Game Date: 09.01.2002 - 09.08.2002

Changing of the Guard

Warders' Team Members: Allyson Michelle (Blue Rose), Chris Hamilton (Brasidas), Eve Smith (Shadow Tiger), Frank Flaherty (Silver Star), Horatio Eon, Marina Forlon (Dawn), Tom Sawyer (Impulse)

Guests: Armstrong Moorland, Juana Lopez (Gato), Eduardo Delacruz (Leon), Maria Onoronto (Ocelot), Elba Alonzo (Pantera), Miguel Jimenez (Puma), Christian Vazquez (Tigre), Jaxton Gray (Mr. Gray), Eldon Walker Sawyer (Shockwave), Miguel Ortiz (Phantom), Dr. Andrew Kensington (Surge), Blaine Kirby (Gauss), Dr. Arron Jenson (Volt)

A lot had happened with the Wardens over the last month.

Eldon Sawyer's blood tests had proved that he was indeed related to Tom, but Silver Star and Mr. Gray's trust was not won until a visit from Phantom. Eldon's submission to Phantom's mind probe had proved that Eldon's story was true, well at least as far as Eldon knew. This had won over the two skeptics and Shockwave was at Tom's request welcomed back as a member of the Wardens.

Phantom's visit was not predicated by the Wardens' need for his services, but by his need of the Wardens' services. He had found that the pursuit of those that had taken his mentor was more than he could handle by himself. After hearing his plea for assistance, Silver Star felt a need to help find a former associate of John Battle's but really did not have the manpower to spare for the task. Gato and Leon's decision to go with Phantom and help him find his missing mentor; saved Silver Star's from having to tell Phantom that the Wardens would not be able to assist him.

Brasidas continued the training sessions for the new Wardens as well as working with Mr. Gray on small group tactics. The initial friction that had existed between the instructor and his pupils gave way to a healthy respect on both sides of the matter. Brasidas' sincerity and focus as well as his tactical skills had won over the new Wardens, while the dedication and willingness of the new recruits to "keep running that play until you get it right" had won over their instructor.

Mr. Gray received a new prototype battlesuit from Dr. Andrew Kensington. The energized matrix armor, advanced sensor and communication suite, built in blaster system and paraglide capability far exceeded the capabilities of the Alcatraz Foundation security force equipment he had been using on field assignments.

The Alcatraz Headquarters was finished and the public announcement of its reopening would happen on Labor Day. Labor Day would also see the announcement of the recent personnel changes to the Wardens' membership roster.

The day dawned crisp and clear, kind of unusual for this time of year thought Silver Star. Hopefully, it was a portent of good things to come for the Wardens and the re-opening of the Alcatraz headquarters. This was not going to be an extravaganza like the original opening of the headquarters, but a more subdued event. The morning press conference would include the group and its new members being announced to the public and would be attended by a few select members of the press as well as Deputy Mayor Mary Frances Flaherty and FSS Special Agent Rowena Delacruz. The public tours of Alcatraz Island and the headquarters would resume in the afternoon.

The press conference went pretty smoothly. First there was the announcement of the new members; Shockwave's move from associate to active status and Mr. Gray joining as a probationary member of the Wardens. Shadow Tiger's move to reserve status was next on the agenda, followed by the announcement that Dawn was no longer seeking active status and would be joining the Wardens Reserve team. The final personnel announcement was that Impulse was ending his stay in San Francisco and would be returning to Canada.

After the personnel announcements, there was a brief rededication ceremony. Deputy Mayor Flaherty spoke on behalf of the mayor and praised the re-opening of the headquarters as a visible reminder that criminal and terrorist plots would not stop those that fought to uphold the law. FSS Special Agent Delacruz spoke on behalf of the Federal Security Service and commended the efforts of the Wardens, past and present, in their duties to the people of the San Francisco Bay area. Silver Star thanked Deputy Mayor Flaherty and FSS Special Agent Delacruz and promised that the current group of Wardens would continue to honor the promises made by Mandrake and the original members to the people of the San Francisco Bay area. Then the ribbon was cut and the headquarters was officially reopened.

