//||  //^^\\  ||   ||   .|.   COHERENT COMICS UNINCORPORATED PRESENTS
   // ||  \\      ||   ||  --X---------------------------------------------
  //======================= '|`          ACADEMY OF SUPER-HEROES         
 //   ||      \\  ||   ||               ASH Universe Timeline v2.0
//    ||  \\__//  ||   ||          Copyright 1999 by Dave Van Domelen
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                           SECTION THREE: 2023
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     Last Updated: 6/3/08

     As the ASH Universe has grown, especially thanks to the DEEP ARMAGEDDON
crossover and its fallout, the Timeline has become a bit unwieldy.  As a
result, it has now been broken up by year.  This file will cover the stories
that took place in 2023.

WINTER 2023

     Warden was active against both the paragang known as the Oblivious and
the Onyx Eye Tong shortly after the holidays, crippling both organizations.
[Warden #4-6 take place during this season].
     Both ASH and STRAFE spent a few months building their infrastructures
and undergoing further specific training [background to ASH #1 and STRAFE
#0].  While getting set up, the core members of STRAFE reminisce about their
first adventure together a few years previous, fighting a classmate who
turned to supervillainy.  [Flashback in STRAFE #0]
 
SPRING 2023

     In April, a young man known as Cross came seeking the help of ASH in
Mexico City, having run all the way from his home in the Amazon Basin.  A
servant of Devastator's (as it was later discovered) had used a genetic
mind-control technique to subvert his "family," composed of paranormals born
during the riots of the late 1990s and early 2000s whose parents had fled
with them and crashed in the jungle.  With help from Aaron "Contact" Zander,
Cross merged with the spirits of his family and separated them from their
bodies, forming a gestalt entity similar to Constellation of the previous
century.  The bodies remained behind as servants to Devastator's minion,
however.  [ASH #1-3]
     During this time, STRAFE undertook a mission in Singapore to rescue a
Chinese official who wanted out of the country and held a secret to the
apparent lack of paranormals in China...Anchors were used to suppress
paranormal talents, and the Premier himself was perhaps the most powerful
Anchor the world had ever known.  [STRAFE #1-4]
     In May, while alien forces searched the wastelands of Alpha Centauri's
once-living world for something, a member of the original ASH team in the
1990s returned from a nearly thirty-year exile in space, which had seemed
like mere moments to him thanks to the relativistic speed of his travels.
This hero, known as Lightfoot (and in the ASH Universe, the writer of
"Dvandom"'s LNH stories), suffered some serious culture shock on his
arrival.  [ASH #4]
     Warden spends the spring and early summer dealing with various Paragang
activity and slowly growing into something other than a fighting machine.
[Events between Warden #6 and #7, early parts of #7]

SUMMER 2023

     Late in June, while trying to adjust to life in his future, Lightfoot
drew the attention of Devastator, who wanted to eliminate an old foe, but
only ended up tipping his hand.  [ASH #5]
     On June 28, ASH attacked Devastator in a battle they knew was intended
to get them out of the way before any "master plan" could be enacted, and
destroyed him without suffering any deaths on the team, although many serious
injuries were sustained.  [ASH #6]
     From June 29 to July 5, ASH, in conjunction with STRAFE and their
Eurasian Union counterparts EUROPA, prepared to fight what they thought might
be Devastator's plan, having no doubt that Devastator would not have risked
personal combat if he needed to be around to activate his plan.  A daring
assault on Devastator's satellite base seemed to defeat the core of the plan,
but then a mysterious craft destroyed the satellite (its destruction was part
of the plan, to help open a dimensional rift) just as the other half of the
plan kicked in and the Premier of China died in a nuclear fireball.  The
Barrier, which had sealed off the Earth from extradimensional travellers such
as the gods who nearly destroyed it, was broken on July 6, 2023, the 25th
anniversary of its creation.  [ASH #7, references in that issue and others
to July 5th are in error]
     On July 7th, the news of the nuclear explosion in China got out in
Manhattan, sparking a riot.  Warden, his power levels somehow boosted when
the Barrier was damaged, managed to calm the mob down and disperse them.
[Warden #7]
     During July, various strange happenings cropped up around the world as
the effects of the Barrier's weakening became apparent.  In addition, the
People's Republic of China started to suffer internal turmoil, both as a
result of the loss of Beijing as capital and the loss of the Premier, who
kept everyone in the country "normal."  Fortunately, China was so
disorganized initially that before nuclear weapons could be launched at
presumed enemies, the new leaders were convinced of the truth of the matter.
     Late in July, the members of ASH and STRAFE discovered the person behind
the destruction of Devastator's base, as well as the person behind various
machinations the students suffered while at the Academy.  It was Delta Rose,
member of the Galactic Warriors and representative of the Planetary
Confederation, manipulating events to help Earth be better able to defend
itself from predatory worlds as the Planetary Confederation grew weaker and
unable to defend Earth from its own members.  She also revealed an imminent
threat that needed to be dealt with, in the form of a superweapon known as
the Arcanovore, defeated in the 1990s and hidden on Earth ever since.  [ASH
#8] 
     In early August, a rogue Great House of the Santari made its move to
capture the Arcanovore.  The Arcanovore was destroyed once and for all, but
the price was that Paul Mahler's body was destroyed, and his mind absorbed
into Aaron Zander's.  [ASH #9]
     In July and August, various Paragangs increased their level of activity
in the wake of gaining power after the events of July 6th.  Many sought to
kill Warden, but he defeated them.  [Warden #7]
     Early September brought a new semester to the Academy, and with it the
events of the one-shot "Lightfoot and Thunderbolt," involving the LNH 2023.
    
