Unity is a company-wide crossover published by Valiant Comics in 1992, featuring all of their ongoing superhero titles at the time. This includes the Renegades, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Rai, Shadowman, Solar, Man of the Atom, Turok, and X-O Manowar. The crossover also introduced new books for Archer & Armstrong and Eternal Warrior. The central antagonist is Mothergod, who attempts to rewrite reality and restore her original universe. This conflict leads to Valiant heroes of both the 21st Century and the 41st Century coming together for the first time.
Synopsis[]
Overview[]
When Phil Seleski accidentally creates a black hole that throws him back in time, he causes irrevocable change through-out existence. The temporal dimension he comes back to is not the one he had left. Unknown to Phil, his former colleague Erica Pierce survives the black hole and likewise falls back in time. Unbalanced by an abusive father as a child and a miserable life as an adult, Erica has been an adversary of Seleski’s even before the black hole. Now she is determined to destroy him and the altered temporal dimension that is his legacy. Like Phil, she possesses the ability to manipulate energy of any kind. Erica hides on Earth for centuries, all the while developing her plan for revenge against the man who has become Solar.
She unfolds a plan to bring order and unity to all of existence by ending the universe and creating a new one. Using hand–picked assistants who treat her as a God, Erica builds up a secluded haven in what eventually becomes North Am. After discovering the Lost Land, she moves her haven there, and proceeds with her plan to bring about Unity. The Lost Land is a place outside of existence where time is absolute. It is thus a perfect place from which to launch a plan to end all of time.
Her only obstacle proves to be the heroes of Earth, who band together in an effort to thwart her plans. Although she has legions of warriors from the 1800s, robs from the 41st Century, and bionically–enhanced dinosaurs (known as Bionisaurs) to fight for her, the heroes eventually prevail. Solar locks Erica in a cincture wormhole of non–existence. When Solar takes the mass of a black hole that Erica’s reactors has created and changes it into energy, the Lost Land becomes a zone of unreality and ceases to exist. With the Lost Land destroyed, Unity cannot threaten anyone else ever again.
Although Erica does not succeed in creating Unity, her plan profoundly changes the universe:
- One of Earth’s greatest champions, Tohru Nakadai, the 42nd Rai, dies while preventing Unity. He fights a valiant fight against Pierce, but not before Japan falls from orbit and crashes into the Indian Ocean.
- Magnus, the legendary robot fighter from North Am, is born, the son of the deceased Harbinger John Torkelson and Kris Hathaway, girlfriend of the Harbinger Peter Stanchek.
- Jack Boniface learns from his 41st Century lover Elya Ann Smith that he is destined to die in 1999.
- Geomancer Geoff McHenry learns of the existence of the dormant Angelo Mortalli at Project Rising Spirit.
- Turok and many of the Lost Land’s dinosaurs arrive in a 20th Century civilization that is ill–prepared to receive them.
Chapter 1: Ends of the Earth[]
Using her powers to escape the event horizon of a black hole over what used to be Muskogee, Oklahoma, Erica Pierce appeared over the Chicago of a different temporal dimension.
Six months later, in the home of the Erica Pierce native to that dimension, Phil Seleski, the hero known as Solar, assumed that Erica committed suicide by allowing her energies to dissipate after she killed her abusive husband, Bert Pierce, but Geoff McHenry, the Geomancer, revealed that the other Erica had killed her and kidnapped her little boy, Albert Pierce.
As Phil took Geoff to Unreality to search for Erica, they followed her to the Lost Land, a place outside time and space within a pocket continuum. Facing opposition from 41st Century robs riding pterodactyls, Phil gave Geoff a piece of his energy to return to reality to bring Gilad Anni-Padda, the Eternal Warrior, back.
Gathering other heroes to help Phil, Geoff returned to the Lost Land with Gilad, the Harbinger Renegades, Archer & Armstrong, and X-O Manowar.
While Geoff was gone, Magnus, Tohru Nakadai, and the Gilad Anni-Padda from 4001 arrived on their and joined Phil. Just then, Erica’s forces attacked.
Chapter 2: Footprints on the Sands of Time[]
Born before recorded history, Gilad was the pride of his tribe. After an unsuccessful raid against Sumeria resulted in the slaughter of his people, Gilad accompanied a Geomancer who had warned him of the coming of the end of all things in his travels, placing his faith in the Earth’s chosen to guide him towards the actions that would best serve the interests of mankind. 5,000 years later, Gilad met with Jillian Alcott at the Sheraton Inn at the Tulsa International Airport to be equipped for an operation on the behest of her father, Neville Alcott of British Intelligence. While getting ready, Gilad shared with Jillian his belief that the emergence of beings like Solar and Harbingers signaled the end of the world Geomancers throughout the ages had warned him about, when then he received a call from Geoff alerting him of Unity. As thugs sent to kill Gilad and Jillian broke through the door, Gilad vanished in a flash of light and joined the others in the Unity conflict.
