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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 4925130" data-attributes="member: 16760">Forestrike's gangForestrike's gang (they never had an official name) was a group of supervillains operating in Seattle throughout most of  Shadow-Force's career.  Their motivation was simple:  Money, by whatever means they could get it.  Their roster at the end of their career was:ForestrikeJack o'LanternTekeStrobeSoulwhipCrosshairForestrike is a precognitive and a consummate planner - one of Shadow-Force's most cunning foes, though he is now retired.  His insight into the future was so profound that he could dodge attacks aimed at him with maddening ease.  He also had formidable mental defenses, to the Phantom's profound chagrin.A cold and ruthless man willing to move his own teammates like pawns, Forestrike did have lines he would not cross.  He was very careful to avoid a murder rap, for example.  (Once, during a super-prison break, Forestrike stumbled upon the Phantom's inert physical body.  He knocked the Phantom unconscious with a blunt instrument, but was very careful not to kill him.)  Until the end, when events finally drove things out of his control.Forestrike came to see the Phantom, in particular, as a foe worthy of his respect;  and the feeling was mutual.  Not only because the Phantom could hurt him with his mental blasts (though very, very slowly), but because the Phantom was his opposite number, the planner and strategist of Shadow-Force.  (Erebus was the tactical leader - for his ruthless instincts just as much as his frightening degree of martial prowess - but the Phantom was the one who kept the big picture in view.)After years of struggle, their chess match ended with Forestrike's acknowledged defeat.  His precognition could not keep pace with Shadow-Force's skill with reconnaissance;  the Phantom's mental scanning and invisible spying, Erebus' teleportation, retrocognition, and shadow-scrying, and Technoid and Alpha's hacking eventually ran him into the ground.There came a point where the lines of probability were too tangled by events for even Forestrike to see his way.  He became rattled and made mistakes, losing his grip on Jack o'Lantern's leash.Forestrike currently lives in exile in South America.  Once or twice he has sent the Phantom a letter, warning of events to come.  (He has to live on the Earth too - and it would hardly do for another villain to succeed where he failed!)Jack o'Lantern was a fire-wielding mutant who needed a special suit to keep his powers under control.  Jack o'Lantern was psychotic and a sociopath.  He delighted in burning things and in causing suffering.  Thankfully, he was also very easy to goad into a blind rage:  The Phantom, who was totally immune to his attacks, routinely taunted Jack into flame-blasting him repeatedly while using his own mental powers on Jack's teammates.  (The Phantom always called him "Punkinhead", which drove him  into a screaming rage.  The helmet of Jack's suit was indeed carved to look like a pumpkin.)Forestrike controlled Jack by manipulating Strobe into sleeping with him.  Jack used her sexually, indulging his sadistic streak, and she came to enjoy it.When Shadow-Force finally closed in, Forestrike lost his grip on Jack, who raised the stakes higher than Forestrike had ever been willing to go - he took hostages and threatened their lives.  Forced to play the hand he'd been dealt, knowing he was completely out of his depth, Forestrike tried to find as positive a way out as he could... rather than have Jack kill a crowd of hostages, he demanded a plane and safe-passage out of the country.Forestrike's gang flew off in a private plane with a captive Air Force pilot at the controls.  Shadow-Force successfully teleported the pilot to safety, and jets of the United States Air Force destroyed the plane;  only Teke's powers preserved any of the gang's lives.  (Though Forestrike was doubtless able to help with the timing.)Jack o'Lantern was killed in the explosion.  His body was found (pieces of it, anyway) and positively identified by DNA analysis.Teke is a very powerful and versatile telekinetic.  Like Forestrike, she was a pro, a true mercenary - she held Jack o'Lantern and Strobe in contempt.  Shadow-Force never got any deep insight into her character.  Though obedient to her boss, when he finally and definitively fell she coolly cut and ran.  She did save his life and that of Strobe and Soulwhip before doing so,  however.  Her current whereabouts and status are unknown.Strobe was a flying light-projector.  Immature and naive (it was a credit-card purchase of hers, hacked by Alpha and Technoid, that was key in tracking the gang down for the last time) she was easily manipulated by Forestrike into sleeping with Jack o'Lantern, and came to love him.  Though saved from the explosion herself, she was heartbroken by Jack's death, and eventually committed suicide.Soulwhip is a psionic with a variety of powers, most notably a potent mental blast.  Forestrike's mental shielding and psychological skill enabled him to manipulate her despite her telepathy.  Soulwhip was crippled in the explosion.  She currently lives with Forestrike as his bodyguard and lover.Crosshair was a late addition to the gang.  He was an assassin able to throw knives and shuriken with superhuman accuracy;  he was also a formidable martial artist (able to hit Erebus almost at will, a truly impressive feat).  Like Teke, he was purely mercenary;  unlike Teke he had a taste for blood, and had to be reined in by Forestrike nearly as much as Jack o'Lantern did.   Crosshair was killed in the explosion.Memorable Scene:Forestrike and the Phantom face-to-face, as they seldom were.  Jack o'Lantern across the room, holding a hostage by the throat, and a flaming fist ready to kill.The Phantom, in a light tone:  "You're going to have to kill him one of these days, you know."Forestrike, looking the Phantom right in the eye:  "I know."</blockquote>

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