#1 - "Corporate Raiders"

"Now that was a surprise," I mentally informed Jaime. "Muskateer and the Enchantress-- a couple." (Editor's Note: This takes place right after the conversation in Muskateer #17)

"I never would have guessed," Jaime sent back. "We seem far more compatible with Muskateer than she does."

"I know." I laid back down as I thought. It was Tuesday morning and I was resting somewhat comfortably in the clinic of Bryn Carstairs, a doctor of great repute with the superhero set. My body was rapidly mending thanks to her medical expertise.

This whole mess started out simple enough. Word had reached the Freedom League headquarters that one of our missing members, the Silver Arrow, had been found in Los Angeles. Something big was going down and Arrow asked everyone available to come out to the Guardians base in Los Angeles. The urgency in his voice suggested that some sort of major crisis was at hand.

Unfortunately only myself and Brute were around, the others being off on individual job assignments. Boarding one of our team jets, we rapidly made the trip cross-country. Behind us, Jaime had loaded the Sky Sabre onto one of the specially altered cargo-planes that we occasionally used. It would arrive in LA hours after we did. I wasn't sure I was going to need the Sky Sabre, but it was better to have it available than not.

Major crisis indeed. Turns out that just about every hero team in the country was converging on Los Angeles. And with good reason. A being known as the Crimson Claw was running a contest among the villains and it was high time for us to put a stop to it.

The Claw didn't make things easy on us. Seems that his headquarters had the ability to transport itself to different locations. I would love to get my hands on that kind of technology! Such a thing would be a boon to the manufacturing industry and would net the discoverer a great deal of wealth. Off course, it would greatly annoy longshoremen and truck drivers. That was the price of progress-- new discoveries making old tasks obsolete.

Tapping into a CII satellite, I had Jaime visually scan the foothills around Los Angeles in an attempt to find the base. It was slow and tedious work.

Believe it or not, it was Foxbat who revealed the location of the dome. Jaime was quickly able to verify the location. From there, the heroes broke off into assault teams. I was part of a group that was to go inside the Claw's base and try and find some way to sabotage the transportation system, forcing the base to remain in one place.

Chaotic battles followed and I found myself teamed up with Ace from the Protectors and Muskateer of the Avengers. Together, we moved deeper into the base and ultimately came face to face with Dr. Destroyer and his pet toad, Menton!

I really thought we were toast, but it turns out that Destroyer had his own agenda, that he too opposed the Crimson Claw. Following his directions, we reached the computer core in short order. Hopefully, Jaime would be able to interface with the alien computer network and shut the transport system down.

Jaime went in and began to explore. To our immense surprise, the system was highly compatible. A transport system shut down was easily found and activated. We had completed our task. Unfortunately, the Crimson Claw himself attacked and I got cut up pretty bad. Bad enough to have spent the last several days in bed.

"The Enchantress is a lucky woman," I added. "I hope the two of them are very happy." I sighed and tried to relax. I wasn't everyday that I met someone with whom I considered to have much in common. Probably would be a long time until I did again.

"You know, Jess, I've been reviewing the data from my excursion into the alien computer net," Jaime telepathically stated.

"Your conclusions?"

"The base was constructed by humans-- or at least a humanoid race extremely similar to humans. The entire ship seemed to be designed for what is considered to be the average human. For something reputed to be alien, I did not encounter anything out of the ordinary. In fact, the program to lock the ship into place was way too easy to find. For something that you would think would be a highly secured program, it was right out in the open. I found it in just the first directory I searched."

"So you think that someone placed the program there for us to find?"

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think we put it there."

I did a double take upon hearing that. "That's not possible, Jaime. Neither one of us were ever on board that ship before."

"You're right. We weren't. But that program was just about right where I would have put it and the way it was encoded reminded me of our work style. There are at least two possibilities that come to mind. One is time travel. At some point in the future we traveled backward in time to plant the program."

"Or," I countered, "at some point the ship was in our future before appearing here in Los Angeles. We did plant it in our future, but in the ship's past."

"That would be a paradox, but not the most likely explanation."

"Then what is?"

"The base was not a spaceship, but rather a dimensional ship traveling from one reality to another. We have no way of knowing just how many times the Claw has ran this contest, how many worlds this ship has visited. I would speculate that in one of these alternate realities, a band of heroes tried the same thing we did. Our counterparts planted the program but were never able to execute it."

"As good an explanation as any, I guess. It could all be just one big coincidence as well. We'll probably never know one way or the other." Either way, I wasn't really going to lose sleep over it. The situation was over, although I was going to be carrying the scars for a long time.

"Hello? Scarlet? Are you awake?"