Chapter 3: Up Against the Wall, Mother[]
Cornered by the Sect, Aram, cagey around flamethrowers, stood behind Archer, when then Gilad appeared and whisked them away to fight in the Unity conflict. Attacked by Mothergod’s forces soon as they arrived in the Lost Land, Aram refused to fight until he knew who he was fighting against and led Archer away from the battle. Section Prelate Rejj, a devotee of the Archies, a cult whose members studied Archer’s philosophies, captured the duo and took them to a compound where he expected Archer to share his teachings with him. For two weeks, Archer struggled to convey his wisdom to Rejj, who accused him of being a fraud like his parents. Enraged, Archer attacked Rejj, who decided to execute him. Meanwhile, Aram had escaped and found a Speakeasy where he met Prince Albert, Mothergod’s son, who stopped Archer’s execution and convinced the two of them that the only way they would return home would be if they ambushed Mothergod and killed her.
Chapter 4: The Torch is Passed[]
On April 2nd, 3988, Ana Kawainui found Rokland "Rokkie" Tate playing inside a virtual sphere and promised him that the reality that awaited him outside was infinitely more fascinating.
When Ana took Rokkie to her home, she revealed that she was a Geomancer, the eyes and ears of the Earth, and that she had chosen him to succeed her. With a smile on her face, Ana gave a dubious Rokkie her axe and said that he was lucky that in those days the procedure of succession involved drawing off less than a pint of his blood instead of ritual mutilation like in ancient times.
With Ana’s guidance, Rokkie shut off his mind and heard the voices of the axe, which told him that she was much older than she appeared, a reveal that he initially believed was a joke, but that once he experienced the fullness of his senses and listened to the whispers that surrounded him, he understood was the truth.
Elated that her hunch that the gift of Geomancy was strong in him proved correct, Ana asked Rokkie if was still certain that he did not wish to be a Geomancer and warned him that she could not promise that there would be no pain, as pain was the way of life. When Rokkie replied that he did not care and that he wanted to know all there was, Ana said that, even for a Geomancer, that was the endless quest.
When Ana and Rokkie began their walkabout, she took him to the San–Gabriel Haven in the Californian Archipelago, an island of milespires barely inhabited by one hundred thousand San–Gabrielites that she told him worshiped a woman called Erica Pierce, who not even they realized was over two thousand years old. Stunned, Rokkie listened as Ana called Pierce a Sun Demon and said that she was a danger to all existence, and that while they alone could not stop her, there was still time to prepare.
When Ana revealed that Pierce would not begin to alter the universe to make it more to her liking until the year 4001, Rokkie asked her if she could read the future and she told him that a Geomancer of the late 20th Century gained that knowledge and passed it down. Though Rokkie wondered how that Geomancer learned the information, Ana told him that it was of little importance and that all that mattered was he locate Gilad Anni-Padda, who had been missing for three hundred years and whose skills they needed.
Over the following decade and a half, Rokkie went around the world five times, three without Ana, who passed away, and all that he managed to find were some old weapons secreted away in a stasis locker whose story was very old. On August 4th 4001, as the trail grew cold, Rokkie traveled to the central psycho–probe archives in the Denver sector in the hope that he would find anything there.
When Rokkie walked up to an assistant, the whispers from the walls helped him convince him to let him see the archival memory core, and, shortly after he went inside, its voice told him that Gilad had suffered five successive psycho–probes at regular intervals, which he assumed were necessary given how resilient he was supposed to be. Once he found what he needed, Rokkie continued his quest.
The next day, in the Shasta Island hatcheries, Rokkie found Gilad, who believed that his name was Gillie Pachter, a fish handler. When Rokkie told Gilad that he was psycho–probed and received a new identity, and that his name was Gilad Anni–Padda, a great warrior, Gilad said that he could never hurt anyone. When Rokkie urged Gilad to fight the conditioning, Gilad told him that he did not know what he was talking about and asked him why he was bothering him, but Rokkie insisted that he had to remember.
After Rokkie told Gilad who he was, and that he had met others like him over the centuries, he gave him his axe and asked him if he had seen it before. Though Gilad was unsure at first, somehow the axe felt familiar, like he should know it, and he wondered how that was possible. As Gilad wielded the axe in his hand, the mental conditioning that made him dislike weapons shattered, and his memories of having wielded other weapons, like clubs, blades, guns, and even his bare fists, resurfaced. Enraged, Gilad remembered who he was, and how the North Americans tried to kill his memories and subvert his will just because he did not fit in with their fascist concept of society.
Though Gilad wished to punish the ones that stole his mind, Rokkie urged him to help him stop Pierce, whose name Gilad recognized and he was certain he had dealt with before in 1992.
