Asteroid J-54

Parent Page: Locations

Asteroid J-54
Location
Inhabitants Prisoners Security robots Class Asteroid

Asteroid J-54 is an asteroid with a long history as a prison for the galaxy's criminals. It is nicknamed "the Stone".

History

The prison on Asteroid J-54 existed even before Hero Factory came into being.^[SM1]

After Hero Factory began operations, villains such as Voltix and Toxic Reapa, who were captured by Alpha 1 Team, were sent to J-54. One of Black Phantom's first objectives for the Legion of Darkness was for XT4 to go to J-54 in a stolen Hero Craft to free these two villains. Meanwhile, Splitface and Speeda Demon were sent to hijack an old Aird Mining Company space ore freighter and bring it into orbit around the asteroid to help XT4 if XT4 needed it. XT4 successfully disabled all of the security robots between the main gate and the two prisoners' cells. He found the villains and played them a recording in which Black Phantom offered them their freedom in exchange for them joining the Legion, to which they readily agreed.

When Preston Stormer, Jimi Stringer, Dunkan Bulk, and Von Ness arrived at the asteroid in two Hero craft, Stormer instructed Bulk and Von Ness to find XT4 on the surface. Stormer and Stringer tried to open communications with the freighter. However, Splitface and Speeda Demon set the freighter on a collision course with the Hero Craft and rigged it to explode. Meanwhile, Bulk and Von Ness spotted XT4, Voltix, and Toxic Reapa and tried to prevent their escape, but XT4 used his laser slicer to cut through a security panel, releasing every villain on J-54 to stall the Heroes. Bulk built a wall of rock around the gate while Von Ness reinforced it with his gravity weapon in order to delay the prisoners' escape. As the prisoners broke through a small portion of the wall, Bulk began throwing them back one at a time.

Von Ness climbed to the roof of the prison, from which he saw the explosion of the ore freighter. Soon afterward, XT4, Voltix, and Toxic Reapa broke through the roof nearby. Recognizing that they outnumbered the Hero, Voltix bargained with him, offering to let him live if he made no mention of encountering the three villains. Von Ness agreed to the bargain, and a few minutes afterward, Bulk caught up with his teammate on the roof, having successfully sealed the villains inside the prison. Bulk and Von Ness prepared to pursue the three escaping criminals, but were too late, as the villains took off in the Hero Craft XT4 had stolen. When the two Heroes tried to follow, they found that Toxic Reapa had sabotaged their Hero Craft before he and the other villains left. The prison was greatly damaged by the fight. Before long, Alpha Team Leader Thresher arrived, recovering the still-intact bodies of Stormer and Stringer from their wrecked Hero Craft and retrieving Bulk and Von Ness from the asteroid's surface.

A few days later, the incident at the prison caused the Hero Factory's founder, Akiyama Makuro to sadly and temporarily shut down the Hero Factory.

After the Legion of Darkness was thwarted in their attempt to claim the abandoned Hero Factory as their new headquarters, all the villains involved in the plot were sent to J-54.^[SM2] However, at some point, the villains escaped from prison, but the Legion was disbanded during the time, so they went on their own.^{[SM2, p. 136]}

Later, once Hero Factory had its own Villain Containment in Makuhero City, all the villains who they had imprisoned on Asteroid J-54 were transferred to the new facility.

However, after the mass breakout from Hero Factory Villain Containment, recaptured villains were temporarily kept on J-54, though Voltix and Speeda Demon escaped, while the Hero Factory was undergoing repairs. Black Phantom was imprisoned with the villains there as well.^{[SM1][FO:MSG]} While investigating Core Hunter's plans to reassemble the pieces of the Doom Box, Daniel Rocka traveled to J-54 to interrogate Splitface.^[SM1]

Since all of the escaped villains are recaptured before Mission: Robot Rampage, they were imprisoned in Asteroid J-54.^[SM4] After Villain Containment was repaired, Black Phantom and the recaptured villains were sent back there.^[SM5]

Landscape

Asteroid J-54 is part of a larger belt of asteroids. Being an asteroid, its surface is extremely rocky. The main landmark on J-54 is its prison, which is protected by an automatic security system that fires upon unrecognized spacecraft. The cells of the prison are specialized for countering the unique powers of the villains,^[SM2] and one small gray cell is reserved for use as a visitor's area. That cell has an iron door, and was where Rocka talked to Splitface about Speeda Demon selling a map of the Doom Box's fragments to Core Hunter.^[SM1]

Unlike the Hero Factory's Villain Containment, which had one breakout, Asteroid J-54 is prone to be where some villains, specifically members of the Legion of Darkness, broke out of there.^[SM1][SM2]

Inhabitants

Most of J-54's inhabitants are the prisoners detained there, but a number of security robots are also employed to monitor the prison facility.^[SM2]

Appearances

• Secret Mission 2: Legion of Darkness (In a Flashback)
• Secret Mission 1: The Doom Box (First Appearance)
• Face Off: Makuro's Secret Guidebook