Peristrike Force

Origin

The members of the Peristrike Force were created or trained as part of the Soviet Union's super-soldier program, under the direction of Professor Anatoly Vonya. With the demise of the U.S.S.R., they became terrorists ("agents of change") working to put a new, even more totalitarian dictator in place. They took their name because they believed it'd look good in U.S. newspapers.

(Darkhawk#16) - The Force's only known mission was to kidnap Dr. Vonya, and force him to develop super-soldiers to enable their government takeover. When Dr. Vonya came out of hiding to be the surprise guest at a conference on the development of superhuman powers in adolescents, the Peristrike Force made their move. They bribed one of Vonya's F.B.I. guards to activate a tracer to lead them to him, and employed a group of non-powered terrorists to help them. After suiting up, they followed the tracer in an unmarked van to Midtown High, which was hosting the conference after the Waldorf and the Penta were booked. The Force and the terrorists seized control of the school in the middle of Dr. Vonya's lecture.

(Darkhawk#17) - The situation quickly got out of hand when an official succeeded in calling the police before being shot, and Midtown student Chris Powell was able to retrieve the amulet that changed him into Darkhawk. Darkhawk decided the situation was too risky to intervene, but was forced to when Scattershot attempted to execute his girlfriend for vocally opposing the group. He then surrendered, offering himself as a hostage instead, but the Peristrike Force were greedy, and a battle ensued. Darkhawk alternated between fighting and surrendering until Dr. Vonya knocked out all the human terrorists via intense feedback through their communications system. Most of the hostages were able to escape, and Darkhawk defeated the Force, which neccessitated Psi-Wolf's intervention. Psi-Wolf seized Dr. Vonya, and ordered Darkhawk to kill himself.

(Darkhawk#18) - Scattershot prevented Darkhawk's forced suicide, advising that he was more useful in their service -- the police had arrived and cut the wires to the bombs, so they had no special advantage left. The Force pretended to have been defeated by Darkhawk, and then escaped in the waiting helicopter. When Psi-Wolf took his attention off Darkhawk, he tried to escape; feeling the hero's usefulness was at an end, Psi-Wolf had Scattershot blew Darkhawk out of the helicopter. They landed at JFK Airport where a plane was being readied to take them to Latveria -- with a secret stop in Russia along the way -- to fulfil the plan for Vonya. Darkhawk stole a food-delivery truck, and then switched to Chris Powell to approach them in it. But the police had warned Psi-Wolf that the driver wasn't authorized, and before Siberion could kill Chris, he was headbutted by Dr. Vonya, whom he accidently encased in ice. Chris jammed his amulet in the device Psi-Wolf focused his power through, and made it to cover, returning as Darkhawk. He defeated the Force and left them for the police. By the time he freed Dr. Vonya from the ice, he was dead. 

Creation

Peristrike Force was created by Danny Fingeroth and Mike Manley in 1992 and first appeared in Darkhawk # 16.