CYNODD race CYNODD race
Classification: Semi-humanoid extraterrestrial race
Location/Base of Operations: Isambard;
unrevealed location(s) throughout the (presumably) Milky Way galaxy;
formerly a subterranean base 3 km below The Lucky Shoe Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, Earth; they also worked out of the Lucky Shoe itself and a more superficial base
Known Members: Shakata, Dog Soldiers, Strike Team, War-Dogs, the Zoo (Ballistik, Blitz, Laz-Fire, Payload, Warcrime);
possibly Babet, Necroborg, and/or Speggly (see comments)
Affiliations: Synergysts;
Babet (and other acolytes) and the Necroborg if they were not members
Enemies: John Blaze, the Enhanced (Gun Runner/Brell, Heavy Duty (Glora Teth), Lure, Oracle, Smith), Gale Patric, Gyre, Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch), the Vassyr
First Appearance: Gun Runner#1 (October, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: The Cynodd used advanced technology and necromancy (black magic), often powered by the sacrifice of living beings to obtain their power.
The Cynodd use the Synergysts to manufacture perfect areas of Syntropy in the places they controlled.
They maintain their own genetic material stored in mystically-charged crystals, which they can then implant into bodies of beings they capture, even if they are from other races.
They travel via Assaults Ships, Interceptors, and Interplanetary Shuttles, at least.
Traits: Worshipping syntropy (pure order), the Cynodd seek to freeze existence into static form.
The Vassyr considered them to be a foul cabal of heathen sorcerers; they obtain power via sacrifice of living beings.
Carving a path across the galaxy,
the Cynodd would conquer, slaughter (to harvest life force energy)
and/or collect the natives (to use them as physical material from which
more Cynodd could be cloned), and corrupt their genetic material.
Type: Bilaterally symmetric humanoid bipeds
Eyes: Two (on head; solid white or green color seen)
Fingers: Four (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Presumably five
Skin color: Pink
Average height: Approximately 6'
Note: I'm
not sure we ever saw an average member of the Cynodd. We saw the
powerful Shakata, the Dog-Soldiers, the War-Dogs, and the Soldiers. I'm
not sure what Babet was; ditto for the Necroborg
History:
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) - In
ages past, the Cynodd discovered an alien race they called the
Synergysts, beings capable of creating fields of syntropy in the matter
around them. The Cynodd worshipped them as gods. While the Synergysts
normally existed in deep, uninhabited space, where their powers had no
effect on living beings.
The Cynodd took the Synergysts in
embryonic form back into inhabited space, where they bred them via
their genetic talents, educating them in the mystical doctrines of the
Cynodd. The Cynodd nurtured the Synergysts to manufacture perfect areas
of Syntropy in the places they controlled.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) - <According to Gun Runner (Brell) of the Enhanced> - "The Cynodd's infernal war machines carved a swathe of misery and persecution across the galaxy <led> by a monster called Shakata."
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) - The Cynodd's Synergysts created a syntropic wasteland on Caveor Prime.
(Gun Runner#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Enhanced traveled a number of webs/patterns, navigating to stop the Synergysts at their core.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) -
Recognizing the Cynodd's threat, the Vassyr race sought to prevent them
from activating a network of conditioned Synergysts across the galaxy,
which would turn all creation into a stolid, ordered, universal
machine.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS / Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Vassyr created the Enhanced race of warriors to end forever the mystical threat of the Cynodd and expunge their evil.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb)) - Gun Runner and the Enhanced battled the Cynodd on an unspecified world; the Cynodd's guns stunk of plasma.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) - After a long and bloody war, the Enhanced defeated the Cynodd, destroying their armies and machines, and incarcerating their leaders. Gun Runner personally slew Shakata. The Enhanced believed the conflict to be over.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS / Gun Runner#3 (fb) - BTS) <203 years ago> - An unidentified event incapacitated Warbird/Oracle and Gun Runner, leaving the former drifting and dysfunctional.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) <100 years ago> - The Cynodd burned Vassyra.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) -
Using their genetic materials stored on crystals, surviving Cynodd or
their agents captured homeless people and other transients, using their
bodies as the physical template onto which to "clone" their people,
including Shakata.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS / Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Cynodd established a base below The Lucky Shoe Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, Earth. A second base was established 3 kilometers below this base.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS) - A number of humans served as acolytes to the Cynodd, including Babet.
