Aberrant: In the Beginning - Peace...

[Titan]

The man called Shelby leaped up. He grasped the Vietnamese Doctor's attache in his right hand. In the split second before he hit the cathedral ceiling, he threw a bolt of kinetic energy in front of him. It blew a satisfactory hole in the roof.

Thank god it's the entryway. I'd hate to be blowing through 5 stories.

He streaked up, up, and away from the house. He knew that at any second, the thermonuclear bomb known as Stormbringer could explode. He wasn't afraid, he was exhilerated. This is what he was born for, he believed.

Jack Anderson was born on a small farm in Arkansas in 1945. His father was a quiet man, with deep moral convictions, which he passed on to his son. Farm life ensured that he grew up strong, used to hard work. With little else to do with his leisure time, young Jack followed the adventures of Superman and the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern through comics, though only Superman had his own TV show.

The man flew faster. Behind him, the Æon compound grew into a dot, then part of the countryside surrounding London.

In high school, Jack joined the swimming team. He was very good, and won State meets with ease. He trained hard for the Olympic trials in 1963, but fell just short of qualifying. He quit swimming in disgust. Since he would not be going to Tokyo in '64, he was adrift. He continued to read comics, and thought that bringing the individuals together into the Justice League of America in 1960 was about the neatest idea ever.

The Island nation of Great Britain was getting smaller underneath him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the curve of the earth. He, though, was focused on breaking out of atmosphere.

On November 22, 1963, two weeks after Jack's 18th birthday, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Jack, along with the rest of the nation, was appalled. Other people responded in their own ways, Jack responded by arguing with his father about Communism. Jack's father saw little wrong with the philosophy, and often mentioned that his generation would have lost the War without the Russians. Jack, following the escalating conflict in Vietnam, believed that the Soviets, and their Red Chinese allies, were intent on conqurering the world. When he graduated High School in May, he surprised no one when he announced that he was entering the Air Force Acadamy in the fall.

The sky quickly turned from blue to purple, then to black. He continued to streak upward. Yesterday, the Galatea had dropped fallout all over the world, and he didn't mean for that to happen now. Just a few more seconds.

After graduating in the top third of his class, Second Lieutenant Anderson was posted to Pilot's Training at Randolph's Air Force Base in Texas. He literally flew through the course, and upon finishing, was posted to the 5th Airforce at Yokata Air Base. He had finally made it to Japan. He was promoted to First Lieutenant. He and his fellow pilots were deployed almost immediately to Vietnam, joining the conflict there in July of 1969. Other than a few items of civilian clothing, all Jack took with him to war was a picture of his mother, a copy of Bullfinch's Mythology, and a stack of JLA and Superman comics.

He was well out of atmosphere, well past the orbit trajectory of any satellites or space stations. Now. He grasped the attache in his right hand, still streaking through space, and reached back to throw.

Lieutenant Anderson flew 29 missions before they promoted him to Captain. He was good, very good. His mouth got him into trouble with his superior officers, but a certain arrogance was expected from pilots. He contintued to fly missions, turning down chance after chance to return to Japan, or even the States. On his 174th mission, in April of 1973, Jack was shot down near Giao Xa, in the Thanh Hoa provence. He survived for eleven days before being captured by the Cong.

He hurled the case away, with a strength that could level a mountain. As it left his hand, it flipped once, twice, then exploded. Caught in the flashpoint, the concussive force of the thermonuclear explosion blew the man away, even as his invulnerable skin absorbed most of the released energy that bathed his body. His last thought was of something Margaret had said to him, before any of this had begun. "Sometimes," she said, "Enforcing peace requires an iron fist. I know that you are capable, but are you morally ready to be that iron fist?"

What the Cong did to Jack, no one would ever know. He never spoke of it to anyone. He sometimes isn't sure he even remembers, himself. Whatever it was, it brought something forward in him, something the Æon medical staff later told him had always been there, waiting. When the Rangers found him, he was floating in a river near Giao Xa. The military camp where he had been held was flattened to the last stick of bamboo, as though a giant foot had stomped it into the ground. An army physician examined him carefully, then sent a message up the chain of command that the former POW was a little too healthy. Somewhere, it got passed on to Æon, and they arranged to meet Jack.

He hit atmosphere at about twice the speed that he normally would. Re-entry was brutal, his skin glowing red, then white with heat. The energy trailed behind him, he shone like a falling meteorite.

Although Æon asked Jack to keep his ability to control kinetic energy secret, they talked of a day when he could reveal himself to the world. A day when others would posess similar powers, and there wouldn't be a need to keep it quiet. Jack prepared for that day. Code named: 'Titan' he worked closely with the Æon strategic planning division, even closer with the W.H.O. disaster relief teams. Occasionally, he would use his strength or his speed to help the effort. Clandestinely, he flew among the clouds, and practiced his control of kinetic forces. He continued to follow the comics, but now he was looking for practical ideas in the only place where the abilities he had were thought about, were planned for. He met Shelby Eisenfaust in 1989, at a ComicCon in San Diego. He was struck at first by how similar they looked, although Shelby was quite chubby, and by how closely their interests overlapped. Shelby liked the role-playing games, especially Champions. His thoughts on what a world would be like if people were gifted with supernatural abilites, were well reasoned and backed by equal parts science, socio-political ramifications, and experience in a simulated setting. Over the next year, he made the graduate student more and more a part of his think-tank, and Jack started including Shelby's ideas in his reports. sWhen the day came, he announced to Margaret one day, he would form a group of global protectors, like the JLA. He would be at its head. Not like the comics, but organized like a military force. Shelby was invited to join Æon's strategic planning division in 1995. They prepared for the day that Margaret assured them was coming. Jack dreamed of his future 'Titan Team: Heroes of Tomorrow' adventures. On March 23, 1998, Jack Anderson is 52 years old, though he still looks to be the 28 that he was in 1973. He has never been more ready for anything in his life. He is as prepared as a person can be.

As he continued to fall, following the curvature of the earth and obeying the inexorable call of gravity,through burnt and blackened lips, as he finally gave up consciousness, he mumbled, "I am ready. I won't fail again. I will give them Peace..."