Like a lot of hero partnerships that did not initially start up together the teaming up of Impact and Tracker began with a chance encounter.

For years Dexter Gray had protected the people of Walker Heights one of the poorer Atlantica districts located on the west side, close to the outskirts. Here life was tough and those that were not strong enough to cope were preyed upon by all manner of criminals with street gangs being particularly problematic.

Having been brought up by his mother and learned the values of community support when Dexter discovered he had some "unusual talents" he decided to put them to good use and protect those that fell victim to the gangs. By adopting a stance of zero tolerance Dexter ensured anyone that anyone with the intent of making some innocent person a victim, would in fact find he, she or they became the victims.

In time most “pond life ” in the area became highly wary of taking part in criminal activities because they knew something lurked in the shadows that would hunt them down. However to outsiders the area looked devoid of crime gangs so they saw Walker’s Heights as easy pickings. Consequently Dexter’s work was never done.

Once Black Shadow was gone Dexter was able to patrol more. Whilst he hated the idea of being a costumed hero, he did wear a distinctive under suit with Red Markings. This was not deliberate but down to the fact the suit was created from anti stab material, and he had got it on the black market. The markings were supposed to be the symbol used by a private security company but the company went bust and the employees never received their “outfits”. That was how come Dexter ended up with one, but for most part he covered the suit over with a large trench coat to avoid “standing out”. People, particularly his victims did see the outfit and assumed he was a costumed hero so in the end he adopted the “Impact” persona. Dexter thought if word got around that a “hero” was in Walker’s Heights the criminal scum might leave but that ploy never quite worked out as he had anticipated.

Impact though was a champion of the people and whenever anyone vied for power in his district they knew who they had to depose. Some gangs even began hiring allies to take care of the Impact problem but Dexter was not scared easily. Bigger and worse criminals though made his life tougher and he was placed under great strain to continue his nightly patrols. By the time Julia Engel arrived in the neighbourhood he was beginning to think he would lose the “war” simply from his body and mind being pushed to breaking point.

Julia was an extreme sports fanatic and got her kicks in life from taking part in activities that pushed her adrenalin levels to the max. Since Black Shadow’s apparent demise and the return of Alpha Heroes she had been fascinated by them and imagined what it would be like to have “powers”. Little did she know was she was fated to be like them but until her Alpha ability activated she was not even aware she was an Alpha.

When she learnt what she could do Julia, who tended to care about those around her, felt it was her duty to use those gifts to protect them. The excitement certainly appealed to her, but wanted to be a costumed adventurer and being one where two different things. Compared to Dexter who had adopted a subtle approach to hero work and built on it, Julia was impatient and had dived right in. Picking fights with powerful people would have ended in disaster if she had not met “Endurance”. After rescuing her during one of her “incidents” he chose to train her so she would not keep making “rookie” mistakes. He also suggested she use and outfit so that she could have some anonymity from her “civilian” life. Though she made her own outfit and went with the cat idea Endurance had suggested she always hated wearing the cowl because she thought it made her look stupid. The dart weapons though were not built or designed by her but simply “arrived.” (They would later turn out to be a “gift” from Cade Lewis, the Armourer who had tried to help several amateur heroes anonymously before joining the Knight’s Forge.)

Once trained she had chosen to fight crime alone rather than partnering with her mentor. Though she rarely operated outside of her own district, when she went on a trail of strange robberies to solve the mystery she found herself tracking the culprit far away from her home territory. The culprit was obviously an Alpha which made her job easier, but her quarry seemed adept at being able to move unseen because the first time she saw the robber in the open, Julia had made it all the way to Walker’s Heights.

The robber turned out to be Knockout and as with every other criminal, Julia planned to get in strike range and use her darts to take down the culprit. Having never seen Knockout before, Julia made the mistake of thinking her armour was light duty and could be penetrated by her darts but instead of seeding her prey to sleep the darts glanced of the armour.

Having exposed herself Knockout chose to react in kind and took down the wall Julia had been standing on with a single punch partially burying her in the process. The villain then moved in for the kill and found Impact blocking her way. Unperturbed Knockout directed her attention at him and though she sent him flying was amazed when he stood back up and challenged her. She attacked again, and again not realising as she reigned in blow after blow she was in fact supercharging Impact's Alpha ability. Once he'd had enough with an almighty uppercut he sent Knockout flying for nearly three hundred yards stunning her in the process.

Police then started swarming into the area so Dexter decided they could clear up the mess. Rather than wait around and be left with some awkward questions he thought it was best to make himself scarce. Though the police knew of “Impact” and some even appreciated what he did, his methods often flouted the law and so Dexter knew it was not a good idea to be found in an area where there had been extensive collateral damage.

However he felt that without him being around the police might just blame the other woman Knockout had been fighting for the damage caused and so decided to take her comatose body back to his place. He knew she should have been taken to hospital but in doing that he would be left with a lot of explaining. Instead he called in a doctor who knew of his night time "activities." The doctor echoed Dexter's thoughts in that she should really be in hospital but offered to help. For two days Dexter watched over the young woman and was debating on taking her to hospital when on the second day she finally awoke.

As she recovered formal introductions were made and they told each other their respective stories. Having spent some time dealing with petty "ordinary" criminals, Julia explained she had decided it was time for her to hunt some bigger fish. Dexter thought warned her that as she had already found out the bigger fish often bit back. He continued by explaining that she might be out of her depth taking on people such as Knockout alone as he was finding it difficult dealing with the problems in Walker's Heights since the recent influx of Alpha criminals that seemed to be targeting him and his neighbourhood.

She would not be dissuaded from her goal and the dedication and courage Julia was showing despite the near fatal encounter was a spirit he could not help but admire. However he considered the area was too dangerous for her so sent her away after she recovered. Several days later he had a rethink after someone tried jumping him outside his apartment. This had led to a meeting with the head of the Atlantica Streetz gang, the Lady who gave him information to the culprit behind the attack, a villain known as Hardcopy. The Lady wanted Hardcopy out of the neighbouring area so “loaned” him an ally, “Turbo” who she used on a semiregular basis.

Dexter along with Turbo were to find Hardcopy’s hideout and put a stop to him. Dexter though thought something was amiss and so had contacted Julia as backup. Julia arrived too late as the pair had already left, and when Turbo and Dexter found Hardcopy, he discovered it was all an elaborate trap. The Lady and Hardcopy had made a deal and part of that deal was removing Impact from Walker’s Heights. Turbo fulfilled her part of the arrangement by ensuring Dexter had been unable to “charge” his Alpha abilities on the journey and so he had nothing in his arsenal to fight. Dexter was captured easily so Turbo left as her service were no longer required. Hardcopy then left Dexter as bait, since he had picked up on rumours of another Alpha in the area recently.

Julia though was not so easily taken for a fool and managed to set Dexter free but was unable to then escape herself. Hardcopy’s henchmen though made the mistake of throwing Dexter out of a third floor window which super charged his Alpha abilities at which point he reappeared and rescued the rescuer.

Having messed up the Lady’s plans by defeating Hardcopy, Dexter left him for the police to deal with and he staggered out of the building with Julia. He then decided that perhaps they should work together after all rather than struggling on his own. She had proven her worth and risked everything to save his life and that meant something to him.

During the "trial" period working together they quickly found their individual skills and abilities complemented each other and it was not long before they decided to make their partnership permanent. Not wishing to abandon her established friends Julia chose not to move directly to Walker's Heights area but instead "commutes" there to do her crime fighting duties with Dexter.