(Gun Runner#1) - Gun Runner's Warbird ship's power was restored by Earth's sun, and it transported him to the desert outside Las Vegas, Nevada, he revived and was taken in and given a job at the Blue Chip casino by Gale Patric. After Gun Runner demonstrated his abilities taking out some disgruntled customers threatening violence, Babet contacted Cynodd leader Shakata, noting that he believed he had encountered one of the Enhanced. Surprised as he believed they had rid the universe of the Enhanced centuries ago, Shakata complimented Babet on his good work and prepared to dispatch a strike team.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS) - Shakata dispatched a Cynodd strike team.
(Gun Runner#1) - In Las Vegas
to investigate a vague threat of great evil, John Blaze was at the
Lucky Shoe casino and observed the Cynodd carrying high-tech weapons
and followed them into the desert.
The Cynodd strike team ambushed
Gun Runner (alongside Gale), after he had returned to his life pod,
regained his memories, and donned his uniform. Gun Runner took out
several members of the strike team, but one of them took Gale hostage.
He called to the group leader, Speggly (or perhaps "Speggly" is a curse
or invocation of some sort), but Blaze then zoomed in on his motorcycle
and smashed into and took out the final Cynodd warrior. However,a case
of mistaken intentions led Gun Runner into a conflict with Blaze and
his partner Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch), who had apparently followed Blaze there.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Blaze convinced Ghost Rider that Gun Runner was in the right and had attacked them mistakenly, and that they should follow him to see if he needed help.
Gale checked the registration
documents of the truck in which the Cynodd War-Dogs/strike force had
arrived, determining it to be the property of the Lucky Shoe casino;
Gun Runner and Gale headed there to investigate. As they approached the
casino, Gun Runner's built-in tactical assistant, Tactical, warned of
super-normal levels of necromancy and Cynodd-tech machinery within. Gun
Runner armed former police officer Gale with a compact laser-sonic and
brought her in with him.
(Gun Runner#2) - After Gun Runner broke in, they encountered a number of Cynodd warriors, whom Gun Runner took out.
Shakata then confronted them with
a number of armored Cynodd War-Dogs, after which Blaze and Ghost Rider
arrived as well. Shakata explained how they had created genetic
duplicates of themselves from human bodies, noting that they could
create even more powerful Cynodd using more potent material such as Gun
Runners. Noting the arrival of Blaze and Ghost Rider, Shakata ordered
his troops to kill them all, cementing the Spirits of Vengeance's
alliance with Gun Runner against the Cynodd.
After Ghost Rider freed the imprisoned humans, Gun Runner instructed Ghost Rider and Blaze to get the people clear of the area, and he armed his thermex charges to destroy the entire facility. When he ordered Shakata to surrender, Shakata took Gale hostage, but Gun Runner narrowed his weapon's beam to focally target Shakata, frying his face and helmet, and then fired his charges as he fled with Gale.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Ghost
Rider noted how the flames purged the necromantic stain from the place,
after which Gun Runner stole a Cynodd interplanetary shuttle and took
off into space with Gale. 
(Gun Runner#3) - Cynodd
interceptors pursued Gun Runner as he reached escape velocity, but
Brell's tactical programs allowed them to reach the Warbird, where --
via Brell's instructions -- Gale used the gunnery system to take out
the Cynodd ships.
(Gun Runner#3 - BTS) - Gun Runner began to seek out the remaining Enhanced.
(Gun Runner#3) - Three
kilometers beneath Las Vegas, Nevada, Shakata complained to the
Necroborg about the humiliating agony he was forced to endure as it
worked to repair his face. At his request, the Necroborg noted that the
installation was 74% functional. After the Necroborg reported Gun
Runner's escape, Shakata insisted that none of the Enhanced should be
allowed to live and that he wished to use their superior genetic
material as the basis to restore the Cynodd. When Shakata asked if the
Zoo were ready, the Necroborg confirmed that they had been standing
ready since Shakata had sounded the alert.
As the pulsarite doors opened, the Zoo then entered, and Shakata instructed them to hunt down the last of the Vassyrian Enhanced.
(Gun Runner#3) - On the planet
Nautilus (nine sidereal years from Canopus), the Zoo, arriving in a
Cynodd assault ship, assaulted the clipper Skylax, home to the Enhanced Heavy
Duty (Glora Teth), to which Gun Runner, Gale Patric, and the Enhanced
Smith had traveled.
