Editing Ayana Jones

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{{disambigm|Jones (disambiguation)|Mayday (Prime)}}
:''Ayana Jones is a [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]-aligned [[human]] from the [[2005 IDW continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:HasbroHeroesSourcebook-AyanaJones.jpg|thumb|200px|"Do I know you?"<br> "O'Brien from the ''[[USS Enterprise|Enterprise]].''" <br> "''Enterprise''? Oh yes. Weren't you one of the little people?"]]

'''Ayana Jones''', codename '''Mayday''', is an ex-member of [[Skywatch]] turned member of [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] turned ex-member of G.I. Joe turned member of [[Earth Defense Command]] turned ex-EDC turned Joe again. As you can guess from that CV, she prefers being in the thick of the action. In her long history she's worked with top officers like [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Duke]] and [[Marissa Faireborn]], but now ''she's'' the one who gets to run squads. 

==Fiction==
===2005 IDW continuity===
[[File:TheIronKlaw-YoungMayday.jpg|thumb|left|250px|]]
Ayana Jones was born in [[Brighton Beach]], [[New York (state)|New York]] and grew up near [[Coney Island]]. She attended the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where her thesis on "ancient aliens" attracted the attention of [[Joshua Red]]. Intrigued by her aptitude, she was swiftly recruited into Skywatch, the agency aimed at investigating [[Transformer]] activity on Earth. By the time that Joshua Red went rogue, however, Ayana's skills had already attracted the attention of [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Conrad "Duke" Hauser]], who had her transferred into the top-secret G.I. Joe program. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Mayday profile}} 

Now operating under the codename "Mayday," Ayana was based out of [[Berlin]] during her first years with the agency, serving under the command of [[Big Ben|David "Big Ben" Bennet]]." She remained a G.I. Joe soldier during the [[Surge (event)|Decepticon invasion of Earth]]; when both factions of Cybertronians abandoned the planet, the soldiers of G.I. Joe turned their attention to battling the forces of [[Cobra]] after the ancient conspiracy went public and invaded [[Nanzhao]]. Mayday's unit was one of the last to extricate themselves from the region before Cobra's nuclear weapons annihilated the country, but safely managed to evacuate thanks to the efforts of her teammate [[Heavy Duty]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Mayday profile}} {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}}

Over the next few years, a series of escalating crises — including a public hack that led to the outing of the formerly secret organization — eventually led to the mothballing of the team. Though the Joes were able to take down Cobra from the inside, the team was decommissioned shortly afterwards. {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Mayday profile}} She and several other Joe soldiers transferred to General [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Daniel Witwicky]]'s [[Earth Defense Command]], the successor to Skywatch. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} For the next few years, Ayana worked out of the EDC's headquarters in the [[Marshall Islands]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}}

[[File:FullFathomFive-negotiations.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

When a group of Decepticons led by [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] arrived on Earth, the EDC cut a deal with the Cybertronians: if they worked with the EDC to protect the Earth from [[Autobot]] aggression, {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}  they would provide the aliens with the resources and infrastructure required to build a [[Sanctuary Station|commune]] where they could live in peace. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}} The EDC's predictions would come true some six months later, when the Autobots returned to Earth in search of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], who had been taken prisoner by the EDC some time before. As [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s forces stormed the EDC base, Ayana monitored the situation, and was surprised when the Decepticons revealed their trump card, the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]''. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five|Full Fathom Five}} 

Ayana and the other members of the base continued to watch the battle play out, but when the [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]]-controlled [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] attacked the building, the humans were knocked unconscious and thus failed to witness Galvatron execute General Witwicky in retaliation for unleashing the EDC's anti-[[Transformer]] [[mindbomb]]. {{storylink|Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires|I Dream of Wires}} In the aftermath, former EDC operative [[Marissa Faireborn]] became the new director of the EDC, and Ayana rose to become her ''de facto'' second-in-command. 

[[File:OFFonOFF Ayana Jones.jpg|thumb|200px|left|"I checked the rear vision mirror like three times."]]

