against Soviet rule.For the Soviet forces, they had been told that the psychic dominators were there to undo the decades of propaganda fed to the people by NATO. Few believed this, but knew better than to say it out loud. Most accepted it as a temporary measure to prevent the occupied nations from striking back, but Pronin's investigations began to point him as to their true intent. Once the world had fallen to Soviet might, what else were the psychic dominators to do but to encompass the entire world's population?It was a conclusion that Pronin was fast coming to as the Heroes made their way to Northern France. There, they would manage to break through the resistance cells with the Countess feeding upon those that she could grab, as did the alien living within Vishnyakov doing the same. Others, such as Mir, did their best to do the job with minimal casualties and managed to bring Thibaut in alive. That was when Baron Ironblood and his Red Shadows came to mop up the remains, slaughtering many within the region to make sure all resistance was broken.This proved to be the final straw for Pronin. Thibauld's public execution, combined with his own investigations making his conclusions inescapable. The Soviet Union had become a puppet for one man controlling things behind the shadows. It had to be stopped before it was too late. A split began to form in the Heroes as Pronin began to make his move.Away from that, the Allied nations began to push forward as well. America started sending its military to Britain to create an invasion force that would liberate Europe. In Asia, China and Japan began to co-ordinate in a similar manner as they planned to strike along the Soviet Union's eastern border. Across the world, other nations moved away from neutrality as they helped the Allies with material and men.The Allied nations put all their resources into one grand offensive that looked to liberate as much territory and people from the Soviets as possible. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Frontiersmen, Divine League, Great Xian and many other groups were brought in to help with this offensive. From the English Channel to the Qinling-Huaihe Line, the world prepared for the largest attack the world had ever known.It began with the League and others making their way to Northern France to fight off the forces of the Red Shadows in the area. The psychic dominators had yet to be rebuilt and they, as well as the Bunkerton Bunch, had the skills and expertise needed to clear the way needed for a general military assault. The League had seen the impact of the war in America and were determined to see it brought to an end. Enough blood had been shed for Yuri's mad ambitions all wanted to see it come to an end.To start off, the League's assaults went well. The Dreadnoughts provided a distraction by aiming further south and striking at the psychic dominators along the coast. Since this had been the main thrust of the attacks so far, the Soviet military moved to counter them, realising only too late they had fallen for the ruse. The League were were suited to attack the forces against them, with Grange and de Lys contacting what remained of the resistance as the other members drove the Red Shadows out of the area.As the Soviet military turned to meet this threat, the Bunkerton Bunch also leapt into action, being protected by several members of Department 7 as they struck the Soviet command centres in places where they thought the psychic dominators would keep them safe. Now with key officers dead, the Soviet response to the pressure being placed on them throughout France was sluggish and confused and further hampered as more and more areas were liberated with the destruction of the psychic dominators, allowing resistance to flourish.It wasn't long before the great assault began. In Western Europe, British, American and troops exiled from their native lands touched down in France in a repeat of forty years previous. The added wrinkle was now having to fight the brainwashed troops of the nations they were trying to liberate along the way. It was a process that was being repeated in Northern China, but helped by how Yuri was unable and unwilling to change his tactics. His psychic dominators were his greatest creation, but exceedingly proving to be something he based his entire strategy around.The only other thing that Yuri did was grow to rely more and more on the Red Shadows as the war dragged on to try and keep the population, as well as his own troops, in line. Baron Ironblood was given more authority, even over Soviet officers, to keep up the fight and punish those who were seen as disloyal or incompetent.It was a rotten mixture that played directly into Allied hands. Added to this were the legions of robot soldiers, based on Archie, that could move into Europe unaffected by the psychic dominators. Though lacking in high numbers, they managed to pile on the pressure on the Soviets and prevent them from striking back at the growing Allied forces while a secondary assault was growing in Cackle's Academy.With help from all students and teachers, including such alumni as Mildred Hubble, Cackle's Academy had been put hard to work at finding out a spell that could counter the psychic dominators. Along with the aid of the Luna Nova Academy, the spell was finished and ready to be used. On Midsummer's Night, every magical practitioner in Britain was put to work, directing their powers to Europe. The spell was powerful and direct, sending a wave of energy that destroyed every psychic dominator in Europe and lifting their influence from its inhabitants.It also left a very big portion of the Soviet army now stranded in hostile territory and many of their allied units now turning against them. Confusion, chaos and mass surrenders followed as supply routes were destroyed and many units left isolated. There was some fighting, but many saw the writing on the wall and gave up.This left the road to the Soviet Union itself wide open. The years of fighting and losses incurred during the various invasions were starting to show, especially as China remained a quagmire that took up a vast portion of the Soviet military. The Allies drove on through Germany and reached Eastern Europe with the Soviet Union unable to counter it. For Pronin, the time to strike was now. He believed that he had the support of the Heroes Of Our Time and moved into action.Electronic hijacked the Soviet television networks and made them all reveal Pronin, who began to reveal his discoveries, that the Soviet Union was under control of a madman and had to be stopped. The aged hero failed to take into account just how much influence Yuri had over his comrades, however. Before he could get to his true revelations, they struck as Mir, Countess and Vishnyakov attacked upon Yuri's command. Mir had little choice in the matter, the mental blocks placed upon him turning out to be a killswitch that made it impossible for him to disobey a direct command, despite his best efforts.Countess was a different story. She cared not for where the blood she consumed came from, just so long as she could have it. Vishnyakov still had his son being held hostage and took tranquillisers before as Pronin's plan came into being, allowing the alien within him to launch out and strike the detective. As it did that, Ler was killed by being battered down by Mir and then Countess feasting on his blood. Mir then fell upon Electronic, crippling the artificial lifeform's body, but still kept him alive and aware. The broadcast was swiftly replaced with ballet as the Soviet Union's propaganda arm tried to come up with a cover for what had just happened. Something that was made even more difficult by the fact that they were actively losing the war and the Allies had just taken Berlin with Beijing coming close to being liberated as well. The losses were mounting and the latest public disaster was turning the people against the government, threatening to fracture it completely.Yuri, however, had one last trick up his sleeve. Electronic was brought to him with the aim to reactivate the codes for the nuclear weapons. They had been worked on ever since they had been switched off, with work now close to fruition. If Yuri could have those nuclear weapons back online, he could destroy all those who opposed him and rule over the ruins.Although he tried to resist, the scientists working against him pushed Electronic to the brink. He managed to send out one final, desperate message after hacking through the Soviet computer system. The Allied command soon became aware of what Yuri was doing thanks to Electronic's message and they acted accordingly. While their armies may have been unable to push to Moscow fast enough, their elite groups were not. The League and every single equivalent was soon sent to Moscow by any means they could in order to stop Yuri's last, desperate gambit.It was a race through Russia with different teams taking different routes. From east and west they came, all determined to stop the war once and for all. There were numerous clashes along the way as the Dreadnoughts were spotted in Smolensk, leading to a massive manhunt and then running battle taking part in the city, which helped divert attention away from the other teams. The Héros Internationaux approached via Crimea, followed by others.The League weren't the first to make it to Moscow, the honour instead being claimed by the Frontiersmen. Moscow was on high alert, however, with many soldiers in the area that soon became alerted to the presence of the group, triggering a red alert. A battle all but erupted in the city as more teams entered it, leading to a mess of a situation where confusion reigned and the groups pushed on towards the Kremlin, where Electronic was being held.It would be the League's luck that they would run into the remaining members of the Heroes of Our Time. Mir, Countess and the alien that had been within Visnyakov had been sent to defend one route to the Kremlin, this being the route that the League had chosen. The alien had managed to sneak up on them, attacking Grange and de Lys while Countess aimed for Rubberneck. The rest of the League had to deal with Mir, who was forced to use his full powers against them.The alien that had lived within Vishnyakov had grown strong from all its feasting and put Grange and de Lys on the backfoot. Strong, vicious and swift, the alien made repeated attempts to eat the two heroes, but found that it had met its match as the two managed to hold it off. Grange managed to trick the alien into entangling itself in his grappling hook, while de Lys used her own blade to slice through it, killing it and the sleeping Vishnyakov some distance away, the link between the two beings having kept them alive.Rubberneck had no less a harder time with Countess. Her vampiric abilities allowed her to keep up the pressure constantly while he had to frequently change shape simply to stay out of danger. After turning into a mouse to try and crawl away, Countess grabbed a hold of Rubberneck and brought him up to her mouth to feast. She only realised how bad of an idea this was when Rubberneck took on the qualities of an elephant and flattened her. With Countess injured, he then quickly took the pieces of a wooden beam that had been broken in their fight and drove it through her heart for good measure.Mir proved to be the hardest one to take down, even with Bananaman acting together with the Amazing Three. The Russian agent was able to absorb the attacks by Tanya to help power himself up, growing faster and stronger as a result. He held off the Amazing three before taking on Bananaman, steadily overcoming the brightly clad hero. Mir was just that little bit stronger and smarter than Bananaman, pushing through his defences enough to hurt him badly, breaking his arm in the process.The Amazing Three came to their partner's aid, but struggled against such strength. Mir grappled with Oakman, almost breaking him in half while Tanya and the Blue Magician did everything they could to save their friend. Eventually, they came up with a plan as Blue Magician conjured up metal sheets that buried Mir in tonnes of steel before levitating them into the air. Tanya pushed the sphere upwards, reaching the stratosphere as she pushed herself to her limits with her brother's help. She sent the ball, and Mir, into the atmosphere, causing them to burn up and killing him before she passed out and began to plummet to the ground, having been badly burned in the process. Only the intervention of her brother stopped her from being killed by the fall.The Heroes Of Our Time were defeated, but the League had suffered for it and were unable to join in the final push towards the Kremlin. Baron Ironblood and the Red Shadows served as the final defence around the building as they desperately clung on in order to give Yuri time to complete his plan. They failed as their defences were penetrated and Ironblood himself was killed by the Frontiersmen. The other teams flooded the Kremlin, fighting through the halls and corridors to Yuri's lab.Yuri was within seconds of achieving his goal when the doors to the lab burst in and he was attacked. In the battle, Electronic was destroyed by a member of the Divine League, distracting Yuri enough so that another member of the group, as well as an agent of the Great Xian, were able to land the killing blow on him. With him went the threat of nuclear destruction and the Soviet military itself.Now with Yuri dead, the Politburo regained control of itself and hastily sent out messages of surrender to the Allies. As the numerous heroes emerged from the Battle of Moscow, leaving behind a city scarred and bleeding, they nevertheless were greeted with relief that it was over. The war had ended. All that was left was to bury the dead and help those who still lived.The aftermath of the war saw the Soviet Union dissolved into different nations as those that had been part of the Warsaw Pact now sought their independence. The Soviet military, once perhaps the mightiest in the world, became little more than a peacekeeping force under the terms of the treaty imposed upon it and free and fair elections were established. Liberation had come to the world, but at a massive cost.The League and their counterparts returned to their home nations as heroes. Some basked in the spotlight, others shunned it. They had done their duty and simply wanted to return to their lives, as did everyone else who had taken part. They rejoined in the rebuilding efforts, with the Divine League looking to help clear Tokyo of radiation and rebuild it anew, a shining example of peace in the world. Other groups did the same for the cities of their own nations as well.Such peace wasn't entirely peaceful, however. The scale of the damage wrought on the world had weakened many governments and their ability to enforce laws. Crime rose across the globe and William Grange returned to his role as Billy the Cat, although he pulled away from mentoring other heroes. He focused on his own hometown and refused to move beyond that, even as his cousin contacted him from British intelligence with worrying reports of a group with a symbol of a black scorpion tail on a red background. Grange was proud of those he had mentored, but he simply wanted to focus on the smaller problems now and put the war behind him.Bananaman took on an entirely different viewpoint. Despite all his work in the war and what good he had done, he felt that he had failed to come through at the final point. Eric Allan applied himself much more as he didn't want his heroic persona to lose when the stakes were that high ever again. He took to his studies and exercises after he recovered, determined to become the best and wisest hero he could possibly be. Results were somewhat mixed.Another who took a different tack from the others was Richard Rubberneck. He had done what he could and decided enough was enough, retiring from active service completely. He took to travelling the world and enjoying himself however he could, never really talking about his experiences and making a living by using his abilities to clear away the destruction of the war.Fleur de Lys returned to Canada, hailed as a national hero and among the country's best and brightest. Like Grange, she returned to her vigilante work, but remained ready and willing to go on greater missions for her country. As her civilian identity, Manon Deschamps, she would take to mentoring young people in self-defence, scouting potential heroes as well.Out of the League, it was the Amazing Three who had been the most shaken by their experiences. Sue Travers and Sam Pacey had been grievously injured during the Battle of Moscow, so much so they needed extensive time to recover. Tanya and Oakman may have needed time off, but the Blue Magician continued on with his hero work alone until their recovery. After deep conversations with his sister and friend, Craig Travers agreed with them to turn their powers to explore and maybe even find the planet of Zorr someday. They did not turn away from doing heroic deeds, but more looked to the stars as a way to ease the pain of what they had been through.They would at least have great opportunities for this. Space exploration had seen huge improvements thanks to technological leaps during the war. The colonies on the Moon and Mars had seen little in the way of fighting, with more people moving to them once the war was over to find a degree of peace. The lush jungles of Venus were confirmed to be inhabitable towards the end of the decade as many nations prepared for further planetary explorations in the near future. Ordering a British expedition to Venus would be Jim Hacker's last act as Prime Minister before he called for an election, which saw Harry Perkins form a government to help rebuild the nation and world.For Earth though, the last years of the 80's saw period of uncertainty and lack of security. Many nations saw their ability to enforce law and order strained, with America especially becoming infamous for it. Metro City and Wood Oak City fell under the influence of criminal gangs with only the efforts of local heroes being able to stop them. Nations had to rely on each other more than ever, leading to the power of the United Nations growing enormously over the next few years. Even with this, criminal gangs flourished during this time, especially international ones.There would still be recovery though and even moments to celebrate. In Thailand, a national hero by the name of Sagat hosted a tournament of warriors to help raise money for those effected by the war a mere month after it ended. He would lose to a Japanese fighter named Ryu, who pledged his winnings to helping the victims of the conflict. Such acts of kindness provided hope and comfort after such trying times. This could also be seen in London, where the multi-national company known as Trotter's Independent Traders experienced major success by helping rebuild the war-torn streets, supplying much needed goods to the people of the city.It had been a long, bloody decade, but many hoped that things could only get better from here on in. They would soon learn whether they were correct or not.