(Gun Runner#4 (fb) - BTS) - Cynodd high command annexed the facteroid Isambard for the war effort.
(Gun Runner#4) - On the Skylax,
the Zoo fought Gun Runner and Smith before Heavy Duty donned her
costume and joined the feet. With the Zoo temporarily stunned, Heavy
Duty destroyed her ship, and the Enhanced and Gale returned to the
Warbird and used a space fold to escape the system. Tracing their space
fold, the Zoo pursued the Enhanced as they traveled to the facteroid
Isambard to recruit Lure.
(Gun Runner#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Cynodd located Lure in the personnel data on Isambard.
(Gun Runner#4) - Cynodd Dog-Soldiers confronted Lure, revealing how they had annexed Isambard and that Lure was to be executed. Lure struck first, using his cybernetic attack drone-hawk, Gyre. Ultimately, Lure fled and had Gyre sever portions of the bridge on which the Dog-Soldiers pursued him, causing them to fall. The other Enhanced then arrived, and Lure informed them that their planet, Vassyra was dead and gone.
(Gun Runner#5) - On Isambard, more Dog-Soldiers went around the other side of the bridge and engaged the Enhanced with laser-sonic firre.
The Enhanced fought back fiercely, until Gun Runner's Tactical informed him that there were approximately 300 Cynodd troops scanned in the adjacent area. The Enhanced then fled into the vent system under the guidance of Oracle and Gale. The Cynodd pursued, but Oracle/Warbird picked up the Enhanced and departed.
Back on Earth, Shakata and the
Necroborg discussed the failures of the Zoo and the Dog Soldiers.
Shakata concluded that they had no choice but to advance the processes
on Earth, first by activating the Synergysts.
The Necroborg noted that the
planet was decades away from readiness and that activating a Synergyst
now would be--but Shakata cut it off, telling it he would not tolerate
insubordination. Shakata continued that while it was dangerous, Earth
must be secured, and -- if Brell returned to face him -- there was no
other way but total Syntropy; he did not care what pains the planet
suffered.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) -
Shakata created or activated another Synergyst, which they manipulated
to initiate Syntropy (total order) on Earth.
(Gun Runner#5 - BTS) - The
damage to Earth induced psychic shock, sending Gale into a coma that
would fatally progress. Realizing what had happened, the Enhanced
headed back to Earth.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) - Shakata predicted that the Syntropic effect would lead the Enhanced back to Earth.
(Gun Runner#5 - BTS) - As
the Enhanced returned, Syntropy spread outwardly from Las Vegas across
the North American continent. Unable to get closer than 400 miles or
risk syntropy herself, Oracle used a rider beam to teleport the
Enhanced to Earth.
(Gun Runner#5) - Detecting the Enhanced's arrival, the Zoo prepared to battle and destroy them.
(Gun Runner#6) - With Syntropy
threatening to engulf Earth within hours, the Zoo confronted the
Enhanced. Via a thermex charge, Heavy Duty slew Payload and blew a hole
in the Syntropic shell. The Zoo pursued the Enhanced as they went
through the hole and headed underground.
Back on the Warbird, the Syntropy-maddened Gale (acting as a Cynodd killing machine) confronted and was subdued by Oracle.
As the Enhanced followed the
pattern/web of syntropic energy, the Zoo engaged them again, but Gyre
located the heart of the pattern and transferred the information to Gun
Runner before being destroyed.
Shakata assaulted Gun Runner as he approached the Synergyst, but Smith, who had secretly followed Gun Runner, took out Shakata.
(Gun Runner#6 - BTS) - Gun Runner apparently destroyed the Synergyst with rapid fire and/or thermex charges.
Comments: Created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Terry Clark, and Adolfo Baylla as part of Marvel UK.
One of the Cynodd Strike Team called to the group leader, "Speggly" (or perhaps "Speggly" is a curse or invocation of some sort). It's hard to say, because I think the Cynodd that said "Speggly" was the last man standing of his group, but maybe he didn't know that?
Occasionally called Cynnod.
A synod is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod comes from the Greek word meaning "assembly" or "meeting", and it is synonymous with the Latin word concilium meaning "council"
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Cynodd should be distinguished from:
Babet was an acolyte of the Cynodd.
It is unclear whether he was one of the Cynodd
posing as a human, or whether he was a human serving the Cynodd.