Silver Star answered a few more questions before excusing himself and directing all further questions to the other Wardens present at the event or Gwendolyn Lawrence, the Wardens Press Secretary. He then ducked into the headquarters elevator and headed for the mini-submarine dock. He boarded one of the Wardens personal submersibles and headed for the warehouse headquarters.

Ally and Horatio watched the rededication via a satellite feed from Whitney. It was the only way that Ally could get Horatio to "attend" the event.

The move to reserve status had not turned out exactly like Ally had thought it would. Instead of taking time to get over the different mental traumas and stresses that both of them had faced in the last few months, Horatio had dove into his work to the exclusion of almost everything else including her, leaving Ally to hop back and forth between the Northstar Facility in Nevada and the North Bay Estate.

She tried her best to get Horatio out of the labs but he was obsessed with his new mission in life, stopping the spread of his father's designs amongst criminal and terrorist organizations. The immensity of the task had forced Horatio to accept that it was something that he would have to face one step at the time and the first step was the neutralizer. Circuit design on his Earth differed in some ways from that of the Wardens Earth and his father's designs differed from the standard designs of his home. Thus he had a couple of avenues to follow in developing a neutralization device that would stop his father's technology without crippling the equipment of his allies, unless on the off chance that their technology also used his father's designs but it was a chance that he was willing to take.

Ally found herself playing the parent, making sure that Horatio was eating, sleeping, taking a shower and cleaning up his lab on a regular basis. She found that his sense of romance that had awakened after he had nearly drowned had disappeared to be replaced by a mechanical going through the motions kind of relationship. It was this that caused her to bounce back and forth between Northstar and North Bay. She would stay at Northstar taking care of Horatio until she would get so frustrated at the lack of attention that she needed a break then she would head to North Bay. At North Bay she would relax and sometimes take trips into San Francisco for shopping excursions with Marina, but inevitably her thoughts would return to Horatio. How he was probably neglecting to take care of himself and she would return to Northstar, usually to find that he concerns were valid.

This was how the summer had passed, Horatio working in his lab and Ally hopping back and forth between Northstar and North Bay.

Tom, Eve and Marina flew up to Vancouver, BC to meet with Dr. Andrew Kensington and his assistant Blaine Kirby. They were there to discuss the recalibration of the extra-dimensional energy sensor pods to focus on the energy emissions of the Olmetec avatars. It was the first step in the Warders plan to determine the level of the Olmetec menace. The gathering of information would be crucial in the planning of missions investigating the Olmetecs activities.

The initial discussions determined that more sensors should be added to the network to give a better scan "picture" of the Olmetecs activities. It was also decided that a portable version of the sensor should be developed to help in locating the lower power emissions of individual Olmetecs or their agents operating outside of the main sensor net areas.

Kensington readily agreed to help with the recalibration of the sensors and the deployment of additional sensors. However, the development of a portable sensor pod presented many challenges. The current sensor pods were very large as their current emplacement as "cellular phone towers" indicated. Getting a sensor of any capability in a man portable package was probably out of the question, so Kensington agreed to work on a vehicle portable sensor pod. Although it was not really what the trio of Warders wanted, it was the best that they could hope for in the near future.

Plans were made to recalibrate the sensor nets in San Francisco, Vancouver, Yellowknife, Milledgeville and to setup a new sensor net at the Northstar facility in Nevada. Kensington also promised to have a working prototype of the vehicle portable sensor pod ready before the first of the year.

The team returned to San Francisco with Blaine Kirby in tow, to begin the process of recalibrating the San Francisco based extra-dimensional energy sensor pods. Dr. Arron Jenson was also enlisted to help with the setup on the new sensor net at the Northstar facility.