Issue 20 – Story So Far
Andrew Clayburn, a reclusive billionaire and the owner of Clayburn Industries, a massive corporation with its own private army, discussed the events of 2039 with Strom, his soon-to-be commander of military forces. He recalls the tale of the Intervention - a 2038 and 2039 campaign of his forces, led by the elite Task Force Seahawk unit, to pacify the Balkan region and bring it under his heel. The mission goes wrong due to the incompetence of the local Clayburn Commander, Peter Clayburn, who orders the Clayburn forces to commit genocide. Unwilling to accept such an order, the Seahawks turn rogue and attempt to flee Clayburn's wrath from Zagreb to Istanbul.
The fleeing Seahawks take losses from both the pursuing Clayburn forces and the local militias, but manage to reach Istanbul. The wily Seahawk commander, Adrian Blackwood, employs the service of an experienced mercenary commander Fyodor Sokolov, thanks to whose contacts in Istanbul the Seahawks are able to secure transportation. Unfortunately, the only form of transportation able to carry the Seahawk armored vehicles is an old and expensive mercenary flight of C-17 cargo planes without sufficient range to take them away from Clayburn's influence. An alternative plan is made - to travel instead to Cairo and from there to an abandoned American military base where a functional ship is waiting for them.
