Winter Guard (Earth-3988)

The Winter Guard (Earth-3988) The Winter Guard (Russian :  Зимняя гвардия) are a government sponsored team of extraordinary individuals with special abilities. They are a team of Russian superheroes authorized by the UN Security Council to act on a worldwide scale such as Avengers is not just a "group of Russian superheroes" but a team of internationally recognized heroes who fight threats Peace all over the globe.They have described as "Russia's answer for the Avengers" but the truth is that they are much more than that, they are proof that a super team from outside the USA can be as important and valuable as the Avengers.

History

Origin

After the fall of the USSR the newly formed Russia decided they needed their own heroic team to rival the Americans. They merged the People's Protectorate with Siberforce, becoming the Winter Guard. Josef Petkus the "Red Guardian" became the leader now known as "Steel Guardian" along with Darkstar, Vanguard, Sibercat, Vostok, Fantasia and Powersurge.

Battling the Mandarin

The Winter Guard encountered the American hero Iron Man on his hunt to find the Mandarin. He encountered them mid battle as they were taking on a group of mercenaries. He explained that the Mandarin was responsible for the attacked and asked the them to aid him, but they refused to abandon Russia. Later the Avengers came Russia to aid them in battling Dragon of Heaven. They battled the Mandarin's forces and attempted to enter the Dragon of Heaven, Vostok and can disable Dragon of Heaven's automatic defenses long enough for Iron Man and the Winter Guard to enter the ship and defeat the Mandarin. In the process Android Vostok's body was destroyed but the Crimson Dynamo / Galina Nemirovsky saved the Artificial Intelligence personality matrix and began the process of creating a new and more advanced Russian Android Synthezoid called "Mir" in honor of the Russian Space Station.

Sandstorm

The Winter Guard, using Darkstar's powers, attempted to save the people in the town of Irkutsk when a mysterious sandstorm hit the town.

Winter Guard

Kree Invasion

The guard battle a group of mysterious aliens in the Smolensk. It was revealed the invasions was caused by the Kree who had now become the Ruul. They teamed up with the Avengers and the other members of Earth to fight back.

The Presence

The Presence returned and planned to re-unite the Soviet Union by transforming its people into a race of zombie-like radioactive beings living under a communal mind. When the Winter Guard and the Avengers arrived he took control of their minds as well. His allies; Starlight, seeing the insanity of the actions of your once loved and perseiving what could it cost the world at the last possible moment turns against The Presence and help the heroes defeat him  and then shortly after Captain America and Thor promised him that The Presence would receive fair treatment from Russian authorities and be treated to overcome his mental instability, part for space.

U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M.

The team faced U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. lead by Flag-Smasher in Novosibirsk, who hoped to destroy sovereignty of nations throughout the world.

Death of Abomination

Crimson Dynamo teamed up with Ursa Major a new Darkstar Sasha Roerich and a mysterious new Red Guardian. The new Winter Guard confronted Doc Samson who was in Russia tracking a Hulk-like creature who bested the Abomination and shot and killed the him with a giant gun. Iron Man, She-Hulk, General Ross and Maria Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D. were also there examining Blonsky's corpse. They fought the Americans until Ross found a survivor of the battle a little boy who kept murmuring the word "Красногоin" which in English means "Red." When everyone was distrusting the mysterious new Red Guardian it turns out that in fact the young boy had with the word "Red" refer to the villain the Red Ghost / Ivan Kragoff and his Super Apes who was allied with Hydra in a plan to create a " Army of Abominations" to attack Russia leading Winter Guard to ally with Iron Man, She-Hulk, General Ross and Maria Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D. to overcome the threat.

Secret Invasion

During the Skrull invasion, a new version of the Winter Guard appeared, similar to the Avengers/50-State Initiative. War Machine descended back toward Earth after destroying a portion of the Skrull fleet. In an attempt to assist Russia in preventing the Skrulls from detonating all of the country's nuclear weaponry, War Machine engaged, but the Winter Guard were ordered to "prioritize" their targets. But at that moment the true Winter Guard comes in possession of the same scientific process created by Tony Stark to differentiate infiltrated Skrulls from those they personified just discovered by Russian scientists and unmasks the Skrulls impostors and with the help of War Machine can repel the landing of Skrull Fleet ships to the territory of Russia.

Invasion of Marinmer

The Guard were sent to Marinmer after an earthquake to protect the interests of Darqon Par. They battled Lady Liberators who also arrived to help. The two battled but during the fight She-Hulk was able to convince Red Guardian that the ruler of the country was a just regente and he orders the Winter Guard to stand down and help the people.

