The Syndicate is the greatest power on
Anti-Earth, an alliance of ruthless super-criminals. Together, they were able to topple and eliminate the Praetor, and thus far, they have been able to maintain their alliance for mutual benefit and success. Although any member of the Syndicate would betray the others if the opportunity was right—and several have—they all realize they’re best served for now by cooperation. Still, by comparison to Earth-Prime’s Freedom League, they’re arrogant and lack cohesive teamwork, at least partly because no one else on their world has ever posed much as a threat to them as they do to each other.
BLACK BOWMAN
Beaumont Fletcher III is the latest of an infamous family line that got its start working for the Praetor during his initial rise to power. Fletcher’s grandfather was a propaganda-master under Praetor, and his father a bitter drunk for failing to live up to the patriarch’s standards. The youngest scion of the line, however, is just the kind of son his grandfather hoped for, including his impressive athletic and archery skills. When the Fletcher family sold Praetor out to the Syndicate, it helped secure the new Black Bowman a place in their ranks.
DEATHBOLT
Captain Thunderbolt was Praetor’s right-hand man and chief enforcer. He also led the mutiny that brought him down, taking the mantle of leadership of the Syndicate for himself. He tried to make something of his slacker son, Raymond, Jr., with virtually nothing to show for it, but Thunderbolt made the mistake of underestimating his son’s abilities and ambitions. Raymond, Jr. came up with a scheme to co-opt the assistance of Praetrix and to steal his father’s powers, a process that killed Thunderbolt and transformed his son into the energy being known as “Deathbolt.” With the quiet backing of Dr. Daedalus, Deathbolt was welcomed into the Syndicate fold, although none of his new “teammates” are foolish enough to trust him.
DR. DAEDALUS
The ancient inventor, Daedalus, gained immortality by sacrificing souls to the Underworld, starting with his own son. By the time Praetor contacted him, Daedalus was bored, and the potential for conquest offered him challenge and amusement. However, Praetor made the mistake of considering his “fellow immortal” a peer, when Daedalus saw him as no more than a youngster; what are a few decades to a man over a thousand years old? What is the betrayal of an erstwhile ally to a man who murdered his own son? Daedalus was only too content to let Praetor fall and to supply the Syndicate with weapons and tools of conquest. When Captain Thunderbolt made the same mistake, Dr. Daedalus deftly eliminated him, too.
JOHNNY SPEED
If it weren’t for a stroke of dumb luck, a chance roll of the genetic dice, Johnny Wade would have been just another club-kid dead of heart-failure after overdosing on the party-drug speed. Instead, the drug interacted with his latent mutant biochemistry, giving him an unusual ability to tolerate and metabolize it with far greater effects than any other user. Now the fun never needs to end, so far as Johnny is concerned, and he gets whatever he wants...in the blink of an eye.
MADAME SIN
Dr. Sin, the most powerful crime lord in China, sent his daughter to seduce Duncan Summers, the head of Praetor’s secret police during the Cold War. She was successful, but when he attempted to betray her, she killed him. Later, she bore his daughter, raised as a true child of Sin. Madame Sin later returned to Empire City to complete the work her mother began and ensure the Praetor’s downfall. The Syndicate knows she speaks for her grandfather and has his backing, so they keep a close eye on Madame Sin and all her doings.
MASTER METROPOLIS
The truth of Master Metropolis’s origins died with the Praetor, as he kept the mysterious being in servitude. Fortunately for the Syndicate, Metropolis was grateful for his freedom and agreed to serve, not as a slave, but as a member of the organization. He is the most effective spymaster Empire City has ever known, as nothing in the city escapes his notice for long, and he pursues his duties in maintaining order with ruthless and inhuman efficiency.
PRAETRIX
The growth of a clone from the Praetor’s DNA was supposed to enhance Captain Thunderbolt’s hold over the Syndicate, giving him a powerful ally, perhaps even the start of a new dynasty to replace his disappointing heir. Unfortunately for him, Katherine (dubbed “Praetrix”), her “father” Dr. Daedalus, and Thunderbolt’s son Raymond hatched other plans. Raymond’s transformation into Deathbolt saved Praetrix from having to pursue their relationship any further than flirtation, and she remains loyal to the Syndicate for the time being because it serves her needs, but she’s young, powerful, and ambitious, and everyone knows it.
RED SIREN
Cassandra Vale was no more than a modern-day pirate until she claimed the name and power of La Siren Rouge, the Red Siren, for herself. Now, she is a latter-day goddess with power over the seas and the weather, wielding the black net that binds men’s souls. Red Siren considers all the oceans her domain, and she is largely undisputed since the Syndicate eliminated the royal family of Atlantis and placed the remains under her rulership. She’s largely content to control the seas and leave the land to others, with the exception of a few ports like New Orleans and islands like the Caribbean that she also claims.
THE FORTRESS
The Tyranny Syndicate’s headquarters in Empire City is known simply as “the Fortress,” formerly the headquarters of Praetor. It is a heavily armored structure of artificial ceramic and diamond-analog compounds, seemingly humble compared to the taller structures of the city’s downtown area, but it is only in limited use since the Syndicate moved its operations to its Panopticon headquarters. The Fortress is primarily used for meetings and local operations in Empire City, but Syndicate members are fond of taking “guests” on board their satellite, both for intimidation and the ease of jettisoning them into space.
THE PANOPTICON
The Tyranny Syndicate secured its hold over Earth with the creation of the Panopticon, an orbiting satellite headquarters giving them the ultimate “high ground” in any conflict. The members of the Syndicate can withdraw there via teleporter or Vulture spaceplace, and they control an array of weaponry capable of laying waste to the surface of the Earth, although the Panopticon’s weapons systems can only be used on ground-based targets with the consent and access codes of all the members of the Syndicate (to prevent one member from going rogue and trying to seize control or simply destroying the world in a fit of pique). LIGHT has attempted to infiltrate agents on-board the satellite without success, thus far.
Former Members:
Captain Thunderbolt
Military pilot Ray Gardener stole experimental weather technology designed by Dr. Sebastian Stratos. He nearly paid for it when lightning struck his plane, but instead, he was infused with tremendous power. Despite Stratos’s attempts to reverse the effect, Captain Thunderbolt rose to become Praetor’s right-hand man and chief enforcer. He also came to realize how distant the immortal despot had become and undermined support among his followers, forging the Syndicate the bring Praetor down and assume the mantle of power for himself.
Lady Anarchy
She is the spirit of freedom but also of overthrow, chaos, and mob violence. It is said her spirit was there during the Terror of the French Revolution, during the Bolshevik Uprising, whenever people were moved to cast off their chains and kill their oppressors. The Praetor didn’t even remember killing Beth Watson's fiance—he was just another nobody who opposed him—but Beth remembered. Her thirst for vengeance drew the spirit of anarchy to her and gave her the power to make it happen. She and Captain Thunderbolt turned Praetor’s people against him and brought him down. Her fate led to the birth of
Madame Guillotine.
Former Enemies:
Deceptor
A powerful Grue warrior and leader of an invasion force. Praetor killed him in single combat, and there is as yet no evidence he survived, although with the adaptability of the Grue, anything is possible.
Dark Knight
Maria Montoya, an Earth human, inherited the armor and powers of a Dark Knight, one of an order of ruthless interstellar enforcers, by betraying and killing its previous owner. She infiltrated the Syndicate for a time as the spearhead of a Dark Knight invasion force, but was found out and barely escaped with her life. Now, she plots revenge on the Syndicate and Earth, as much as her new master, the alien Commander, permits.
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