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“I heard the others talking today, about how they're worried about stuff like who the Prime Minister is and all that. I don't know why. We've got rockets that go to Mars and Venus now, so why don't they just go on one of them? Won't have any problems if they just go somewhere else!”Extract from the diary of Tracy Beaker, 1992
Mama mama wami; Mama, bhinci, sidwaba sakho

Vunula uphelele sisho ngamphimbo linye sithi izelwe inkoi yamakhosi

Yinhle kunazozonke, masiyilandeleni khona sizophumelela

(Unqinisile umprofethi... lenkanyezi)

Saqala Sabezwa besho saze sabona nathi embhalweni

Sabe, sesiyakholwa, yilolo esikufundayo lithini ibhabeli

(uJesu uyinkosi)

Amen Halleluya Amen
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 1993:Ned le CarréAustin PowersLara CroftMinako Aino 'Sailor Venus'MarvTrini Kwan 'Yellow Ranger'As the world breathed a sigh of relief from the end of the Soviet War, it still carried on with its triumphs and tragedies. The casualties that had been inflicted upon so many nations brought them closer together and the United Nations took on a stronger role in the world, but there were still plenty of challenges to come and wounds of the past.While nations tried to recover, humanity pushed forward with its exploration of the stars. That there were alien worlds out there was well known and many hoped to find friendly faces on them. Venus had been contacted, only for it to be run by the tyrant known as the Mekon. His attempts to conquer Earth and beyond would go on to be foiled thanks to Dan Dare and his companions, allowing greater contact with a more free Venus government towards the end of the decade.Things weren't quite as smooth on Earth. The Soviet War had seen many governments struggle to recover their full authority after the conflict. America itself was plagued by unrest and weakened central power throughout the decade, to the extent that Mayor Mike Haggar of Metro City had to institute laws governing fights in the streets as opposed to banning them outright. Surprisingly, this turned out quite well and Metro City became a popular tourist attraction despite, or possibly because, of street fighting becoming ingrained into the city's culture.It was the time where organisations such as Shadaloo grew in strength, taking advantage of the power vacuum that came from the aftermath of the Soviet War. In Japan, the remains of Tokyo were overrun with crime with a man named Kenshiro leading the charge against them and returning some safety to the city. It was a time of upheaval and of hope. Of chaos and advancement. Of the beginning of humanity reaching the stars and the end of history.It was the time of the end.At least, that's what Sir Michael Marsh believed and he ran a doomsday cult, so he felt like he was an expert on the matter. An influential scientist who had revolutionised energy production, Marsh was a follower of the Old Ones, a pantheon of demonic beings who longed to break out of their imprisoned dimension and rampage across the material Universe. They were hardly the only such beings in a similar situation, but Marsh had seen them as the best options for him to dominate the world and beyond.The Old Ones had been sealed under a magical gate in Yorkshire, which would have left everyone in Lancashire feeling incredibly vindicated, if they had known the truth. It was only through a special ritual, brought forward by immense power, that would allow the Old Ones to be brought back into the world. The problem was that the gate was on a nature reserve, denying Marsh access to it due to it being a rather popular spot for people to go rambling.Marsh attempted to use his influence in the government during the Soviet War to push through legislation to strip the area of its reserved status, but found that even the influence of a cult led by one of the pre-eminent scientists of the day was powerless against NIMBYs. With legitimate means denied to him, Marsh began to push forward with recruiting someone who could override protests and get him the access he so desperately needed.Enter Alan 'complete and utter' B'Stard. He had been an up and coming MP during the Premiership of Jim Hacker, although the utter and contempt loathing the Prime Minister had for him stymied his ambitions considerably. An immoral and ambitious sort, B'Stard had used every dirty trick he could think of to claw himself up the greasy pole during the Soviet War with only some success. His hard-right politics had found him an audience, but loathsome personality robbed him of any actual chance of obtaining true power. When Labour won the election after the war, B'stard found himself relegated to the backbenches without even getting a sniff of the Shadow Cabinet. Enraged, B'Stard attempted to murder the new leader of the Conservative Party through an elaborate plan involving cutting the cables on an elevator, but only served to kill Francis Urquhart, the Chief Whip, instead.His plans to force a leadership contest that he would enter now destroyed, B'Stard found himself in a political career that would most likely see him consigned to the backbenches for the rest of his life. It was at this point that Marsh approached B'Stard, promising him all the political power he could ever want in return for his aid. This was something that B'Stard was more than happy to give, imagining himself ruling Britain with an iron fist. While Marsh began to focus on the most likely way to open the portal, he turned to other, quicker means as well.The first backup plan was to simply use mass psychic energy in order to break through to the reality that was holding the Old Ones. There was an opportunity of this through one of Britain's less well thought out initiatives regarding psychic powers, the Genocyber project. It was started a decade beforehand in Hong Kong. As the Soviet Union began to grow in belligerence, the need for greater weaponry was felt and the project, headed by Dr. Nyugen Morgan and Dr. Kenneth Reed, promised the ultimate biological and psychic weapon.The fact that Morgan was willing to experiment on his own wife and daughters in order to accomplish this either showed how desperate several in the British government were at this time, or they were just really terrible at spotting any sort of red flag. The fact that this took place in Hong Kong also helped obscure it from greater scrutiny, even when Reed had Morgan killed so he could take over the project.B'Stard had managed to find out about the Genocyber Project during the Soviet War, having worked on a committee that handled some files relating to it. It hadn't provided much opportunity for use for B'Stard until now and he quickly relayed what he knew to Marsh, who acted upon this swiftly. If the projections were true, then the results of the Genocyber project could tear a hole through the Universe.Marsh swiftly sent several members of his cult to Hong Kong in order to kidnap the children of Morgan, Elaine and Diana. Their combined psychic abilities were exactly what he felt was needed for this. In doing so though, they failed to take into account that Reed would have his own agents to protect the girls, leading to a series of battles throughout Hong Kong that led to deaths on both side.This in turn grabbed the attention of the most prominent man in Hong Kong, Lee. Since his time in the League, Lee had turned his attention to his martial art schools in Hong Kong. During the Soviet War, many of his students served as elite soldiers and agents to the Allied effort in East Asia. He was a man with incredible influence in the city and beyond. Lee had continued to open more schools, expanding into China itself as a way to help take care of the orphans created from the brutal fighting of the Soviet War. There were few that could match his influence and reputation in that part of the world.A gang war breaking out in Hong Kong swiftly earned Lee's attention and ire. He had heard rumours about something with psychic experimentation, but seeing this was the results provoked him to action. Devoted cultists and biologically enhanced madmen found that they stood no chance against Lee and his students. After they had uncovered the reason behind the running battles, Lee and his students struck Reed's lab, rescuing the girls and causing a fire in the chaos that killed Reed.Now with two incredibly powerful psychic children and plenty of questions over who wanted them, Lee turned to one of his many associates, a man named Jackie, to help. Jackie was a treasure hunter and used to going from country to country unnoticed. He had been employed by Lee on several occasions to help return Chinese artefacts to their native land.With the need to get the girls out of Hong Kong, Jackie turned to a rival of his that he felt could help. Lara Croft, despite having clashed with Jackie due to going after similar artefacts, held a mutual respect for Jackie that had turned into a rather amiable relationship. Plus, with Lara being fairly wealthy, she had the resources to help hide the girls while everyone tried to get to the bottom of what was happening. These events were sent to the British government, who were put on alert. The full scope of implications of the Genocyber project sent a chill through many and it was clear that word of it leaked to people who very much wanted their hands on the results, regardless of the consequences of its use.Worse was to follow as a rather alarming piece of news came from the United States. Someone had stolen a nuclear bomb from a military base in the Midwest. With the destruction of the Soviet Union meaning that nuclear weapons weren't as needed, at least when pointed against Earth, several were being transported through the West Coast when they been attacked by four bikers. The attackers seemed to shrug off bullets and killed numerous soldiers and nearby civilians before rushing off with a bomb.The four were mercenaries of a sort, calling themselves the Four Horsemen. In reality, they had lived for centuries and were part of a group of immortals that were destined to fight each other to the death, gaining the skills and knowledge of other immortals they had slain. Led by a man named Kronos, the four had been brought together by Michael Marsh in the aftermath of the Soviet War, appealing to them with promises of destruction and chaos. They had served the cult's interests well, although Kronos fancied himself above such concerns and simply enjoyed death and carnage for its own sake.Stealing the nuclear bomb had been Marsh's back up plan. B'Stard had managed to procure the plans of the route from the Foreign Office and passed them onto the cult. This wouldn't be known for some time and the blame of it fell onto the American government, especially as the Four Horsemen were spotted taking a ship to Britain, indicating where the bomb might be heading.Instantly, a general alert was called up and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were called into being. This time, the job of leading it went to an old hand in the intelligence service, Ned le Carré, who had been preparing himself for retirement when the call came in to help gather the members of a new League. Despite having felt like he had lost the edge he once had, but still wanting to do his duty, Ned called upon another old hand of British intelligence, Austin Powers.Age had not slowed down Austin Powers by much. Although well past middle age, he was still as charming and ruthless as ever. He had continued to serve well throughout the Soviet War and, unlike Ned, was in no rush to retire. Still carrying himself with the airs and graces of the 60's, many felt that Powers was something of a relic, not that he would entirely disagree on that front, but would simply point out that relics were still pretty damn valuable.And speaking of relics, one of the first suggestions for League membership was Lara Croft, who was well known to Powers. Despite some mutual harmless banter, there was nothing truly romantic between the two. Powers had known Croft's parents and encouraged her in her pursuits when they had all but disowned her. Closer to a beloved uncle than anything else, Powers quickly suggested Lara for the League and she accepted. All three shared a suspicion that there was something linking the events in Hong Kong and America, but weren't sure of the connection.Another younger member that was called upon was the hero known as Sailor V. For the last year, she had battled various monsters throughout London and had gained something of a reputation by many for her power and charisma. She was, in fact, a Japanese transfer student by the name of Minako Aino, who had been granted magical powers by a talking cat from the Moon. That she hadn't batted an eyelid when