Death and Resurrection of Darkstar

Darkstar was killed sacrificing herself to destroy Igor Drenkov; however, Vadim died in battle and was replaced by Galina Nemirovsky as the new Crimson Dynamo. Darkstar was replaced by Reena Stancioff who was given her DNA but also had her latent memories. She was with the team when they faced the Remont 6. The team faced the invading Atlanteans led by Krang. But the new Darkstar died fighting Fantasma and the Dire Wraiths. One of Wraiths took the form of Darkstar and the possession of the gem, giving it her powers. It attempted to use the Darkforce powers on the team and the Protectorate, the Wraith was overwhelmed by her personality, resulting in a seemingly reborn Laynia. The teams defeated Fantasma. Shortly after his resurrection Darkstar would have his mind transferred from Dire Wraith's body where his consciousness dwelt to a new mutant human body cloned from living cell samples stored at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning genetically engineered by the Beast of the X-Men being that telepath mutant Psylocke assisted in the transfer of her human mind from Dire Wraith's body to the new cloned mutant body. She has retained her mutant powers to their maximum level and once again integrates Winter Guard as a valiant member.

King Hyperion

King Hyperion came to the nation of Uzbekistan where he began to rampage in order to teleport a portion of its destroyed world to our world and in the process destroying every region where Russia was located until confronted by the Winter Guard. Defeating the team, he then found himself face-to-face with Blue Marvel who defeated Hyperion with the help of Commander Russia and Ursa Major who were the only two members of Winter Guard still standing up fighting the fearsome villain.

Intelligencia

They attempted to capture the super-villain group Intelligencia, who used the Zero Cannon on them and sent the heroes to space. However, Darkstar used the teleportation power through Dark Force to bring the team back to Earth, saving them from dying in space.

Defenders of the Deep

In response to the increase of global tensions, marked by the Avengers answering to King T'Challa of Wakanda and the formation of the Defenders of the Deep by Namor to drive off human presence in the oceans, the Russian Government has decided to sanction the creation of a new version of Winter Guard as a super-team of heroes able to act on a world scale in the same way as the Avengers. In addition of Ursa Major being brought back into the team and Crimson Dynamo / Galina Nemirovsky returning from retirement where team leadership was exercised by Starlight / Tania Belinskaya (who had received forgiveness for his actions with The Presence of Chancellor Vladimir Putin and recognized as heroine of the Russian people), with Winter Guardian / Nikolai Krylenko and the recently resurrected Darkstar / Laynia Petrovna the Winter Guard saw the addition of the Superman Russian Commander Russia, the super-speedster mutant Velocius, the superheroe feline Siberian Tiger, the Sorceress Illusionist Rosa Alva, the Android Synthezoid Russian Mir, the Slavic gods Perun and Devana, and the government agent Red Widow / Ava Orlova disciple of Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff, who acted as an observer of the S.H.I.E.L.D. and liaison between Winter Guard and the Russian Government.

The Winter Guard intercepted the Defenders of the Deep during an attack on Hydropolis in retaliation to Namor's attack against Russian submarines in the Black Sea. The Avengers were already in the scene.Both teams acted together to stop the Defenders of the Deep attack on Hydropolis but there was a time when Thor Odinson and She-Hulk turned on Devana and Perun for mistakenly thinking they would kill Namor. Red Widow explained to Captain America that Hydropolis was a Russian Government research base that was trying to figure out a way to prevent warming of the oceans and the subsequent extinction of all forms of marine life and that Namor and the Defenders of the Deep had erroneously was believed Hydropolis to be a nuclear missile base built at the deep of the ocean and consequently a threat to Atlantis as most of its occupants were scientists and there were no military personnel at the base.Clearing the differences both groups of superheroes managed to force Namor and the Defenders of the Deep to retreat saving Hydropolis. Since then Winter Guard has maintained its activities as Russia's greatest group of superheroes.

Paraphernalia

Transportation: The Sovereign the fantastic Jet that can operate both aircraft and move at hypersonic speeds across the sky, like a spaceship and travel through hyperspace at speeds faster than light, or as a submarine that can travel deep into the oceanic depths.

Notes

The Winter Guard had a rotating membership each new member replacing anyone killed in action. Any Russian superhero or superheroine being considered as potential members eligible to become Winter Guard members. For example, the X-Men Colossus and its sister New Mutant Magik, although not official members, are considered "probable new future members to be considered" of the team.

Trivia

She-Hulk described the Winter Guard as "Russia's answer for the Avengers" but the truth is that they are much more than that, they are proof that a super team from outside the USA can be as important and valuable as the Avengers possessing superheroes who owe nothing to the Avengers in terms of power, honor, nobility, and courage.