Following [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Spike Witwicky]]'s hack of [[Onyx]]'s new product launch, Jones accompanied Marissa Faireborn to Onyx's [[Tokyo]] HQ as the EDC's response to [[G.B. Blackrock|Garrison Blackrock]]'s angry phone call. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches|Signals, Calls, and Marches}} As a battle between Prowl's Autobots and Galvatron's Decepticons broke out in the city, the EDC took Blackrock to safety in an aircraft despite Jones' desire to intervene. She instead ended up trying to talk the [[China|Chinese]] out of invading [[Japan]]. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.|Vs.}} 

On Blackrock's request, they headed for Onyx's [[Wanmu]] facility, where Garrison showed them the collection of Cybertronian artifacts he'd built up, including the the crown jewel of his collection: the [[Enigma of Combination]], an artifact that had supposedly guided the course of human civilization. Jones was skeptical of Blackrock's claim that he was descended from [[Gilgamesh]]; as the tour continued, however, the building was attacked by Devastator and Spike Witwicky. {{storylink|Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|ONoffON}} As Spike dropped in and grabbed Faireborn, Jones was ready to shoot him, but didn't get the chance before Devastator breached the walls. She and Faireborn ended up hauling Spike clear as the battle continued to rage between Devastator, the Decepticon forces, and their temporary ally [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Arcee]]. {{storylink|The Onyx Interface Conclusion: The Obliterati|The Obliterati}}

At one point, Marissa and Ayana listened to [[Thundercracker (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Thundercracker]]'s attempt to write a [[Christmas]] story. It went as well as could be expected. {{storylink|The Thirteenth Day of Christmas}} 

Some time later, Faireborn and Jones accompanied Blackrock and the Decepticons on a visit to the satellite commune which Onyx was building for the Decepticons in [[Jupiter]]'s orbit, and Jones expressed her dislike of spacesuits. During the tour, the pair discussed Blackrock's mysterious origins and wondered if he was on the level. {{storylink|South of Heaven}}

[[File:Perihelion-AyanaAndSpike.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Back on [[Earth]] at E.D.C. HQ, Jones waited with Faireborn outside Spike's cell as Blackrock visited the prisoner. The pair were forced to listen to Thundercracker's latest script until Blackrock eventually emerged. {{storylink|The Nothing Man}} Learning that Blackrock had been running several side bets of his own, including the revelation that he had captured several Autobots and imprisoned them beneath the EDC base, Ayana held him at gunpoint after Marissa and Spike took him down. Before they could take him into custody, however, Galvatron arrived and took Blackrock hostage, revealing that the man was a Cybertronian sleeper agent and a servant of [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Onyx Prime]]. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 3: Helden|Helden}}

Galvatron's arrival led to a tense stand-off with the E.D.C. and the newly revealed captive Autobots until [[Skywarp (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Skywarp]] teleported Galvatron and his hostage away. His objectives realized, Galvatron mustered his assets to begin a full-scale invasion of Earth, beginning by shooting down the ''[[Ark-7]]''. Jones tracked the crashing shuttle to [[Shanghai]] and the EDC prepared to mobilize against the Decepticons, {{storylink|Conquerors Part 4: Perihelion|Perihelion}} but were unable to coordinate a response before Optimus Prime arrived and announced that Earth was now a protectorate of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s [[Council of Worlds]]. In the ensuing crisis, Ayana and Fairborn stayed behind at the EDC headquarters, overseeing the detonation of a full-spectrum [[mindbomb]] to temporarily incapacitate all the Transformers around the ''Ark-7''. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} 

[[File:NewWorldsOrder-MarissaAndAyana.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]

With Galvatron's forces in retreat, Jones and Fairborne were called to the [[White House]] to meet with the furious [[President of the United States|President]], who blamed the EDC for allowing Optimus to get this far. Ayana urged Marissa to keep a cool head, which proved futile. {{storylink|New Worlds Order}} Following the White House's ''new'' orders, to reclaim Earth before the Transformers could colonize it any further, Ayana picked up Spike Witwicky in an EDC jet as part of a joint operation with [[China]]'s [[People's Liberation Army Mecha Force]]. The two teams stormed Prime's last known base of operations — Thundercracker's old home in the [[Sierra Nevada]]s — but found that the Transformers had anticipated their arrival and evacuated, leaving behind graffiti that read "we are here to help." {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 2: Edge of the Earth|Edge of the Earth}} 