Babet worked at the Blue Chip Casino and Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada, employed by its owner, Gale Patric.
At the Blue Chip, he worked as head croupier (the attendant at a
gaming table who manages game play and collects and pays debts),
waiter, and bottle washer.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS) - A number of humans served as acolytes to the Cynodd on Earth, including Babet.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS) - Over the years, Gale apparently took in a number of "John
Doe"s (a name given to a man whose real name was unknown), giving them
jobs at the Blue Chip until they could get back on their feet again and
move on.
(Gun Runner#1) - Babet was
sweeping the Blue Chip's floor when Gale brought an amnesiac man
(secretly Brell, aka Gun Runner of the Enhanced, unknown at the time
even to Brell) to the Blue Chip to give him a job. Babet's co-worker,
Steve the bartender, wondered what the sob-story of this "John Doe"
was.
Babet then introduced himself and told "John" to ignore Steve, as he took about 10 years to get used to. When Brell didn't know why he was being called "John," Babet figured he was in a really bad way.
Later that night, a rowdy customer who was down
$200 called Babet a "cheatin' skunk" and accused him of dealing from
the bottom of the deck. Babet encouraged the men to be reasonable, and
Gale offered him and his equally irate friend a free drink while they
tried to sort things out peacefully.
The rowdy customer instead
shattered a bottle, waved it at Gale and demanded his money, leading
Brell to instinctively use his abilities (including his Tactical
support program) to subdue the men.
An impressed Babet asked Brell where he had
learned to do that, but Brell told him he didn't know. Gale told Babet
to help Steve clean up and keep things under control until the police
arrived, after which she departed with Brell.
Babet then contacted Cynodd leader Shakata, noting
that he believed he had encountered one of the Enhanced.
Surprised as
he believed they had rid the universe of the Enhanced centuries ago, Shakata complimented Babet on his good work and prepared to dispatch a strike team to take down Gun Runner.
--Gun Runner#1 (1 (fb) - BTS, 1, 6
Note: I took Babet to be an acolyte or worshipper of the Cynodd, rather than actually being one of the Cynodd, but I'm not positive. I guess Gale's willingness to callously incinerate him might indicate he wasn't human...
No relation to:
The Dog Soldiers are apparently the conventional
army/warriors of the Cynodd. They typically act in large groups or
squadrons, and they travel to various locations, including alien worlds
as needed. An unspecified number of Dog Soldiers worked out of the
Cynodd base hidden below the Lucky Shoe casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,
USA.
They wear varying degrees of battle armor and use
blaster weapons. Some of them appear to be cyborgs, with bladed or
other weapons attached to their distal limbs.
They presumably travel to alien worlds in the Cynodd interplanetary shuttles, and they likely use the Interceptors for shorter flights.
None of the Dog Soldiers were identified by name,
unless Speggly, referenced by a member of the Strike Team, was the name
of a person.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) - <According to Gun Runner (Brell) of the Enhanced> - "The Cynodd's infernal war machines carved a swathe of misery and persecution across the galaxy."
(Gun Runner#1 (fb)) - Gun Runner and the Vassyran Enhanced battled the Cynodd Dog Soldiers on an unspecified world.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS)
- After a long and bloody war, the Enhanced defeated the Cynodd,
destroying their armies and machines, and incarcerating or slaying their leaders.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS / Gun Runner#3 (fb) - BTS) <203 years ago> - An unidentified event incapacitated Warbird/Oracle and Gun Runner, leaving the former drifting and dysfunctional.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) <100 years ago> - The Cynodd burned Vassyra.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) -
Using their genetic materials stored on crystals, surviving Cynodd or
their agents captured homeless people and other transients, using their
bodies as the physical template onto which to "clone" their people,
including Shakata.
(Gun Runner#2) - Advised
by his human ally Gale Patric, the revived Gun Runner broke into the
Lucky Shoe casino. They encountered a number of Cynodd Dog Soldiers,
whom Gun Runner took out.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Ultimately,
Gun Runner and allies freed the people held by the Cynodd and then blew
up the base, destroying the Lucky Shoe as well, although the deeper
subterranean base remained functional.
Gun Runner stole a Cynodd interplanetary shuttle and took
off into space with Gale. 
(Gun Runner#3) - Cynodd
interceptors pursued Gun Runner as he reached escape velocity, but
Brell's tactical program (Tactical) allowed them to reach the Warbird, where --
via Brell's instructions -- Gale used the gunnery system to take out
the Cynodd ships.
