Overall, the Pale Riders are a secret organization within the government that carry out secret assassinations and other things the UN or the public at large wouldn't approve of. Internally they are led by a group called "The Four Horsemen" who are the survivors of the original Pale Riders. The horsemen created their own anti-Robot Master strike force consisting of augmented humans (and Boomerang). The augmentations ranged from grotesquely severe to just weapons given to driven individuals. The Horsemen keep their team in the dark about their intentions and involvement, happy to let them believe the Mechs are responsible for the destruction of LA.
The (New) Pale Riders[]
Viscous - Part of the government team that hunted the Mechs in WANTED, Viscous is a hulking beast of a human being, with even bigger objects of unknown use strapped to his back. He can nearly fill a ten foot in diameter tunnel with his mass, blocking out the area behind him. He wields a special salt-based fluid in tune with his mind which he carries with him.
Viscous fought Spark Chan and Magnetman (Kenta). He had family in LA and believed the Mechs had destroyed them. After encasing Kenta in his liquid (slowly crushing him) he toyed with Classi and mocked her pacifism. Meanwhile Mesmerman used his influence to prompt Kenta into using his anger to fuel his power - using a burst of magnetism to escape his watery tomb and another to crush the large pipe they were all fighting in to crush Vics.
The Judge - Part of a group of anti-Robot Master Hunters in WANTED, the Judge is Deal Breaker’s sniper. His real name is Alan Munich, a retired Marine whom was honorably discharged. He sought employment by the Megalopolis PD, but quickly became disenchanted with the plodding pace of being an officer of the law. He secretly began going after known criminals who were just out of the law’s reach, but eventually became addicted to sniping itself, becoming a serial killer the media dubbed “The Judge”, as he was known to be armed with a 50. cal Gavel Arms Ltd. rifle. Snakeman (Raijin) eventually caught onto The Judge’s trail, and quickly, and quite easily, subdued the sniper, taking his famous rifle in the process. Munich was sentenced to 12 life sentences, but was given a (secret) second chance by the Horsemen in the hunt of the Maniacs in LA. The Judge is obsessed with reclaiming his prized rifle from Snakeman, killing him while doing so. Needless to say their confrontation doesn't go as planned and it is the Judge who winds up dead.
The Dusk - Uses light in a similar way as Shadowman can use darkness, the Dusk can teleport from one place intensely lit to another. In his battle with Shadowman he carried a Raging Bull revolver. Like Shadowman the Dusk can also create hard-light holograms of himself to fight off attacks. The Dusk could be considered handsome to some. He was dressed in civilian clothes, such as a sweater, though his they did appear to be of the nicer variety as far as quality was concerned. He also wore various add-on accessories, like various holster, ammo belts, knives, and grenades (including "flash-bangs - stun grenades which produce a burst of light the Dusk can disappear into).
The Dusk enjoyed toying with Shadow in an environment greatly favoring him. The Dusk is extremely arrogant and doesn't even think of himself as human anymore. Unfortunately, without his arena he proved no match for the ninja-themed robot who broke, and then cut off, his arm. Using a set of flash-bang grenades the Dusk was able to escape with his life. However, he was still on board when General Cutman made his move and was killed with the rest of Victory's soldiers.
Rabid Flare - Rabid Flare looks like a monster, but emits a calm soothing light from within his own body. It was a hideous, beastly creature, with tubes carrying its glowing life-blood tracing external veins throughout its hulking body. A heavy iron-looking mask shielded its lower face, with even more tubes erupting from behind it. It has heavy, labored breathing as a result of it's augmentations. Rabid Flare faced Needlegal in battle. it hardly felt the wounds she inflicted, but the holes emitted intense light. It's "blood" (actually plasma) burns as it uses out of it's wounds. Under the mask it's face looked like a man’s, albeit with glowing veins weaving their way around its maddened eyes. Its jawbone was missing entirely, as was its tongue. Replacing that was a nightmarish weave of glowing tubes erupting from within, as they disappeared down its throat. Apparently Rabid Flare didn't realize the extent of it's mutilation as it reacted with shock and confusion upon examining it's mutilated features once it's face mask was removed.