reflecting on the last sentence did give some insight into Minako in general. She was reluctant to get involved at first and distract herself from her mission, but the nuclear bomb issue quickly changed her mind and she joined the League. None realised her actual age thanks to a charm based around her powers that obscured her appearance to the mind, otherwise they would have balked at letting a thirteen year old girl into the League.It was America that came the other members of the League. Embarrassed by their inability to protect such a weapon, the American government sent over two figures who they felt could help. The first was Marv, a looming brute of a man who had something of a hidden soft side. Aged and cynical, Marv nevertheless looked to do the right thing. In this case, it involved avenging a friend of his who had been killed during the Four Horsemen's theft of the nuclear missile. Marv had picked up many skills during the Soviet War and looked forward to using them all on the Horsemen.Finally, there was Trini Kwan, who had a giant sabre-toothed tiger robot.Oh, you wanted more? It's a bloody great big robot shaped like a sabre-toothed tiger, is that not enough? Fine, fine...The continued colonisation of the Moon and Mars had led to humanity discovering things they really shouldn't have, but they did that back on Earth anyway. In this particular instance, they had uncovered a sealed structure on the Moon that held the witch known as Rita Repulsa and her minions. After 10,000 years of captivity, Repulsa was ready to return to causing havoc across the Universe.In response, the Moon colonies quickly banded together to mount a defence while another alien being known as Zordon granted powers to a group of teenagers he had deemed worthy. One of these was Trini Kwan, who, like her friends, had been granted enhanced physical endurance, strength and fighting prowess thanks to her transformation into a Power Ranger. The Power Rangers, aided by other hero groups, made Repulsa a major priority and a brief conflict erupted on the Moon where the Power Rangers and others succeeded in sealing Rita away once more. Despite this, they kept their powers to help restore order to the world after the Soviet War. Kwan was attached to the League was a major boost to their power when tracking down the nuclear bomb.Now with the League assembled, the hunt was on for the nuclear bomb itself. This was somewhat hampered by B'Stard and Marsh using their influence to muddy the waters and hide the Four Horsemen from any investigation. Such attempts didn't go entirely unnoticed and even helped give them away, especially as B'Stard was particularly unsubtle when it came to such things. Him sticking his nose in alerted one Detective Inspector William Frost, who had been ordered to avoid tracking a certain brand of truck driving through the area as they had been considered as not having the nuclear bomb hidden within them.It was impossible not to be alerted to something going wrong upon hearing that, so Frost quickly sent word through channels that he could trust about the trucks. This soon made its way to the League, who were fast on the scene once the Horsemen were discovered, thanks to the giant sabre-toothed tiger robot.The Horsemen proved themselves to be resilient and skilled opponents when faced against even the League. They could shrug off bullets and the blunt-force trauma supplied by Marv only served to slow them down slightly. Sailor V proved reluctant to go all out against opponents she thought were ordinary humans, so it was Powers who provided the solution by getting into the truck the Horsemen had been driving and then running them all over once they had been forced onto the road.Sadly, the nuclear bomb had already been delivered to the cult already and the truck was empty, leaving the League to have to begin their investigations from square one. The Horsemen also managed to escape in the aftermath, having recovered from their punishment while everyone else had mistaken them for dead. With the bomb still out there and its location unknown, things weren't looking good. That is, until the unlikely intervention of an inventor up in Lancashire known as Wallace.Having invented a machine designed to track down sources of radiation after another invention of his had exploded and scattered pieces across the countryside, Wallace noted traces of nuclear isotopes along a road that shouldn't have been there and so notified the local authorities. It was impossible for this to be covered up by Marsh or B'Stard and the League were soon on the case, entering Yorkshire and following the trail before them to a warehouse where the nuclear bomb was being stored for the time being.The cultists that were guarding the warehouse soon found themselves under attack with the League coming down on them hard. Marv was eager to charge in head first and was backed by Sailor V and Kwan. Croft and Powers saw to the bomb, making sure it wasn't about to go off during the fight. They managed to get it out of the warehouse as the others withdrew just as Powers blew up the foundations of the building with help from Marv. The warehouse collapsed, burying the Horsemen in the rubble. Due to reasonable concerns about the nuclear bomb, the League didn't stop to check on their foes and retreated with it.With the bomb now secure, the question began to grow over why it was being sent to Yorkshire and not  London, where the British government would actually pay a ransom or even care about it going off. It was Croft who managed to piece together a reason. She had come across mentions of a great evil in Yorkshire and, after pausing long enough for everyone to make the obvious jokes, explained to the League that there had been a site that had supposedly been lost to time that would allow the Old Ones to break through. Normally, this would be a blood ritual and magic, but if reality could weaken enough in that spot, say through magic and enough psychic power or energy, then that would be sufficient. The question of where in Yorkshire the ritual would have to take place led the League to former Special Branch chief, Charles Bingham. Having made his name through unravelling the Van Traylen Conspiracy and exposing the Summerisle cult, Bingham was a well known occult investigator. He had done his research in a variety of ancient beliefs in Britain and was regarded as the expert on those who would worship dark and ancient powers. He had also served as a frequent correspondent with Croft and helped her uncover several clues that pointed towards treasures.The location of where the Old Ones had been sealed away was something that Bingham had researched, but had been unaware of an actual cult based around them. He still managed to give the League the location of it and they moved out, ready to take down whatever they faced.Sir Michael Marsh, denied of his first two plans, resorted to a third at this point. The only true way that was open to him to bring the Old Ones into the world was with a blood ritual using a descendant of one of those who had originally sealed the Old Ones away. Marsh had been looking for such a person, with B'Stard helping provide him with birth records and family trees in order to locate them.Eventually, they had found one family in particular that they could use. Admittedly, since thousands of years had passed, the number of direct descendants of the original group was incredibly large, but grabbing random people off the street and using them in the ritual would have gathered too much suspicion, even if it would have inevitably led to the right result.The Freeman family was Marsh's target and the cult moved in to grab all of them. With their blood, Marsh would gain the sacrifice that he needed and bring the Old Ones into this world. The entire cult, along with the Horsemen and B'Stard, were present as they gathered around the area, looking to sacrifice the entire family in order to complete their mission.And then the giant sabre-toothed tiger robot showed up and disrupted events.The rest of the League followed Kwan's dramatic entrance as they fell upon the cultists. The Horsemen moved in to fight them, much to Power's incredible frustration. The ensuing battle saw Marv tackle the Horsemen head on, eager to finally get revenge for what they had done to his friend. Powers backed him up while Croft and Sailor V made their way towards Marsh in order to stop the ritual. Kwan saw to the cultists and kept them at bay, while also taking what potshots she could against the Horsemen.A bullet from Croft managed to disarm Marsh, but B'Stard was on hand to try and finish the ritual, picking up the dagger to kill the Freeman family and earn his reward. When he stood up with the dagger, he crashed into Marsh and accidentally stabbed him through the chest. Marsh had mere seconds to curse B'Stard before he slumped to the ground, his blood spilling over the ritual site. The air churned and twisted as... something began to form, if not the Old Ones themselves.Sailor V quickly put an end to it, striking the shape with all her strength and banishing it from this plane of existence before it could become truly tangible. With their leader dead and the ritual disrupted, the remains of the cult fled in all directions. The Horsemen, seeing that the game was up, also turned to escape, Marv being stabbed by Kronos and left almost fatally injured. Powers was left with the choice of pursuing or helping Marv and chose the latter.Getting the Freeman family to safety and aiding Marv soon became the greatest focus of the League and they set about doing that with reinforcements being called in to take in the captured cult members and round up the rest. Marv was taken to a hospital where he managed to recover, although expressed frustration over letting the Horsemen get away once more.With this, the threat of the cult of the Old Ones, at least in Britain, was put to an end and only tidying up loose ends came into being afterwards. The cult was arrested and everyone charged for their actions, with B'Stard in particular given a high-profile trial that he simply couldn't weasel his way out of, no matter how hard he tried. His subsequent life sentence was well deserved.Elaine and Diana, the two sisters with great powers, were sent to Department 7's facility in Century Falls to help foster their abilities in a much healthier environment that they were used to. They would eventually manage to grow and become powerful psychics, using their abilities for the betterment of themselves and others.Ned le Carré, noting how out of his depth he had been and had barely been able to offer guidance on such a subject, sped up his retirement and looked forward to getting out in the world away from espionage. When it came to the occult, he hadn't been able to do much more than give the members of the League what they had asked for. Stepping away from the world of shadows was something that he felt was for the best for everyone.Powers, although having done better during the adventure, realised that he wasn't able to keep up as much as he could. Although not retiring fully, he did accept his mentor role much easier now and fell into that, eager to help the next generation.With her desire to explore only enhanced by what she had been through, Croft returned to her studies and expeditions, eager to find ancient ruins and bring their treasures to light. In doing so, she also hoped to save the world further bother from the relics hidden within them, although that in itself would be a running battle.As one mission was now complete, Sailor V was quickly pulled to her greatest one as she returned to Japan to find the reincarnation of the Princess of the ancient unified Moon Kingdom. Their own adventures would follow as she reunited with the guardians of other worlds, being brought back to life in time for humanity to grow to expand into the Solar System that they once fought for.Marv and Kwan returned to the US once their mission was completed. Marv continued to hunt down the Horseman, but never managed to find them and remained ignorant of their final fate of dying to the hands of another immortal. Kwan went back to the Power Rangers and became one of the frontline defenders of humanity's expansion across the planets, the group being one of many to hold their own giant robots shaped like animals.As the decade passed, the millennium became closer. The defeat of the Mekon allowed humanity to step foot safely onto Venus and further technological advances sent people to Mercury and Jupiter to close the century. On Earth, the U.N. pushed forward with its mission of unity and peace, bringing humanity together as much as it had ever been as the potential for the future seemed to be greater than ever.Seemed to, anyway.

