#2 - "Vindication"

Out in the City of Angels, I was asked to look into the troubles at Lawrence Technologies by my boss, Sheryl Campbell. I had made contact with my friend and former Crusader teammate Morning Star because she was well known for keeping track of what goes on in the super community. Los Angeles was her home turf. Using Morning Star's help, I had hoped to find a heroic scientist to help out at LawTech. M-Star pointed me in the direction of her current X-Factor teammate Shockwave. Together, all three of us went out to the LawTech plant to meet with its CEO T.J. Lawrence. An explosion diverted our attention and we found that the cause of it was Terror Unlimited!

The situation reminded me of something out a western. We quickly got out of Morning Star's Porsche and stared down the enemy. Three of them, three of us. Should be a fair fight. Looks like there's going to be a showdown. All we needed was the theme music from 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'.

Of course, given the identities of our foes, a fair fight was probably the last thing that was going to occur. Scorpia was the leader of this particular band of super-criminals. She had broken off her relationship with Terror Incorporated and struck out on her own. Scorpia was a lady after my own heart, at least as far as attire went. Over a black body suit she wore bright red full-length boots and gloves. Although Scorpia chose to wear a cape and I didn't.

Next was Shamrock. Like Scorpia, Shamrock hailed from the Emerald Isle and was a superpowered terrorist. He was tall, he was handsome, and man-o-man was he built! If he had any real sense, he would have become an actor in action flicks. He probably could have done his own stunts too. Hey, if Arnold and Claude could do it, Shamrock could as well. Probably could have done more good for his homeland than he ever could accomplish as a terrorist. True to his name and homeland, the Shamrock wore green.

Last, but not least, was Mind Slayer. She's a deadly mentalist. As if you couldn't tell by the name. People who have death or slayer in their names don't tend to be subtle. She was something of an exhibitionist as well. Her costumes never left much to the imagination. Of course, that could be to just distract male foes. I imagine that she was good at doing that. Mind Slayer's current garb was a purple leotard with short white gloves and ankle boots. Not my style personally, but I'll tell you one thing: she had no concealed weapons!

"According to my files, there's a member of Terror Unlimited unaccounted for," Jaime telepathically informed me. "The other Spectrum we've been hearing about." Jaime monitored a variety of information sources, TV, newspapers, etc, and was constantly updating our data files on other supers.

"I'll keep my eyes open."

So there we were, facing off, waiting for someone to make the first move. "They've got someone concealed overhead!", Shockwave cried out in warning. Shockwave activated her jet roller skates. These would give her greater maneuverability.

"And there he is," Jaime added. After her excursion into Shockwave's armor, she was now fully aware of our ally's abilities, including her built in radar that must have picked out the invisible and fourth member of Terror Unlimited: Spectrum.

I slowly moved forward, lightsabre ready to go. "The parties over," I announced confidently. "Why don't we make this easy on everyone and you just surrender?" I knew they wouldn't go along with it, but I had to ask anyway. Someday someone is going to surprise me and say, 'Okay!'. I'll probably faint in shock.

"Dream on!" The voice came from the sky and a costumed man shimmered into existence. I thought him to be Spectrum, but he had different attire. Oh, it was the same full body suit but there was a white starburst on his chest. What I guessed to be the colors of the rainbow radiated outwards like ripples in a pond. Fashion sense was not his strong point.

"You shall fall before the might of Lightmaster!" Geez, he changed costumes and names as well. Why don't people tell me these things? Lightmaster fired a light blast at Shockwave, but from what I could tell her armor protected her. That seemed to tick him off. And so, by mutual consent, battle was joined!

"I've waited a long time for this!", Mind Slayer hissed at Morning Star. "I'll defeat you once and for all!" The two had a 'history' and looked like they were ready to write a new chapter. What appeared to be shadowy blades flew from Mind Slayer's hands at Morning Star.

'Star ducked the attack and moved in. A powerful right hand jab rocked Mind Slayer's world. "Sorry, but you're just going to be disappointed again."

Turning my attention back to the enemy, I moved in on Scorpia. This was one criminal that I was always curious to take on. Like her namesake, she was fast and deadly. This was going to be interesting. I just hoped that my body was ready for this after resting in bed for the last several days.

"Watch out for her claws and darts," Jaime advised.

"That sort of was the idea." Seems that all I've run into on the West Coast were clawed maniacs in red. First the Crimson Claw, now the crimson clad Scorpia. She was a cold-blooded killer and I was going to fight a more defensive battle. At least at first.