(Gun
Runner#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Cynodd located another member of the
Enhanced, Lure, in the personnel data on Isambard, a facteroid Cynodd
high command had just annexed for the war effort.
(Gun Runner#4) - Cynodd Dog Soldiers confronted Lure, revealing how they had annexed Isambard and that Lure was to be executed. Lure struck first, using his cybernetic attack drone-hawk, Gyre. Ultimately, Lure fled and had Gyre sever portions of the bridge on which the Dog-Soldiers pursued him, causing them to fall. The other Enhanced -- Gun Runner, Heavy Duty, and Smith -- then arrived and met with Lure.
(Gun Runner#5) - On Isambard, more Dog-Soldiers went around the other side of the bridge and engaged the Enhanced with laser-sonic fire.
The Enhanced fought back fiercely, until Gun Runner's Tactical informed him that there were approximately 300 Cynodd troops scanned in the adjacent area. The Enhanced then fled into the vent system under the guidance of Oracle and Gale. The Cynodd pursued, but Oracle/Warbird picked up the Enhanced and departed.
(Gun Runner#6 - BTS) - The
Enhanced defeated the Zoo, Smith slew Shakata, and Gun Runner
apparently destroyed the Synergyst with rapid fire and/or thermex
charges, which apparently destroyed the Cynodd's base and those within
it.
--Gun Runner#1 (1 (fb), 2-4
Note: It is
unclear if the Dog Soldiers are distinct from the War-Dogs and/or the Strike Team, but I am describing them as they are identified in each case.
The Dog Soldiers are present at the bottom of the main image (which also shows Cynodd technology harvesting the flesh and genetic material of captured victims to resurrect Cynodd) and in the second image down on the right (past battle against Gun Runner, at least).
They have no known connections to:
Interceptors were relatively small ships, holding presumably a
crew of only a few Cynodd, used for short flights and for combat.
They could be launched from a planet's surface, escape its gravity/atmosphere, and fly in space.
They could fire some sort of energy blasts, but had little in the way of shielding.
(Gun Runner#3) - After Gun
Runner stole a Cynodd Interplanety Shuttle and left Earth, a group of
Dog Soldiers (apparently) boarded fouor Interceptors and pursued him
off planet.
Outmatched in fire power, Gun Runner's Tactical
program allowed him evade the Interceptor's fire long enough to reach
his Warbird ship. With the Warbird's auto-defense net still under
repair and Gun Runner needed to man the helm, Gun Runner's human ally,
Gale Patric, used the gunnery system to take out the four interceptors.
--Gun Runner#3
They have no known connection to the:
The shuttle was used by the Cynodd for traveling between worlds (and possibly between systems).
They could be launched from a planet's surface, escape its gravity/atmosphere, and fly in space.
They did not obviously seem to have a weapons system, as Gun Runner fled from
(Gun Runner#2) - After
destroying the superficial Cynodd base associated with the Lucky Shoe
Casino in Las Vegas, Gun Runner stole a Cynodd interplanetary shuttle
and took
off into space with his human ally, Gale Patric.
(Gun Runner#3) - Cynodd Interceptors pursued Gun Runner as he reached escape velocity.
Gun Runner's Tactical programs allowed them to evade the Interceptors until he could reach his Warbird ship.
Aboard the Warbird --
via Gun Runner's instructions -- Gale used the gunnery system to take out
the Cynodd ships. 
The shuttle was not seen again as Gun Runner used the Warbird thereafter.
--Gun Runner#2 (3
Note: The image on the left shoes the interior of the shuttle, with Gun Runner and Gale Patric inside.
In Las Vegas, Nevada, Shakata utilized the Lucky Shoe Casino as a front for his Cynodd base on Earth.
One base was just below the casino. This base
contained the humans captured by Cynodd agents to serve as the raw
material into which Cynodd genetics could be instilled,
resurrecting/recreating slain Cynodd (Shakata was resurrected via this
method, although it is unrevealed whether this occurred on Earth or
elsewhere). This site was destroyed when Gun Runner blew it up in his
initial Earth confrontation with Shakata.
Another base was approximately 3 km below the
surface. It was from this deeper location that Shakata's wound were
treated by the Necroborg, as well as the site from which he sent the
Zoo after the Enhanced, and the site from which he had the Synergyst
initiate Syntropy. This site was presumably destroyed when Gun Runner
destroyed the Synergyst.