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“We've been receiving news from the colonies up on Mars. From the sounds of it, it's even worse than the Mekon. Prime Minister is about to have an emergency cabinet meeting and everyone is to be there. We thought we were just mopping up the remains after the last war, that there was peace. We should have looked to the skies instead.”Extract from the journal of Sir Henry James Pearce, 2005
Broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, Lord

Count your blessings

We're sick of being jerked around

We all fall down

It's been a bad day, please don't take a picture

It's been a bad day, please

It's been a bad day, please don't take a picture

It's been a bad day, please
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 2006:Dan DareClaudia BrownThomas OliverBen TennysonDiana LombardArthur DentHumanity's spread from its home planet had come in fits and starts since its first steps into space. From establishing relationships with the splintered Moon nations to arriving on the ancient deserts of Mars, events back on Earth had always had an impact. The Soviet War especially, while having pushed forward technology in several concentrated areas, had delayed the continued spread amongst the stars and it wasn't until five years after the war's aftermath that projects truly restarted in earnest.By the turn of the Millennium, over three million people counted down the New Year on the Moon and half that number on Mars. Earth's greatest scientists dedicated themselves to helping terraform the plants to make them more habitable for humanity. Venus, once the Mekon had been overthrown, proved to be a valuable ally to Earth as its peoples began to leave the surface of their homeworld. Expansion was occurring throughout the Solar System and space stations had been sent to explore as far as Jupiter to see if further expansion was possible.This was all done as part of a program headed by the United Nations. Different countries, left scarred by the Soviet War, pooled their resources together to help continue space exploration. To outsiders from alien worlds, it almost appeared that humanity was truly united, even if that was pretty far from the truth under the surface.Such supposed unity was part of the reason why the next enemy saw humanity as a threat. The origins of the Combine were enshrouded with mystery. Much of what was known of them had to come about after humanity's first encounter from them, piecing together clues and hints of their actual nature. Their methods were apparent, but what they were and their motivations were truly unknown. What could only be guessed as the most likely motivation was that humanity's advancements in magic and science had attracted their attention, leading to them believing that humans to be a threat that had to be dealt with.To that end, the Combine looked to strike humanity before it became too strong. They found their first weapon in the dusty remains of the civilisations of Mars. Although humanity had explored most of the surface of the planet and settled in other locations, there still were the remains of other civilisations beneath the surface. After a major ecological collapse centuries ago, the Martians had retreated to the underground as they barely managed to avoid extinction. In the decades that followed, they slowly rebuilt their civilisation and became aware of humanity's presence on their planet.The rage that the Martians felt at these interlopers exploring the remains of what had been their civilisations was incandescent. Rather than actually approach humanity and attempt to talk with them though, plans were made for war, even if it soon became apparent it was one that the Martians simply couldn't win. Although they had their heat beams and shields to protect them from conventional assaults, the sheer scale of humanity's war machines, when mixed with magic, quickly forced the Martians to admit that they simply wouldn't be victorious.Which was where the Combine came in. Sensing that the Martians would serve well as proxies for their conflict with humanity, they infiltrated remains of the Martian society in a swift conquest and augmented their technology and soldiers with their own. It was a test by the Combine, to see what humanity was capable of when faced with an attack backed by the Combine itself.On paper, it seemed like Mars would be a good choice of battleground. The colonies were relatively weak in terms of military power, at least compared to the Martian forces that were about to spill out onto the surface. Most of the Earth military was focused on the home planet, stationed on the Moon, or currently pulling away from its occupation duties on Venus. Mars was predominantly scientific in nature at this point in time and it appeared that there was no greater opportunity to strike.Of course, the Combine had acted upon the assumption of conventional resistance and failed to take into account that unconventional resistance was going to be able to coalesce around several key figures. The iteration of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was somewhat unique in being the first to be founded away from Earth and that it was more independent than normal, formed by people on the ground.Leadership of this League would soon show itself in the form of Colonel Daniel McGregor Dare. Dare had first come to fame during the Soviet War, being an ace fighter pilot who had flown countless sorties against the Soviet forces and shot down enemy fighters, even if he had a knack for attempting to shoot the planes without killing the pilots. He had then gone on to pilot the first manned mission to Venus and was instrumental in overthrowing the Mekon and liberating the native peoples of that planet. Hailed as a hero and honoured across Earth, Dare had refused to rest on his laurels and got himself assigned to Mars to continue the exploration of the Solar System.It wasn't just the Solar System that was being explored, as further research into the very fabric of reality came under scrutiny as well. The Combine's travels from one dimension into another was soon noticed by Earth, although hard to pin down exactly and misinterpreted as a natural phenomenon due to the seemingly random nature of it. A project was created under the supervision of the UN and headed by Claudia Brown, a British agent who looked to find the best way to control the anomalies before they became dangerous. While trans-dimensional travel wasn't unknown, it was hard to stabilise, with the only link with the dimension called the Aniverse proving to be stable enough to allow consistent, if small, amounts of contact.While Mars was at the forefront of several major government projects, there was also civilian applications to it as well. Dr. Tommy Oliver, formerly a Power Ranger, had come to Mars to help further his studies of ancient fossils. While having studied on Earth, Oliver was rapidly becoming an expert in extraterrestrial fossils, having gained his doctorate in palaeontology while doing research on the Moon. He also kept in contact with his former partners in the Power Rangers, keeping an eye on anything that might threaten the world.One thing that Mars had also gained which made it attractive for visitors, was it becoming a location for holiday goers as well. Colonisation was still ongoing and terraforming had made things rather pleasant. It was why Arthur Dent had decided to retire to it after years of adventures, misadventures and all around nonsense that had been his life since the late 70's. While having been praised for his help in foiling the Vogon destruction of Earth, Dent had been eager to try and get past it, as well as everything else that had followed and gone to the furthest point of Mars in order to achieve exactly that.The location of Mars as a holiday location was shown by the Tennyson family also being present at this time. Former member of the League, Max Tennyson, had brought his grandchildren Ben and Gwen to the planet as part of the summer holidays. Ben had in fact come into possession of a device called the Omnitrix that allowed him to change into numerous alien forms and gain powers from it. The trip to Mars was meant to be part of their original holiday, with Ben not suspecting his grandfather seeing it as a way to help him learn how to use his newfound powers further.Joining the Tennysons was another person interested in a holiday, Diana Lombard. Given the cover that she was a student granddaughter of one of Max Tennyson's old friends travelling with his family to Mars to help with her studies, Lombard was actually a trainee agent of Max's old agency, the Alliance. Her investigative skills had brought her to the attention of Nick Logan, the man in charge of the Alliance, and he paired her with Max to help her gain experience before becoming an actual member of the Alliance.These were the individuals that would soon notice something amiss on Mars and it began with Oliver. His work had led him to uncover more of the Martian civilisation that had collapsed, which in turn pointed him in the direction of where they had retreated to. His request for specialist equipment to go under the surface of Mars attracted the attention of Dare, who was eager to help where he could.Going across the surface of Mars on a ship, Dare and Oliver soon found the location that the latter had estimated where the Martian civilisation had retreated to before dying out. It was here that they first came across the Martians that had been augmented by Combine technology as they began to rise up from their underground cities and attacked them. Only Dare's incredible piloting skills saw both of them escape to safety and return to the nearest human settlement with warnings of what was following them.The alarm was instantly raised as it became apparent an invasion was on. All ships were soon focused on evacuating as many as possible, leading Dare to try and find a way to hold off the threat of the Martians for as long as he could. To that end, he recruited Oliver to help delay them while putting out the word for other individuals to join them. Max Tennyson discreetly nudged his grandchildren into helping, Ben's powers in particular promising to be of great aid. Dare initially refused such an offer due to the boy's age, but was eventually forced to agree as there were few other options and Max Tennyson's word carried a good deal of weight.Oliver called in for reinforcements through the Power Rangers, but they were still located on other worlds and it would take time for them to get to Mars. Dare would lead the defences commanding the local military while Oliver would summon his giant robot brachiosaurus to help repel the Martians. Further down on the ground, Ben Tennyson would aid the infantry in repelling any invaders that got close.It was a hastily assembled force with the focus on holding on as long as they could before further reinforcements arrived. This wasn't the only reaction to the arrival of the Martians either. The anomaly project had noted the appearance of a number of tears in time and space that had occurred days before the Martian attack and pinned down to the general location of their origin. They had found that the anomalies had occurred where the underground settlement had been, pinning the two together.Only hours had passed between the discovery of the Martians and their subsequent attack on the nearest human settlement. The main thrust of the attack came in the form of large tripods that shot out with their heat beams that could cut through steel. Having been prepared, the human forces had some measure of the tripod's capabilities, the force fields in particular preventing most conventional attacks.To that end, the focus turned on supporting Oliver as his robot turned out to be one of the only things that could reliably damage the tripods. Other units set to trying their best to make the ground before the Martians harder to traverse or even weakening it enough that it collapsed when one of the legs of the tripods touched it. Tennyson helped in this regard, shifting between alien forms to knock the Martians off balance or undermine them. The only weapons from the regular forces that could damage the tripods through the shields were lasers, but there were a small amount that could be gathered at that time, leading to a limited ability to fight back.As the battle raged with the Martians slowly gaining