After a disturbing battle in which Rabid Flare was utterly unmatched and in constant paint Needlegal puts him out of his misery
Amatista - Aka Maria Ocana. She's young (in WANTED), has red hair, and a slight Spanish accent. Amatista was part of the same government forces Rich and the Judge belonged to, she went after the Mechs in WANTED, thinking they destroyed LA. She hates robots for taking away jobs and, generally, trying to take over the world under someone's orders every so often. She's obstinate, headstrong, and almost completely unreasonable. Her main weapon - the Jewel of Hope - consists of razor sharp jewels on an atom-thin wire attached to her fingers. Unlike the other members of her team she survives the encounter (with the kill-happy Kenta no less) and returns in War. After the Mechs abuse their position of trust she's assigned to be their Watcher with a kill switch at the ready if they go out of line. She takes great delight in this situation and is even more delighted when they're forced to play the villains in driving out Wily forces (The Wily Rescue Force, in fact) that actually kept a town safe. When Snakeman refuses to kill Spark Chan (who had defected to Wily) she uses the kill switch on him. Afterwards she assumed Snakeman's rifle and worked as the team's sniper.
During the course of the war Amatista learns that not all robots are evil and the person she admired - Senator Keigle, the man behind the Shutdown Code - was really Docman (MM3 version) in disguise (and totally insane at that). We last see her making nice with Kenta. After the 15 year gap she's seen again trying to guide her niece Esme (Hu Man) off the path she chose when she blamed robots for everything wrong in the world.
Akoustolith - (Her real name is only known as "Merideth.") Looked fairly ridiculous in a black, form-fitting jumpsuit on her slight, somewhat underweight frame, with a stark white laboratory coat over that, sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her back and upper arms had large, elliptical contraptions strapped to them, and a dark visor covered her eyes beneath black hair, streaked with crimson. She created the Pale Riders (and presumably augmented Boomerang). She may be the actual mother of Viscous (although she claims to be the "mother" of the Pale riders in general, so this might not be true). Akoustolith wields sound as a weapon and can create powerful shockwaves to attack. She is also inhumanly fast. She has a weird posture and gives the impression of being mentally unstable, on drugs (maybe to boost her speed), or both.
Akoustolith faced Hardman (Hadrian) who found himself vulnerable because of the many empty spaces in his large body. Hadrian turned the tables on her by countering one of her sonic blasts with a loud blast of sound of his own (caused by him pounding his enormous fists together). The blast deafened Akoustolith (literally). Shortly afterwards she was killed by Hadrian as she attacked Spark Chan in a mad rage.
Boomerang - of the Quarter Knights. They grant him invisibility. In the battle he loses a hand and he vows vengeance.
Deal Breaker - aka Rich Kassidy. He faces his estranges brother Kenta during the battle and lets himself be killed.
Requiem Mass - Gossec Berlioz, Verdi Dvoøák, Fauré Duruflé, and Cristóbal Pierre, four scientists in the field of robotics in Germany were assigned to create a Robot designed for stealth and espionage by the Government. The Four scientists agreed, all eager to show their intelligence as it may open doors to becoming a famous and well known scientist. They started framework or this new robot, Gossec Berlioz, was in charge of the Robot’s AI, and personality. Being a deeply religious man, Berlioz passed on his religious ideals into this Robot’s personality, naming this Robot Requiem Mass or Requiem for short, after the liturgical service.
After the last Robot rebellion, and the coming of the Mega Man teams, the government scrapped the idea of an espionage robot, and demanded a fully equipped robot for the purposes of War. Dvoøák secretly altered Requiem's AI, making him an efficient, cold blooded killer. Upon activation he killed everyone involved in his creation, save for Dvoøák.
It was 15 feet tall and incredibly fast, managing to swat the speedy Topman aside like a bug. His thick armor allowed him to shrugs off the Mech's various attacks as if they were nothing. Mass is armored entirely in LCT or Light ceramic-titanium. It's lighter than titanium with heat diffusion allowing it to be resistant to most attacks. However it's also very expensive to produce. It's also inflexible, meaning Mass' weak points are his joints.
The Mechs faced Requiem Mass in WANTED as Victory's secret weapon. He fought relentlessly, but was felled by Geminiman using Victory's discarded Angelic Cannon.
The Four Horsemen[]
The Four Horsemen are characters in the Mechanical Maniacs novella WANTED. In the story they bomb LA and frame the Mechs for it's destruction.
The Horsemen are rather ambiguous in WANTED, serving no master but themselves, and are interested only in their own plans. It is unclear as to whether or not these particular Horsemen are the same mentioned in the Book of Revelations, or are some unconnected group using the Horsemen mythology as their theme. They’re modernized, as they appear to be humans, all wearing black suits with ties that match their namesakes (Death= pale/silver, War=red, Famine=black, Victory=white), but they later exhibit superhuman powers.
The Four Horsemen, the last remnants of the original Pale Riders team. They were the only four to survive the "Chernobyl incident." The government felt they had too much power over it and left them to their fate. They were dying of radiation poisoning and placed in a Russian gulag for years until the Berlin Wall fell and the government changed it's mind about them. They were given implants which saved their lives and granted them power as well as high ranking jobs within the government and great wealth, but none of that removed the hatred from their hearts. They hate America and all it stands for an wish to remake it into a country worth fighting for.