As Rokkie and Gilad headed to San–Gabriel to stop Pierce in Rokkie’s shuttle, the voice that Rokkie heard from the guidance-net Mainbrain said that she was gone along with a large mass of San–Gabriel, which he realized meant that she had made her move and that if they hoped to stop her they needed help. Fortunately, the nav-computers told Rokkie where they could find it.
Shortly, Rokkie and Gilad arrived in the South Am Peninsula, where they found Tohru Nakadai and his son, Takashi Nakadai, who had barely survived an attempt on their lives after they exiled themselves from the orbital nation of Japan. While Gilad thought that Tohru looked much like someone he knew, Rokkie told him that they all had a world to save.
Meanwhile, Magnus traveled to San Gabriel to investigate the haven’s disappearance and discovered that the think–rob Talpa had escaped from his prison at the center of the Earth and had taken a group of people hostage. Magnus engaged Talpa in battle, but overmatched he fell to the ground, giving Talpa the opening he needed to deliver a killing blow.
Chapter 5: A Call to Arms[]
After promising Ken that someday he would remove the arm, Aric Dacia joined Geoff McHenry and the Harbinger Renegades in the Unity conflict, leaving Ken behind to watch over his empire. Attacked by Mothergod’s forces soon as they arrived, Aric engaged a squadron of pterosaurs ridden by robot jockeys that overpowered him with their weapons. Knocked out of the sky, Aric fell into a sub–basement prison within Mothergod’s citadel where he discovered the Skammrs offering a group of human slaves as food to the Bionisaurs in exchange for weapons. Disgusted, Aric rescued the slaves, killing Skammers and Bionisaurs in the process. During the battle a Bionisaur tried to eat Aric, but the Manowar Class Armor saved him. After the battle, Aric led the slaves to the safety of the caves in the mountains to turn them into his army, but realizing that turning this gaggle into warriors would not be easy he turned back and decided to force the Skammers into becoming his army.
Chapter 6: Sunburn[]
While out for a late stroll, Jack Boniface witnessed as two police officers allowed Ferry Barucha, an abusive husband, to go free after his wife, Marie–Louise, called them to report that he beat her up. Disgusted by the ease with which demons of the night as Ferry stalked their victims, Jack donned his mask and broke into the Barucha’s house. After Ferry slapped Marie–Louise for calling the cops Jack emerged from the shadows and pushed him against the stove, then he lit it inches from his face to make him feel as mistreated as he did her. Warning Ferry that next time he would go to blazes, Jack left him on the floor reaching out for Marie–Louise’s comforting embrace.
The next day, Jack was mortified to learn that Nettie had told Paul N'Dour, her spiritual advisor, and her friends that he was Shadowman, and although she assured him that they could be trusted, he reluctantly went with her to Curios, N’Dour’s voodoo store, to meet Paul, who she claimed knew all about Shadowman. Though Jack was eager to leave, he listened as Paul told him that he knew that something evil had ripped the doorway to his soul, which when shadows fell came out to haunt the devils in the night, a statement of fact Jack vehemently denied but Paul believed made him perfectly suited for a job he wanted him to perform.
Curious to know what Paul meant, Jack went with him and Nettie to the Bayou, where they took him to a giant cypress tree that concealed a doorway to the Lost Land. As Jack grew impatient, Paul revealed that eight years earlier Buck McHenry chose him to succeed him as Geomancer and taught him how to listen to the whispers of everything around them, which told him that Jack had to stop a demon that would end all of existence. Though he felt ridiculous, Jack donned his mask and went to find the doorway, but when the ceiling dropped below water level, he returned to the boat and told Paul and Nettie to get a scuba diver.
As the sun set, Paul told Jack that the world needed him, but Nettie remarked that what the world needed was Shadowman, then urged Jack to go look again. Certain that the dark would change nothing, Jack went back, and as he searched for the doorway, he realized that at night he reasoned differently, and though he wondered if that made him less logical, he concluded that he remained as rational but lost his fear of limits, which allowed him to cross into new worlds. Filled with a sense of confidence, Jack swam through the doorway and emerged out of a fountain in the Rainbow Tower into the Lost Land, where it was daylight. Initially fazed by the loss of his certainty, Jack refused to give in to the light and tried to be more like Shadowman.
While making his way across the futuristic landscape, Jack was dumbfounded to see as other heroes engaged Mothergod’s forces and wondered if he hit his head while beneath the water and fell asleep, when then he saw a dinosaur jockey about to get crushed by falling rubble and leapt to his rescue just like Shadowman would . As Jack questioned the unconscious jockey, Elya Ann Smith, a ptero pilot, drew her weapon on him and ordered him to surrender, but then Phil Seleski distracted her and Jack disarmed her.