ground, the evacuation of the nearest human settlement was taking place. One man who had overslept thanks to having a cold and missed the alarm was Arthur Dent, who greeted the empty dwellings around him with exasperation as to what he was caught up with this time. He was soon alerted to the true measure of problem when a tripod began to rampage through the area, looking to wipe out all signs of humanity.Dent attempted to escape, although was rather hindered by the fact he kept on alerting the tripod due to his sneezing. Unbeknownst to Dent, this greatly helped speed up the process that the Martians were undergoing as they came into contact with other species. The microbes that were simply part of what humans had brought along with them as they explored the stars were deadly to the Martians. Their contact with the Combine had already exposed them to deadly bacteria and now, the cocktail of what humanity had to offer was doing the job of finishing them off.The tripod moved to kill Dent, but the Martian inside died before it could happen, leaving the tripod swaying before collapsing onto the ground, much to Dent's confusion. When a team was sent to investigate what had happened, they took Dent with him for questioning and tests, much to his lack of interest.This even was soon followed up by Diana Lombard, who was put to work figuring out what had happened. With a rather rushed autopsy taking place, she nevertheless pieced together the weakness of the Martians, albeit with some guesswork involved. She came to the conclusion that the Martians were going to die very soon. All that was needed was to hold them off.This quickly turned out to be true as many Martian tripods stopped in the middle of the battle before being torn to pieces by the weaponry being fired at them. It was at once relieving and horrifying how swiftly death spread through the ranks of the Martians, the last of their race wiped out by something no one could fight or control.Despite the victory, the toll of the battle had been heavy and still left many questions unanswered. The anomaly project, actually meant to be secret, revealed itself to a select group once the clean up of the battle had begun. Dare, Oliver and Tennyson were present due to their role in the battles. Lombard, having been the one to put together the Martian's weakness was also at the meeting. Leading it was Brown, who ran through what had been discovered about the Martians and the anomalies. Dent, having been brought to the base as part of the questioning, was also at the meeting as he had wandered off to find somewhere where he could get a cup of tea and stuck around as he didn't want to make a fuss by leaving early.The extra-dimensional nature of the anomalies were soon revealed and had to be investigated with Dare volunteering to lead a team of those present, thanks to their skills, knowledge and experience with such things. Dent, having hoped to have escaped notice through all this, found himself added to the team as well before he could protest, his own experiences in the 70's and 80's making him (On paper) a good choice.With the team of six assembled, Dare would fly them to the Martian settlement where he and Oliver had first come across the species. The cavernous place held secrets that would have delighted anyone with even the most casual interest in archaeology, but the group were looking for something else. And, with only some searching, they found it.The source of the anomalies revealed itself as a portal that had been where the Combine had first contacted and then used to take control of the Martians. Now, it was abandoned, but active, with Dare volunteering to go through and see what was on the other side. What he found was an alternate dimension, one that housed the might of the Combine and its forces and almost defied human senses. He barely managed to escape back through the portal before confirming what he had seen with the others.Knowing the sheer scale of what they were up against, the group retreated back to the headquarters of the anomaly project as they decided what to do. The evacuation was ordered to continue, despite the end of the Martian threat, simply for fear of what was to follow. Reinforcements were still some time away and the British government, along with the United Nations, gave the Martian colonies carte blanche on how to defend themselves in the meantime.This meant that the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was to be formed. Dare took on the role of leader with his usual calm and sense of duty. He brought in those who had accompanied him on the exploration of the Martian settlement. The plan soon centred around destroying the anomaly that allowed the Combine access to Mars, something that was easier said than done. Brown was put in charge of that particular task as the focus turned on a way to repel any invasion that came through the anomaly.While the League planned, the Combine acted. Still mustering their vast forces, they needed time to do that and sent out Subject 617 to disrupt the defences on Mars. An augmented being of unclear origins, 617 was designed for assassination and spreading terror through the enemy. Having identified Dan Dare as their great threat, the Combine sent 617 through the portal in order to kill him and disrupt the defences of Mars.The Combine had reckoned without Dare's long term experience or the fact he was a hero to everyone on Mars. He was surrounded by guards at all points, many of them inspired by Dare to act to be ever vigilant in his defence and those of others. Added to this were the abilities of those around him, especially Ben Tennyson. Actually getting in close to kill Dare became a dangerous prospect, even for 617.A major mistake committed by 617 came from its attempting to break into the compound holding Dare, with it killing a guard in the process. 617 was prevented from moving further as Dent stumbled onto the scene after getting lost and he raised the alarm before 617 realised he was present. With the dead body in hand, Lombard soon got to investigating the cause behind it and piecing together where the intruder had come from.Now with only a limited amount of time to act, 617 threw caution to the wind and launched a straight up attack on Dare's position, tearing through the guards as it did so to kill its target. It was gravely injured in the attempt before even reaching Dare, who was with Tennyson at the time. Tennyson quickly shifted into one of his alien forms to defend Dare, being injured in the following battle but managing to force 617 to a standstill before reinforcements arrived and cut it down with gunfire.Realising just how desperate the enemy were getting, Dare decided to push on with a plan to disrupt the anomaly before the Combine could react to their failed plan. Brown echoed this sentiment, her team having developed a device that could do just that, but it needed to be on the other side of the anomaly, where the Combine were powering it.The plan was set to move forward with a swift attack as the device was set up inside the anomaly. Placed in a spacecraft piloted by Dare, the plan was to fix the device use the device on the other side of the anomaly, run for it once it was set off and use human forces on the other side to hold off on any Combine incursion. Before the set up could be complete though, the Combine attacked. They did not attack in full force, they simply lacked the ability to do so as there hadn't been enough time to gather their armies, but the onslaught was sudden and it was harsh and pressed the defences greatly. This caused the League to rush forward, throwing caution to the wind.With the League aboard his craft, Dare barely managed to pilot it through the anomaly and on the other side. Fortunately, Oliver was still able to summon his giant robot brachiosaurus on this side of the anomaly, something he took advantage of to create a major distraction. Tennyson also struck the Combine's forces on the ground, rapidly shifting his alien forms to keep up the attack.Taking advantage of this, the rest of the League made their way to the building that had the equipment powering the anomaly. Brown and Lombard were soon powering up the device, working as fast as they could to get it working. Dare held the line, fighting off any Combine forces sent their way. Dent, remembering something from his own misadventures, made his way to a console and requested that someone bring him a cup of tea. His plan, amazingly, worked. Throughout all the dimensions that Combine had conquered, they had never actually come across a substance quite like tea. The request for such an item spread throughout their databases, taking up more and more time and effort as their computers struggled to find a way to give Dent what he wanted.Now that their computer systems were desperately locked in while trying to find a cup of tea, the Combine forces were unable to call for reinforcements, although the League remained incredibly hard pressed as Tennyson was injured from the sheer weight of numbers fighting him. Oliver's brachiosaurus robot was also sustaining heavy damage and unable to keep up the fight for long. Just as it seemed as if things would be too late, Brown and Lombard managed to activate the device, disrupting the anomaly.Making their way swiftly back to the spacecraft, Oliver paused only to set his giant robot brachiosaurus to explode and give the League time to escape, which it did in style. They managed to get through the anomaly seconds before the device completely ran through the facility creating it, wrecking the equipment and preventing any further incursions, for now at least.While the victory had saved Mars and possibly the Solar System, the question of whether the Combine would return remained. The League had only seen a mere fraction of what the Combine could use against humanity and even that, if not for their actions, might have been enough to lead to a long, bloody war. Questions also arose over how much damage Dent had done to the Combine and whether the problem of tea would disrupt the Combine for much longer or simply prove to have been a temporary blip.Whatever the final result, the League were hailed as heroes for their actions, giving yet another round of accolades for Dan Dare in particular. Rather than accept this though, Dare continued on with his original intention to explore the Solar System even further and left at the first opportunity, but not without first making sure he could be contacted should the Combine arise once more.Ben Tennyson also returned with his family to his original summer holiday, although with a bit more wisdom and experience under his belt, which would be needed for the upcoming challenges ahead of him. With the Tennysons would go Diana Lombard, who would become an agent of the Alliance, in no small part thanks to her actions on Mars, and would further help Ben Tennyson himself integrate into the wider intergalactic community.Tommy Oliver began excavating and working on exploring the Martian ruins to see what could be found there. He also worked with the other Power Rangers in developing other teams that could respond to threats to humanity and the Solar System, rather than they be individually strung out. The Ranger Initiative became a major focus of defence in the upcoming years.Claudia Brown remained on Mars as well. The former looked to find out what they could regarding inter-dimensional travel, which, up until this point, had largely been piecemeal and unable to be properly controlled. The impact of the Combine incursion and its implications on cross-dimensional travel would be of great focus going forward. Arthur Dent, having just wanted to retire and not be a hero, got on the first ship to the new colonies to Jupiter's Moons in the hopes that the brand new settlements there would offer him some quite time. That he instead wound up getting involved in yet several more alien incursions proved to be frustrating, but not entirely shocking.With the threat of the Combine seemingly finished, at least for now, the focus turned onto consolidation of humanity's expansion across the Solar System. Alien lifeforms were taking a greater interest in Earth, as the Combine had done, albeit some with more peaceful intentions than others.The Millennium had come and gone and there were still challenges to face, old and new alike. Time would only tell how humanity would measure up to them in turn.

