Hannah+Connover

__** Hannah Connover **__



__**History **__

Hannah Connover was the wife of a famous Evangelical minister - William Connover, head and founder of the travelling religious movement the Glory Day Ministry, sometimes called the Connover Crusade. This big-tent preacher chiefly travelled the Southwest of the United States to spread the gospel. William Connover became notable as one of the very first major religious figures in the United States to align himself with the pro-mutant rights movement. Though the wife of a minister, Hannah did not seem to be exceptionally religious.

While the Ministry had set up its tent in Red Rocks, near the Mile-High City, the X-Men launched a search-and-destroy operation in Denver against a group of alien Brood. This specific group had turned a number of superhuman mutants in the area into Brood, allowing them to meet the X-Men on nearly equal terms. The battle raged piecemeal throughout Denver, with the X-Men managing to kill the evil things until but a handful were left and fled to Red Rocks. The invaders stumbled upon the Ministry right in the middle of a sermon among a large assembly.

Desperate, the Queen of those Brood, hosted by a paramedic named Harry Palmer, took Hannah hostage on stage, while the X-Men took out its last cohorts. At that point, Wolverine had been implanted with a Brood embryo and was turning Brood. William Connover, assuming that he was witnessing some sort of demonic possession, insisted on providing solace and support to Wolverine as the mutant's healing factor killed the embryo and reverted him to his normal state. Wolverine then immediately proceeded to save Hannah Connover and kill Palmer.

Famously, Reverend Connover then stated in front of television crews that the mutants had saved them and not attacked them, and that humans should respect mutants as they were all loved by the Lord. This statement proved quite controverisal, as can be expected, and raised the profile of the Ministry, but Connover remained adamant about his sincere beliefs in tolerance.

Unbeknownst to all, during the fray, a reserve Brood agent hosted by paramedic Josey Thomas infected Hannah with what turned out to be a Brood Queen embryo. Hannah Connover had long suffered from arthritis in her hands despite being in her 30s and when Josey, who was present as an EMT during the sermon, noticed this she decided to act. She told Hannah that she had something against arthritis in her ambulance, and when both women were out of sight Josey morphed into a Brood and infected Connover. Josey infected her with a Queen embryo. Josey’s reasoning was likely that, as a member of a travelling evangelical ministry, Hannah would have ample opportunities to create a network of Brood sleeper agents over a large area.

Initially the plan worked just fine. Hannah, just like Palmer before her, could fully pass for human but was a Brood whenever it wanted. It conceived and implanted Brood eggs into people who had approached the Ministry, often to be healed. The Glory Day Ministry thus developed a reputation for faith healing - first Reverend Connover appeared to heal Wolverine of Brood infection on TV during the attack (though he never stated that anything miraculous had happened that day), then his wife's arthritic hands were suddenly fixed (as a side effect of Brood conversion), and Hannah Connover later started 'miraculously' healing petitioners - Brood embryo implantation fixing the host body as the embryo grows. This reputation attracted other ailing persons to the Connover Crusade. How many people were 'healed' and converted into Brood by Hannah is unclear, but there were at least several dozen.

However, the Queen/Hannah Connover eventually became wracked by doubt as her human personality, instead of being an optional disguise for the Brood, started speaking to her Brood self and struggling for dominance. These very uncharacteristic doubt and split personality issues came to a head one night when Hannah found herself listening to a sermon by her husband about Christian love. She then had an epiphany and became a Born-Again believer in the values her husband preached. This in turn immediately led to her realization of what she had done while still in a Brood mindset, and how many people she had infected.

Hannah Connover was thus the first known example of a human surviving Brood implantation, and became an extremely rare case of a Brood actually renouncing her normal values and being conquered by the personality of the host. She was both a Brood Queen and Hannah Connover, with Hannah being unequivocally dominant. This led to a period of depression and guilt, as she realized everything that she had done (her broodlings still served her as their Queen).. Hannah had no idea what to do, and did not dare to explain anything to her husband - considering that if she were to lose his love she would surely fall under the sway of the Devil, or rather her Brood side. Not knowing what to do, she started completely stonewalling her husband.