AUTUMN 2023

     In mid-September, Contact and Peregryn went to Manhattan.  Contact
sought information from Christine Simon, aka the Mentor, and Peregryn
investigated a power leak from Odin's old throneroom atop one of the World
Trade Center towers. [Warden #7]
     A few weeks later, Aaron Zander and Paul Mahler, now sharing a body
thanks to the Arcanovore incident, travelled to the Oracle at Delphi as part
of a quest to discover why they didn't experience a similar "alchemical
marriage" to that Cross initiated earlier in the year.  They got no real
answers, but met a satyr named Peter.  [ASH #10]
     In early October, while Contact was in Greece, Bathory and Cockatrice
tested a robotic killer obtained fromthe Pranir against Warden, who survived
the encounter.  [Warden #7]
     About this time, JakZak (Solar Max II) Taylor was on an interview
program where he met the "last of the gonzo journalists," Thom O'Ryan, and
started to seriously think about the nation he supported.  [ASH #11]
     Warden spent the rest of this season searching for leads on Bathory and
Cockatrice, without success.  [Warden #7]
     After several months of holding the line against increased weirdness in
the world, the Conclave, a mysterious organization of Anchors and other
talents, found itself targeted by an unknown assailant.  The organization's
founder decided to get personally involved.  [RACC Presents #1]
     In November, Triton escaped during transit from Leavenworth to the new
supervillain prison, the Cavity, with the assistance of Rebus.  [Time
Capsules #2]
     Over the course of a few frantic days in early December, the Conclave's
leader was captured by a new organization called the Conclave of Super-
Villains.  One Conclave member escaped and arranged an alliance with an
unwilling CSV member, Labyrinthe.  [CSV #1-2]

LATE DECEMBER, 2023

     So much happens in the second half of this month that I decided to split
it off into its own "season."

     Just shy of Christmas, disaffected General Kasca of the Galactic Warrior
Corps attempted an assault on the Chicago ASH HQ with a force of Scytharian
cyborgs.  Despite the absence of half the team, ASH handily defeated Kasca,
who managed to escape.  [ASH #12]
     Meanwhile, Peregryn of ASH, along with Kleinvogel and C.J. Brown of
STRAFE were visiting Lana Smith (formerly of the Academy) at a facility in
upstate New York Sector when they were ambushed and presumed killed by the
CSV as part of a hostage plot.  [CSV #3]
     A few days after capturing the STRAFE and ASH heroes, the Conclave of
Super-Villains burst onto the world media scene with a "ransom tape" which
introduced the members of the CSV and challenged ASH and STRAFE to a battle.
[Time Capsules #1]
     On December 30, ASH and STRAFE managed to decipher the clues left in
both the ransom video and at Mount Placid, determining that the CSV was going
to bomb major Anchor-employing casinos around the world while also diving
into the ruins of the 20th Century supervillain enclave Haven.  [CSV #4]
     ASH, with some help from STRAFE and the LNH 2023, spent New Year's Eve
all around the world trying to locate and defuse the casino bombs.  [ASH #13]
     Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Caryatid of the CSV attempt to assassinate
Warden in order to impress potential investors [CSV #4, Warden #8], but the
plot is at least temporarily foiled by Peregryn, who captures Caryatid and
places a mystic tracer on Cockatrice.
     At the same time, the CSV, STRAFE and EUROPA battled for the technology
of Haven.  Pollux of EUROPA was killed, while Rebus and Peryton of the CSV
were captured.  Other STRAFE and EUROPA members also suffered injuries.  The
incident rendered Haven unsafe for further salvage efforts.  [STRAFE #5, CSV
#5]  It is later revealed that a cloned corpse of Pollux was substituted by
Proxy, who spirited the EUROPAn away to El Dorado.  [CSV Annual #2]
     December 31st continued to be a busy day, as Manhattan's paragangs threw
a big New Year's Eve party in Times Square, only to have it crashed by the
Atlas statue from Rockefeller Plaza, animated by the magics used in the
assassination attempt on Warden earlier that day.  Warden destroyed
Atlas. [Warden #9].
     Happy New Year, 2024.

     Continued in SECTION FOUR: 2024