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“Lance had his first meeting at the club since coming back from his holiday on the Moon today. Said he liked it and that they were doing digs on there to help find treasures of the old kingdom. He suggested we do it, but I don't think his heart was in it. It's alright to go out and about, but there's nothing quite like familiar surroundings and coming home at the end of it.”Extract from Andy Stone's minutes of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, 2015
Oh, woah-oh-oh, woah-oh

We're all misfits living in a world on fire

Oh, woah-oh-oh, woah-oh

Sing it for the people like us, the people like us

Oh, woah-oh-oh, woah-oh

You've just got to turn it up loud when the flames get higher

Oh, woah-oh-oh, woah-oh

Sing it for the people like us, the people like us
Members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 2015:Arthur PendragonHugh "Bulldog" DrummondPrince MamuwaldeMarya ZaleskaMirJenny QuarxUrsula CallistisSimon BellamyBy the time the millennium was ten years old, humanity breaking soil on new worlds had almost become routine. Mars, Venus, Mercury, the moons of Jupiter and plans for further expeditions were on the drawing board. It was hoped that the first expedition to Pluto would be completed by 2020. It said a lot that the main story to do with space in 2014 was that Winston Zeddemore, CEO of Ghostbusters Enterprises, opened the first branch of the company on Mars, rather than further exploration of discoveries. As interactions between humanity and alien species increased, a rise in technological levels came with it, aided by magic.Space then, had been conquered, or, at least, become resigned to the fact that humanity wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and had to learn to live with it. The same, on the other hand, could not be said for that other dimension, time.That wasn't to say that time travel hadn't been attempted by various governments and individuals. The possibilities around such a thing were endless and too horrific for a government not to try and gain a monopoly over it. Reliable time travel, much like inter-dimensional travel, proved to be incredibly difficult. It was known to be possible, thanks to events such as the San Dimas High Presentation of 1989, but incidents such as these were instigated by those who were from the future, where such technology was possible.There was, however, a natural recurring set of time portals that were unknown even to almost all governments. In an underground bunker in Spain, was a ministry dedicated to finding time portals that opened up in Spain at seemingly random points that linked the present to the past, but never the future. El Ministerio Del Tiempo was Spain's most closely guarded secret as its agents worked hard to protect the timeline.This had been generally successful, with secrecy being utmost, until word spread through the United Nations about such a ministry. Spain, along with Europe, agreed to protect the time portals as they appeared to keep the timeline safe. Various attempts at changing past events had inevitably ended with disaster before things had been restored and the threat was enough to deter most reasonable people from trying to tamper with time.Gendo Ikari was not a reasonable person.As the head of NERV, Gendo was the man in charge of Japan's anti-alien incursion organisation. Most nations had developed at least one of these over the course of the twentieth century with many of them being placed under the direct control of the United Nations as one giant umbrella organisation that pooled resources and knowledge.In the case of Gendo though, he kept his secrets and took those of others. He was determined to gather as much power as he could by politicking and backstabbing to accomplish his own goals. While this made him an effective weapon, it also cost Japan dearly in terms of allies as his ruthlessness revealed that he was unreliable as an ally and this extended to how such nations saw Japan as well. Gendo was becoming a liability.Before much could be changed though, Gendo found what he was looking for. El Ministerio Del Tiempo promised to help serve Gendo's true agenda and he quickly had plans drawn up for a surgical strike on the headquarters of the Ministerio in order to find out about taking control of the time portals. That such an action would be an act of war didn't deter Gendo in the slightest. Nor did it the loyal members of NERV who acted under his orders.Perhaps the reason why the initial movements of the operation went so well was because they were so unexpected. A Japanese organisation, designed to defend the Earth against alien incursions, taking over a Spanish facility dedicated to protecting the timeline, was not something anyone had really conceived. But the take over did succeed and Gendo now had control over the facility. To those who actually knew about the operation, it was in order to reverse many of the disasters of the twentieth century, the destruction of Tokyo included.Gendo's motivations were far more selfishly inclined however. He had refused to move on from the death of his wife and was willing to put the world at risk so he could have her back, consequences be damned. And it seemed as if he was going to get it. NERV quickly installed their technology in the facility, most of it based on highly hypothetical writings and studies, as they looked to take control of the time portals.Such was Gendo's own arrogance that he never considered the possibility that he could be wrong, and the impact of being so. He got the answer when the first attempt to control the time portals instantly went badly and instead led to them going out of control. The effects from the attempt to force the time portals to come to Gendo and link him to one particular moment in the past instead saw them growing wildly and spreading beyond Spain's borders. Soon, they were across Europe and, by the end of the day, the world.Ignoring the disaster around him, Gendo commanded his scientists to push forward, desperate to get one stable time portal to reclaim his wife. The fluctuations were too powerful to control though and, instead of going back to Japan fifteen years prior, they instead called back to another time and location completely, London, 1890.It was only utter confusion on Dracula's part that gave NERV the opportunity to flee. That and the sacrifice of Major Misato Katsugari, an otherwise incompetent drunkard who had joined NERV to gain revenge for her father's death to an alien attack. Dracula feasted upon her and then turned her into his newest bride, realising that he had to make do with what was on hand. The two then vanished before Spanish authorities arrived, realising the full scale of the utter disaster before them.News quickly spread through the United Nations about what had happened and panic followed. Questions of what had happened and who was responsible were the first to be asked, as well as what the impact would be. In this, the British government was able to at least calm things down somewhat as a long-standing ally of theirs managed to work their skills into preventing a complete collapse of time and space.Although successful in preventing the destruction of everything, the issue of the time portals remained. The frequency of them had lessened, but their random nature hadn't with several of them popping up a day to different times and places, some of them drawing random figures through history as a result. Thanks to the work of the ally of the British government, the effect of this, rather than re-writing the timeline, instead lead to it branching out into various alternatives. While this mitigated the absolute worst effects, the thought that someone like Yuri could return set the world on edge and their greatest minds got to work in fixing the problem.The return of Dracula added a great deal of fuel to the fire, once he was identified after arriving in New York. The fears that many had for the most infamous of vampires returning had come to life, especially as he made his way directly to the headquarters of the Camarilla. Although having been greatly weakened in the 1970's, the organisation had managed to remain in control of vampires as a whole and recuperated somewhat, even if not reaching its former heights. For vampires, the Camarilla remained their greatest centre of power. In order to command it, most vampires would have to spend centuries scheming, politicking and brutally facing down their rivals.All Dracula had to do was walk inside the council chamber and announce himself.Absolutely none stood against Dracula as he took his position as leader of the Camarilla. None dared to even think of opposing him. Even though he had been dead for over a century, the sheer level of command and respect he still had meant that no other vampire dared to raise an objection.With his authority cemented simply by walking into a room, Dracula looked to accomplish what he had set out to do over a century ago, create a new empire of vampires on Earth. Travelling through space and dealing with the Sun's weakening effects would have to be something to figure out, but that could be for later. For now, Dracula was content to look towards marshalling his forces and turning the world into his thralls.As if the world didn't have enough to deal with, the use of time travel had become known to other alien species, including a faction of the race known as the Highbreed. They had been enemies to various Earth organisations and clashed at the beginning of the millennium, their inability to breed leading to their potential extinction and attempts to take down the entire Universe with them. The actions of Ben Tennyson allowed the Highbreed to reverse their slow extinction, as well as installing a much less xenophobic leader of the species.Despite this though, many within the Highbreed did not see this as a victory. Their very DNA had been tainted and now an outsider had forced a weak ruler upon them. It was too much to bear, but the time portals on Earth now presented them with an opportunity to make it right. Led by a former commander of the Highbreed military, the faction broke away from their own space and began to make their way towards Earth, determined to conquer it and use the time portals to their advantage, or die trying.With threats from inside and out, the governments of the world and United Nations geared themselves up for conflict. While their scientists looked to stopping the time portals, the military began to prepare for an attack from above. On Earth itself, the threat of Dracula and the promise of alien incursion made the governments call forth agents, hoping that they would find those to aid them.Britain, of course, prepared to summon the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, when the time portals delivered them three such people. A time portal opened up in Stonehenge itself, amazing the tourists as it soon faded and revealed none other than King Arthur Pendragon. Understandably confused about the presence of many strangely clad people in what, even for him, was an ancient relic of a bygone time, Arthur nevertheless rallied forward as he looked to communicate with others. Thankfully, Europe had become Earth's top breeding areas for Babel Fish and he was able to catch up on events.Although saddened seeing that his kingdom had fallen, Arthur quickly brought himself together. This new world offered great possibilities, even for Camelot to be born anew. He pledged himself to its protection as its former King and champion. When offered a role in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Arthur took it. Although it had largely meant to be a propaganda piece to calm people down, Arthur quickly grew into the role, his natural charisma and commanding presence soon leading him into taking charge of situations.One such situation arose with the re-emerging