(Gun Runner#1) - In Las Vegas to investigate a vague threat of great evil, John Blaze was at the Lucky Shoe casino. He observed the Cynodd strike team arriving and carrying high-tech weapons, and he followed them into the desert.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Gale
Patric, a former police officer and the owner of Las Vegas' Blue Chip
casino who had allied with Vassyran Enhanced Gun Runner, checked the
registration
documents of the truck in which the Cynodd War-Dogs/strike force had
arrived, determining it to be the property of the Lucky Shoe casino;
Gun Runner and Gale headed there to investigate.
As they approached the
casino, Gun Runner's built-in tactical assistant, Tactical, warned of
super-normal levels of necromancy and Cynodd-tech machinery within. Gun
Runner armed Gale with a compact laser-sonic and
brought her in with him.
(Gun Runner#2) - After Gun Runner broke in, they encountered a number of Cynodd warriors, whom Gun Runner took out. 
Shakata then confronted them with
a number of armored Cynodd War-Dogs, after which Blaze and Ghost Rider
arrived as well. Shakata ordered
his troops to kill them all, cementing the Spirits of Vengeance's
alliance with Gun Runner against the Cynodd. 
After Ghost Rider freed the imprisoned humans, Gun Runner instructed Ghost Rider and Blaze to get the people clear of the area, and he armed his thermex charges to destroy the entire facility. When he ordered Shakata to surrender, Shakata took Gale hostage, but Gun Runner narrowed his weapon's beam to focally target Shakata, frying his face and helmet, and then fired his charges as he fled with Gale.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Ghost Rider noted how the flames purged the necromantic stain from the place.
(Gun Runner#3) - Three
kilometers beneath Las Vegas, Nevada, as the Necroborg worked on Shakata's face, it informed him that the
installation was 74% functional. Shakata then met with the Zoo and sent them to exterminate any remaining Enhanced.
After the Necroborg reported Gun
Runner's escape, Shakata insisted that none of the Enhanced should be
allowed to live and that he wished to use their superior genetic
material as the basis to restore the Cynodd. When Shakata asked if the
Zoo were ready, the Necroborg confirmed that they had been standing
ready since Shakata had sounded the alert.
As the pulsarite doors opened, the Zoo then entered, and Shakata instructed them to hunt down the last of the Vassyran Enhanced.
(Gun Runner#5) - From their subterranean base, Shakata and the
Necroborg discussed the failures of the Zoo and the Dog Soldiers against the Enhanced.
Shakata concluded that they had no choice but to advance the processes
on Earth, first by activating the Synergyst, despite the danger/damage to Earth and its population.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) -
Shakata created or activated another Synergyst, which they manipulated
to initiate Syntropy (total order) on Earth, spreading outward from the subterranean Cynodd base.
(Gun Runner#5 - BTS) - As
the Enhanced returned, Syntropy spread outwardly from Las Vegas across
the North American continent. Unable to get closer than 400 miles or
risk syntropy herself, Oracle used a rider beam to teleport the
Enhanced to Earth.
(Gun Runner#5) - Detecting the Enhanced's arrival, the Zoo prepared to battle and destroy them.
(Gun Runner#6) - With Syntropy
threatening to engulf Earth within hours, the Zoo confronted the
Enhanced. Via a thermex charge, Heavy Duty slew Payload and blew a hole
in the Syntropic shell. The Zoo pursued the Enhanced as they went
through the hole and headed underground.
As the Enhanced followed the
pattern/web of syntropic energy, the Zoo engaged them again, but Gyre
located the heart of the pattern and transferred the information to Gun
Runner before being destroyed.
Shakata assaulted Gun Runner as he approached the Synergyst, but Smith, who had secretly followed Gun Runner, took out Shakata.
(Gun Runner#6 - BTS) - Gun Runner apparently destroyed the Synergyst with rapid fire and/or thermex charges; this apparently destroyed the Cynodd's base and those within it.
--Gun Runner#1 (2-3, 5-6
Note: The Lucky Shoe casino interior is shown nicely in the 3rd image down on the right in the main profile.
The Necroborg was apparently a cyborg bonded to a reanimated
corpse, and it served as the personal assistant to Shakata in the
subterranean Cynodd base.
