ACTION FORCE
Membership: Maria-Pilar Cortes (supervisor), Diego Sandoval (leader), Manuel, unidentified other members (including their physician)
Purpose: To protect the people of Spain
Affiliations: X-Men (Beast/Hank McCoy, Bishop/Lucas
Bishop, Marvel Girl/Rachel Grey, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner,
Psylocke/Betsy Braddock, Rogue/Anna Marie, Sage, Storm/Ororo Munroe,
Thunderbird/Neal Sharra)
Enemies: Vargas; though any and all potential
threats to their native country of Spain were on their list of foes,
chief among them being mutants.
Alias: None
Base of Operations: Active throughout Spain, main
command post located in Valencia
First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men I#1 (July, 2001)
History:
(X-Treme X-Men I#1 - BTS) - Action Force is the covert
paramilitary wing of Spain's Guardia Civil ("Civil Guard"). Led by Diego
Sandoval, the Action Force was headquartered in Los Torres De Serranos,
an ancient Moor structure located in Valencia, the country's third
largest city. When Action Force learned a team of X-Men were in Valencia
(to search for the seer Destiny's diaries), they deemed the mutants'
presence a threat to the kingdom and prepared to arrest them. The
ambitious Sandoval didn't wait to clear the operation with the ministry
of defense in Madrid and gave the go ahead.
(X-Treme X-Men I#1) - Early one morning, the individual X-Men were all surprised by Action Force's all out assault. Beast, Bishop, Psylocke, Storm and Thunderbird (Neil Shaara) were all captured, while Rogue and Sage managed to escape. Action Force took them to their base where the division's scientists started to study the individual mutants' abilities, paraphenalia and backgrounds. They were surprised to discover Storm carried a large number of top notch lockpicks on her person and identified Bishop as an Australian detective-inspector with ties to Interpol. While his scientists were analyzing the X-Men, Sandoval got a visit from his boss, defense minister Maria-Pilar Cortes. She was less than pleased with Diego's actions and wondered if the mutants he'd captured were an actual threat to the kingdom, especially since the general consensus was that the X-Men were heroes, especially Beast who was internationally known as a member of the Avengers. Ignoring all this, one of the Action Force's doctors tried to convince Sandoval and Cortes that the mutants were a clear and present threat to Spain and the world. However, it was decided the X-Men were to be locked up in the mazelike structure underneath Action Force's base to study them in action to learn more of their secrets. Once the X-Men recovered, they tried to explore the the labyrinth. Moments later, the floor gave out and sent the X-Men tumbling down into the underground river.
(X-Treme X-Men I#2 - BTS) - The super villain Vargas and
his underling Thais killed an Action Force member while searching for
the X-Treme X-Men. Vargas concluded that Rogue, still on the loose, had
been nearby. Rogue, on the other hand, had been contacted by Sage who
had already figured out the others were being kept inside Los Torres De
Serranos.
(X-Treme X-Men I#2) - Action Force observed the X-Men trying to deal with the challenges posed by the maze and the wild river they suddenly found themselves in following the floor's collapse. Noticing the mutants managed just fine, operatives on aquasleds were sent in to attack them. However, the team beat back the aquatic Action Force members and even managed to free themselves from the maze, only to find themselves besieged by even more Action Force mercenaries who were ordered to fire with deadly accuracy. After dealing with them, the X-Men moved deeper into the base.
(X-Treme X-Men I#2 - BTS) - Both Rogue and Vargas infiltrated Action Force's base and got into a fight with each other. Beast and Psylocke arrived to help out, though Vargas' underlings Thais and Thaiis got involved as well. In the end, Vargas ended up almost beating Beast and Rogue to death, while killing Psylocke.
(X-Treme X-Men I#3) - While the X-treme X-Men tried to tend to their wounded and dead, Action Force, Sandoval and Cortes placed them under arrest. Infuriated, Storm threatened to unleash an elemental tempest on the soldiers, but Bishop managed to calm her down. Maria-Pilar Cortes then convinced Diego Sandoval that the X-Men had actually tried to protect them from Vargas and his allies. Calling a temporary truce, Sandoval ordered his forces to lower their weapons and made sure Beast and Rogue got the medical attention they needed. Storm, however, was still furious at Sandoval and Action Force for attacking them without provocation. The situation was made worse by Thunderbird freaking out when he saw Action Force employees put the deceased form of Psylocke in a body bag. Still, the X-Men were allowed to go and deal with Vargas in their own way.
(Uncanny X-Men I#455 - BTS) - When Psylocke inexplicably
reappeared inside Action Force's Valencia headquarters, mere inches from
the spot she'd perished on, Diego Sandoval decided to call the X-Men. In
the meantime, Betsy was given private quarters and clothing to help her
accomodate to being returned to life.
(Uncanny X-Men I#455) - When the X-Men arrived in
Valencia, they were met by Diego Sandoval and Maria-Pilar Cortes who
took them to Betsy Braddock. Action Force was witness to the explosive
reunion, with Braddock immediately attacking Bishop (she blamed him for
preventing her from moving on to the afterlife following an encounter
they had in dreamtime). Cortes told the X-Men (who were also operating
as law enforcement agents of the X.S.E. then) that Action Force had no
legal reason to keep Psylocke there, given that she had committed no
crimes. Storm declared the X.S.E. would take her into custody in order
to remand her to the Xavier Institute for further observation. Just
then, the team was called away when Wolverine called in an emergency.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils and inks).
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Action Force has no known connections to:
The unidentified medical doctor assigned to Action Force had a hard time seeing the captured X-Men as little more than dangers to the kingdom of Spain. During his meeting with minister Cortes and his boss Diego Sandoval, he made repeated attempts to convince them the mutants were a threat that needed to be eliminated. The doctor figured that the rights and protections of the law didn't apply to creatures who weren't even human and were the walking, talking equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Reasoning that mankind was at an evolutionary crossroads, he insisted Action Force should do what needed to be done to assure the future of their species. In the end, he was overruled by Sandoval who nevertheless sympathised with the doctor's position.
--X-Treme X-Men I#1
images: (without ads)
X-Treme X-Men I#1, p4, pan2 (main image)
X-Treme X-Men I#2, p13, pan1 (troops armor controlled by computer)
X-Treme X-Men I#3, p4, pan1 (meet the X-Men)
X-Treme X-Men I#1, p22, pan4 (physician)
Appearances:
X-Treme X-Men I#1 (July, 2001) - Chris Claremont
(writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils and inks), Matt Hicks (editor)
X-Treme X-Men I#2 (August, 2001) - Chris Claremont
(writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils and inks), Matt Hicks (editor)
X-Treme X-Men I#3 (September, 2001) - Chris Claremont
(writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils and inks), Matt Hicks (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#455 (April, 2005) - Chris Claremont
(writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Last updated: 04/08/14.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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