The Afterlife Wars

Background:

Ever since The Hellrazor successfully wrested control of the world's largest magical site in Santa Morena, the frequency of demonic portals and incidents similar to the Island of the Damned incident during the Night of the Probability Matrix increased on a steady upward trend. Multiple Federal investigations into the phenomena began starting in 2012. Though many of those files remain sealed to this day, it is fairly certain that the members of Flag Force One consulted with demonic entities and infiltrated the cult of the Hellrazor, finding that the power structure of the Afterlife was collapsing and that Lucifer Morningstar was losing his grasp on his realm in both the political and metaphysical sense; the escapees were refugees from the brutal triangular warfare between the traditionalist Luciferians, the psychotic Eldritch Things and the Hellrazor cult backed Apocalypse Coalition. Lucifer was losing support fast and in a desperate bid to hold on to power, he borrowed magical essence from the very boundaries of Hell itself, resulting in the barriers between realms getting thinner and more portals opening in the mortal multiverse. The Federal black ops strike force known as Flag Force Zero, led by Black Ice, was permanently stationed in the Afterlife through a portal in Coffin Hill Cemetery in Northern Kentucky. Through the injection of large amounts of capital and some discrete metahuman support, they managed to help Lucifer Morningstar hold on to his power base and close 96% of the other demonic portals that were opening in the multiverse.

Initial Incident:

It was well documented that the Flag Force Zero operative known as Black Ice was involved in illegal street racing, as was the rookie 3rd wave S.U.P.L.E.X. hero known as Beastmobile. In an unregistered street race that took place on the newly constructed south fork of IN-666, a multi vehicle pileup occurred that resulted in the death of both heroes and, due to a contract signed by Black Ice, Beastmobile's soul was forfeit and thereby ripped out of his vehicle where it had been residing. Upon discovering this, the members of S.U.P.L.E.X. began investigating Black Ice and thereby the site of the portal on Coffin Hill. This led to a brief conflict with the onsite black ops superhero team and in turn led to a breach in the portal. With the guardians of the portal distracted, the demonic faction known as the Apocalypse Coalition seized control of it and, having cut off the source of Lucifer's power connection to the United States Government, subsequently seized control of most of Hell within two weeks. Desperate to retain his power, Lucifer called upon the government to assist him and the always hard luck 82nd Airborne was sent through the portal to secure the pylons by which the Federal government transferred power to Lucifer. They were shortly reinforced by two armored divisions and the remaining members of Flag Force Zero, only to run into problems when an artillery strike released one of the Eldritch Abominations buried beneath the Silver Mountain and devastated both the military and the demonic power structure. In a sudden three-way struggle, the Federal Government very reluctantly enlisted the aid of S.U.P.L.E.X. who deployed immediately to Hell.

Response:

S.U.P.L.E.X. deployed almost all available heroes from all three waves as well as their full slot of trainees, leaving only a skeleton crew to deal with threats to CENTCOM. They arrived in the middle of chaos, with Lucifer's Shining City under siege. What no one knew at the time except for Chris By-The-Throat, World's Luckiest Detective was that the forces of Heaven also had an interest in this fight and sent a single soul to commune with CBTT before the battle-the now ascended angelic soul of deceased rock and roll legend Ronnie James Dio. Giving the team a fraction of his angelic power, the team battled their way to the Silver City through both the Hellrazor backed Apocalypse Coalition and the undead legions of Cthonicus. There they rescued the remaining members of Flag Force Zero and forced concessions on the Luciferians, including the abdication of Lucifer himself. They held the city and allowed the AC's and the Eldritch forces to battle one another outside the Silver City while the light of Lucifer's power slowly dimmed. The Rapunzel II was destroyed in this siege, resulting in a multimillion dollar loss for S.U.P.L.E.X. within a year of actually launching the ship. Still, the Shining Walls held, and the Luciferian forces were able to regroup on the other side of them. Then they expanded forward, each hero commanding a legion of demonic allies, and began taking ground, eventually retaking the pylons that connected the portal to earth and rejuvenating the light of the Shining City. The AC's were destroyed or enslaved by the victors, but the undead infestation of the Eldritch Lords continued until the Battle of the Silver Mountain. There, S.U.P.L.E.X. contractor and occasional hero Hank Granville smuggled in a B2 Bomber withtactical nukes and dropped it on the entrenched Cthonicus, sealing him within the mountain once more. All that remained was the mopping up of the undead, but Lucifer predictably attempted to escape his forced retirement, threatening to kick off the whole rebellion once more. That ended when he was beaten, pistol whipped and frog marched out of Hell by S.U.P.L.E.X. in gross violation of all international, interdimensional and religious law-Dr. Badtouch is famously quoted as saying "The Devil is a Loser and He's My Bitch."

Fallout:

Much of what actually happened during the war is classified; the only S.U.P.L.E.X. Member who has been willing to talk about his experiences was Hank Granville, and the Federal Government is still reluctant to share it's part in this debacle. What is known is that Lucifer Morningstar now works for S.U.P.L.E.X. playing piano and managing a nightclub, Flag Force Zero was officially disbanded, and S.U.P.L.E.X. gained the contract for the State of Kentucky. The current status of the power pipeline is still a mystery, and the location of the portal is now heavily guarded by contracted demonic forces. Ronnie James Dio became the ruler of Hell, managing it in what Hank Granville describes as "a brutally rehabilitative system" with a reward system in place to mitigate the worst of the tortures, and so far the Eldritch Things have not been seen again, although the Hellrazor cult continues to make trouble on earth and in the afterlife. The Federal Government, despite their general antipathy towards the private practice superheroes, paid out massive settlements for the loss of the Rapunzel II. It is also known via interviews that this is where the World's Luckiest Detective acquired the infamous Dead Man's Hand, although the specifics of his battles with the Eldritch faction backed necromancer from Texas are still highly classified.