Scorpia grinned at me as we gauged each other. "Shall we dance, lass?", she suggested in an Irish accent. Her body language offered no clue as to what she would do first. With lightning speed, she raised her arm and fired a dart at me! Instinctively, I batted it away with my sabre.

Using this feint as a diversion, Scorpia popped her claws and tumbled towards me. I dove off to one side as she passed, narrowly avoiding those nasty looking claws. She shredded part of the scarf I wore around my waist. That was too close for comfort! "Hey! Go easy on the costume, Irish! This things are expensive!"

I made a half-hearted swing at Scorpia, but she easily avoided it. She was fast, living up to her billing. When able, I tried to keep an eye on my companions. From what I could tell, the fight was not going in our favor. We were outnumbered and our foes were ruthless.

Shamrock had gone to Mind Slayer's aid. He landed a punch on Morning Star, but really didn't appear to hurt her. Shockwave activated her rocket jets and bore down on Mind Slayer, slamming hard into the petite mentalist.

That brought Spectrum-- er, rather Lightmaster to the attack. "Get your hands off my woman!", he screamed. He hovered before Shockwave and generated a powerful blast of light. It sent Sara flying backwards some forty feet. That was impressive! I had no idea that he was so powerful. I could tell from the way Shockwave landed that she was either stunned or unconscious. She just skidded to a stop and didn't move.

"Yeow!" I danced back as Scorpia tried to slash my chest. From the looks of it she was aiming for my heart! I swiped back, but once more my sabre missed its mark.

"She is a killer," Jaime reiterated. "Keep your distance, Jess!"

"Thanks for the advice," I sent back sarcastically. "Does she have any weaknesses?"

"No."

"You're not exactly full of good news today."

Scorpia lunged once more and I was put back on the defensive again. She was quick and very skilled. It was all I could do to keep her from hitting me. Any ideas of mounting an offense were quickly forgotten.

My associates were faring a bit better now. Morning Star landed a whopper of a punch on Shamrock that sent him halfway back to Ireland. With their big man woozy, that evened the odds up once again.

Mind Slayer had recovered and she was not happy. She's always had this sore spot about female superheroes, so Mind Slayer must have felt like a kid in a candy store with a trio of targets to choose from. But, true to villainous form, she went after Shockwave to extract revenge for being knocked for a loop. Fortunately, she just used her mind blasts instead of her trademark thought-knives. Shockwave's armor probably would have protected her anyway.

Too bad I was so far away. I would have loved to see the look on Mind Slayer's face when Shockwave suddenly scrambled to life and threw a wooden pallet at her! The makeshift missile knocked Mind Slayer from the sky, but didn't permanently put her down.

Lightmaster had turned his attention to Morning Star, but didn't seem to have much luck against her. His light blasts kept missing the nimble heroine. He was getting more and more frustrated. Some sailors would have blushed by the ranting coming out of his foul mouth.

It was at this moment when the battle shifted into our favor. Seemingly out of nowhere, a man in dark blue and dark gray flew straight into Lightmaster like a runaway freight train! He never saw it coming. Lightmaster was sent flying and was out cold before he crashed, nearly half a block away.

At that point, the fighting suddenly stopped as we all turned to watch this spectacle. Scorpia quickly sized up the situation. I hadn't laid a finger on her yet, but the rest of her forces were not in good shape. Both Mind Slayer and Shamrock were shaking off attacks and Lightmaster was down for the count.

"Withdraw!", the villainess ordered. "Our mission is complete." Scorpia then launched another dart and it exploded in our midst. When I had regained my wits, I could see Mind Slayer off in the distance, telekinetically carrying Scorpia and Shamrock. They stopped to pick up Lightmaster and continued on their way.

"They're getting away!" Morning Star was stating the obvious as she pointed at the fleeing felons.

"Not much we can do about it," I pointed out, "being terminally land grounded." Morning Star couldn't argue about that. She had been deathly afraid of heights since the time she got thrown off the Empire State Building during a fight against the Zodiac. Too bad I hadn't thought ahead and had Jaime send the Sky Sabre after me. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Our mysterious benefactor landed close by and observed us as we approached. He stood about six and a half feet tall and seemed solidly built. His costume completely covered him. It was nothing fancy to look at: dark gray trunks, gloves, and shin-high boots. The rest was done in dark blue. The man's face was obscured by a deep hooded cloak, also in dark blue. Shockwave skated over to join us.

"Thanks for the help," Morning Star said in appreciation. "But who are you?"