(Gun Runner#2 (fb) - BTS) -
Using their genetic materials stored on crystals, surviving Cynodd or
their agents captured homeless people and other transients, using their
bodies as the physical template onto which to "clone" their people,
including Shakata.
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS) - Informed of the existence/arrival of one of the Enhanced from acolyte Babet, Shakata dispatched a Cynodd strike team to take down this Enhanced.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Gun Runner destroyed the relatively superficial Cynodd base below the Lucky Shoe, taking the casino with it, and any Cynodd remaining within. Shakata, having suffered a head wound in battle with Gun Runner, escaped the base.
(Gun Runner#3) - Three
kilometers beneath Las Vegas, Nevada, Shakata complained to the
Necroborg about the humiliating agony he was forced to endure as it
worked to repair his face (damaged .
At Shakata's request, the Necroborg noted that the
installation was 74% functional.
After the Necroborg reported Gun
Runner's escape, Shakata insisted that none of the Enhanced should be
allowed to live and that he wished to use their superior genetic
material as the basis to restore the Cynodd.
When Shakata asked if the
Zoo were ready, the Necroborg confirmed that they had been standing
ready since Shakata had sounded the alert.
As the pulsarite doors opened, the Zoo then entered, and Shakata instructed them to hunt down the last of the Vassyrian Enhanced.
(Gun Runner#5) - Shakata and
the
Necroborg discussed the failures of the Zoo and the Dog Soldiers.
Shakata concluded that they had no choice but to advance the processes
on Earth, first by activating the Synergysts.
The Necroborg noted that the
planet was decades away from readiness and that activating a Synergyst
now would be--but Shakata cut it off, telling it he would not tolerate
insubordination.
Shakata continued that while it was dangerous, Earth
must be secured, and -- if Brell returned to face him -- there was no
other way but total Syntropy; he did not care what pains the planet
suffered.
(Gun Runner#5 (fb) - BTS) - Shakata created or activated another Synergyst, which they manipulated to initiate Syntropy (total order) on Earth.
(Gun Runner#6 - BTS) - Gun Runner apparently destroyed the Synergyst; this apparently destroyed the Cynodd's base and those within it.
--Gun Runner#3 (5
(Gun Runner#1 (fb) - BTS) - Informed of the existence/arrival of one of the Enhanced from acolyte Babet, Shakata dispatched a Cynodd strike team.
(Gun Runner#1) - The strike
team gathered weapons from within their base hidden within the Lucky
Shoe casino and then headed out to the desert to intercept Gun Runner.
In Las Vegas to investigate a vague threat of great evil, John Blaze was at the Lucky Shoe casino and observed the Cynodd strike team carrying high-tech weapons and followed them into the desert.
The Cynodd strike team ambushed
Gun Runner (alongside his human ally, Gale Patric) after he had returned to his life pod,
regained his memories, and donned his uniform. Gun Runner took out
several members of the strike team, but one of them took Gale hostage.
He called to the group leader, Speggly (or perhaps "Speggly" is a curse
or invocation of some sort; see comments), but Blaze then zoomed in on his motorcycle
and smashed into and took out the final Cynodd warrior. However,a case
of mistaken intentions led Gun Runner into a conflict with Blase and
his partner Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch), who had apparently followed Blaze there.
(Gun Runner#2 - BTS) - Blaze convinced Ghost Rider that Gun Runner was in the right and had attacked them mistakenly, and that they should follow him to see if he needed help.
Gale checked the registration
documents of the truck in which the Cynodd strike force had
arrived, determining it to be the property of the Lucky Shoe casino;
Gun Runner and Gale headed there to investigate.
Ulitmately, Gun Runner destroyed the relatively
superficial Cynodd base below the Lucky Shoe, taking the casino with
it, and any Cynodd remaining within.
(Gun Runner#6 - BTS) - Gun Runner apparently destroyed the Synergyst; this apparently destroyed the Cynodd's base and those within it.
--Gun Runner#1 (2
Note: It is unclear if the Strike Team are distinct from the Dog Soldiers and/or the War-Dogs, but I am describing them as they are listed in each case.
The War-Dogs are apparently an elite group of Cynodd warriors. At least some of them worked out the Cynodd base below the Lucky Shoe casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
They wear some kind of metallic armor, and they use blaster weapons. Some of them appear to be cyborgs, with bladed or other weapons (like the dual hook seen to the right) attached to their distal limbs.