Meanwhile, the Great Mother of all Brood realized that one of her daughters, the Queen within Hannah, had pretty much gone native. Her concern grew after the Brood within Josey Thomas, who had continued to monitor Hannah, provided alarmist reports (motivated in part by jealousy, as it considered it should have been the Queen instead of Hannah). After telepathically arguing with Hannah and threatening her in her dreams, the Empress decided to simply kill her and sent a pod of Firstborns to Earth, to be guided by Josey. The telepathic conversations were 'overheard' by X-Man Jean Grey, however, and a cadre of X-Men was flown to the Ministry to investigate.

Though the mission was originally framed as a search-and-destroy one, Jean telepathically determined that Hannah, though a Brood Queen disguised as human, was mentally human and benign. At about the same time, Josey Thomas led the pod of Firstborns to Hannah. The Firstborns killed Josey for having been in contact with the renegade Queen then attacked, intending to kill Hannah, all of her Brood, anything that had been in contact with her, and finally themselves. Broodlings around Hannah attempted to repulse the Firstborns, and all of Hannah’s Brood in the area activated and rushed in to die in the defense of their Queen. The X-Men moved in to repulse the Firstborns, but found them to be powerful opponents and retreated with Hannah. A number of broodlings were killed defending Hannah.

Hannah's Broodlings then attempted to attack the X-Men, but Hannah ordered them down and asked the X-Men to kill her, since she considered herself to be a clear danger for humanity. She could lose control and revert to a Brood mentality, and besides the Empress would continue to send pods of powerful Firstborn warriors to kill her and everything nearby. The X-Men refused, and the desperate Hannah had her Brood attack them so she could flee, then break contact and flee with her. The Firstborns nevertheless found her and killed off all of her remaining broodlings, but the X-Men intercepted the Firstborns and Hannah fled anew.

Unable to find the renegade Queen, the surviving Firstborns took her husband hostage to force her to show up and die. The plan worked - though Hannah showed up in full Brood Queen form, her intent was to save her husband and die at the hands of the Firstborn. The X-Men found them, though, and executed on their plan - to plunge Hannah Connover into cryogenic sleep. They succeeded in making it look like she was dead, and the two remaining Firstborns killed themselves, believing their mission to be accomplished.

Hannah Connover was transferred into a suspended animation pod at the Mansion, and then shipped her to Muir Island to run a full research program into Brood physiology and possibilities of reverting the transformation. Reverend Connover, who had witnessed Hannah's last battle and saw the X-Men putting his wife on ice to save her, agreed to cover up what had happened, and continued his ministry.


 * School’s Out / High School Never Ends **

The Travelers, with knowledge of what happened to Hannah, located her an woke her up. One of the travelers with mental abilities (Samantha) used her powers to submerge Hannah’s personality and allow the Brood Queen to take control. Hannah then implanted several homeless New Yorkers with Brood embryos, creating a small army. Samantha then forced Hannah to attack the X-Mansion with her broodlings. Hannah, in her hybrid human/queen form, drove a van through the school’s gates and the Brood attack. They attempt to implant more Brood embryos into the young mutants at the school, but the seniors that are running the school defeat the Brood with the help of Michael, a recent graduate. Hannah is killed during this battle.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Welcome to Paradise / Hotel California **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over winter break at Academy X, many students spend the holidays at Xavier’s school. While at the mall, a group of mutants is attacked by one of Hannah’s broodlings that managed to survive the attack on Xavier’s school and spawn others of his race. The young mutants are eventually successful in defeating the alien threat, though Wolverine is implanted by an embryo. The Brood that is born from Wolverine is found to be functionally immortal.

__**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Powers and Abilities **__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hannah has all the abilities of a Brood. Despite their resemblance to insects, the Brood have endoskeletons as well as exoskeletons. Also unlike insects, they have fanged jaws instead of mandibles. Their skulls are triangular and flat, with a birthmark (different for each Brood) between their large eyes. Their two front legs are actually long tentacles they can use to manipulate objects. Brood Queens are wingless and have round abdomens.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Due to their natural body armor and teeth, the Brood are very dangerous in combat. In addition, they have stingers that can deliver either paralyzing or killing poison. Queens have the ability to implant Brood embryos in other beings. The Queens can also communicate with their spawn by telepathy, even across interstellar distances.