Having tracked the Autobots to [[Monument Valley]], the alliance launched a blitz on Prime's biouvac there, with Marissa and Ayana supervising from. Alerted to the position of Blackrock via secret signal, the duo headed underwater to the wreckage of the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'' to extract their asset. Though the two had a brief standoff against [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Arcee]], [[Skywarp (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Skywarp]], having struck a deal with Blackrock previously, used his powers to teleport all three humans away. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 5: As Above...So Below|As Above...So Below}} They arrived on the White House lawn just in time to learn that Optimus Prime had raised [[Metrotitan (Zone)|a titan]] from beneath the desert; the President was not pleased with this turn of events, concluding that they'd lost Monument Valley. Jones tried to stick up for her commander, pointing out that the EDC had secured several Cybertronian assets, though the President didn't want to hear it and stormed out to meet with the [[United Nations]]. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

[[File:ConcordeHymn-MainframeAndMayday.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]

As a result of the EDC's disastrous attempts to contain the extraterrestrial threat, the President made the decision to replace Jones with celebrated special-ops legend [[Joe Colton]], former head of [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]. Ayana was not pleased with the change, even as she tried to console Fairborne on her recent demotion. {{storylink|White Light}} Following [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]'s rampage across Earth, deposits of [[Ore-13]] all across the planet began destabilizing, threatening Earth with nuclear annihilation. Believing that the Transformers were at fault, the President opted to disband the EDC, reinstituting G.I. Joe as Earth's new international peacekeeping force. 

Ayana was transferred back into the forces of G.I. Joe, taking up her old ''nom de guerre'' of Mayday. She joined the team for their first mission against Autobot relief efforts in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], but the op went poorly; Mayday attempted to talk down [[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] when the latter attempted to kill Soundwave, prompting the Decepticon to knock out G.I. Joe's mechanized forces with an EMP wave. While the Joes reeled from this attack, the [[Space Knight]] [[Rom]] arrived and began vaporizing Joes — unbeknownst to the humans, they had been replaced by [[Dire Wraith]] imposters, including "[[Joe Colton (Dire Wraith)|Joe Colton]]" himself. {{storylink|Concorde Hymn}} 

Following [[M.A.S.K.]]'s capture of [[Kup (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Kup]] in [[Greece]], {{storylink|The Divine Source of Liberty}}, Jones was stationed at Joe headquarters on [[Governor's Island]] when the British special agent [[Action Man]] breached the perimeter, intending to liberate Kup from his prison. Though she initially mistook Kup for an attacker, a few brief words with Action Man made her realize that Kup was escaping, and Action Man and Kup were able to escape unscathed. {{storylink|The Modern World}} After [[Baron Karza]] arrived unannounced in Monument Valley, Mayday was one of the many  Joes who joined the battle against the monstrous alien by riding into battle aboard a fleet of mothballed Joe hardware. {{storylink|Valley Forge}}

[[File:CrisisIntervention-RomMeetsGIJoe.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

In the aftermath of the Ore-13 crisis, Mayday was promoted and began leading a team of her own. On her very first command, Mayday led a team, consisting of [[Heavy Duty]], [[Flash (G.I. Joe)|Flash]], [[Quarrel]], to the [[Schleteva]]n city of [[Verenya]] to investigate a mysterious communications blackout. They soon discovered that the city's inhabitants had somehow been transformed into monstrous [[Dire Wraith]] hybrids, which drew the attention of [[Rom]]. The heroes joined forces, using Rom's [[Energy Analyzer]] to trace the energy to an abandoned [[I.R.O.N.]] bunker underneath the city. There, Mayday found the body of an [[Oktober Guard]] mercenary, which led the group to Blackrock and Action Man, fighting for control of an enigmatic [[Talisman (G1)|"Talisman"]]. When the rest of the Oktober Guard intervened, the Talisman activated again; while Rom used his [[Neutralizer]] to shield her, Blackrock, and Action Man from the energy surge, her teammates weren't so lucky and became Wraiths. The Oktober Guard absconded with the Talisman, and once back on the surface Mayday joined forces with Kup and Blackrock in the hopes of finding a way to return her teammates to normal... a quest that began with retrieving a kidnapped Action Man from the clutches of the [[Iron Ring]]. {{storylink|Crisis Intervention}} While her teammates were taken into the custody of the [[Action Man Programme]] until a cure could be found, {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} G.I. Joe commander [[Scarlett]] authorized her to work outside the G.I. Joe's parameters during the subsequent adventure. {{storylink|Power and Glory}}