The voice jerked me back to consciousness. I had every intention upon catching up on my work, but instead had fallen asleep. Knowing that my body needed its rest, Jaime was content to let me sleep. Besides, she was able to concentrate on her favorite soaps without me bothering her that way. "Yeah, I'm awake," I called out. "What's going on?"

"It's lunch time."

Opening my eyes, I could see that Firestar was delivering my midday meal, as she had done the day before. Turns out that Firestar was related to Bryn and had stayed in LA to visit and help out around the clinic. "Oh, in that case bring it on in." I reached over and rolled the table beside the bed into position before me. "You can just set it here."

"Okay. Sorry, I didn't know you were asleep."

"Not to worry, Firestar. Thanks."

She smiled and departed the room. I really didn't know Firestar very well, not ever having talked to her that much. Oh well, it's a crazy business that I'm in. There are people that I've adventured side by side with for years that I never really knew.

I was feeling hungry and eagerly dug into the meal. Blade was the local cook and-- no, make that chef. Anyone this skilled at cooking was a chef in my book. The food here was fantastic. This was the best I had eaten in a long, long time. I was almost going to be sad to leave. Almost.

"If you're up to it, Sheryl would like to talk to you," Jaime informed me. I had finished my lunch and was laying back, relaxing.

"Put her on." I closed my eyes and concentrated. The image of Sheryl sitting behind her desk came into view. Sheryl's desktop no doubt had Jaime's image on it, while a digital camera was providing me with the image I was seeing. It was an odd way to videoconference, but it had the beauty of me not needing any equipment on my end. "Hi, Sheryl. What's up?"

Sheryl looked up from her paperwork and into the camera. She swept her platinum blond hair out from in front of her face before she spoke. "Hello, Jessica. How are you feeling?"

"Better. I should be out of here in a few days." That's Sheryl for you, always concerned about her employees. "What's going on?"

"Are you familiar with Lawrence Technologies?"

"LawTech? Only in passing," I answered. "Don't they concentrate on robotics?" I could have had Jaime find out easily enough, but I learned long ago to not be a 'know it all'. It tended to put people off. Everyone in the Freedom League was a specialist in one field or another. I stayed out of their fields to avoid stepping on toes. I considered it to be a professional courtesy.

"Primarily, yes. I've had several meetings with T.J. Lawrence over the last few weeks. He's been fighting a particularly nasty take-over bid from Kord Industries and he came to me for help." (Editor's Note: Some of which was vaguely hinted at in Huntress #12)

Kord Industries was a corporation very familiar to me. It was reputedly a front for Iron Maiden and her organization. She used it to secure new technologies and funnel them to none other than Dr. Destroyer himself. "I'd say that Mr. Lawrence has a serious problem."

"He would tend to concur. To that end, I have agreed to assist him in exchange for a healthy percentage of his company. It will also open some doors for me on the West Coast. The current management structure will remain intact and I will serve in an advisory capacity."

"Something like a silent partner."

"You could say that," Sheryl stated in agreement. "To that end, I would like you to stay out in Los Angeles a few days and look into this matter. Lend whatever aid you can to TJ."

"Sure, no problem. I'll see what I can do once I'm up and about. Anything else?"

"I have the feeling that TJ is going to need superpowered help-- Possibly even superpowered employees."

"You mean something like the arrangement you have with the Freedom League?"

"Possibly," Sheryl answered. "Although, I don't envision a 'Freedom League West', if that is what you are implying. No, I was thinking more along the lines of maybe a few superpowered scientists who could work for LawTech and help protect it at the same time. If any current members of the Freedom League wanted to move west, I certainly would encourage that too. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the West Coast hero scene is limited."

"Well, I'll keep my eyes open for any likely candidates." While not absolutely certain, I doubted that any of the current team would move west. We each had our own private labs designed to our personal specs. Our roots in New York were too deep to move on a whim.

"Thanks, Jess. I'm transferring all the information I have on LawTech to Jaime. I'll see you when you get back to New York."

"Bye, Sheryl." The image of Sheryl faded from my mind. I could sense that Jaime was eagerly going over the new data she was receiving. I gave her a few seconds to complete the task. "What's the situation, Jaime?"

"On the surface, it appears to be typical Kord takeover activities," Jaime explained. "Lots of unexplained accidents and work stoppages. The line of credit Sheryl floated LawTech is about the only thing keeping them operational right now."

"When Iron Maiden wants something, she usually gets it. What about Mr. Lawrence himself?"

"His father founded LawTech in the thirties and it rapidly expanded into a Fortune 500 Company. TJ took over about twenty years ago. Nothing suspicious... Until late last year that is. There was a traffic accident up in the foothills. His car plunged into a gorge."

