Category:VALIANT

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Montagu House, Whitehall A picture from the Illustrated London News (1864).
An original set of identification papers for members of The Valiant. Lady Penelope Drake (1876)
The Valiant 1876.
(L to R) Doctor Thaddius Wolfe (obscured by water damage),Lady Penelope Drake,Sir Nathan Greystone
Modern VALIANT/MOD Biometric Identification Cards
Following the Great Exhibition in 1851, key offices within the British Government were tasked with compiling information about state of the Empire, it's assets and more importantly it's enemies. After he withdrew from public office the former Lord President of the Council; Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch[1] had used his influence behind the scenes to ensure the completion of the Dossier for the relatively new monarch. The Buccleuch Dossier as it became known in inner circles was a top secret proposal for the protection of the British Empire first presented to Her Majesty Queen Victoria in the summer of 1853. The main body of the document detailed potential troubles that the Empire may face both at home and in the Colonies. Some of these troubles were mundane in nature; suspected native rebellions[2] for example.

Other dangers raised were much more esoteric and would subsequently become the basis of many works of fiction when some of the details of the report were leaked in the darkened rooms of gentlemen's clubs after a few too many brandies. In order to fight the threat of temporal visitors, civillizations beneath the surface of the earth and at the bottom of the oceans, otherworldy invaders and the strange dark advances in technologies and medicine which had been uncovered by the dossier, it was determined to gather a group of special individuals to act on behalf of the Crown and preserve the Empire.

The Valiant, as this group became known within the highest ranks of the British Government, were given a base of operations within Montagu House in Whitehall; Buccleuch's London home which had recently been rebuilt with this in mind. Buccleuch himself became the controller of the group due to his drive and vision in the compilation of the dossier. Amongst the early members of the group were an oddly featured scientist named Doctor Thaddius Wolfe[3] and the tall and powerfully built gentleman adventurer Sir Nathan Greystone[4] both of whom remained active for many years. Also joining them during the early years was Mr Talon[5], the robotic aide/butler of Sir Nathan. When Mr Talon struck out on his own, his place was taken by Lady Penelope Drake[6], a prominent expert on mythology and magic. Following the death of Buccleuch in 1884, Sir Nathan took on the role of controller. The passing of Queen Victoria in 1901 signalled the end for the original incarnation of The Valiant. Feeling they were being increasingly undermined by those in power they decided to disband and go their own ways. The Government at the time, feeling the team had been given too much autonomy over the years, were more than happy to accept their resignations.

The principal behind The Valiant was resurrected during the early years of World War II under the auspices of the War Office and the Secret Intelligence Service. Unusually for the time, Project VALIANT's commander was a woman, Captain Victoria Essex[7]. Recruited into the British Secret Service after she graduated from St. Cedd's College, Cambridge. Essex took to the espionage game with a passion, completing every challenge that was presented to her and this resulted in her being given VALIANT to run. The VALIANT roster varied depending on mission and availability of personnel, however Brigadier Steel was a mainstay of the team remaining active with them through the rest of WW2 and into the spring of 1951 when he was declared missing in action in Korea.

On a subsequent mission in the area in 1964, VALIANT were able to locate and recover the badly damaged body of their fallen comrade and return with him to their HQ. Unfortunately changes in military strategy meant it was deemed far too costly to repair the Brigadier. This treatment of their team mate did not sit well with the remaining VALIANT members and all of them including Captain Essex (now known as Madame X) and Pendragon resigned their commissions and their place on the team.

Following a Qliphothic Incursion in London (1991) and the destruction of Detroit (1992), the British Secret Service once more revisited the Buccleuch Dossier and the decision was made to create VALIANT in it's most recent form - a group of superpowered individuals operating with the authority of the Government but with a remit akin to it's original incarnation. Under these terms Madame X was persuaded to return as controller of the new group. Given access to the most recent Government and UNTIL records she sought out and recruited first Pendragon and Ebony both of whom had been operating within the auspices of MI13. Following Cross 's encounter in Canada and subsequent Mutation, Pendragon(who had worked with him at MI13) put forward his name as a member of the group. Ebony eventually left the group and was replaced by new members Rook a Canadian weapons specialist, and Leo a feline humanoid from an alternate Earth. After the Qularr Invasion of 2009, the UNTIL presence in major cities around the world was ramped up, meaning the need for VALIANT to dedicate themselves solely to defending Britain was lessened. At this point (and following the recovery of Brigadier Steel from the reinstated AA program) they became a more loosely aligned group - coming together only when threats to the United Kingdom arose that they deemed to deadly to be left to UNTIL and similar forces.
  • 19TH Century
  • 20TH Century
  • 21ST Century

Notes:

[1] Buccleuch
[2] The actions of the East India Company were called into question in the report, and rightly so as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 showed.
[3] Doctor Thaddius Wolfe was an alias of Doctor Woof
[4] Sir Nathan Greystone was an alias of Liath Leac-An-Teintein
[5] After meeting during their various travels Talon returned to Britain with Liath Leac-An-Teintein and briefly assisted him under the guise of a prototype robotic butler Mr Talon
[6] Pendragon has been a member of all three incarnations of VALIANT: The Valiant, Project VALIANT and VALIANT
[7] Ever the patriot, Madame X was persuaded to return approximately 25 years after the 1964 incident and again took up the position of Leader of VALIANT, this time with a more hands on remit
[8] While Howling Harry Cross has technically only had a single tour of duty with VALIANT, he did encounter the earliest incarnation of the group during an accidental trip in time to the 1870s
[9] During his short time with VALIANT, Magnus Lionheart simply went by the name Leo

Pages in category "VALIANT"

The following 11 pages are in this category, out of 11 total.