Code Name: Red Zone
Real Name: Ellison, Luke

Ellison was born in California, but spent the bulk of his life in Toledo, Ohio when his parents moved there for work. A career military man, Luke's father rode his son pretty hard and was always encouraging him to go the military route, but something about it just didn't appeal to the young Ellison. ]Something about the military seemed to vague to him...he always had specific goals and specific desires, and when a close friend of his got killed in a gangland shooting, he immediately knew what he wanted to do. He was going to be a Cop.

Ellison always felt like his place was on the street, and as a beat cop he did his job well...extremely well. He almost immediately gained the attention of some of his higher up supervisors, who jumped on him quickly. After only a year on the job, he was offered to take the test for Sergeant, but he knew every step up he took would be another step away from the streets he wanted to protect. It was at that point he knew what he wanted with his life...he wanted SWAT.

Ellison's years on the SWAT team were very productive for the Ohio Law Enforcement Division, but the more successful his team became, the more upset some of the Ohio-based gangs became. When the SWAT team made a career bust against a crew of Columbian drug dealers, it would end up changing Ellison's life forever.

Shortly after this bust, some of the officials in the Ohio Law Enforcement department became a little skittish about how many enemies Ellison was making...he was doing his job a little bit too well. So well that the FBI had taken an interest in him as well. It was decided, almost against Ellison's will, that he should leave the force and get in with the Feds. Make a new life, get a new start, away from the folks who had it in for him in Toledo. Ellison reluctantly agreed.

Two months later a mysterious fire hit his parents' home in a Toledo suburb...there were no survivors.

Although foul play could not be confirmed, Ellison had a feeling his enemies had found a way to strike back at him. He returned to Toledo for the funerals and considered what his next step might be...but he never got a chance to make it. Leaving the funeral for his own parents, he started his car and it promptly exploded.

Ellison was miraculously spared by the inefficiency of the bomb that was buried a little too deep inside the thick, American built frame of the SUV, but he was rushed to a hospital where he recuperated for months. His story leaked to the right people, and he found himself approached by a man in a suit and sunglasses who asked him if he wanted to serve his country. Not just his country, but the world. He promised him an open ticket to Columbia to take down the cartels that had taken everything away from him. Realizing, he had nothing left where he was, he agreed. The next week a story ran in the press that the valiant former SWAT policeman and FBI operative had passed away quietly in the night, and a week later, Ellison was introduced to the Steel Brigade.

Due to his relative lack of military background, the Steel Brigade Commander elected to ask General Hawk to bring Ellison in through the Renegades and try to work him into the Steel Brigade process. Hawk agreed, bringing him in, as well as two other new operatives, cade named Rook and Checkpoint. The three are now working with the Renegades, but are training towards eventual positions in the elite Steel Brigade organization.

Code Name: Checkpoint
Real Name: Wade, Jared

Jared Wade was a large child, and had a somewhat rough time in his younger years. He discovered the weight room in high school, and suddenly went from large and "pudgy" to ripped. While not overly large, Wade was excessively muscular and strong. Failed out of football because he injured two teammates in practice, and decided to join the wrestling squad instead. The minute he hit the mat, he knew he was where he belonged, and he excelled in his sport of choice.

Checkpoint went to college on a wrestling scholarship, often facing off against his rival, David Vennemeyer. Neither one of them could get the upper hand with each other and they clashed several times. The last time they faced off, they were both in Olympic trials, and they had an epic match which ended when Vennemeyer blew out his knee. His opponent would be missing the olympics, and Wade couldn't help but feel responsible. He caught up with Vennemeyer and spoke to him after the match...both have remained very close friends since, though there is still a high amount of tension when the two come in close contact for what might have been. Vennemeyer left to join the military, and Jared couldn't help but feel a little inspired by what his rival had done. He followed his path, and ended up as a Military Policeman.