"I recognize him!", Shockwave reported excitedly. "He appeared at the Tanghal Tower a couple of times!" (Editor's Note: Back in Spectrum #14 & 15)

The man silently regarded us. "A man of few words," I noted. "How refreshing."

"You may call me Vindicator," the man intoned. His voice was deep and had a subtle mechanical twinge to it. Meaning that it was either being mechanically altered or artificially created. "You will follow me, please."

The man calling himself Vindicator rose into the air on miniature jets of flame coming from the bottom of his feet and slowly started down the alleyway. The three of us exchanged puzzled looks, shrugged, and piled into Morning Star's Porsche. Putting the car into gear, she followed our mysterious guide.

"I wasn't aware that LawTech had other supers," Shockwave observed.

"Neither did I. Sheryl either forgot to tell me, and I doubt that, or she didn't know either."

"You said you ran into this guy before?", Morning Star asked of Shockwave.

"I wouldn't put it that way," the armored heroine explained. "It's more like we spotted him observing on at least two separate occasions. This 'Vindicator' is somehow able to elude detection by most of my sensors."

Now that was interesting. Whoever this Vindicator was, he was heavily into being mysterious. I always did love a mystery.

Morning Star drove casually around the corner and brought her vehicle to a stop. Vindicator had landed and stood beside a door into one of the many buildings in the plant. We exited the vehicle and approached the mystery man in dark blue and gray. He opened the door and directed us to enter.

We were escorted through a series of hallways and rooms. From the looks of it, this particular building was dedicated to research rather than fabrication or construction. I wondered how Vindicator figured into all this.

"Welcome to Lawrence Technologies," Vindicator stated as he opened the last door. Our destination was a huge workshop. Several computer stations circled the room, each directed towards the center of the lab. At least half a dozen technicians were currently at work. Some glanced in our general direction, but tended to keep to their current assignments.

What really attracted my attention was the apparatus in the middle of the workshop. It was shaped like a giant ring, some nine feet in height, and had a man inside it. This man wore something like a skin-diver's outfit, complete with oversized helmet. Numerous cables and wires were attached to various parts of his body. The giant ring could spin and rotate, allowing the man inside it to move in any direction, even upside down. The whole thing reminded me of a fly in a giant spider web.

"Virtual reality!", Jaime chimed. "It has to be!" I could only agree. I had seen this kind of set up before in my past experiments with VR technology.

Vindicator walked off to one side towards one bank of machinery. Reaching his destination, he turned and stood at attention while two technicians assisted. They then attached plugs and hoses to Vindicator.

"This is incredible...", Shockwave mumbled in awe.

"If you think this is something, drop in at CII if you're ever in the Big Apple." Hey, I take a great deal of pride in my lab. And it was better!

"What is this place?", Morning Star wondered in a confused voice. High tech was never her thing, just cars. "What's going on here?"

"Unless I am terribly mistaken, 'Vindicator' is nothing more than a sophisticated robot remote controlled by--" I gestured towards the man in the center of the web. Even as I spoke, other technicians were helping him out of his rigging. I had a good idea just who this man was going to be. They removed his helmet, revealing his identity to us. "--some guy I've never seen before." So much for that theory.

From behind one of the control stations, a man in a wheelchair came forth. He was in his fifties, but had a youthful appearance. Light touches of gray had formed at his temples. Upon seeing him, I got my companions' attention. "And here is our host: Thomas Jefferson Lawrence."

"TJ to my friends," the CEO of LawTech added as he wheeled closer. The man who had been in the spider's web joined us as well. I noted a strong resemblance as the two men grew closer. "I bid you ladies welcome."

I could tell by the puzzled look on her face that Morning Star was still unclear by what was going on, but Shockwave was catching on. "This set up-- it's all some kind of virtual reality control system!"

"You mean that Vindicator isn't a real person?" Morning Star was beginning to put it together. Vindicator was essentially a giant, radio-controlled car. A simple explanation for something far more sophisticated.

"That is correct. What do you think of our creation?" It was obvious that he was very proud of his achievement. Realizing that Vindicator's operator was standing with us, Mr. Lawrence introduced him. "Oh, do forgive my manners. This my son, TJ Junior."

"Hello." That explained the resemblance. According to the information Jaime had dug up, the younger TJ was in his early twenties. However, we were not aware that Junior was heavily involved in the family business.

I shot Vindicator a glance. More technicians were at work on the robot. His chest plate had been removed exposing wiring and mechanics. Well, this shouldn't have been that big of surprise. Robotics was LawTech's main line of work.

