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Quote1 Looks like it's up to us, people! Let's load up and move out! Quote2
Battlestone[3][src]

History

Origin[]

As a kid, John Stone discovered he was Nu-Gene positive like his father. John followed him to New Heaven, a refuge for Nu-Genes built to keep them safe from hateful humans. Years later, his father's enemies killed his mother in revenge and young John began to harbor a great deal of hate for his father, considering him responsible for the tragedy. During 1940, he was invited to the Allies by Roy Roman. Some time later, he was assassinated and brought back to life through Project: Born Again. John used Project: Born Again to bring his brother Cabbot back to life against his will, but he came back as a monster with a fractured psyche, for which he always blamed John.[4]

John went on to serve in Vietnam and Korea.[5]

1986[]

On February 1986, a U.S. helicopter carrying a microfilm listing the names of Soviets working undercover for America headed to Afghanistan rebels when it was forced out of the sky by the Russian airforce, led by General Grozny. Wanting to retrieve the documents and the pilots, government agent Alexander Graves hastily put together a task force named Operation: Knightstrike to take care of the matter, naming John as the leader and tasking him with hiring the rest of the team. On February 12th, John hired Chapel and Albert Simmons in Detroit; the next day, John hired Duke on Chicago and Dutch in Los Angeles; the next day, John hired Peter Frehley in Las Vegas. Seven hours later, the team was assembled at a secret government base near the Pentagon and briefed about the Afghanistan situation.[5]

The Knightstrike team deployed to the Afghan-Pakistani border and met their guide, an Afghan woman named Roxanne, and her son, Mujahadeem. When Knightstrike was stopped by Pakistani bandits, Battlestone killed one with a mortar, and the team wiped out the rest. Knightstrike continued on until they were attacked by a Soviet response force. Frehley used a rocket launcher to destroy a Soviet helicopter while Dutch took down another, and Battlestone crushed a Soviet tank with a boulder. Simmons blew up a transport truck, but one soldier survived and attacked him. Mujahadeem shot and killed the soldier, saving him. That night, Knightstrike reached the outskirts of Kabul, and Roxanne left with her son.[6]

Knightstrike hid in a cave prior to their assault. Chapel challenged Battlestone’s leadership, but Simmons talked him down. The team moved into Kabul and was soon attacked by Soviet troops. They returned fire but were soon cornered in a back alley. A squad of genetically enhanced Spetsnaz troops was deployed to attack Knightstrike. The team killed them all, so they dropped barrels of knockout gas, and the team was taken captive by Lt. Fruman. The members of Knightstrike awakened in restraints, facing Russian General Grozny, who revealed the captured U.S. pilot was Stone’s brother, Cabbot.[7]

1988[]

Youngblood Vol 1 0
In Summer 1988, John was the leader of Youngblood and he commanded Riptide, Raines, Diehard, Boggs, Gamble and Chapel. They were deployed to Kuwait to prevent Hassan Kussein's Iraqui Army from invading. Although they defeated the first strike, Boggs and Raines were killed by a booby trap when checking out an underground supply bunker. When Gamble confronted Battlestone's authority over this tragedy, Stone murdered him, and Diehard pulled rank, beating Stone. After Chapel stopped Diehard from killing Stone, he forced Stone to surrender himself to be arrested.[1]

Fifty-nine hours later, a military court decided against any kind of court martial or imprisonment due to Stone's previous record of service. He was relieved of his status with the U.S. Government's military and the Youngblood Project, only returning to be a civilian to avoid making an incident in an election year. Stone left in a rage, considering the system to be rotten and feeling the higher-ups were at fault for sending Stone into a covert situation with untested operatives. After Stone was told the dead soldiers could be cloned, he warned the court that it wouldn't be long before their own positions would be held by unliving beings.[1]

Brigade 0
Deciding to wage a war against the government and Project: Born Again, Stone met Lethal shortly after his discharge from Youngblood.[4] They were joined by Kayo and Boone in founding the first incarnation of a superhero team they called Brigade.[8]

1992[]

In 1992, John led Brigade alongside Kayo, Coldsnap, Atlas, Seahawk, Stasis and Thermal, plus Martin Grant doing assists. Together, they freed a group of hostages from terrorists.[3]

Brigade 2
A week later, an alien named Genocide arrived with a spaceship in Los Angeles challenging Brigade. The team was able to knock him out, but they were all teleported to Genocide's home planet, D'Vor.[9]

Brigade appeared in an arena, where the D'Voran Imperial High Council Magistrate declared Brigade had challenged Genocide first and for that crime they had to be executed. With no room for discussion, Brigade escaped the arena they were in, but when they were swarmed by an army of D'Voran fighters, Thermal blasted a hole through the ground, leading them into The Tunnels, a sewage system. There, Battlestone and Coldsnap defeated a gruesome monster. Afterwards, they were intercepted by a D'Voran task force called The Factor, composed by Knockdown, Reign and Trek, who overpowered Brigade. The Factor toyed with the idea of killing them and saying it was an accident, and Battlestone taunted them, defying them to do it. Before The Factor could act, they were stopped by the arrival of a group of freedom fighters who called themselves the Birds of Prey.[10] Not wanting to fight the Birds of Prey in their territory, The Factor fleed. Although they had just saved Brigade, Battlestone was reluctant to trust the newcomers, but Kayo convinced him to give it a try.[11]

