After the fall of Saigon he was discharged but found that civilian life held no challenges for him.  He tried looking up war buddies and found them burned out and trapped in menial jobs which demeaned them in body and spirit.  The world had moved on and left him - but he was determined to catch up!

Travelling to Mexico he made contact with a mercenary organization which he found to be surprisingly well-armed and financed.  For ten times what he made as an American soldier, he became a warrior for hire in the bitterest battles in Central and South America.

It was here that he first encountered Donovan, the camera-toting journalist.  At first Tyler was amused by the reporter, a man who fought with words and pictures as his weapons.  What Tyler lacked was the sophistication to realize that Donovan's stories could cause political ripples capable of affecting even hired mercenaries.  Tyler found himself paid off and escorted out of El Salvador.  He crossed the border back into the country and joined the rebels, at a sadly reduced rate of compensation, determined to undermine the health and well-being of his former employers.  It was unprofessional to mix business with a personal vendetta but in this case he chose to make an exception.  He saw Donovan once more and they exchanged words, each attacking the other's chosen profession.  He called Donovan a professional bleeding heart and they were on the verge of putting down their respective tools of the trade to engage in a more personal combat when the U.S. backed government forces attacked.  Tyler decided to settle up with Donovan after the war, knowing that no matter what the reporter wrote, the rebels had better things to do than read American newspapers.  He expected the conflict to be over soon, as Central American wars seldom last long.  Something would give.

Then the Visitors arrived.  Suddenly worldwide attention was focused upwards and political intrigue cooled while people wondered what the superbeings would bring to: 1) unseat the repressive ruling class or 2) crush the nagging efforts of revolutionaries who were interfering with the struggling commerce of an emerging nation.  The Visitors made their intentions clear soon enough when their ships began picking up any stray humans they could find, no matter their political affiliation, and spiriting them away.

News of the first blow of the resistance in the U.S. was carried on shortwave transmitters and Tyler knew that in a war of global scale, he'd be a free agent working for himself on home soil.  He was less than thrilled to discover that the rebels were led by Mike Donovan, his old nemesis.  Their long-delayed bout came to a head, with Donovan just managing a victory.  Tyler respected that, if not Donovan's unrealistically slow and careful plans.  Donovan wanted to win without any loss of human life, which Tyler knew was impossible.  Tyler understood that in battle one had to cut one's losses and add up the casualties later.  Donovan refused to accept any casualties as being a planned ingredient in an attack.  Tyler reluctantly followed orders, proving that his cruel methods were more often near the mark.

When the war with the Visitors seemed to be won, Tyler went into private security, running his own company.  Nathan Bates hired him to free Diana but Tyler agreed only if he could have her when Bates was finished.  Tyler's hatred of Diana demanded only one price - her torture and execution at his hands.  But Bates played Tyler for a fool and when Diana escaped, Tyler vowed revenge on Bates although he never revealed his role in freeing Diana and turning her over to Bates.  He knew that the resistance wouldn't understand.  Tyler felt personally humiliated and vowed to kill Bates.

When Bates was finally killed in a Visitor attack, Tyler felt that it was time to move on to other cities where the resistance needed more help than it did in Los Angeles.  The U.S. had largely become a lawless zone where the weak fell prey to the powerful, and the powerful often collaborated with the Visitors - a situation Tyler could not tolerate.

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