"Pretty impressive, Mr. Lawrence," I stated. I would have liked to get a closer look at Vindicator, but that would be impolite. "The suit your son is wearing acts as an interface between him and Vindicator. You use virtual reality to control the robot. Communication links must be a problem." Simply put, whatever the wearer of the interface suit did, Vindicator would do as well.

"We use a Meson link, allowing virtually instantaneous data exchange," TJ Junior explained. "So far our tests have been very promising. It's almost like a video game!"

"A Meson link? I'm impressed." Figuring my companions didn't have a clue to what that meant, I added, "It's a tight beam, laser-like straight line communication system. It has the beauty of being undetectable and unlike radio waves, does not spread out allowing others to eavesdrop. CII originated it several years back. (Editor's Note: Back in Troubleshooters #4)

"You're as good as Ms. Campbell indicated," the elder TJ complimented. "How about we retire to somewhere more private to chat?" TJ gestured towards a nearby door. "It's not every day I receive such distinguished guests." We walked towards it while TJ followed in his motorized wheelchair, his son at his side.

The door led into a large office. Probably TJ's, could have been either one, while working in this particular building. We took seats while the elder TJ spoke. "We had been working on the idea of remote controlled robots for a long time, but needed something better than a hand-held controller."

"Virtual reality," I guessed. It made sense. It put the operator into the situation as opposed to being merely a spectator. The applications for such robots were almost limitless. They could replace a worker in any high-risk situation, such as dealing with radiation, disease, cold, deep waters, outer space and so on. Once perfected they could make LawTech a great deal of money.

"Exactly, and thanks to the Meson link, the robot's controller can see and act as if he was really out in the field. In a sense, the robot and I become one. We are Vindicator." The junior TJ was just as proud of their achievement as was the older Mr. Lawrence.

"That partially explains why Vindicator never showed up on my sensors," Shockwave explained. "Since he's truly not alive, he wouldn't register to infrared."

"After my 'accident', we decided to transform the project and ended up with Vindicator. A robot created specifically to counter super-powered threats," TJ stated. "His appearances at the Tanghal Tower were simply trial runs. This company is my life. I wasn't about to let it be taken from me without a fight."

"Hence, the Vindicator.", Morning Star commented.

"Exactly," the younger TJ chimed in. "At least now, we have a fighting chance."

"And with Sheryl's assistance," I added, "you've got a much better chance."

"Precisely," TJ responded. "I understand that you have a potential new employee for us to meet?"

"That I do. Shockwave is the lady in question. You two have some interesting things in common."

"Oh?", TJ asked. I had told him most of the story when we conversed on the phone, but I left out some of the details. Some things that I'd rather not say over an open phone line. I wouldn't put tapping the telephone above Kord Industries.

"What Scarlet is trying to say," Shockwave stated before I could respond, "is that the device that caused your accident is based on technology which I developed." That was an awkward moment, to say the least. "When I found out just what terrible things they were using my work to do, I became Shockwave to try and put a stop to it."

The room was silent as TJ considered the ramifications of this revelation. There could be some resentment since he had been paralyzed in the accident. It wouldn't be a big surprise. The meeting started to become uncomfortable.

"I can personally vouch for Shockwave, Mr. Lawrence," Morning Star stated, breaking the silence. "She's a good person."

TJ just smiled. "I do not doubt you, Morning Star. Your reputation proceeds you. As Scarlet said, we do appear to have something in common." TJ directed his wheelchair towards the exit. "Why don't we show you ladies around and we can discuss the terms of Shockwave's contract?"

She tried not to show it, but I could tell that Shockwave was ecstatic. I had to admit that I was happy for her. She had put up with a lot of grief, but at least now there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Sara should be able to get her career back into order.

I let Shockwave do most of the talking as we were given the five cent tour of the place. This was her moment to shine. Sara and the younger TJ seemed to hit it off pretty well. While they talked, Morning Star, the elder TJ and I chatted.

"Any idea what Terror Unlimited was after?", I asked of Mr. Lawrence. "Scorpia mentioned that they had completed their mission."

"My boys are still going over the research lab they trashed," TJ explained. "We were doing work on a project for the navy. If it's as bad as it sounds, LawTech may fail to meet the production date. Conceivably, we could lose the contract. I'm not sure how much data we've lost."

"I can give you a hand when it comes to data retrieval," I offered. Sheryl did instruct me to lend what aid I could. This certainly sounded like a problem I could solve.

