BIOGRAPHY - Page 2
A free agent now, G.W. Bridge continued investigating Cable in his spare time. He uncovered one of Cable’s primary safehouses in the Swiss Alps and was present when Cable and Kane arrived via the Time Displacement Core, back from their own adventures in the future. Cable and Bridge came to blows as they vented their past frustrations with each other, but Kane made peace between them. He explained to Bridge that Cable had brought back future technology as part of a deal to help Hammer walk again. G.W. agreed to help lead Cable to X-Force’s current whereabouts. When Graymalkin was falling apart, Cannonball had the station divert several equipment drops to their new base in Camp Verde, which Bridge had triangulated.
At Camp Verde, they didn’t find X-Force but instead the rest of the Six Pack. Domino had brought together Grizzly and Hammer to search for Cable and X-Force after they became separated while fighting Tolliver. Hammer tried to take his revenge on Cable for crippling him, using the advanced tech in his flying Winnebago. Kane played peacemaker again and got Hammer to look at the 
cybernetic nervous system improvements Cable brought for him, but Hammer refused to become a half-man like Nathan. G.W. Bridge and the rest of the Six Pack were ready to work together again, but Cable intended to reunite with X-Force. Bridge offered to make things work with Cable anyway, if he were willing to be straight with them – no more secrets. Nathan couldn’t agree to those terms, so Bridge and the Six Pack departed. [Cable (1st series) #3-4]
The Six Pack was active again only for a few months, and it’s unknown how long G.W. Bridge remained with them. He was soon seen back in a command position at S.H.I.E.L.D. [Wolverine Annual ‘95] In fact, G.W. rapidly regained rank within the organization, which was becoming rudderless after the apparent murder of Nick Fury by a brainwashed Punisher. As Liaison to 
Mutant Affairs for S.H.I.E.L.D., G.W. Bridge had authority to override the Helicarrier’s Head of Internal Security, Dum Dum Dugan, and even the acting director Contessa Valentina de la Fontaine. [X-Force (1st series) #55] Washington soon made things official when they appointed G.W. Bridge as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., in part to bypass some of Fury’s traditional loyalists. [Punisher (3rd series) #7]
G.W. Bridge assumed command of S.H.I.E.L.D. during a dark and hectic period of history. Onslaught’s Sentinel invasion of Manhattan brought down the Helicarrier and lead to the deaths of many heroes, including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. [Punisher (3rd series) #11] S.H.I.E.L.D. assumed jurisdiction over Avengers Mansion in the aftermath, using it as a local base 
in New York during the months that followed. Spread thin with his resources, Bridge guilted the restored Punisher into S.H.I.E.L.D. service, sending him to investigate the new Mutant Liberation Front that actually turned out to be a group of anti-mutant agitators overseen by Humanity’s Last Stand. [Punisher (3rd series) #12-17] He had to personally oversee other potential crises, such as the attacks on the Weapon X Program and the threat of Doctor Doom’s time machine and technology being claimed by dangerous factions in Latveria after Doom’s death. [Cable (1st series) #37-38, X-Force (1st series) #63-64] G.W. also kept tabs on the investigation into the missing Baron Zemo and uncovered the truth that Zemo’s Masters of Evil were posing as the new heroes, the Thunderbolts. [Thunderbolts (1st series) #6-10]
Mutant rights remained a hot issue in the country after the Onslaught attack, with Graydon Creed’s assassination and the rise of Bastion’s Operation: Zero Tolerance. Despite clashing with X-Force in the field, G.W. Bridge remembered his friends and contacts from the Six Pack days and was willing to work with Cable and Domino when the situation called for it. He dropped word to Cable that his old enemies in the Hellfire Club would be hunting him soon and contacted Domino for help retrieving S.H.I.E.L.D.’s asset Danielle Moonstar from her undercover mission in 
the MLF. Unable to act against Zero Tolerance directly since they had government sanction, Bridge wanted Moonstar and X-Force unofficially in play. When OZT went too far, G.W. Bridge eagerly lent S.H.I.E.L.D.’s resources to Senator Kelly and Agent Gyrich’s efforts to bring down Bastion and his extra-legal activities. [Operation: Zero Tolerance crossover]
When Nick Fury was revealed to be alive, Commander Bridge stepped down and made room for Nick to resume the role of S.H.I.E.L.D. director. It wasn’t easy, as Fury needed to reassure both Washington D.C. and his own agency that he still had what it took. A faction within S.H.I.E.L.D. known as the Nemesis Program took the initiative to move without Fury’s approval. They intended to abduct Cable and use his techno-organic virus to facilitate an advanced form of adaptive battle robots. Nemesis’ Washington liaison Seth Waters arranged for G.W. Bridge to be transferred out of active duty and placed in charge of the Washington bureau at the Pentagon. Bridge’s known history with Cable convinced the Nemesis Program he had to be sidelined before they could proceed. Bridge objected to the transfer, but Fury asked G.W. to go along with it. He didn’t yet have the clout to override Waters and his friends in Washington, and Fury also wanted someone he could trust with eyes on Waters.
