This has made him incredibly arrogant and unsavory. He constantly demeaned other people and insulted them relentlessly. His temper was second to none, causing him to consistently have violent outbreaks where he would physically harm anyone who rubbed him the wrong way. Anyone apart from Edgar Lockhart or anyone he or his master deemed “off-limits” was a potential target for his ruthless aggression. Ashtar’s reputation was indeed a sordid one.

Despite his heavy rep, however, very few knew the true reason behind Ashtar’s infamous behavioral patterns and actions. It was a secret known only to Edgar. What was this secret you ask? Simply this: despite Ashtar’s human appearance, he was actually an alien of the Tromokratesian race. His true name was Ligselzus.

The Tromokratesians were an extraterrestrial species from the planet Tromokrate in the far depths of the galaxy in the Skotadi System. They were a species of violent warriors and galactic terrorists, hell-bent on conquering the universe. They dominated many star systems over the centuries, and their empire continually expanded and grew stronger. The grand scheme behind why the Tromokratesians sent Ligselzus is complicated and mysterious, but there was no question his most basic purpose was to act as liaison between Edgar and his Tromokratesian masters, stationed many light years away.

Once he became settled into his human body and new planetary home, Ligselzus was sent to Platinum City as Ashtar to handle such tasks as ensuring the interests of Edgar Lockhart were protected, as Edgar’s position of power and influence was a key part of the mysterious Tromokratesian master plan for the eventual invasion of Earth. One of these interests included the ability for Edgar to expand his real estate empire in Platinum City, and for that to happen, a series of zoning exception proposals by Mr. Lockhart had to be approved.

Ashtar was tasked to personally oversee that these plans went through. However, at the time Edgar made the official requests for building permits and land purchases from the Chamber of Commerce, Platinum City was steeped in turmoil. The entire city was in a frenzy due to the hundreds of Smash and Grab bank robberies happening across the city, and a sniper had attempted to assassinate Mayor Gemini DeLisi just as he was about to deliver a monumental speech on the 100th anniversary of the Great Quake of 2016. Unbeknownst to everyone in Platinum City, much of this chaos was caused by Edgar. He was the one who struck a deal with the supervillain trio, The Disturbed (Hysteria, Deleria and Kray Kray), employing them to wreak havoc on Platinum City by organizing and executing the Smash and Grab robberies, and he was the one who orchestrated the attempted assassination of Mayor DeLisi. And none of it was trivial troublemaking. It all had a very specific purpose…

As one of the world’s biggest technology and weapons developers and manufacturers, Edgar needed more land to expand his existing factories and build new ones. He also needed to construct additional research centers and laboratories. Hence why the approval of the property zoning exceptions was so important. There would be no issuing of new building permits and there wouldn’t be any purchases of the land needed to construct the new facilities and expansions without certain industrial and commercial zones being redrawn. Edgar’s new partnership with the mystery associate depended on all of this. And that’s why Edgar masterminded this rash of organized chaos. If the Platinum City officials, police, organizations and citizens all believed they needed the technology and weapons of his companies to help protect them and their great city, Edgar would not only have generated billions of more dollars for him and his secret partner, but he would have increased his powerful grip on Platinum City, his dominance of the global markets, and helped further the agenda of his mysterious associate. Mayor DeLisi’s recent failures to sway Platinum City council members in Edgar’s favor, however, had slowed the progression to a crawl. Mr. Lockhart did take the time to meet with DeLisi and pointedly express his displeasure with how things were going. However, it was clear some more drastic measures would need to be taken to ensure the passing of the proposals. Ashtar was sent in to help push things along, so to speak.

Over the next couple of weeks, the alien liaison went on a rampage. He strong-armed and bullied city council members. He threatened them and even sent his goons to rough some of them up. Horrifying visits were made to the families and loved ones of city council members who voiced opposition to Edgar’s property zoning proposals. And the homes and cars of people who worked for the council members were vandalized and in some cases destroyed.

Ashtar’s unscrupulous and violent methods were successful in swaying some members to change their minds. But alas, all of his efforts were for naught, as on the day of the all-important council meeting, the proposal did not gain enough votes to pass. The alien liaison, who had been waiting outside the chamber, received several messages to his device from numerous inside sources informing him of what had happened. He was infuriated beyond belief, and in his customary manner barged into the chamber to confront the council members. Fortunately he was accompanied by a few of his more level-headed henchmen and they dragged him away before he could make too big of a scene. Ashtar left Platinum City Hall and went straight to Edgar’s penthouse to relay the bad news.

The two of them contacted their mysterious partner through a holographic communications system and as they spoke they all came to the conclusion that more drastic actions had to be taken: specifically the total elimination of any council members who did not comply. Edgar pulled up the names of the disagreeable individuals, then pulled up the names of two members of his Lockhart Force – a team of the world’s top bodyguards and assassins who work exclusively for Mr. Lockhart. He entered a sequence on his next generation device which in turn sent out mission specs to his assets. And though the messages were coded, the objectives were clear.

With the situation in the capable hands of Edgar, Ashtar left the meeting, and hopped into the back of his silver Maybach to be driven to his own penthouse in a remote area of Platinum City. Upon returning to his residence, he found a holographic image of his Tromokratesian master waiting for him. The holographic likeness expressed great pleasure in Ashtar’s efforts and told him to keep up the good work of preparing Earth for the coming of the Tromokratesian invasion force…