of another figure from Britain's past when a time portal unceremoniously dropped Hugh Drummond right in the middle of Stoke-On-Trent. After having to spend several hours convincing the man of what exactly had happened, Drummond was brought in, having been pulled from the day after he had stolen the Sinai Plates.Drummond presented an interesting problem to the British government. He had stolen a valuable treasure and looked to send the world into upheaval in its name. He had seen himself as a patriot, only to now find his views abhorrent and that the world had moved on from his style of imperialism, seeing him as a relic at best and evil at worst.It was perhaps this being out of time that made Arthur reach out to Drummond, seeing in him someone else who felt displaced from his time and lost in this world without a home. Over the objections of others, Arthur offered Drummond a place on the League and a shot at redemption. With few other options available to him, Drummond accepted as he tried to find a role in this new world.The final person to be brought from the past to join the League was one of its former foes. Mir had served the Heroes of Our Time in the Soviet War, working under the madman Yuri against his will. As he was brought through the time portal to London, there was some panic at his appearance. But, now free of Yuri's influence, Mir calmly surrendered and offered to help the British state. It was unclear exactly where in time he came from, but most believed that it was after the death of Pronin. Once again, Arthur intervened, believing that Mir would do as he promised and help the world against these threats. In a way, it offered him redemption for his part in the Soviet War.Another two members for the League came, not from British efforts, but Dracula's. In his bid to gain as many followers as possible, Dracula had enacted dark magic and rites to bring back as many vampires from the grave as possible. In this, he was successful as Orlok was among those who joined Dracula's ranks. Two other attempts only served to hamper Dracula's ambitions though, as he looked to bring back his daughter and a man who he had so cruelly used centuries before.Marya Zaleska had not enjoyed a happy life and her death had come at the hands of a man who she almost came close to loving. Being brought back from her final rest by her father, just to serve him, was not what she had wanted. She resisted the summons sent to her once she was returned to life and fled to Britain, hoping that she could find the help that she once received. Eager for any kind of aid, the British government accepted her offer while also introducing Zaleska to a chemical creation that was able to replicate the effect blood had on vampires. While not curing her of her hunger, it did at least allow Zaleska to be able to turn her focus onto the fight against her father.Another vampire who chose risking their destruction over serving Dracula was Prince Mamuwalde, who Dracula had brought back to life more in a fit of pure spite and sadism rather than anything sensible. Furious over being denied his final rest by his greatest enemy, Mamuwalde broke free from those trying to bring him to Dracula and prepared to start his one-man campaign against Dracula's forces once more. As he found himself accustomed to the new world though, he also found that Dracula's return was public knowledge as the governments of the world wanted people to be aware of the threat and supermarkets wanted to hike up the price of garlic. Mamuwalde approached the British government, promising to aid them against Dracula and was more than happy to be killed afterwards, as long as he had his revenge. After remembering how effective Mamuwalde was from his actions in the 70's, the British government accepted this offer, attaching him to the League.With a group of surprising names added to the mix, the British government focused on others to round out the League. One such member was Jenny Quarx, potentially one of the most powerful beings on the planet, with abilities over reality itself. Several theories arose to how she gained her powers, with her being intrinsically linked to the beginning of the century, with the most logical one being that she was linked to magic that came at the beginning of the new millennium. Quarx had been raised in Singapore, which had was as a part of Britain by this point. Quarx's power had come to the notice of authorities as she had used them to help others and her sheer potential made her an ideal candidate for the League when so many threats abounded. Quarx was joined by another young hero by the name of Simon Bellamy. Simon, as well as several others, had been taken in by the British government for training once they had been granted powers due to a freak lightning strike and had been mentored by Eric Allan, formerly Bananaman. Thanks to his ability to travel back in time and also foresight into the future, Bellamy was seen as a great potential member of the League and one that could be crucial in the upcoming conflict.One area that the League was in need of was magic. Arthur believed that such a thing was crucial for success, regardless of the threat. To help with this, a search went out to the magical schools of Britain, with one choice soon becoming clear. Ursula Callistis was a highly skilled magician who had insight into the future and a great range of offensive magical skills. Formerly an idol of sorts and performer, she had settled into teaching, but her skills were the sort that couldn't be hidden for too long and she agreed to join the League to help defend the world and her students.With the group assembled, their main focus turned to Dracula. Thankfully, the League had help from other heroes who helped thwart Dracula's plans. An attempt by several vampires to raise more of their ilk in Arabia was disrupted by the young heroine Emara and the rest of the Héros Internationaux. The Great Xian also worked to prevent Dracula from extending his control over the jiangshi of the country. This didn't stop Dracula, although the League worked quickly to try and bring him down.As they focused on Dracula though, the threat of the Highbreed threat grew thanks treachery from within. Undeterred by his catastrophic failure, Gendo Ikari still felt he could use the time portals with the right opportunity. Thanks to NERV's resources in communicating with aliens, he reached out to the Highbreed with an offer of aiding them get through Earth's defences in return for helping him secure a time portal.The Highbreed, normally contemptuous of anyone other than themselves, made an exception in this one instance as they surveyed the forces that humanity was mustering against them and were forced to bow to the inevitable fact that they would lose badly if they proceeded alone. The defences gathered around Mars alone would damage the Highbreed fleet too badly to mount any further assaults. After seeing that moving onto the Moon and then Earth itself would have been a suicide mission, they agreed to Gendo's offer of an alliance.With the information provided by Gendo, the Highbreed fleet were able to pass by Mars and the Moon undetected and were only seen as they approached the stratosphere. The sight of the fleet moving towards Spain caused panic throughout the world as various groups turned their focus from Dracula to this overwhelming threat from the skies.The League were among those who first arrived in Spain to help combat the threat. The foresight of Bellamy provided them a strong indicator of where to go to in order to prevent the Highbreed from reaching their objectives. The facility that housed the scientists investigating the time portals had been top secret for fear of further betrayal, something which allowed the League to be first on the scene to defend it.Against the League were the first forces of the Highbreed fleet. While with advanced technology, they were ill matched against the magic wielded against them. Callistis forced many of their attacking ships down with her powers and the hot Spanish climate sapped the Highbreed infantry of their strength. Those few that managed to get through into the bunker found that they were soon being hunted by Mamuwalde and Zaleska, who used the darkness and their own innate powers to their great advantage.Arthur held fast protecting the scientists themselves and monitoring the situation along with Bellamy. Up in the skies, Drummond would make his appearance in a fighter with Quarx in tow. Although Quarx represented everything that Drummond had felt would weaken the Empire, seeing her in action had forced him to eat his words, especially as Quarx herself wasn't shy in letting Drummond know exactly what she thought of him. Their jobs were to disrupt the fleet as much as possible with Drummond getting Quarx in close enough to use her powers against them. This worked surprisingly well, with experience and youth working together and the abrasiveness of the two turning towards the mutual enemy, for a change.Despite not having flown anything more advanced than a biplane before, Drummond had turned out to be skilled with the newer models, especially with modern technology making it as much a case of instinct and reflexes as technological know-how. He managed to fly circles around the Highbreed ships as Quarx shifted reality, rendering them unable to fly, forcing them down and other tricks that soon led to mounting losses for the Highbreed. Mir aided with this, flying amongst the enemy fleet and destroying their weaponry before they could respond. Free of Yuri's mental controls, Mir's potential had begun to show greatly.The Highbreed Commander saw this and pushed forward with as much of his forces as he could. An outright battle began as the League received reinforcements from the military and other like individuals that fought the Highbreed fleet and made them pay for every inch given. A stalemate was reached, although a desperate one as the Highbreed forces slowly managed to break through the defences through sheer numbers and utter desperation.Bellamy stepped in, being able to see where the Highbreed Commander would be, leading to Arthur marching forward to challenge him. Above in the skies, Drummond's luck finally ran out as their ship was blasted from afar, although Quarx managed to save them by manipulating reality enough to give them a safe landing. With some desperate effort, Drummond managed to land beside the facility, right where Arthur and the Highbreed Commander were ready to face in combat. Both he and Quarx made sure that the other was alright before quickly denying doing such a thing and rushing to help Arthur.Determined to end this, Arthur believed that defeating the Highbreed Commander would do just that. His challenge was met with a barrage of laser fire though, which only his enchanted scabbard allowed him to survive. Drummond, being far more of a willing bastard when it came to a fight, used the weapons on his ship to start blasting away at the nearby Highbreed while Quarx reversed gravity on the others, forcing the Highbreed Commander to accept the challenge after all.Arthur met the Highbreed Commander in battle, Excalibur in hand. Even this almost proved not to be enough as the Highbreed Commander was desperate to finish the fight early before the Spanish climate weakened him too much. For that, he went all out and tried to kill Arthur as quickly as he could, ordering a bombardment from a remaining ship in order to gain the upperhand. Arthur was saved by Drummond risking his life and unloading numerous bullets into the Highbreed Commander as he approached. It didn't kill the alien, but it gave Arthur the opportunity to slay him as the former went to kill Drummond himself while Callistis dealt with the remaining ship.Despite their leader's death, the other Highbreed weren't willing to back down and instead pressed on, determined to emerge