A few days later, both teams were found by Imperial High Guard. Fighting through the imperial forces, they were led back towards the Citadel, where Genocide was waiting for them. Genocide challenged Battlestone to a one-on-one match. If Battlestone won, the Magistrate would teleport Brigade back to Earth, but if he lost, they would all become Genocide's personal slaves. Genocide exacted the combat by opening the floor and dropping himself and Stone into a pit. While fighting, Genocide explained he was doing this to regain his honor and he mocked heroes for being too soft to deliver the killing blow. Battlestone stated he had what it took, but when Genocide egged him on to kill him, Battlestone said he wasn't worth it. The two combatants were interrupted by Brigade and the Birds of Prey bursting through a wall to join in. Battlestone insisted on fighting Genocide himself, and left the teams to take care of the guards. Genocide attempted a sneak attack against Stone, but when Talyn, the leader of the Birds of Prey, got Battlestone out of the way, the attack hit Atlas instead, killing him. In a fury, Battlestone pummelled Genocide, but Talyn stopped him just short from killing the prince, saying he couldn't let Bloodstone do that and that he'd see that Genocide saw justice. Talyn shared Stone's grief, but killing Genocide wouldn't bring Atlas back to life. The surviving members of Brigade boarded a ship and barely managed to escape the Citadel, heading for open space, and Earth. While Kayo drove, Thermal tried telling Stone Atlas' death wasn't his fault, but Stone disagreed, reflecting internally on how he'd made so many mistakes throughout his life, and maybe that was what drove him on. His question, now, was whether he could ensure Atlas' death wasn't in vain.[11]

1993[]

Bloodstrike Vol 1 3

After three months in space, Brigade returned to Earth and landed their spacecraft in their Malibu headquarters. Kayo and Thermal begged Stone to stop shutting them out and to give the team some guidance, but Stone was too blinded by grief and fury to respond in any productive way. Blaming him for Atlas’s death, Stasis quit the team. As she left, she was shot in the head and killed by Battlestone’s brother, Cabbot. He had come with his team Bloodstrike to capture or kill Brigade under orders by Washington. In the course of the ensuing battle, Bloodstrike member Shogun blasted Coldsnap, damaging the apparatus that regulated his powers, which then raged out of control. Deadlock shot Seahawk multiple times, and Fourplay broke Kayo's jaw. Battlestone was about to be defeated by Cabbot and his partner Tag when Martin Grant crashed Brigade's alien ship into the building, granting Battlestone a distraction and allowing him to escape with Thermal, Coldsnap, and Stasis’s corpse.[12]

They flew to the Los Angeles branch of G.A.T.E. International, where Battlestone called in a favor with a scientist there, Dr. Sandler. He told Sandler to revive Stasis through Project: Born Again, and Sandler told him that would cost him more than any favor he could owe him. Afterwards, John brooded over the multiple deaths he had been responsible for, including Gamble, Atlas and Stasis. Thermal tried to discuss it with him, but he angrily refused to. Later, Sandler treated Coldsnap and placed Stasis’s body in a nutrient bath connected to special equipment. Acknowledging the team’s reduced numbers, Battlestone left to recruit reinforcements, and met up old Brigade founder Boone and his partner Hacker in Silicon Valley.[12]

It took some effort, but Boone was convinced to hear Battlestone out. He took him and Hacker back to the Los Angeles branch of G.A.T.E. International, where he explained the situation with Bloodstrike. Boone questioned why he should help Battlestone considering he had ran out on him, but Stone said he was trying to make the best out of a bad situation.[13] After thinking it over, Boone agreed to join Brigade, because Stone was one of the only friends he had. Immediately afterwards, they were assaulted by Bloodstrike again, but the fight was interrupted by the appearance of Coldsnap, whose powers malfunction had caused his body to mutate into a enormous ice monster.[14] Coldsnap took on Bloodstrike, giving Battlestone, Boone, and Thermal time to regroup. The two teams battled until Shogun blasted Coldsnap through a wall, revealing Stasis’s body in a resurrection chamber in the next room. Cabbot was enraged and vowed to stop Stasis's resurrection. Just then, Lethal and Seahawk teleported in.[4]

Amidst the fighting, Shogun shot at Stasis’s rejuvenation chamber under Cabbot's orders, preventing her resurrection. Infuriated, Battlestone lashed out at Cabbot while the rest of Brigade fought against Bloodstrike, now joined by Kayo and Martin Grant. Battlestone and Cabbot argued and beat the crap out of each other until Battlestone told Cabbot to leave Brigade alone or else he would expose Project: Born Again to the public. Finally, Cabbot told Battlestone to kill him, but Battlestone refused, saying letting him live was even worse, and left with Brigade. Brigade flew away in their jet, and Battlestone warned the team that Bloodstrike would come after them again, but letting them go sent a message to the puppet masters controlling their strings.[15]

Attributes

Powers

  • Superhuman Strength: John possesses great physical strength, his punches can throw an opponent a dozen of meters in the air and during one of his first missions with Brigade he was seen lifting 500 kg of marble with one hand and using it as a weapon in close combat. He was able to keep up in a battle against Roman.
  • Superhuman Stamina: Thanks to Project: Born Again Battlestone can keep fighting even after sustaining incredible damage, like being repeatedly shot, stabbed or even having a limb ripped off.
  • Superhuman Durability: In addition to being resistant to damage Battlestone also possesses an incredibly high pain threshold given to him by Project: Born Again. Some of his greatest displays of durability have been surviving close range explosions and building collapsing on him, although he was gravely injured both times.
  • Decelerated Aging
  • Amphibious: Battlestone displayed the ability to survive and talk underwater for long periods of time without ill effects.

Abilities

See Also

Links and References

References

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