A desk job did not suit G.W. Bridge, but he soon realized Fury was right not to trust Waters. Nemesis not only unleashed a S.H.I.E.L.D. Manhunter named Jack Truman on Cable, they also called in the Air Cavalry, a regiment normally deployed only in active war zones. Truman and the AirCav attacked Cable in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, reducing several blocks to rubble during their manhunt. A massive cover-up kept the public from learning of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement in the Hell’s Kitchen disaster. Meanwhile, Truman and the field agents were fed a doctored file labeling Cable a “mutant terrorist” who needed to be brought to justice, when Nemesis really only wanted him as a test subject. G.W. was already performing his own background checks when Cable’s friend and chronicler, Irene Merryweather, provided him with further evidence against Nemesis. Bridge and Merryweather brought their story to the Daily Bugle and G.W. acted as a confidential source to support an expose against S.H.I.E.L.D.’s overreach. The instigators of the Nemesis Program were left out in the cold and subjected to extensive Congressional hearings, allowing Fury to reclaim his authority and reputation in S.H.I.E.L.D. [Cable (1st series) #58-62]
G.W. Bridge managed to get out from behind his desk in Washington and back into the field, serving under both Nick Fury and his successor, Director Sharon Carter. The Thunderbolts 
remained wanted fugitives, and Commander Bridge hired the Lightning Rods to pursue them. He later led S.H.I.E.L.D. in driving the Thunderbolts out of their hidden base at Mount Charteris and securing it for the agency. [Thunderbolts (1st series) #15-16, 48-50] While investigating a massacre in Bethesda, Bridge got caught up in a conflict between body-possessing entities known as the Undying. Semijan of the Undying possessed a psychomorph named Randall Shire, amplifying his mutant abilities to enforce loyalty from anyone who heard his voice. Commander Bridge was compelled to protect Shire’s life and ensure other ranking members of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the D.O.D. came to hear Shire’s lectures as well. Cable was also drawn into these games, especially after a second Undying named Aentaros possessed Domino to assassinate Shire. In his compromised mental state, G.W. Bridge was prepared to execute Domino if it meant showing his devotion to Shire. Fortunately, Cable managed to save Domino’s life, break Shire’s hold on his audience and drive the Undying from their hosts. [Cable (1st series) #80-83]
G.W. Bridge’s history with Cable continued to complicate his career. A secret organization known as the Dark Sisterhood had worked for centuries to seize power, and finally got their agent Gina Anderson appointed as Secretary of Defense. They intended to clear the line of succession ahead of her to make Anderson into President of the United States, but a prophecy foretold Cable would 
oppose them. The Department of Defense therefore framed Cable for murders and terrorist acts, while the Sisterhood’s puppets lay the groundwork for a court-martial of Bridge due to his history of aiding and abetting Cable, in the Shire incident and back throughout his career. The tribunal hearing only failed to move forward because Cable wiped the entire military computer network of any trace of his presence, eliminating the evidence needed to charge Bridge.
Undeterred, the Sisterhood merely arranged for two of the three generals to die that night in separate, unexplained incidents. General Deutsch, whom the Sisterhood owned, then doctored a false account of the meeting and the decision by him and his late associates to remove G.W. Bridge from active duty and assign him to a desk job in remotest Alaska. Fortunately, Cable was well trained and carried out a one-man guerilla warfare campaign on the Dark Sisterhood, eliminating their highest placed infiltrators in corporate and government positions while feeding intelligence from their files discreetly to Bridge. Once he had the evidence he needed on the Sisterhood’s Sixth Progression plot, Bridge brought his case to Henry Peter Gyrich, his frequent rival and an absolute tool who nevertheless had loyalty to America which was above reproach. Bridge and Gyrich together were able to convince the President of the threat, leading to the arrest of the Defense Secretary and all the other remaining Sisters in power. [Cable (1st series) #91-95]
After one too many assaults on his career, G.W. Bridge decided to retire from active military service and return to private mercenary operations. His high standing with the likes of Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan still gave him a regular spot on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier as an advisor. His services were called upon when Cable got himself in the news again. Having achieved the peak of his mutant abilities, Nathan was throwing his weight around across the globe, negotiating cease-fires, dismantling weapons and recruiting intellectuals for his floating island think-tank, Providence. His activities upset the status quo, making governments around the world very nervous. After finding a pretext to go after him, S.H.I.E.L.D. authorized G.W. Bridge to stage an assault on Providence.
With Domino and Hammer, Bridge reformed the Six Pack using new mercenaries Constrictor, Solo and Anaconda. Their covert drop was almost immediately uncovered, but Cable simply gave them the guided tour of Providence, as he had nothing to hide. Once Cable demanded the nations of the world disarm within 48 hours or he’d do it for them, however, the powers-that-be felt their hands were forced. A contingent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and X-Men was sent to Providence to stop him. Domino decided to trust Cable (and the other Six Pack mercenaries could be easily bought), but 
Hammer and Bridge couldn’t put their faith in Nate and so he put them in stasis for the remainder of the fight. A complicated series of events followed which left Cable heavily depowered and no longer able or willing to enforce his disarmament demands. S.H.I.E.L.D., Six Pack and the world powers chose not to escalate the situation again, leaving Nathan and Providence alone. [Cable / Deadpool #7-12]
Unfortunately, Cable continued to push the envelope. The Eastern European country of Rumekistan had been conquered by the anti-nationalist Flag-Smasher and U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M., so Cable removed them from power and took control of Rumekistan himself. [Cable / Deadpool #27] S.H.I.E.L.D. and their member nations became nervous again, prompting them to hire Bridge and the Six Pack to enter Rumekistan. Their mission was to discredit Cable by disabling the improvements he had provided his nation, such as power, running water and working phone lines. 
They even replaced Constrictor with Deadpool, Cable’s frequent partner in those days, to catch him off-guard. The operation left a bad taste in Domino’s mouth, however, and she sided with Cable when he shrugged off the smear campaign. In fact, Cable dramatically reasserted his authority and thoroughly embarrassed Six Pack and their employers in the public eye for an impressive public relations victory for his movement. [Cable / Deadpool #33-34]