"How convenient," I noted. "For Kord Industries, that is."

"Very. Foul play was involved. They found traces of a device that nearly shook his limo apart."

"Now that's different. Sounds like they wanted to frighten TJ, but not necessarily kill him."

"You could be right, Jess," Jaime agreed. "However, Mr. Lawrence was paralyzed from the waist down from the accident. He's getting around in a wheelchair these days."

"As soon as Bryn discharges me, we'll go and pay a visit to Mr. Lawrence. Why don't you see what other information you can dig up? In the meantime, we've got a project to finish." Closing my eyes once more, we went back to our work on the Lore 3000 processing chip. The problems of LawTech would have to wait a few days.

"There, that feels much better," I murmured to myself. It was Thursday afternoon and I was now free to depart the clinic. Ditching my hospital garment, I was slipping into the black body suit that formed the basis of my Scarlet Sabre costume. It was constructed of the new ballistic cloth that had been created a few weeks back. The garment was form fitting, but very comfortable to wear. "I'm gonna have to get back into my exercise routine," I noted, observing my figure. Blade was a great cook and my hips were beginning to show it.

Next came my red accessories. Fortunately, I had spares of my entire costume as the Claw and his goons had done a good job of shredding my old one. Given that they were always getting dirty, or torn, or in this case shredded, having multiple outfits seemed practical.

That included multiple gadgets as well. My old lightsabre must have been left behind in the Claw's vessel and most likely destroyed along with the spherical craft. I had retrieved my belongings yesterday after a quick drive out to the CII Cargo Plane. The red blouse, boots, gloves, and sash went on next. The half-hood was put on last.

My gadget belt held the remainder of my standard equipment. This included a small hand-held sonar unit, a device that generated a short-term force field, a portable interface, and lastly an Alpha-Wave Interference Generator that could blunt mental attacks directed towards me. After a particularly nasty encounter with Mentalla, one of Iron Maiden's lackeys, I constructed this device to avoid being mind controlled. (Editor's Note: As shown in Troubleshooters #5-7)

I carried around a portion of Jaime inside the portable interface. Should I need her to take over a computer system or some computer controlled device, I had her on hand. Given her innate ability to 'multi-task', it was no hindrance to Jaime.

I regarded myself in the dressing mirror. "It's good to be back in the saddle again." Bryn warned me to not overdue it for a few days. I would certainly do my best to follow her instructions as I always valued my health. I must say that I prefer Bryn's bedside manner over FIST's, who was my normal physician.

"Yeah," Jaime telepathically sent me. "I don't mind working, but I need some excitement in my life too!"

The last few days had been most productive. The designing of the Lore 3000 chip was completed. I sent the plans to the CII Computer Division so that they could assemble a prototype. Until it was completed, there was nothing else for me to do on this particular project.

However, I now had the problems with LawTech to contend with. Jaime had discovered several instances where devices suspiciously similar to the one used on TJ's car had been used for other crimes. The most notorious of these incidents resulted in the collapse of a small building in San Diego last year.

Devices of this nature suggested the work of someone skilled in sound-based technology. To that end, I contacted Resonator, one of my fellow Freedom League members. Sonics was his thing, so it stood to reason that he could point out others in his field.

Resonator provided me with a short list of experts in the field of sonics. Jaime quickly whittled the list down to a few possibilities. At the top of this list was a Sara Redmond. At one time she had been in the employ of LA-based Advanced Technology Design. She resigned, claiming that her work had been used in weapons of mass destruction without her knowledge or consent. Nothing ever came from her lawsuit due to the lack of hard proof.

However, I knew ATD to be a secret subsidiary company of Kord Industries, meaning that Iron Maiden could have a hand in this. It certainly sounded like her style. The incidents we had discovered were most likely her way of testing out these new weapons. It also tied in with the attempt on TJ, since Kord was out to takeover LawTech. The pieces of this puzzle were begin to form a clear picture of what was going on and that picture was not very pretty.

Contacting Ms. Redmond would be a priority. Unfortunately, she had no street address, just a post office box.

A knock at my door interrupted my train of thought. "Come on in," I instructed.

The door opened and Morning Star entered the room. She was dressed in her trademark purple and lavender costume. 'Star was a big girl compared to myself, over five inches taller than I was. We had briefly been teammates on the defunct Crusaders five years back. She was well known for keeping track of the super-being community, perhaps even better than myself. Touching base with her seemed like a logical step in seeing if there were any heroic-scientists available that could potentially work for LawTech. Her knowledge of the LA hero scene was bound to be better than mine.

