Junkies fueled by adrenaline and ICE, the Chromeskulls go by many names among the populace, all usually of negative intonation. Originally a mercenary crew operating out of the Rust Belt, their origins have been lost to time, with many of the original founding members dead or worse. Rumor persists the group initially emerged from NEU or Coalition territory within the Belt— tales of hit-and-run tactics all too common.

In the current day, the Skulls have made their new home the Sunrise Isles and made it everyone’s problem, pursuing profit, power, and anarchy within the lawless Post-Flash world.

ATF 8: AN ISLE OF CHROME

ACT 1: TERRORWAVE

TERRORWAVE: PRELUDE

Filled with new recruits and upstarts who knew not the history of the Chromeskulls, months would pass as the group accumulated men and power. ...Which is why some of these members found it prudent to take potshots at a town named Amberly. For fun, of course.

This was quickly met with a justified response, the town’s police emerging to confront the Skulls and being met only with gunfire. Two Skulls made a final stand to allow the others to flee to safety, before the duo was arrested and captured.

Taking offense, the leading Skull called for a return to the town to try and free their members, but the town was much, much more well-armed than was initially expected, forcing a retreat from the first of many battles in a long-lasting war. Unbeknownst to the Skulls at the time, the town was still under RELISTAR control— and it showed in their equipment.

But that meant this surplus of equipment could be exploited— culminating in weeks’ worth of planning. By September, the patrol route for a RELISTAR convoy was leaked— Skulls swarming the Deadlands and lying in wait.

TERRORWAVE: DENOUMENT

The fourth day of September thus marked a crippling blow to the corporation; the sound and stench of heavy motors filled the air, before being overwhelmed by anti-material fire and explosives. The convoy belonged to the RELISTAR Asset Protection Division, and this contingent in particular was protecting a set of valuable explosives within an equally valuable set of APCs.

Not for long, of course.

The convoy eventually rattled to a halt in the middle of the Deadlands, caught in a lethal killzone. None of the APD survived the ambush, with their only remnants the ruined (but repairable) APCs…and a sizable shipment of plastic explosive and white phosphorus. The Chromeskulls rapidly requisitioned the remains of the APD, absconding with their loot as fast as they had taken it.

Amberly wouldn’t know what hit it.

TERRORWAVE: FIRE AND SMOKE

In time, the tides of change would make themselves known, marked by the turn of the year. Light skirmishes with RELISTAR and other groups had occurred, yes, but this was something different, something big. It was time for the Chromeskulls to flip the table and truly upset the influence the NEU and its corporations held on the Isles— beginning with Amberly, as they had all those years ago.

For many of the Skulls present, this was their first real battle. They had the element of surprise, yes, but this was no basic ambush. Some felt relief at being chosen to massacre a town of civilians— others felt that this was God’s punishment upon them, and there were plenty in between.

It wouldn’t matter.

Karson, ruling by example and by might, spearheaded the assault— him and his squad running amok the town and planting explosives in critical areas to ensure there would be no further repairs. The night died down in direct proportion to the inhabitants of Amberly— any defenders, anyone who resisted even in spirit, were quickly put down.

Refugees were seen fleeing the ruins of Amberly, with nobody inside being left alive. As the former residents fled, Karson called for the Skulls to halt and face the town. The hellcannon attached to the APC unloaded its barrage of white phosphorus, RELISTAR's own munitions turned against itself. The town was quickly blanketed in red-white hellfire, ensuring its destruction.

Some were horrified, of course. This was a level of war crime that rivaled the days before the Flash. Others were euphoric, an appropriate response to an authoritarian regime. Karson only had the following to offer to his followers:

With RELISTAR's tactical withdrawal from the Isles, the Skulls could now focus on themselves for the moment, taking a breather from the constant skirmishing as of recent. During this time, The Square, no longer Sunrise's decrepit high school, would truly take form- a sprawling mass that held both metal and flesh. Its doors even opened up to refugees of Amberly and lower-level criminals. Soon, The Square would become infamous, as Karson used the Chromeskulls to etch their names into history. 

To that end, Karson launched a brutal ground war into the...

