Researchers at the various national outposts in Antarctica soon discovered this altered landscape, and several of these nations joined together to research this portal. While attempts to close the portal met with no success, they were able to limit its output so that the terraformed zone ceased to expand. For a couple of years, "New Eden" was a research hotspot. Scientists of all vocations did everything they could to secure a stay in this new ecological zone. Numerous medical and pharmaceutical breakthroughs were on the cusp of discovery, and research on the energy output of the portal seemed to be leading towards new fuels and the like.
But in 1975, something else started to emerge from the portal.
While the lifeforms that emerged prior to 1975 were by no means benevolent (Four researchers are on record having lost their lives to animal attacks.), despite their alien nature they were no more harmful than the sort of animal life already found on Earth. But these new beings, all of whom seemed to share no unique physiology or appearance, were entirely hostile and possessed a sinister intelligence.
And they were here to conquer.
New Eden was quickly lost. The portal's limitations were removed and the zone started to spread quickly across the continent. Within weeks of the initial breakthrough, small forces of these alien invaders started to appear in Australia, Argentina, Khazan, and other locations in the deep southern hemisphere. While the initial waves were easily repelled by local armed forces, each new wave was larger and more powerful than the previous.
While superheroes had been confronting this menace since the initial attack (Several well-known heroes of the era were a part of the permanent research team station in New Eden), in the first few weeks of the invasion there had yet to be a concentrated, focused effort by one of the major superteams. While the invasion was serious, it had yet to prove to be a serious enough problem for any of the major teams to devote all of their attention and resources to combat. Members of the Jupiter League and the Sentinels had faced the invasion on an individual basis, but they also had other worldly problems to contend with. Crime doesn't stop just because aliens decide to invade Antarctica.
But as these creatures started to make their way north, The Guardians decided to be the first to "take it to the enemy." The Guardians were largely seen as a second-tier team. They didn't have the publicity of the Sentinels or the iconic nature of The Jupiter League, but they did their part in the fight against evil. But it was their overlooked status that allowed them to devote all of their energies to fighting the invasion, as fewer powers were looking to them to help in other danger spots around the world.
Their plan was two-fold: A) Find a way to seal off the portal once and for all, and B) Defeat whatever force lies beyond the portal to help ensure it would never be able to return to Earth.
With the aid of several other heroes from around the globe, The Guardians were able to break through to New Eden and fight their way through the portal. While many of the other heroes stayed behind to defend two of the Guardians tasked with sealing the portal, the remaining nine members of the team breached the portal.
While their journey into the portal seemed to last mere minutes, the seven who survived the ordeal spoke of their encounter with this alien world lasting weeks on end. Details were scarce, as two of the survivors were mentally devastated and the five other remaining members spoke little of their encounter, but they were able to confirm that they defeated the leader of these alien forces and ensured that the remaining forces would retreat back to their homeworld.
And with that the portal was sealed and the world was saved from the invasion.
Within weeks of these events, one of the surviving members of The Guardians attempted to reopen the portal. His teammates were forced to subdue him, but in his betrayal he murdered one of his own teammates. He claimed that "his masters" commanded him to act in such a fashion and that his will was not his own. He was incarcerated for his actions, but soon after he died of massive organ failure due to an unknown, alien disease.
About a year later, in 1976, another member of The Guardians succumbed to madness. She attempted to hold the UN hostage, claiming that she was the only being fit for ruling the Earth. She made many cryptic proclamations, claiming that it was her time in "the other world" that opened her eyes to "the truth," and all she was doing was fulfilling her destiny. Again, The Guardians were forced to fight one of their own, but this time they were forced to kill their former friend in order to save her UN hostages.
With this, all that remained of The Guardians were five of the nine who entered the portal and a lone member who stayed behind to close the portal. It was after the second "betrayal" that said lone member started to piece everything together. Something happened to the other members of The Guardians when they went through the portal. Maybe it was isolated to the two members who had gone mad, but they began their own investigation none the less. Whatever it is that this member discovered, they were unable to reveal it to the world as they were found dead along side a reporter in Port of Kings in late 1976.
With this string of betrayals and murders, The Guardians' numbers were decimated. The five remaining members of the group chose to disband and parted from public life. Everyone assumed that they simply returned to civilian life, as none of them joined other teams or struck out on their own.
That is until five years later. In 1981, A Sentinels shuttle returning from orbit exploded. Nothing indicated that a malfunction occurred during reentry. The crew were able to transmit a few messages before the explosion, citing several objects that looked vaguely human-like appearing along side the shuttle. The last message received before the explosion said "Doesn't that look like XXXXX from The Guardians?"
Hours after the accident, all of the major television networks across the globe were momentarily hijacked. On the screen appeared the Sentinels who were believed to have died in the shuttle explosion. After the camera rested on them for a few seconds, five individuals stepped in front of the captured Sentinels. While their appearances had changed slightly due to age and other factors, these five individuals were clearly the surviving members of The Guardians.
"Six years ago, we saved this world from invasion. But in the process we fell. Now we are here to claim what is ours. We saved this world, and thus it is now ours. We are The Fallen, and these so-called heroes are our first spoils of war."
With that message, The Fallen had announced their presence to the world.
---
The Syndicate represents organized crime. They use criminal acts as a means for personal power. They aren't interested in ruling or destroying.
The Children of Sayang are a destructive, seemingly anarchic force. They're what the old school Fallen used to be.
This version of The Fallen, to put it simply, are The Legion of Doom. They're a superpowered villain group. They want to force their will upon the world. They take what they want by force. They aren't interested in murder and destruction for the sake of murder and destruction, although they aren't above such evil things either. They simply want to rule this world as they see fit and do so overtly. They're meant to be your classic supervillain group. That's a role we haven't fulfilled in the FPL.
They operate out of New Eden, the aforementioned jungle/swamp created by this portal in Antarctica. They've since reopened the portal, but only slightly. Just enough for them to siphon off the energies for their uses. While maps still exist showing where New Eden SHOULD be, it has since been cloaked through magical, psychic, and technological means. Basically, unless The Fallen want you to know where it is, it is impossible to find New Eden.
Much like the classic "conquering" villain groups, their actions all work towards some grand "take over the world" scheme. Whatever actions they take, be it attacking transport ships for their raw materials or running slave trade schemes, they're all towards fulfilling whatever scheme they're currently working towards.
One of the main "themes' of the team is their reputation for taking in "fallen" heroes. The team was created by five heroes who were mysteriously corrupted by otherworldly forces, and because of this the group has a "fetish" for turning that which was once good into a force of domination. While conventional villains are welcome into their ranks, they take special effort to "recruit" heroes that are down on their luck or who were recently expelled from their team. Roughly 30% of The Fallen's ranks comprise of individuals who were once considered superheroes.
That's it for now. Feel free to comment, make suggestions, or whatever.
Also, I intentionally didn't name any of the members of The Guardians. If people like this idea, I figure we can create said characters later. Maybe make a contest out of it or something.