"Hello, Scarlet," Morning Star stated in greeting. "All ready to go?"

"Hi, 'Star," I greeted back. I had phoned 'Star earlier in the morning. I had explained to her the gist of the situation with LawTech to her and Sheryl's desire to locate a worker-hero for the company.

"You did the right thing in coming to me, Scarlet", Morning Star had informed me over the phone. "I have someone in mind who would be a perfect fit for what you are describing."

I have to admit that I was surprised that she came up with someone right off the bat. But that is why I contacted her, after all. I asked when I could meet this person.

"I can take you to her this afternoon, if you wish." And Morning Star left the matter hang like that, leaving me to try and deduce just who we were going to see while she drove over to Bryn's Clinic to pick me up.

Los Angeles had its fair share of heroines. There was Spinnerette and Density of the Guardians. I didn't know much about Density, but from what I had heard from Morning Star, Spinnerette was a scientist. Perhaps she was the lady 'Star had in mind.

Other heroic women included Victrix of the Freedom Squad, and Shockwave and the Empress, Morning Star's teammates on X-Factor. I knew very little about all three ladies. Victrix appeared to be a telekinetic, the Empress an energy projector, and Shockwave wore armor. If I had to make a guess, it was either Shockwave or Spinnerette who we were going to go meet.

Gathering up my gear, I loaded it into Morning Star's white Porsche and she sped off towards Los Angeles. 'Star loved to drive like a maniac but it didn't faze me. I've gone much faster in the Sky Sabre and done stunts in it that would have made even her hair stand on end. And considering just how much of it there was, that would be an impressive sight!

"If Iron Maiden is involved in this, perhaps I could get X-Factor to help act as guards," Morning Star suggested.

"It's possible. I haven't spoken directly with Mr. Lawrence himself as of yet. I'm sure that there would be some sort of compensation involved. Sheryl would see to that."

Morning Star nodded her understanding. "Money is not an issue for me, but the others are not as fortunate. They'd probably jump at the opportunity."

We chatted for the rest of the drive about this and that. We were what you would call casual friends. We kept in touch since our days with the Crusaders and tried to get together when either of us were in town. Morning Star related some of her latest adventures with X-Factor. How they had battled a bunch of Mechanon's Kilbots and then later Hexmaster. Finally, she pulled up in front of a small shop in downtown Los Angeles. A sign read, "Offices of Heroes for Hire". (Editor's Note: X-Factor fought the Kilbots in X-Factor #7)

I gave Morning Star a confused look. "Believe it or not, it's also the headquarters of X-Factor," she explained with a shrug. "With virtually no financial backing we're forced to make do with what we've got. And that's not much."

"I see." Hardly what I would have expected as far as a base goes. Maybe LawTech could help them out somehow? It also more or less confirmed that we were going to meet Shockwave.

Morning Star led the way in. "Who is it?", a female voice called out from behind a curtained doorway.

"It's me, Shockwave," Morning Star stated. "I've brought a guest to see you."

And that clinched it. Shockwave was the scientist Morning Star had in mind. She was so new to the hero scene that I really didn't know much about her, although if she built her armored suit, she must have some scientific skills.

After a pause the voice behind the curtain announced, "Okay, come on back."

Behind the curtain was a very makeshift lab. Miscellaneous parts were scattered among several workbenches. Shockwave was here, but she was casually dressed. The only part of her armor she was currently wearing was the helmet. The rest of her armor was in pieces on the table before her. "You're the Scarlet Sabre," she stated pointing at me.

"In the flesh," I responded with a wave. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Shockwave answered. "I was just in the process of finishing up my repairs using spare Kilbot parts. What can I do for you?"

"Scarlet has been telling me some things that you may find rather interesting," Morning Star answered her X-Factor teammate.

Taking my cue, I began to explain the situation. How I had connected the accident with T.J. Lawrence to the discoveries of Sara Redmond and the takeover bid of LawTech by Kord Industries. After a time, Shockwave sat down on a stool, hung her head, and appeared to be upset. "Is there something wrong?", I asked in a confused tone.

Shockwave looked down at her hands for a few moments. I gave Morning Star a puzzled glance. She shot me a 'be patient' look back in return.

"What should I do?", Shockwave asked of Morning Star, casting an imploring gaze towards her teammate.

"The choice is yours," M'star replied. "I do trust Scarlet if that is any help to you."

With a sigh, Shockwave reached up and removed her helmet. "I can save you a lot of time with your investigation," she explained to me. "You see, I am Sara Redmond."