"That would be much appreciated. Ms. Campbell spoke of your expertise in the field of computers."

"I'm very concerned about all of this," Morning Star stated. I had the feeling that she was talking to herself more than to us. "What Terror Unlimited did today actually benefited Iron Maiden. Perhaps they have some sort of an agreement."

"Which begs the question, what does Terror Unlimited get in return?" Now that was a scary thought. I hate it when I think of things like that.

The next few days passed quickly as I performed a multitude of tasks at LawTech. I helped Sara set up her laboratory/work area in the plant. She was happy and perky for the most part. But, business with X-Factor kept her busy as well.

Sara didn't talk much about what was going on with X-Factor and I didn't press her. We really didn't know each other that well as of yet. Between what little she told me, and what Morning Star relayed as well I was able to get an idea what was going on.

Seems that the night before our confrontation with Terror Unlimited, X-Factor invaded the base of Hexmaster. He was a high-tech criminal that I was familiar with, but had never actually encountered. Seems like he had some kind of beef with Spectrum and ended up killing his father. (Editor's Note: Shown in Spectrum #25)

In addition to her duties at LawTech, Shockwave was also busy retrieving data from Hexmaster's computers. She asked for my help and I gladly agreed. I always wanted to check out Hexmaster's operation anyway.

Hexmaster's base was hidden out in the hills north of Los Angeles. It was literally a hole in the ground that probably had been carved out by androids. You see Hexmaster uses androids, a whole horde of them, dressed in the colors of the rainbow with a Black Hexmaster being the controlling unit. Even the Black Hexmaster himself was an android, which suggested to me that they were also remotely controlled units. Much like Vindicator, but only more sophisticated.

Unfortunately, X-Factor had trashed the Hexmaster legions quite sufficiently. The controlling black unit had been blasted to pieces, pretty much ensuring that whatever secrets it carried had most likely been destroyed as well.

With Jaime's help, we retrieved what data we could from the smashed computers. We had done the same procedure at LawTech for their Navy project. All in all, they lost only a couple of days of work. They should still be able to meet their deadlines.

The data was primarily personal data concerning Hexmaster's vendetta against Spectrum. Much of it was biological in nature. Morning Star had Spinnerette check it out for her.

I was disappointed at the lack of hard technical data on Hexmaster and his operations. Based on what data we did find, it appeared that the Black Hexmaster was controlled from another location. Meaning that Hexmaster was still out there, somewhere.

Shockwave appropriated what equipment she could make use of. This included the flying hex shaped platforms that Hexmaster used for transportation. With some minor reworking of the controls and a new paint job, they would serve as makeshift transportation for X-Factor.

By Saturday evening, my work in Los Angeles was finished. I had a delightful dinner with my new and old friends before returning to New York. All in all, this had been an interesting trip. But I was eager to return home and back to my normal routine. I also wanted to get together with Helena. I had spoken to her a few times, but hadn't put in a face to face since before Jaime helped her out against Artemis. (Editor's Note: Back in Huntress #14)

Turns out that Helena's mom had returned from Europe while I had been away. This was going to be interesting since I had never met the lady before. I was looking forward to going home.

I was relaxing in the Situation Van inside the CII Cargo plane that brought the Sky Sabre to Los Angeles. I ended up never needing it for anything serious, but it was better to have it on hand. It was still a short time before we were scheduled to take off. We would make the trip overnight, with Jaime doing most of the flying while I slept.

"I've got an intruder alarm going off near Warehouse #8!", Jaime suddenly informed me. The news startled me for a moment. Warehouse #8 was one of the storage areas back at the main CII plant in New York. Since one of Jaime's functions was to monitor plant security, it was only natural that she would be aware of this intrusion.

"You know the drill," I sent back. I laid back on the couch and closed my eyes so that I could better see what Jaime was getting from the plant's cameras and security alarms.

I could see part of the plant's grounds and outer fencing in my mind's eye. Jaime had already alerted the members of the Freedom League on base to deal with the intruders. Only FIST, Resonator, and the Speedster were currently home. Suddenly, a bright flash filled my mind and then the image was gone.

"The camera was destroyed by a sudden surge of energy," Jaime reported. "Sensors all over the area are being overloaded! The whole security grid is offline!"

I could only watch helplessly as the sensors and monitors were being shut down. In a matter of minutes, we were completely deaf and blind. I hoped my comrades could deal with these intruders because all I could do was sit and wait here in Los Angeles...