As an MP, Wade made it a habit to come down hard on base drunks, who had a tendancy to cause some problems, which ended up getting him frowned upon by many of his peers. This mattered little to him...it was far more important to do his job, and his superiors appreciated this mentality. However, he ended up ruffling some of the wrong feathers and he ended up on the blacklist of a lot of folks at his base. However, Vennemeyer was paying close attention over the years, and now at the rank of Major, Vennemeyer pulled some strings to try and get him in on the Joe team to compliment Law (before he had been tragically killed in the Pentagon attack by COBRA (as seen in Retaliation)). Hawk interviewed him and was extremely happy with what he saw...but apparently the feathers Checkpoint ruffled when much further up than anyone suspected, and his application was summarily turned down. Hawk was disgusted. Here was an extremely skilled, motivated, and talented individual who was basically being held down because he had done his job too well.

Shortly thereafter, the General was in the midst of the Pentagon attack, and ended up in the hospital. As he decided to reinstate the Renegades and forge an alliance with the Steel Brigade, Checkpoint immediately came to his mind. Once the Steel Brigade Commander mentioned Red Zone, Hawk asked about Jared Wade as well, and they thought the two might compliment each other well. Hawk contacted Wade, who was surprisingly receptive to the idea of leaving his life and doing good for the world. A very public car accident later (leaving Wade dead as far as the world knew) Checkpoint was in the Renegades alongside Red Zone, working towards a spot on the Steel Brigade team.

Code Name: Rook
Real Name: Lombardi, Andy

A devoted fan of the Green Bay Packers, Andy always took great pride in his last name, even if a direct relationship to the legendary coach wasn't evident in his family tree. It certainly got him a lot of questions as he grew up in rural Wisconson as well. Andy was a remarkably serious young man who rarely showed emotion and always seemed to be looking through you, not at you. He was inquisitive to a fault, moreso than your normal child, and seemed to deeply analyze every thing he came in contact with.

This served him well in school, as he quickly picked up classes and became a very intelligent individual, though it did somewhat negatively impact him in social situations, as his deep inquisitive nature turned off some people. Lombardi pretty much coasted through high school and went to Mercyhurst College, the Institute for Intelligence Studies in Erie, Pennsylvania. He absolutely fell in love with the Government Intelligence field and became absolutely absorbed in his work, almost completely forgetting the outside world entirely. This was exactly what he had been looking for his entire life.

He approached graduation at near the top of his class, and as expected, received a visit from the CIA, who was extremely interested in his desire to further his intelligence studies. However, Rook nearly turned the table on the interviewer, somehow coaxing him into revealing some very sensitive information about an ongoing investigation. The interviewing agent was summarily fired and Rook was instantly brought in as an interrogator immediately upon graduation. Lombardi excelled in his position, but shortly became extremely frustrated with the rules and regulations. See, Rook was all about finding out the truth from the people he interviewed...and often the people in those situations would lie. Rook could tell they were lying, and he absolutely lost his cool when he knew he was being lied to. When one subject absolutely refused to tell the truth that Rook knew he was hiding, he could not control himself and the subject ended up with a broken jaw and three cracked ribs. Lombardi's career could have ended there.

He was immediately regulated to desk work and analysis, and this dead end work frustrated him to no end. He used this opportunity to use the CIA resources and trained his body to match his mind, becoming a great shot and getting his martial arts skills up to snuff. If he couldn't properly exercise his mind, he was sure as heck going to exercise his body. But it wasn't enough. He longed for a way to explore his true calling without dealing with all of the hassles and drawbacks which were only serving to keep him from doing his job. Everyone in the government knew just how much raw talent and skill this young man had...but no one was willing to take the chance on another outburst and what legal ramifications could come from it.

But some organizations could exist outside the rules...and the Steel Brigade was one of them. Some recruiters from the Brigade had their eyes closely afixed to Rook throughout his tenure in the CIA, and made it a point to make contact when they felt he was coming very close to the end of his rope at a desk job.

To Lombardi it was almost a dream come true when the Steel Brigade made their presence known. He happily took their offer, and was glad to begin his career with Red Zone and Checkpoint as a member of the Renegades before moving on.