G. Brett Williams #2 – Mars, Bringer of War
Mars, the “Bringer of War,” named after Roman god of war and the battlefield, was one of the original American Evos. Like Cyclone, Mars was a soldier before his powers evolved. Jackson Reed was a soldier in the army, a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. He was the oldest of the original Evos and always resented being pulled out of the army and placed on the team. Jackson recognized from the beginning that the team was just a publicity stunt and it drove him crazy. He was a soldier, had decided long ago to give his life to the Army, and anything that took him out of that world seemed like a waste of time. But Jackson Reed was a good soldier, and when he was given an order, even if he disagreed with it, he followed it to the letter. So when he was given the codename Mars and placed on the team, he went along with it. When Cyclone, a younger military man from the Air Force was placed in charge of the group, he bristled but kept quiet. And when the time came for things to escalate, when Evos could no longer stay off the battlefield, it was Mars, not Cyclone, to which the United States turned. His battle with the Devil’s Saint in the Mexican conflict was brutal and destructive, and it made Mars feel alive once again. This was a man bred for war and for war he lived.
Mars particularly flourished during the Faceless conflict. It was the Faceless conflict that forced Mars and Cyclone to finally put aside their own issues with one another and work together. Mars was a natural leader and great military strategist and it was his Red Hand Legion that managed to hold the Russian front long enough to allow Cyclone and his people to free the Dragon Soldiers. Despite being instrumental in their release, Mars was completely distrustful of the Dragon Soldiers. While working alongside groups of them was sometimes unavoidable, Mars refused to integrate them into the Red Hand. Mars felt he couldn’t trust the Dragon Soldiers and wanted little to do with them, choosing instead to comprise the Red Hand of nothing but humans and Evos. The loyalty Mars inspired in his men was strong and nearly unwavering. They would have followed him to the gates of hell, and at times he led them close.
After the war, there was a great fear among Cyclone and his closest allies that Mars would bring the Red Hand Legion to bear against Cyclone’s power base. In an attempt to appease the warrior, Cyclone offered to make him the warlord in charge of Russia and much of Eastern Europe. Having been stationed throughout Eastern Europe throughout the Faceless War, Mars was happy with this arrangement. He rules over his land with the power of the Red Hand Legion behind him. Dragon Soldiers are not welcome inside his borders. Much speculation surrounds Mars. There are whispers that inside his borders, he strengthens his army and waits for the moment when he can overthrow Cyclone’s regime.
Mars’s evolved power is that of super strength and near-invulnerable skin. As with most Evos, his aging has seemed to slow down and his true age is difficult to determine.
Category: 2011, Scifi, Superhero, Uncategorized