Newland Guard

At a H.A.L.E.facility located in Wallen, Dermont, a group of mercenaries infiltrate and search the property, locating the item their unknown employer tasked them with retrieving; the Carmine Pot. During the extraction, the group are discovered and the pot is broken in the following struggles. The broken pieces turn to sand, creating a large pit on the grounds surface. From out of the sand emerges a horde of masked humans, that attack and slaughter everyone in sight. The security defense systems are activated and the facility is locked down. Officials agree to alert their superiors and plan for an outbreak.

Amelia Stone, Director of H.A.L.E. Newland, contacts Morgan 'Cave' Benson and informs him of the situation, telling him that he will technically be the leader of the group, or rather the operation.

Each chosen person is approached by officials of H.A.L.E.:

1. Reach - ?
2. Trigger - Accepts request in exchange for letting vigilante killing spree to continue
3. Ashes - Accepts request
4. Chains - ?
5. G - Sedated and forcibly taken in by H.A.L.E. after refusing to help
6. Drummblade - Accepts requests in exchange for H.A.L.E. leaving her alone

At the meeting point, a base setup outside of the town of Wallen, the 11 chosen people meet one another, along with Cave, Little Red, Shadowstroker and Aim. and are informed of the situation: The inhabitants of the Carmine Pot have escaped the facility and taken over the town and surrounding area. Fortunately the residents had been evacuated earlier and a magic-based barrier has been put in place by H.A.L.E. member Barrier (Tamas Lundo), preventing the Masked Horde from spreading. The group are tasked with destroying the sand portal from which the monsters arise. It is made clear (both by Stone & the members themselves) that not all of the group have willingly accepted the request, with some having been forcibly captured and brought to their current location. It is stated that they all will be paid $250,000 for their participation.

The group, consisting of the 9 Bizzare's, 1 human and 20 H.A.L.E. operatives, suit up and prepare to be let into the walled-off zone. Barrier opens a portion of the enclosure, allowing the group to enter. The group travels deeper into the enclosed area but finds no sign of life, aside from pets and wild animals. Eventually however they come across a group of humans from the horde. The two sides fight. All of the horde's beings are killed, along with most of the HALE operatives. Demak Allun/B.B.W. is chastised by Cave and the others for not assisting and hiding during the fight. Though he explains that he doesn't like violence and does not possess complete control over himself while in his transformed state, his words fall on mostly unsatisfied ears. The group takes a break to regroup and assess the situation.

The group locates a teenager and her younger sister, Leanne & Lily, homeless girls new to the town and keeping a low profile, hence her reason for not being evacuated with the citizens. As the group, particularly Drummblade, assists the girls they are attacked by a large group of the Masked. The fight takes place within the local high school. Once again B.B.W. avoids fighting. When the fighting is seemingly over and the remaining HALE operatives are dead, Cave and others from the group confront, resulting in Trigger shooting him in the head. To everyone's surprise the bullet fails to penetrate beyond Wolf's skull. Wolf begins to transform, turning into his bipedal werewolf form. Before Wolf can cause any major damage, Chains binds him and forces him away from the group to another part of the school. At the same time, a larger group of Masked arrive and attack those still grouped together. Amongst the attackers are several stronger, tougher and faster beings.