The White Rider - In Revelations, the Rider of the White Horse is said to be the Antichrist. Obviously, this may offend some readers. He is also referred to as the Conqueror, so I’ve somewhat bastardized that into Victory. While the term “victory” doesn’t seem all that fitting with the Apocalypse theme of the Horsemen, it begins to fit when you consider that the name “victory” in this case relates only to the Four Horsemen’s victory, which would mean ultimate destruction. Victory is the mastermind and de facto leader of the Horsemen. Known as Vincent Ryder. In battle he wields the devastating Angelic Cannon (a relatively small rifle, despite it's power) which shoots out a white beam or pure plasma that can bore straight through the earth as far as the eye can see. He attempts to flee at the end of WANTED, but winds up brutalized by General Cutman, revealing himself to be alive. His legs are severed by the mad robot and he dies from his injuries.
Under his armor Victory has blond hair and, like the other Four Horsemen, has advanced prosthesis covering a rotting body.
The Red Rider - War oversees a massive part of the war industry, and has access to unimaginable weaponry, even nuclear. His public name is Whitaker Ryder. He can use super heated slow-burn plasma (colored red) to deadly affect. He wields heated plasma blades. He's also 7 feet tall and incredibly strong. When Victory makes his opening attack Gemini uses that as a distraction to get behind War and end him by impaling him with one of his nightsticks.
The Black Rider - aka Fabian Ryder. Famine is the head of a pharmaceutical chain…At least on paper. Really, he is in charge of the United States government’s biological weapon’s R&D division, and now uses his knowledge of the US’s darkest secrets as blackmail material against the government in order to gain more and more access to more information. Famine uses a caustic cloud (which appears to be silvery ash) that can eat through the Mech's armour. Unfortunately for him it's also flammable. Famine also weirds a rifle which he uses as a club in close quarters. In WANTED Shadowman and Snakeman team up to blow Famine up with a missile from one of Snakeman's snakes and Topman delivers the final blow as his own cloud causes continuous damage to his armor.
The Pale Rider - Death is actually featured quite proximately in the media. He is the Secretary of Defense for the United States, and is known as General Dane Ryder. He helped his brother, Fabian Ryder ( The Black Rider), into his current position, and uses his resources to protect Fabian from assassination. Death wields a burning blade with great proficiency. During battle he tried to take Geminiman hostage without realizing his ion generator was down. Ironically, this gave Snakeman an opening to shoot him just above the eye, ending the battle. This didn't quite finish him as he managed to ambush Snake from behind later, but the serpentine robot ended Death once and for all with a knife to the face.
In battle they are fitted with Ion field generators capable of disintegrating projectiles. These appear as innocuous ovals all over their armor (and specifically on their left wrist). Their armor is also fitted with "regeneration" capabilities (repairing itself and stitching together the flesh underneath as quickly as possible, giving pain suppressants as needed). Overall the Riders were affected by Spark Shots and Gemini Lasers - energy based attacks both. The armors are based off a stolen Light design and come with helmets. Armors are color coded to their wearers.
Collectively, these four seem to plot the downfall of the United States government from within, using it’s own resources against it in a secret Civil War. The war almost becomes public knowledge when the Horsemen attempt to kill a would - be revealer of the truth in L.A. by blowing up the entire city when they can’t find him. As a matter of convenience, the Horsemen construct and elaborate framework that sets up the Mechanical Maniacs - who happened to be close by at the time of the explosion - as the prime suspects.
With the world believing the Horsemen’s ruse, the Mechs must clear their name while avoiding capture or violence. Even worse, the other Robot Masters have been called onto the case, and are actively searching out their comrades. Now, Gauntlet and Co. must sift through a vast cover up to get to the truth, as well as a final showdown with the four that set them up to fall. But, there’s more to the Horsemen than mere manipulation.
In truth, the Horsemen were former members of a top secret Black Ops unit working for the CIA. So secret was this group and its operations that no President even knew of its existence, and various members of the government did everything in their power to hide its existence from the world. This group did everything, from assassination preventions and attempts, to committing economic terrorism to keep America’s place atop the world’s food chain. With the knowledge of these black operations still in their minds, the Horsemen were able to blackmail the government into giving them more and more power after their active duty had passed.
After the destruction of Los Angeles, the Maniacs, who happened to be sighted shortly before the bomb blast working on an unrelated job, were collectively named public enemy number one. With few clues to go on, the Maniacs go back to LA. They’re quickly found out, and the remains of LA are completely barricaded to prevent the Mechs escape. The government sends in its latest black ops team to take out the Maniacs, which includes the stoic and quiet Deal Breaker.