INTERNAL MEMO

TO: KNIGHTHAWK
FROM: DIRECTOR QUEEN

So much for the feds not snooping around on this one, like was promised. I just received word that a special U.S. covert squad is being assigned to the Cobra Island Rescue mission, to observe and report on the legal implications of the raid, the conduct of EXCAL operatives, and to aid in cleaning up any likely entanglements that arise from the release of any U.S. captives discovered on site. It is not yet clear whether they will participate in the raid itself, but they have specifically requested that they be able to shadow your team with regard to this mission.

If we cut the crap, this means a couple things, first President Adama is likely to want to reign us in soon. It’s been clear for awhile that he thinks the U.S. should be leading this war, rather than a private organization, no matter how much unofficial influence the U.S. has over us anyway. Second, we know they don’t give a damn about this rescue mission – they’ve let the Island go without surveillance for more than a year now, and they had plenty of reason to suspect there were U.S. captives there. I mean if that McConnel guy could crack this on his own, with just a surfboard and a bottle of sunblock at his disposal, we know the Pentagon brass had to be aware of the circumstances long before then.

So – what does this mean? They are spying on us, plain and simple. It’s not a coincidence they want to shadow your squad, Knighthawk. Don’t let it go to your head though. I have reason to believe that their primary motivation is to get a closer look at Captain Batson. He’s former U.S. armed forces material, a pimply scrawny kid, then they find out shortly after his transfer to EXCAL is granted that he’s grown to be a physical specimen, a Herculean warrior that slipped through their fingers? His exploits have caught their attention even more than your own (though they may also question you about how you defeated the MEDUSA super soldier back in Vienna). Something about a large berserk warrior jetpacking from one airship to another and single handedly taking out an enemy crew that will get attention I suppose. Though the cheesy “Captain Marvel” recruitment posters we’ve been distributing probably got under their skin the most. In any event, the U.S. thinks we are dabbling in the super soldier serum, and they are looking for proof so they can shut us down. We know it’s not true, but I think that is their primary goal. If you need further proof, I have it on good authority this new squad is a sub-team of the mysterious SHIELD organization we’ve been hearing rumors of. Apparently Nick Fury has been recruited to eradicate any unauthorized use of the serum, worldwide (i.e. anyone who uses it other than them – cough – Captain America – cough). This sub-team even has Fury’s kid on it, or so I’ve been told, so their true purpose is thinly veiled at best.

They wear the SHIELD logo, and a second patch that I think mirrors their official unit name of Eagle Force. Internally, we've taken to calling them the Fury Force, though they may not take kindly to the name. I am attaching a dossier of the team members we know about presently, and there are a few familiar names on it. Tread cautiously with this lot Knighthawk.

-----
Col. AK Waters.
Colonel is a pretty high level of officer to be taking on a field role, but with Waters, it doesn’t surprise me. A former Navy SEAL and skilled operative, Waters is perfect for leading a small special forces team like this. He is a straight-shooter, not someone I’d normally peg as an intel guy, but he is very sharp. His combat experience is significant, though I’d have to speculate on precisely how many theaters he has actively participated in, because so many of his ops have been black. Within the “industry” it is well known that he led the high profile rescue mission of Dr. Lena Kendricks from Nigeria in the mid-90s. I suspect that only his advancing age would hold him back at all at this point.

_________________

Captain Domingo Chavez.
Another black ops guy, with significant experience at the Agency, as well as the international Rainbow team that caused such a stir a decade or so ago. He has the experience to have a command post of his own, but rumor is that he’s been unwilling to give up field operations. He’s kind of like his father in law, in that sense, famed operative John Clark. Don’t let his small stature and good nature fool you, he’s as good in a firefight as they get.



Sgt. Nick Fury, Jr.
If our suspicions are true that SHIELD really is behind this, and old war hero Nick Fury is leading it, then it’s no surprise that his boy would be on this team. Jr. is not of the same mold as his pop – he’s a skilled combatant, but has a touch more for the technical side of things than the combat or even intel side. Even so, he is expert qualified in virtually all firearms presently known to exist, and a few that aren’t known to boot. Sgt. Fury also reportedly has the same disdain for authority that his pop had, so the small scale of this unit fits him to a tee.