ACT 2: FOREST OF FLESH

FOREST OF FLESH: SNOWSTORM

Targeting a flesh cult that had previously attacked the Skulls, known as SIGIL CARNE, the winter snow would soon see countless stains of red; first starting at Ecclessia Vita, a now-former scrap town which was surrounded and sieged by the Skulls. Yet even in this first skirmish the Chromeskulls suffered- multiple members were captured and found missing after the civilians had taken up arms in a final stand.

The two factions went back and forth throughout the winter, burning resources all throughout; a cave system filled with stasis cocoons and half-submerged Skulls, a bombing on The Square itself, a defenseless church that was razed and left with one survivor. The church had no need to be razed- but its lone survivor would carry word of the Chromeskulls' atrocities, only serving to dig the hole Karson had gotten them into.

FOREST OF FLESH: TO DUST

Soon, Karson would order another raid on a Carnite outpost, to seize control of or to demolish their armory and church. Soon, the snow was littered with blood and gray matter. Soon, both Carnites and Skulls alike fell dead to brutal guerrilla fighting and trapping- few Skulls survived to return to The Square; only one Carnite survived to be captured.

At this point, the Skulls had slowly been whittling themselves down, all for meager results and returns in an already hostile Isle. 

It was therefore to many Skulls' dismay when hardly a week later, Karson called for another speech. This time, he was flanked by the heads of the Boosters and Cybres respectively— Vic and Ines. Karson soon began to speak to the masses, no doubt to call for another raid on the Carnites.

There was just one problem:

History is written by the living.

Simultaneously, both of Karson's Hands turned their weapons against him and rendered him into nothing more but a lifeless mass of flesh, mixed with lead and steel. Calling out to the gang, they declared a new leader, one who knew what they were doing, who would lead the Chromeskulls to actual victory— her name a warning as for what was to come. 

Bloodflow.

ACT 3: INTO THE FIRE

INTO THE FIRE: RIGHTING WRONGS

The war on Sigil Carne had temporarily been called off- tension and unease lingering in The Square in the wake of Karson's murder. But a rival gang, close to the Chromeskulls' heart, would quickly take priority.

The former Hounds of the Jumperz Era would re-emerge, now known as the Bloodhounds. They were much alike to their metal counterparts, yet wildly different and vitriolic to their 'sister gang', a mutual feeling among the Skulls. Over the course of the summer and fall, the Skulls would soon begin infiltrating or otherwise sabotaging Bloodhound outposts or towns in yet another ground war; this time, however, it was on their turf.

...except the then operations-lead, Ines, completely botched a raid on the Bloodhound town of DOG-SHIT. From losing many men, having a truck and Vic captured, failing to take the town, the Skulls were sent reeling from the brutal loss. 

Fear quickly rose of a repeat of the war with Sigil Carne, and Ines was soon thrown under the bus. Representing the Boosters in place of Vic, the Hand Caesar would challenge Ines to a fight, ultimately ripping her arm off despite his injuries. This would mark the start of wider discrimination against those in the Cybres clique, as Booster culture surged in popularity.

The Skulls would take time to lick their wounds and chase other targets (namely the USRF and Rustbucket) or weaker Bloodhound locations, until finally, as winter encroached, Caesar called for a final raid on Dogshit.

In a twisted, near-repeat of Amberly, hellfire and gas rained down on the settlement, punctuated by hard rock being blasted by a tweaker on the hill. To the sound of The Night Begins to Shine (albeit grossly re-appropriated for heavy metal), Chromeskulls and Bloodhounds alike reunited in the midst of combat; each racing to introduce the other to the gates of Hell as fast as possible.

The night of gas and fire soon ended— the town a smoldering wreck, its leadership dead or captured, and Vic rescued from his months-long imprisonment. The echoes of Amberly resounded from the ruined town, but many Skulls from the days of Amberly were long dead, or uncaring.

The war on the Bloodhounds continued, but throughout the war and the months, Bloodflow mostly remained quiet...

INTO THE FIRE: ANEMIA

To be logged...

ACT 4: FLARING CIRCUITRY

FLARING CIRCUITRY: RISING ACTION

To be logged...

FLARING CIRCUITRY: OVERLOAD

Currently ongoing...