Ember Origins (Mini-series)

### Characters

The Fox Laira † David Carter † Shift † Grant Kaur † Titan Jill Apin Smasher Shadow † Rex Shockwave I † General Simon † Warfare † Kaiya † Nulbarn †

Ember Origins is a 2022 mini-series. It was first published in July of that year. It ran for 12 issues, split into groups of two, with each group focussing on the origins of a different character or group.

## Structure

Issues #1 and #7 - Tell the origins of the Fox, beginning with his mother training him as a child, before leaving him and his father abruptly. It then jumps forward and shows Fox's accidental murder of father. Issue #7 opens with his decision to become a crime fighter, his training, his murder of the other gang members involved in his father's murder and eventually his first real outing as the Fox, catching up to Issue #1 of The Fox Vol. 1. These issues would foreshadow the events of the upcoming The Fox Vol. 2, involving his mother. This is also the first time we learn of how Fox's father actually died, having only before heard Fox's false account of the story.

Issues #2 and #8 - Tell the origins of Shift, beginning with his failed career as priest, and his abandonment of Christianity. We later see him attempting to talk his brother, Grant, down from his extreme, mystical beliefs. He failed and this resulted in Grant making a deal with a demon, before his experiment caused an explosion with Shift present, bonding the two brothers' souls and granting Shift his magical powers. This catches up to Shift Vol. 1 Issue #1. This is the first full telling of the accident that gave Shift his powers, with only glimpses being seen in the main Shift comic.

Issues #3 and #9 - Tell the origin of Titan, beginning with his rise as a promising track and field athlete in South Africa. He is then convinced by his coaches and teammates to begin taking performance enhancing drugs, which only expedite his career. Eventually, now with a wife and two small children, he begins taking a new, experimental, kind of steroid. The steroid causes drowsiness and leads to Titan causing a car crash, during which he is exposed to chemicals which were being transported in a nearby truck. This lead to him gaining super strength. Due to his superhuman abilities, his doping is discovered and he is banned from the South African Sports Confederation, however, he soon gains notoriety after using his powers to prevent a similar car crash to the one he gained his powers in. Issue #9 ends with a repeated scene from Sector Z Vol. 1, in which Agents Rex and Shadow recruit Titan for the Sector Z Superhuman Task Force.

Issues #4 and #10 - Tell the origin story of Shockwave, beginning with his assignment to the USS Division, stationed in the Persian Gulf, as a part of SpecPro. He was working security for the laboratory aboard the ship, and after discovering that the scientists' were experimenting on human test subjects (prisoners taken from the US Military's operations in Iraq), he tried to report it up the chain of command. General Alistair Simon, wanting to prevent this information from spreading, ordered Shockwave's assassination in a lab accident. Shockwave discovers this plan, and sabotages the bomb placed to kill him, destroying the whole lab, as well as mutating him, giving him superpowers. He then flees inland, and over the next five years, makes his way to rural Kazakhstan, where he becomes a cage fighter. Issue #10 ends where Sector Z Vol. 1 picked up, with Agents Rex and Shadow recruiting Shockwave from the Kazakh fighting ring.

Issues #5 and #11 - Tell the origin of the Defender of the Bush, the latest incarnation of which was the hero Warfare. Issue #5 opens with Warfare being told the story of how the defenders gained their abilities, by his mentor Kaiya. The first defender, Nulbarn lived thousands of years ago and was charged with crafting weapons for her tribe's hunts. One year, a disease spread, killing much of the tribe, as well as wiping out most of the viable food sources in the area. Nulbarn received a message in a dream from a spirit that she should could locate a new land for her tribe. She embarked on a quest to find this land, leaving any possessions behind, due to her tribes-mates dismay at her idea. She undertakes the quest, using her weapon-crafting skills to survive, and finds a viable region for the tribe. During this journey, she unlocks the ability to store her weapons in the Dreamtime, with the help of the spirit. She returns to her tribe and guides them to their new home. It is implied that this was the origin of the Aboriginal rite of passage, the 'Walkabout'. Each of these issues is bookended by Warfare and Kaiya, which are supposed to take place between Issues #15 and #16 of Warfare Vol. 1.

Issues #6 and #12 - Tell the origin of Sector Z, with Issue #6 focussing on Section 47 and Issue #12 focussing on Raptor Squadron. We are shown Section 47's founding by the League of Nations, the collapse of the League, and their espionage including throughout World War II and the Cold War. We see Section 47 encounter Raptor Squadron in Vietnam, shown from the perspective of 47 operatives attempting to foil an assassination plot, and eventually their alliance, using Section 47 intelligence, and Raptor paramilitary operation. Issue #12 shows Raptor Squadron's founding as an anti-communist, mercenary group, and their various operations and assassinations. We are shown the encounters in Vietnam from their perspective, and later the foundation of Sector Z following the two groups joint operations. The issue ends with Agent Rex closing a file on the foundation of Sector Z. These foreshadow the collapse of Sector Z in Sector Z Vol. 2, through the differing perspectives and ideologies of the two original organisations. The modern day portion takes place roughly between Issues #7 and #8 of Sector Z Vol. 1.