victorious, or die in the attempt. They had lost their genetic purity, that alone was worse than death. They fought without hope or reason, simply wanting it to be over with. This made the Highbreed increasingly easy targets as humanity's defenders began to pour into the area, but when it was all said and done, the victory was incredibly bitter by its very nature.With the defeat of the Highbreed came the revelation of their contact on Earth, as Gendo Ikari and the rest of NERV were exposed for their actions. The matter was an outrage to many and Gendo was tracked down thanks to Callistis' magic, leading the League and others to Italy, where NERV had managed to hide. Surprisingly enough, Drummond stepped forward to volunteer to talk with Gendo, hoping to convince him to surrender.This was down to the fact that, much to his shame, Drummond would empathise with Gendo. He knew what it was like to want desperately to cling to the past, so much so that you would do anything to bring it back to life. He hoped that talking to the man would get him to realise his folly and convince him to step down.Gendo had none of it though. He was determined to find his wife and bring her back, despite what anyone else thought. He ordered Drummond killed as the first move of a final stand, but this had been foreseen by Bellamy as well. With Arthur's scabbard around him, Drummond was saved of any deadly blows, raising his gun and killing Gendo on the spot, much to his regret. Their leader dead, NERV surrendered since their one chance of achieving their goal over time was now lost forever. Mir breaking down the doors in a show of strength certainly helped them make up their mind as well.As this occurred, the scientists working together in Spain managed to achieve their goal of stopping the time portals from appearing... as frequently. Sheer desperation, agonisingly long hours and the help of a time travelling alien managed to let them lower the amount of time portals considerably and made it easier to predict when they would occur. It wasn't perfect and still promised further threats in the future, but it did diminish the danger considerably. From the end of one crisis, another quickly came back into being. Dracula had decided to return to the city that had been the scene of his greatest defeat. A new empire of vampires was going to rise and its birthplace would be London itself. All those that had gathered under Dracula's banner descended upon the city with only Callistis working with Bellamy with their foresight abilities warning them just in time to head out to stop it.Joining the League were the other forces who had arrived to put a stop to the Highbreed fleet. Not only conventional groups like the UN's military arm, but the Héros Internationaux and others also rushed to London to put a stop to Dracula's mad plans. The city was set to be the scene of a battle unseen on British shores since the Soviet War.Things began to go wrong for the anti-vampire forces when the League got close to the city. They had forgotten just how powerful Dracula truly was and his ability to mentally dominate others was second to none. Mir and Quarx both fell under his influence and turned them against their allies. It was up to Callistis to try and use her magic to put a stop to them while vampires began to rage through London. The city had been undergoing an evacuation process, but there were still plenty of targets for the undead to strike at.In such an environment, Mamuwalde and Zaleska proved invaluable. They had been turned into vampires by Dracula himself and shared some of his powers. Both tore through those that tried to stop them, determined to end Dracula and their own existence in one form or another. They would not live with their curse and Mamuwalde only existed to avenge himself on Dracula. For now though, the two focused on holding back the onslaught of vampires as they killed those who tried to reach the evacuating masses.This was a task made even harder by the impact of Mir and Quarx. Mir was able to serve as the main opponent for multiple heroes as they tried to contain him, although it was hard going. This was only added to by Quarx throwing chaos into the mix as her own powers left those fighting her reeling. Only Dracula's lack of experience with using such abilities, as well as Callistis' magic prevented high casualties.Arthur made sure to lead the way in the defence, with Drummond getting an idea as he hung on in the back. He demanded Bellamy to tell him where the best way to approach Quarx was. Bellamy told him, but was cut off as he tried to warn Drummond of the consequences if he did move over to her. The older man moved quickly and recklessly, already knowing the price he would have to pay.As Quarx turned the air around her into a powerful storm with lightning strikes hitting the ground, Drummond made his way over to the teenager, not stopping until he was in front of her and a lightning bolt struck him, dealing him a fatal blow. This was enough to get Quarx to break Dracula's hold over her, forcing him back as she realised what she had done. For his part, Drummond held no regrets over what had happened, telling Quarx that he had no role in this world anymore and just wanted to be remembered as something other than the worst tendencies of his generation. With his final words, he asked Quarx that her century would avoid the mistakes of his own before he breathed his last.Now free of Dracula's interference, Quarx turned her attention to Mir as she looked to put an end to his threat. Working with Callistis, Quarx managed to subdue Mir and then break the control Dracula had over him, changing it so he could find the power to resist. Mir collapsed, free of Dracula's influence, but unable to continue the fight, not that he was trusted in doing so.The anti-vampire forces were now able to rally and rushed against their enemies. Arthur led the charge as he tried to find Dracula himself while London turned into a charnel house from the sheer savagery of the fighting. No quarter was given or taken as the vampire lines began to crumble and were pushed back. The vampires fought back hard, their powers allowing them to make their enemies pay for their success in blood.Dracula himself didn't help matters. Although he had lost Quarx and Mir, he could still influence others who were fighting his forces, making those allied against him turn against each other if they couldn't fight off his powers, or if Quarx wasn't around to help them do so. The carnage carried on through the night while the League tried desperately to track him down. It was Mamuwalke and Zaleska who did it first, finding Dracula at his old house in Piccadily. It was here that Dracula protected himself with his most powerful minions. Orlok and his brides awaited any threats that came close to their master. Mamuwalke and Zaleska sent out one final message to the League before attacking Dracula's forces, determined to kill him there and then. With the other members busy with the battle, Arthur made his way through the streets of London and arrived to see the bloody path Mamuwalke and Zaleska had cut through Dracula's new brides. Only Orlok remained to fight against them as he sought to kill them and gain favour with his master.This did not go as Orlok wished as Zaleska managed to stun him with her mesmerising jewel after her and Mamuwalke killed the wolves he had set against them. This distraction allowed Mamuwalke to stake Orlok through the heart and killing him once again. This finally brought Dracula himself to the battle and he proved to be a much hardier foe. Zaleska's amulet hypnotising jewel had no impact upon Dracula, leading to him quickly swiping it and crushing it effortlessly while chastising his 'daughter' for thinking that would work on him.Arthur arrived to help the other two in their fight, Excalibur in his hand as he fought the most powerful of vampires alongside two that he had created. Dracula gave no quarter in turn, his dark powers countering those utilised against him. The animals of London were summoned to his bidding as distractions, he shifted into mist to avoid blows and his great strength caused terrible injuries. He was determined not to fall until he had seen London die in fire and blood.He would not see this. Exhausted and battered, Mamuwalke nevertheless managed to grab and hold Dracula long enough so that Arthur could plunge Excalibur through his heart, killing Mamuwalke at the same time. In this, Mamuwalke finally had the revenge he had sought against the man who had destroyed his life, living just long enough to see him turn to ash before he followed.The vampire army around London didn't melt away and continued to fight, but without Dracula throwing chaos into the ranks of their enemies, their battle became a hopeless one. This became especially apparent when the Sun began to rise and their powers were weakened. Eventually, their lines broke and they began to scatter, their retreat turning into a slaughter as no mercy was shown to the monsters of the night.In the aftermath, the dead were buried and clean up began as the world breathed a sigh of relief that the threat was over. Arthur stayed to help with the recovery, making sure Drummond and Mamuwalde were given the honours respective of their sacrifices. He soon realised that he wasn't needed however and looked to the stars as he knew that he could make the journey that would have been impossible in his lifetime. He went on a spaceship and turned to exploration, looking to fight for justice wherever he went.Mir also went to space, feeling that he was lost. Denied helping his homeland and unable to achieve redemption, Mir began his own crusade to find his own worth. He would reach the edges of the Solar System looking for it, becoming a stalwart defender of humanity on the fringes of its borders. He would do this over the upcoming years, trying to put his past sins behind him.Quarx remained on Earth, remembering how badly things had gone for her against Dracula and what had gone wrong with Drummond. She became determined to live up to Drummond's request and make sure that the world wouldn't repeat the same mistakes as she looked to helping with social reform. While focusing on her powers to help and make the twenty-first century the best for humanity, she hoped that education would be key for a better tomorrow.Callistis and Bellamy returned to their ordinary lives. Well, as ordinary as they could get anyway. Bellamy worked with Callistis to help perfect his foresight skills, being able to predict disasters to help avert the worst effects and become a major warning system for the United Nations. When not helping Bellamy, Callistis returned to her work at the Luna Nova Magical Academy, struggling to make her students pay attention when they wanted to know how she had managed to hold back an army of vampires.No one knew what became of Zaleska. After the death of Dracula, she vanished as the Sun rose over London. Questions over her appearance were never answered fully and she would be searched for, although not found, even if she was still alive. With Dracula dead, her purpose had gone with him and it's possible she allowed death to take her in order to get the rest she had so deserved.London was soon rebuilt and humanity went on, recovering from its latest trials. The time portals were able to be brought down to a rare occurrence, although the fear of old threats returning still remained. Vigilance was the price as humanity mastered more of the dimensions and the universe around them as the twenty-first century matured.The march forward of time would bring with it many challenges heroes would rise to meet it. No matter what, there would be those who would look to protect the best of what humanity could do and push it to its greatest heights. They would be the ones who would make the world, and universe as a whole, truly extraordinary.