Character Bio: Union



click here for a larger picture Agea, Union's homeworld, was ecologically and technologically similar to Earth when an archaeologist found a tomb with a skeleton in it. The skeleton had a stone implanted in its chest which was later revealed to be a symbiote that when implanted in a human granted the human the ability to fly, fire energy blasts, possess enhanced strength and reduced vunerability to injury. In order to access the symbiotes, called justice stones, a staff was needed to regulate the amount of energy drawn from the stone. These staffs were of various colors which indicated the amount of energy they could handle, yellow being the least and blue being the most since only the Directorate Monarch had a blue staff. A main drawback was if these stones were cracked or shattered the energy would gradually leak out of the stone thereby killing the human and the symbiote. During battle between two humans who had stones in their chests the objective was to break the opponents stone by striking it directly with a staff although there was one other way to destroy an opponents stone and that was by grabbing the opponents staff and stone and then drawing energy through them creating a feedback loop which would kill both combatants but this was viewed as cowardly and rarely done. Another way a stone could be destroyed is if a wearer travelled directly from Agea to Earth without calibrating the stone to Earth's magnetic field first because this would damage the stone causing it to crack.

Justice Stones were first utilized on Agea by the Protectorate, a sort of global police force. The Directorate, a term used to refer to both the ruling family of Agea and their personal army, wanted access to the stones to ensure their continued level of power in society but the Protectorate refused. While the Directorate was able to gain several stones and begin implanting them into their soldiers the action started a war between the two groups which lasted for several generations. Union's father was a member of the Protectorate army who retired following the birth of his son and became a teacher in a school that trained Protectorate children in how to use a justice stone prior to being implanted with one. Even though Union studied directly under his father he was less than a stellar student. Upon graduation/implantation Union joined the Protectorate army. A few years later several Directorate soldiers attacked the school and killed everyone present including Union's father.

At this point it would be best to address Union's initial nemesis Regent. Regent was born Prince Rijian and was the son of King Darian, King of the Directorate. Regent was more interested in science than teh military as a child and therefore spent all of his time in research and was viewed with disdain by his father and his father's troops. The Directorate discovered a portal in the upper atmosphere of Agea which led directly to Earth. King Darian decided to use Earth as a place to store some troops and equipment and also as a safe retreat for himself. After the birth of his second son, Darnel, Darian dispatched Regent to Earth as a means of maintaining royal control over his troops but it was really an excuse to allow Darnel to succeed him as king. On Earth Regent continued his research into building a Justice Stone that would not have to be calibrated when traveling between Agea and Earth thereby creating the most powerful justice stone to date. Upset by the Directorate attack upon a Protectorate school, several Protectorate soldiers staged an attack and Killed Darnel and his mother. This further motivated Regent, who wanted revenge on the killers, to develop his stone which he quickly did. Regent then decided to test his power by conquering Earth and it was during his attempt to cause a meltdown at Chernobyl that he fought Stormwatch.

During a battle with Directorate forces, Union was pushed through the portal to Earth however he was not killed but severely weakened. In this condition Union fell onto an ice covered river in Maine and was pulled onto shore by Jill Monroe, a painter. Jill nursed Union back to health and educated him about Earth. Seeing photos of two beings flying over a town in New York Union went to the town believing the soldiers to be from the Protectorate. It turns out that it was actually the secret Directorate base and Union was brought in to be questioned by King Darian. In desparation Union grabbed Darian's staff and his stone in an attempt to kill him. The result was that a massive explosion ensued destroying the entire town and everything in it except for Union who awoke several miles later still holding Darian's staff. Stormwatch sensed the energy spike which was similar to Regent's energy signature and dispatched a team to investigate. Union rescued Fuji from a cavein and explained his desire to help to Battalion who later released him. Upon returning to Maine Union found two Protectorate soldiers who told him about the portal, that his justice stone automatically adjusted to Earth giving him the most powerful stone that they were aware of at that time and telling him that they were planning to seal the portal between Earth adn Agea and this would be his only opportunity to return home but Union decided to stay here.

After that Union attempted to attone for the deaths of the citizens by acting as a protector for the rest of humanity. To this end Union had several adventures. Union approached Synergy about joining Stormwatch and she told him to wait while she checked out a few things. During that time Union became involved in a battle with Crusade against Mnemo. Following that battle Synergy allowed Union to join Stormwatch as a reserve member. Synergy used Union just once as a member, Savant called Synergy for protection and since there was a traitor in Stormwatch at that time Synergy dispatched Union who was hardly affiliated with the agency to protect her. Prior to Union's arrival Savant was attacked by several villains until Majestic arrived and dispatched them however upon Union's arrival both thought the other was an enemy leading to a fight. After learning they were on the same side Union helped Majestic and Savant find the Daemonite ship buried in Nicaragua which turned out to be a Kherubim ship.

Following the events of Wildstorm Rising Union learned that his justice stone was a mutation that had the ability to repair any injury and was believed to be the most powerful stone ever. Regent attacked Union who dropped his staff and Regent then dropped him in the ocean where he would have drowned because without a staff he couldn't access his stone however since his stone was different Union was able to use his stones abilities without a staff. Union defeated Regent and retired. During Fire From Heaven Union joined several heroes in battling Stormwatch. While Stormwatch did switch sides it was these events Bendix referred to when he fired Union

It was four years after Union was fired from his Stormwatch retainer that he found himself on the Carrier during one of the Authority's parties, and he killed himself while King and Trelane were having their ephiphanies. King retrieved the Justice stone as he was leaving the Carrier, and set about resurecting Union from the dead.

Once Union was resurected by King and Trelane, he set to work scouring the highways and secret cities of the US for King. He retrieved weapons and information for King. However, two things were lacking from the "new" Union: Parts of his memory, and his Soul. Since his return, Union has become brutal and remorseless, keeping the heads of his victims in his room in the Crown, keeping to himself, preferring to punish the wicked than protect the innocent. In an attempt to return Union to his old self, King has asked Jon Farmer to try and help him.

Union's early history graciously provided by Wildstorm Boarder Ohmen