_________________

(This one might surprise you KH):




Sergeant Major Ettienne R. LaFitte, aka Gung-Ho.
The most recent and most surprising member of this team is Gung-Ho. We’re not sure of everything that transpired, but we do know this. McConnel is known to be assembling his own team of former Joes to participate in this rescue op. He has been given clearance to do so based upon his pro temps status as an EXCAL Agent. His team has already been formed, and proper clearances granted. But when LaFitte learned of the mission and the fate of some of his comrades suspected to be on the Island, he wanted in. When he was denied, it is believed he connected the rejection with some old bad blood between he and McConnel, and ran to SHIELD. He may even be the reason their noses are soon to be entrenched so far into our rear ends soon. But it sounds like his intentions were well meant, if not misplaced. Gung-Ho’s combat record with both the Marines and the Joes is well established, and of all the members of this team, expect him to participate actively in the operation, whether cleared to do so by anyone or not.

_________________

nice work, what head did you use for waters? you come up with some really good concepts, it's seeing your (+ a few others) work on here that is getting me back into 25th!
i totally changed my ninja, he now has a bald head.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=19641 (@ the bottom)

Waters is a BBI Paratrooper Head - name Johnny Davies. I previously used this head sculpt for my Knighthawk figures, until my friends at Tri Gate Creations made a sculpt of me that became my default KH. Even when I used the BBI head before, I saw the resemblance to Willis.

My last few posts have pretty close to LBCs, but I wanted to get a couple troop builder squads into the mix. I was stumped at how to use the ROC blue camo, and thought this made some sense. Mixed into the standard blue camo is some touch ups I did to match, including GH's hat. That was actually kind of fun.

Glad I could help get you back into 25th! For my part, I'll say that Chief is owed some credit here, for one, his SHIELD team was clearly in my mind with this, specifically including the Chavez and Clark references from Rainbow 6.

I'll check out your update this afternoon.

_________________

That is a great looking team. The tat on Gung Ho looks fantastic.

_________________

A great concept and some truly worthy customs to bring it to life.

Gung Ho is just an excellent versionm of the character, whatever reality.

I like them, waters and GH for sure.Fury is good to and nothing wrong with lbc as long as they look good and playable

Thanks guys. You know I was pretty proud of Gung Ho, so I'm really glad for the comments on him. Looking at the pics, I need to even out the 'stache a bit, but I spent a lot of time on that one. I posted him on another board, and basically heard nothing bu crickets chirping. It's weird. And pluv - I can't say enough about the waterslide decals for jobs like that tat.

I've got a couple more members of the team coming soon.

_________________

I really like how your universe keeps on growing.

Great new team.

_________________

The back stories of course are amazing as usual. But I'm feeling kind of underwhelmed with these compared to your usual work. Just sort of bland this round. With that said however, Fury Jr's head is freakin Charles Bronson, such a great likeness to him as soon as I saw it. Gung Ho's tat is great, and the paint on his hat is awesome as well. I don't mean to sound like such a downer on your work, it just seems they are less interesting as compared to your other EXCAL work.

_________________

Doc you can't keep leaves us hanging like that I don't know what I like better the customs or the back story. They are all awsome, I on the edge of my seat glued to the story, excellent job on the back story and the customs.

Big fan.

_________________

I hear ya man. Honestly, since they are not part of EXCAL, I kind of want them to seem a little bland in comparison. I viewed these as LBCs mostly, and even then it was just a way to get some mileage out of the ROC blue camo. I really designed this story to make use of the camo and ROC Joe logo, so I could punch out a couple without the same amount of effort. Of the group, Gung Ho is the only one that isn't LBC. I actually ended up happy with Waters. The black wash really made the uniform look better to me. There is an original character coming for this team that will help make you feel better about it, I hope. lol. But I could almost call this group the spare parts brigade for sure.

I felt like my EXCAL troopers were fairly bland too, though I put more work into them. I think it's just that uniformed squads - while necessary to round out the collection, aren't always as inspiring, at least not for me in making them. Either way, these guys are mostly just bit players.

_________________

i think that is Captain Domingo Chavez you are talking about.....

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Bindy-verse is truly amazing. I look at you work and I become speechless. You better have more in the pipeline,though. With a couple steady days of updates you better pace yourself so we don't have to wait so long for the next batch

_________________