(Gun Runner#2) - Advised by his human ally Gale Patric, the revived Gun Runner broke into the Lucky Shoe casino. Shakata confronted them with
a number of armored Cynodd War-Dogs, after which John Blaze and Ghost Rider
(Dan Ketch/Noble Kale) arrived as well.
Shakata ordered the War-Dogs to kill them all, cementing the Spirits of Vengeance's
alliance with Gun Runner against the Cynodd.
As Blaze joined Gun Runner against
the War-Dogs, Ghost Rider freed the Cynodd's human prisoners (used as
stock in which Cynodd genetic material could be used to resurrect the
Cynodd).
Gun Runner instructed Ghost Rider and Blaze to get
the people clear of the area, and he finished off the remaining War-Dogs.
After blasting Shakata, Gun Runner
used thermex charges to destroy the relatively superficial Cynodd base,
taking out the Lucky Shoe above it, and presumably any War-Dogs
remaining therein.
--Gun Runner#2
Note: It is
unclear if the War-Dogs are distinct from the Dog Soldiers and/or the
Strike Team, but I am describing them as they are listed in each case.
If the War-Dogs are distinct, it
is uncertain whether any survived the destruction of the Las Vegas
Cynodd base; and/or whether other War-Dogs existed in other locations.
The War-Dogs are also shown in the second image down on the left in the main profile, fighting against Gun Runner and John Blaze in the foreground.
They have no known connection to:
images: (without ads)
Gun Runner#1, pg. 2-3 (past picture of Gun Runner vs. War Dogs);
pg. 10, panel 2 (Lucky Shoe sign);
pg. 15, panel 3 (Babet, full);
pg. 16, panel 5-6 (Lucky Shoe interior; strike team);
pg. 19, panel 2 (strike team);
pg. 20, panel 2 (strike team tracking);
pg. 21, panel 1 (holding Gale, referencing Speggly);
#2, pg. 8, panel 4 (symbolic image of Shakata holding a world in his hand);
pg. 10, panel 2 (Lucky Shoe exterior, partial);
pg. 12 (Cynodd base, Dog-Soldiers and/or War-Dogs);
pg. 14, panel 4 (Shakata (full) with War-Dogs);
pg. 15, panel 2 (Lucky Shoe interior);
pg. 16, panel 1 (Shakata (profile) and War-Dogs);
panel 2 (Shakata face/helmet close);
pg. 18, panel 1 (Blaze & Brell vs. War-Dogs);
pg. 20, panel 5 (Shakata, helmet shattered and face injured);
pg. 22, panel 4 & 5 (Cynodd interplanetary shuttle);
#3, pg. 1 (interplanetary shuttle interior);
pg. 2, panel 1 (shuttle, lateral exterior; interceptors pursuing, distant);
panel 2 (interceptor, rear);
pg. 3, panel 1 (interceptor, front, partial);
pg. 11, panel 1 (Shakata under treatment, mostly full, seated);
panel 2 (Shakata face under treatment);
panel 3 (Shakata face/helmet full);
panel 4 (Shakata mostly full, from behind);
#4, pg. 19, panel 1 (Dog-Soldiers confronting Lure on Isambard);
panel 3 (Gyre slaughtering Dog-Soldiers);
#5, pg. 5, panel 3 (Dog-Soldiers fighting Gun Runner);
pg. 9, panel 3 (Dog-Soldier face);
pg. 14, panel 2 (Necroborg, seated, partial);
panel 4 (Necroborg, face, profile);
#6, pg. 18, panel 3 (Synergyst, full);
pg. 19, panel 3 (Shakata death);
pg. 20, panel 3 (Synergyst, death);
pg. 21, panel 3 (Babet face);
Appearances:
Gun Runner#1
(October, 1993) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (script), Terry Clark
(penciler), Adolfo Baylla (inker), Bambos Georgiou (editor)
Gun Runner#2
(November, 1993) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (script), Anthony Williams
(penciler), Jeff Anderson (inker), Bambos Georgiou (editor)
Gun Runner#3
(December, 1993) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (script), Anthony Williams
(penciler), Colin Fawcett (inker), Bambos Georgiou (editor)
Gun Runner#4-6
(January-March, 1994) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (script), Anthony Williams
(penciler), Colin Fawcett (inker), Bambos Georgiou (editor)
First posted: 12/08/2018
Last updated: 01/05/2018
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Babet
interplanetary 
