Trent

Trent is an Action Force character from the Action Force weekly and Action Force Monthly series.

Raymond Trent¹ was the Ministry of Defence liaison who was in initial overall command of Action Force.

Fiction[]

Action Force (British) Comics continuity[]

In his younger days, Trent was a soldier in a regiment with the motto Mors Vel Gloria - "Death or Glory".^[1]²

Trent regularly briefed the Action Force team but did not take part in field operations himself.^[2] However, he did occasionally travel to other Action Force bases, such as when he went to north-east Asia to debrief Snake-Eyes.^[3]

After a series of Cobra attacks on world landmarks he took the decision to order Action Force to wipe out Cobra's London base.^[4] However he was also pragmatic and at times would order Action Force members against action, such as refusing a rescue operation when several members of the team were captured on Destro's oil rig^[5] because Destro and critical Member of Parliament Elwyn Jones were seeking to use the incident to get Action Force shut down.^[6] In spite of this Quick Kick launched a successful rescue mission but the Action Force team had to be placed in official suspense.^[7] Later Quick Kick once again struck out on his own to try and rescue his old friend Michael Anke from a splinter group of Cobra called the Two Headed Serpent.^[8] Trent initially refused to sanction a rescue mission but when Flint threatened to resign Trent gave unofficial acceptance.^[9] He would similarly give unofficial instructions to Flint to prevent Cobra from kidnapping the first ever ambassador for Ishmali to the United Kingdom.^[10] In the process Reece Jones, the policeman son of Elwyn Jones, was captured by Cobra but saved by Action Force. Elwyn Jones's attacks on Action Force crumbled and the unit was officially reinstated.^[11]

Later Trent took Flint's place when the latter was unable to meet with Scarlett who was at risk of a further kidnapping attempt by Cobra. However he was unable to prevent it occurring.^[12] Trent also showed a willingness to deal with the devil, such as when he agreed to a covert alliance with Destro in order to prevent Cobra from taking over from the Mafia in Venice,^[13] even though individual Action Force members had personal issues with Destro.^[14] Unbeknownst to Trent the whole situation was a sham to allow Cobra and the Mafia to form an alliance.^[15]

AF Trent02 — Trent prepares to meet the Dreadnoks.

Trent subsequently arranged for Action Force's London Base to be made vulnerable to an attack by Cobra. In the process the defence systems were tested and Action Force gained valuable samples of the B.A.T. technology. However the Cobra agents Tomax and Xamot found a photograph of Trent and his daughter Amy. They hoped to use it to secure a stronger position in the eyes of Cobra Commander at the expense of Zartan but the latter also learned of the photo.^[16] But it was none of these three but instead the Dreadnoks Buzzer, Ripper and Monkeywrench who made use of the information. They kidnapped Amy and blackmailed Trent into sending the Action Force team to Rhodes whilst he was to deliver key Ministry of Defence secrets to them. Trent opted to take matters into his own hands, donning his old uniform and taking his pistol to the arranged meeting point at a building site in Carlisle. He soon found he was past his physical prime, but headed on nonetheless thinking about his old regiment motto Mors Vel Gloria - "Death or Glory". When he met the Dreadnoks he shouted to Amy to drop and opened fire, wounding Monkeywrench. But Buzzer boarded a bulldozer and charged Trent who was wounded. Although Buzzer wanted to take Trent alive, Monkeywrench was angry that Trent shot him and wanted to kill him there and then. Trent reached for his gun, thinking he would either have death or glory and Monkeywrench shot him. Trent's last word was "death". Flint, Hawk and Snake-Eyes subsequently rescued Amy. Hawk offered Trent's post to Flint but the latter turned it down, feeling he could better honour Trent's memory in the field.^[17]

External links[]

Footnotes[]

Note 1: His full name was given in "Night Fighting" in the Action Force Annual 1988.
Note 2: "Death or Glory" was the real world motto of the 17th Lancers cavalry regiment, formed in 1759. It was amalgamated with the 21st Lancers to form the 17th/21st Lancers in 1922. The regiment was in turn amalgamated with the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers in 1993 to form the Queen's Royal Lancers who use the motto to this day. If the motto given in the story is meant to match the real world then Trent would have served in the 17th/21st incarnation. However the motto has always been used in English, not Latin.

References[]

[1] Death or Glory

[2] Gun Boat!

[3] Law of the Jungle Part Two

[4] Terror Tower!

[5] Rigged! Part One

[6] Rigged! Part Two

[7] Rigged! Part Two

[8] Cold Comfort Part One

[9] Cold Comfort Part Three

[10] Doppelgänger Part One

[11] Doppelganger Part Four

[12] Consequences

[13] Venetian Blind Part One

[14] Venetian Blind Part Two

[15] Venetian Blind Part Four

[16] Double Bluff

[17] Death or Glory

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