Roster
Vanguard Elite
-
Hero 1 (Leader, Presumed Dead)
-
General Members
Current HQ: London
Turf: The World
Benefits/Rewards
·Unknown, although it's likely that the Vanguard provides training and
information. It is known that the Vanguard is one of the few hero organizations still in full operation and does have a Paragon
City division.
History
"Although the Rikti Invasion began (and apparently ended) in Paragon
City, it was a worldwide crisis. The menacing extra-dimensional armies struck across
the globe. At first, heroes, soldiers, and citizens in each nation fought the aliens individually as best they could. NATO
had no contingency plan for dimensional portals opening up in the hearts of its capital cities. Those first few weeks were
utter chaos as the world fought to hold on against the technologically superior Rikti. Only through the efforts of super powered
individuals and hero organizations like the Freedom Phalanx, did humanity manage to bring to a halt the invaders' early advances.
"As the Rikti War settled into a temporary stalemate, the world community had
a chance to catch its breath and arrange a coordinated response. The Statesman immediately went before the United Nations
Security Council and offered the Freedom Phalanx as an organizing body for the world's super-powered response. Surprisingly,
the nations of the world were less than thrilled with this prospect. The Freedom Phalanx had a decidedly American aura about
it and The Statesman in particular was closely identified with the United States.
The Security Council decided that the dire situation called for a more multi-national, less Ameri-centric organization. That
was the public reasoning, in any event. In private, more than a few world leaders had reason to believe that the Freedom Phalanx
had somehow provoked the Rikti attack, and thus did not fully trust the usually much-admired hero organization.
"The Security Council decided that they needed a force that stood above and
beyond individual nations, a force whose entire raison d'etre focused on fighting pressing and potential Rikti threats - and
any other alien or super-powered force that might bear humanity ill will. Thus, the Vanguard was born. Each permanent member
of the Security Council nominated one hero to the core Vanguard group and contributed to the cost of building the team's base
in Paragon City. This core team, known
as The Vanguard Elite, not only led the group but served as its most powerful strike force against any alien menace.
"Headed by Great Britain's
Hero 1, the five hero team quickly set about organizing the world's best and brightest crime fighters into a cohesive military
unit. Although many in the U.S. resented the UN's shunning
the Freedom Phalanx, The Statesman supported the Vanguard's formation and took his place as one of the Elite Five. The Vanguard
Elite divided their forces into two dozen different Rapid Response Teams, each stationed in a different major metropolitan
area that was under heavy Rikti assault. The key innovation that made these teams so successful during the war was that the
Vanguard organized them based on complimentary skills and powers rather than the nationality of the individuals. Heroes who
served with the Vanguard (and there were many), had to learn to trust others to protect their homelands while they went and
fought on foreign shores."
When other hero teams suffered terrible losses and were all but defeated by
the Rikti, the Vanguard proved humanity's last and best hope. "With its decentralized command structure and international
recruiting base, only the Vanguard remained a viable, organized fighting force. Even when the Rikti destroyed the United Nations
buildings in New York and Geneva,
the Vanguard kept up the fight, quickly training and organizing super powered defense teams to hold the aliens in check."
As the war escalated, the Vanguard was forced to make a desperate assault on
the Rikti's home dimension. The Vanguard "assembled the best and brightest heroes in the world, leaving only skeleton crews
to man the defenses. They then split into two teams, one led by the Statesman, named Alpha Team, and one led by Hero 1, named
Omega Team. Alpha Team was much larger, consisting of over 1,000 heroes from across the globe. They launched a full frontal
assault on the Rikti main troop concentrations, drawing as many alien troops into the fray as possible. This was a dangerous
ploy, and it proved costly. In the ensuing titanic battle, 800 of 1000 heroes died, along with some 50,000 Rikti soldiers."
Alpha Team's assault was simply a diversion that allowed Omega Team to slip
into the Rikti's home dimension. There, they managed to destroy a power source fueling the Rikti technology, but this victory
came at a terrible cost. Hero 1 and nearly every other member of Omega Team have vanished, presumably killed in the explosion
that consumed the Rikti power source or trapped behind enemy lines.
"After the war, the Rikti portals were closed, but another invasion seemed
a looming possibility. The UN decided to expand The Vanguard into a peacetime security organization and actually increased
its funding. Today, The Vanguard has branches all over the world, with its headquarters in London.
The organization not only employs super powered heroes, but a veritable army of security personnel, intelligence analysts,
aid workers, researchers, and investigators. They gather, sort and analyze any and all information about continued Rikti activity
(which is still significant), as well as stand sentinel against other potential threats."
The Vanguard has also led the efforts to convert Rikti technology for human
use, becoming a "clearinghouse for captured alien technology." In fact, current "international laws clearly state that any
artifact of alien technology must be immediately turned over to the local government who will then turn it over to the Vanguard…
They then apportion out the finds to different research facilities around the world. Vanguard security personnel are stationed
at each of these labs, both to ensure their safety and to see that the scientists share whatever discoveries they make with
the rest of the world community." Those who violate the new international laws are dealt with harshly. Crey Industries "recently
lost all of its contracts and was forbidden to work on Rikti research after the Vanguard discovered that the company possessed
a number of Rikti weapons and rare suits of advanced combat armor that the rest of the world knew nothing about. The Countess
Crey maintained that it was simply a clerical error, but the Vanguard remained unimpressed and seized all the alien artifacts
known to be in Crey's possession. Crey has assured the UN that it no longer has any interest in alien research and is pursuing
its own projects from now on."
The Vanguard has benefited greatly from the use of alien technology and has
even "begun to employ a prototype 'rapid response' portal system designed after Rikti teleporters." Because the teleporters
allow members to arrive at any crisis almost instantly, Vanguard units are often known as Rapid Response Teams.
"The Paragon City Rapid Response Team is still the largest single Vanguard
unit in the world. Paragon City is one
of the few places in the world where the Rikti threat remains strong and constant. With the extra-dimensional aliens in hiding,
Vanguard members in the city spend much of their time trying to root out their hidden bases or stop their incursions into
settled and nominally secure neighborhoods. Heroes who work with the Vanguard also work against other villainous organizations
that have worldwide threat potential, such as the Fifth Column or the mysterious Crey Industries. Although some die-hard citizens
complain about having a UN military style force active on U.S.
soil, most realize that the Vanguard has done the nation and the world a great service, and that it continues to be a critical
component when it comes to securing the city's safety."