[[File:EnterTheShadow-AyanaFeelsRidiculous.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]

Searching for a lead on the Talisman, the team managed to corner the alien [[Micronaut]]s at the [[Pacific Science Center]] in [[Seattle]], and after some initial tensions the two groups managed to reach an understanding while confirming Blackrock's suspicions that the Talisman was extraterrestrial in nature. Using the sensors of the ''[[Heliopolis]]'', the group were able to track Action Man to an [[Section Sabine|abandoned Cobra base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]. Despite the best efforts [[Joe Colton|Baron Ironblood]] and his forces, they were able to retrieve the Talisman and destroy the base, with Kup sheltering the two humans in his chest to protect them from the explosion. {{storylink|Enter The Shadow}} 

Using data from the British National Security archives, the team, {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}} at Action Man's urging, {{storylink|Enter The Shadow}} tracked down former [[Adventure Team]] operative and movie director [[Bulletman|Richard "Bulletman" Ruby]]. He told them the story of a mission in [[Egypt]] that led them to the Talisman; learning that [[I.R.O.N.]] founder [[Merklynn|Garrison Kreiger]] had connection to the Talisman, the group headed off to investigate the company's largest stockholder: [[Kalistan]]ian dictator [[Iron Klaw|Count van Rani]]. {{storylink|The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb}} On the way to his [[Iron Castle|castle]], they learned that the villain had found a way to recruit the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]]s, and so the team recruited [[Snake-Eyes]] for help infiltrating the base, using Blackrock as a Trojan horse. When their cover was blown, Ayana and the others stormed the castle, and while Kup and Action Man grappled with [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], Mayday linked up with Blackrock and Snake-Eyes, and hatched a plan to take down the artificial Talisman responsible for keeping the Predacons combined... only for an impatient Snake-Eyes to smash the machine, forcing the Decepticons apart. The trio subsequently fought their way back to the castle's [[M.A.S.S. Device]] and used its teleport function to escape. Thanks to Snake-Eyes masquerading as Ironblood's agent [[Tomax and Xamot|Tomax Paoli]], the team learned that Ironblood and Kreiger had been involved in "[[Project Ice Man|Project: Ice Man]]," and set out to intercept the ''real'' Tomax as he arrived in [[San Francisco]] to retrieve data related to the "Ice Man". {{storylink|The Iron Klaw}}

[[File:StrangeVisitors-Mayday.jpg|thumb|left|250px]]

The team managed to catch up with Tomax outside I.R.O.N.'s headquarters, discovering that Kreiger had forewarned him of their arrival and provided him with a [[Cobra Commander]] uniform. While Kup battled [[Centurion (IDW)|Tomax's limousine]], Mayday and Action Man chased Tomax through the building.  Mayday eventually managed to incapacitate Tomax by firing a bullet at his throat and grazing it. Tomax had little to offer the team, but Blackrock had learned from Kreiger's files that the base containing the "Ice Man" could be found in [[Brasnya]]. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} Realizing that their team would need extra muscle to break in, Ayana contacted Adventure Team veteran and G.I. Joe member [[Stalker (G.I. Joe)|Stalker]] for more information regarding the "Ice Man." Impressed by her idealism, he called in [[Matt Trakker]] and [[Gloria Baker]] of [[M.A.S.K.]] for assistance. During the subsequent mission to Brasnya, Mayday waited outside with the two M.A.S.K. operatives until until Action Man flooded the network of tunnels, at which point she hitched a ride aboard Matt's [[Thunderhawk]] as they battled the reanimated bodies of the "[[I.R.O.N. Cybertronian]]s". The heroes and villains engaged in a running battle across the breadth of the base until they reached the nexus of the base; discovering that the "Ice Man" was, in reality, the barely-conscious remains of [[Atomic Man|Mike "Atomic Man" Power]], Mayday was able to take Kreiger into custody after his cybernetic asset committed suicide, deactivating the base with him. {{storylink|Power and Glory}}