Now that was a plot twist I didn't see coming. Perhaps if I had known more about Shockwave, I could have deduced this fact. But, alas, I had not. "I get it. The trouble with ATD is what led you to make your Shockwave armor, using your own technology."

"That's the gist of the situation," Sara answered. I noted that she had curly blond hair and green eyes now that she had her helmet removed. "So what you're saying is that Iron Maiden is the one who converted my technology into a weapon?"

"I suspect as much. In turn, she used it in an attempt to force T.J. Lawrence to sell his company. Sounds like you two have a great deal in common."

"I had applied to LawTech after quitting ATD, but they never called me back. I figured that I was being blackballed by all the local companies," Sara explained. "No one would hire me. Needing money to keep my armor operational, Blizzard and I created 'Heroes for Hire'. Unfortunately, since joining X-Factor my armor has taken quite a beating. Now I'm reduced to using scrap Kilbot parts to fix it."

"Shockwave neatly fits your requirements of a scientist/hero," Morning Star added. "Sounds like an ideal situation for both parties."

"What do you mean?", Shockwave asked.

"What kind of science skills do you have?", I said, countering her question. Shockwave then proceeded to rattle off an impressive list of accomplishments and degrees. She was a very bright girl.

"Hard to believe she couldn't find employment," Jaime mentally told me. "Sheryl would probably hire her for the Freedom League in a heartbeat."

"Probably," I sent back to Jaime. Turning back to Shockwave, I stated, "How would you be interested in a very high paying job at LawTech?"

As the saying goes, 'Ask a silly question, get a silly answer.' Once I laid out what was going on, Shockwave was extremely interested in the offer. Given the needs of her armor and the materials that LawTech had on hand, maintaining her armor was no longer going to be a problem.

Assuming that Shockwave was going to have the same set up that I and the rest of the Freedom League did, she was going to draw a top salary, work when she was able, and be part of X-Factor without compromising her job. For us scientific types, it's a sweet, sweet deal.

Using Shockwave's phone, I made contact with T.J. Lawrence. Sheryl had previously informed him of my involvement in this matter. He had been expecting my call. I told him about my deductions as to just who his true enemy was and that I may have a scientist/hero all ready to work for his company. TJ seemed pleased with everything that I've accomplished so far. We arranged to meet at the LawTech plant in a few hours to iron things out.

The three of us chatted to kill time. Since she had shared her identity with me, and Morning Star trusted her, I shared mine with her. Sara was familiar with my work in the field of computers.

Jaime and I assisted Shockwave in getting her armor re-assembled. While I helped with the hands-on stuff, Jaime scoped out the computer programs that monitored the armor. We were able to debug and test her system faster then Sara ever could have done alone. From what I saw, Sara was a competent scientist. She would fit in at LawTech as robotics was one of her fields. I couldn't believe my fortune at finding such a perfect match so easily.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Jaime told me. Can't argue with that.

As the time of our appointment neared, we all piled into Morning Star's Porsche. Now I like sports cars well enough myself, but not when it comes to carrying passengers. I was forced to sit on Shockwave's lap. Not the best seating arrangements but far better than her sitting on me dressed in armor!

Sara was a likeable enough girl. She was a couple years younger than me, but wasn't a head case like so many heroes could be. I'd welcome her into the Freedom League in a heartbeat. Looks like I had made a new friend.

We chatted during the trip and I tried to determine if their were any other potential heroes/scientists for LawTech available.

"Spin's a bio-chemist," Morning Star reported. "She's had trouble keeping jobs in the past, but..."

"But that's not one of LawTech's fields," I said, finishing that train of thought.

"Hornet's not the type to seek employment," Morning Star continued. "He prefers to work alone and on what interests him. That pretty much covers all the scientists I am familiar with in this area."

Shockwave didn't have anything else to add to the list.

Morning Star's oh-so fine vehicle chewed up the miles. She was forced to use her headlights as the day turned into night. Before long we were approaching LawTech's main plant. The guard at the security checkpoint had been expecting us. He handed Morning Star a map and directed us to where Mr. Lawrence would be waiting. Traveling at far more casual speeds, Morning Star followed the directions given to us.

As we approached our destination, we heard a small explosion off in the distance! "What was that?", Shockwave wondered.

"Let's find out!" I had to agree as Morning Star accelerated her vehicle and raced between buildings to find the source of the explosion.

Zipping around the corner, we came face to face with what must be the cause of the trouble. A trio of individuals were illuminated in the Porsche's headlights. They were easily recognized as Scorpia, Shamrock, and Mind Slayer.

"Terror Unlimited!", Morning Star hissed venomously. Looks like I was going to be ignoring Bryn's advice earlier than I ever expected.