With Kreiger now in their custody, the group brought him and the temporally-displaced [[Sgt. Savage]] back to Blackrock's [[Onyx]] tower in [[Buenos Aires]] so that the villain could be picked up by a G.I. Joe squadron. While they waited for them to arrive, Savage filled in Ayana on how he came to be transported fifty years in the future. As the G.I. Joe unit arrived, however, Centurion revealed himself as a traitor and hacked the building so that Ironblood and his forces could teleport in. In the ensuing battle between the [[Iron Ring]], the Joes, and the Revolutionaries, Ironblood was revealed as none other than [[Joe Colton]], who had survived his run-in with the Dire Wraiths. {{storylink|When Eagles Scream}} Mayday joined Action Man to fight[[Tempest (Cobra)|Storm Shadow]], but were unable to overpower the ninja before Kup ran Storm Shadow over. Though the villains ultimately absconded with the Talisman, the heroes found that Blackrock was able to engineer a means of returning the mutated Verenyans to normal, while the Talisman's energy had somehow fused Centurion's consciousness with Mike Power's. Down but not out, the Revolutionaries vowed that, on their next adventure, they'd have to try even harder. 
{{storylink|Ghost in the Machine (IDW)|Ghost in the Machine}} 

[[File:Dusk-teammatessticktogether.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Dance into the fire<br>When all we see is the view to a kill...'']]

As Earth prepared to formally join the Council of Worlds, the group travelled to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] to watch the ceremonies. Mayday joined Marissa, Earth's first interstellar diplomat, in the initial procession through the streets of Iacon. When Colton's forces attacked not long afterwards, the heroes battled their way through [[Red Shadows]] and [[Iron Grenadier]]s before learning that Centurion had kidnapped Blackrock and absconded with the bounty hunter [[Colditz]]. {{storylink|Unification Day: Dawn}} Tracking him through the Cybertronian wilderness, the the team caught up with the two Cybertronians, prompting Colditz to detonate a stash of explosives... and Kreiger, working his way down to the core of the planet, to remotely transmit a surge of destructive Talisman energy through Centurion, a bid to deliberately goad the Revolutionaries into eliminating Centurion and tying up another loose end in Kreiger's larger scheme. The team were able to convince Centurion to stand down, at the cost of temporarily knocking him into stasis lock. Deprived of their best shot to end the invasion, the team returned Centurion to Iacon too late to prevent Colton and his crew from advancing to the core.{{storylink|Unification Day: Dusk}} 

After the invasion had been thwarted and communications reopened with Earth, Ayana returned home. {{storylink|The Dead Come Home, Part 1 (of 2)|The Dead Come Home, Part 1}}

==Notes==
*Jones as a Joe was a [[retcon]] done for the ''[[Revolution]]'' crossover. 
*The codename Mayday comes from ''G.I. Joe Extreme'', the short-lived mid-1990s revamp. Mayday also appeared in the [[Devil's Due Press]] ''Joe'' comics, wherein her real name was "Paige Adams".
*Her surname is taken from {{w|David Bowie}}'s birthname, David Robert Jones.<ref>[https://twitter.com/TheJohnBarber/status/818161555577503744 I was listening to a Bowie album as I scripted, so I figured Bowie's birth last name would work, so, Jones. ]</ref> Coincidentally enough, she would later go on to work alongside Action Man (the name "Action Man" appeared in the lyrics to Bowie's song "Ashes to Ashes").

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{i|Mayday}} at the IDW Hasbro Wiki

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