Certain that the best way to get answers was to follow Solar, Jack convinced Elya to help him, and though she could not explain why, she took him to the Rainbow Tower, where he felt that the demon N’Dour that warned him about dwelled. Refusing to give in to the light even as darkness fell around him, Jack leapt off Elya’s ptero into the tower, where he barely survived a run in with carnivorous Bionisaurs.
Hidden behind a pillar, Jack witnessed a fierce battle between Solar and Mothergod and heard Solar admit that he caused irreparable damage to the world and saw him pummel Mothergod into giving in, which made him believe Solar was the demon that would end all of existence. Wondering what Shadowman would do, Jack took pity on Mothergod and tackled Solar, whose touch charred him within an inch of his life. Using the distraction that Jack’s sacrifice afforded her, Mothergod captured Solar inside a cincture wormhole.
The next day, Mothergod commended Elya for bringing Jack to the tower and allowed her to visit him in the med–center, where her doctors had secured him within a massive reconstruction unit to help him recover.
Chapter 7: A World Brought Down[]
Moments after his shuttle crashed in the South Am peninsula, Tohru Nakadai crawled from the wreck with his son, Takashi Nakadai, in his arms, when then Rokland Tate, the Geomancer, and Gilad Anni–Padda, the Eternal Warrior, stepped out from behind a ridge. Concerned for his child’s safety, Tohru materialized his energy sword and warned Rokkie and Gilad that he would take their lives to save his.
After Rokkie told Tohru that the last thing he wanted was to put them out of commission and Gilad said that if they wanted to kill them they would have attacked without warning, the sword and the shuttle told Rokkie that Tohru was gonna perform Seppuku to save Takashi and how he used his energy to power the engines.
While Rokkie told Tohru that he was a Geomancer and that they found him once their computer projected his impact site, Gilad said that everyone knew how Japan had suffered since it became an artificial moon and that they knew of the civil war and how he chose self-exile to bring peace to his homeland. After Gilad urged him to forget about taking revenge, he told Tohru that nothing he considered important mattered, and that Rokkie knew something was terribly wrong with the world, and that the universe, even time itself, were in danger.
Since others had deceived him before, Tohru wanted Gilad to tell him why he should listen to him, but though he told him that his family knew his name, Tohru turned his back and said that the Eternal Warrior had not been heard from for centuries and wondered why he should believe him. Suddenly, Gilad threw a dagger at Tohru that hit a wall mere inches from his face and he urged him to look at it.
Though he felt betrayed, Tohru gazed at the dagger and recognized its markings from the family chronicle, and realized that it was part of his ancestor’s collection and belonged to Shinobi Nakadai, the 29th Rai. Gilad told Tohru that Shinobi gave him the knife after he saved his life during the Cyberite rebellion as a token of gratitude and debt, an obligation passed down unpaid for centuries.
When Gilad asked him if he honored his family or shamed it, Tohru bowed down as a sign of respect and agreed to go with him.
While Tohru changed Takashi’s diaper before they left, he told Rokkie and Gilad that if the danger was as great as they said that Magnus could help them, but while Rokkie was receptive to the idea, Gilad refused to work with Magnus and accused him of helping North Am oppress millions and condoning the psycho-probe. Certain that Magnus had changed and that he now served the people, Tohru said that his strength could make a difference and told Gilad that all he asked in return was that he trusted him like he asked him to trust them. Persuaded, Gilad bowed down and told Tohru that if he fought as well as he spoke, they might have a chance.
Meanwhile, in the new government palace, Isao Seko stood alone in his darken office and gazed at the X–O Commando armor that he stole from Kazuyo Nakadai as it stood beneath a beam of light and asked it if it could sense that he did not trust it. Though he knew that the armor was alive since it grew through alien technology, Isao ignored how aware it was, and asked if it felt loyalty to Kazuyo and resented how he betrayed its former mistress.
As he waved Kazuyo’s severed hand in his, Isao asked the armor if it would obey him when he donned the control ring or kill him due to a hidden failsafe that Kazuyo implanted, then, to save face, he told it that he was not a coward, just very cautions. Standing mere feet from the armor, Isao told it that his technicians would examine its every fiber and synapse, and only when they pronounced it completely benign would he take its power for his own, and only then would President Seko become Emperor Seko.
As Rokkie’s sky-skipper flew over the crumbling ruins of the Barrls gaming arena in North Am’s Goph lev, Gilad reiterated his dislike of recruiting Magnus, but then Rokkie assured him that if he was not part of the equation the outcome would change for the worst. Just then, Tohru looked out the window and saw as Talpa, a rogue freewill robot, lunged against Magnus in the middle of the arena.
To save Magnus, Gilad landed the sky-skipper on top of Talpa and buried him beneath the stands, and though Magnus urged Tohru to help him dig Talpa up to ensure that they had defeated him, Tohru told him that there was no time and that his honorable had told him that the world, and even existence itself, was at stake. While Magnus wished to stay to stop Talpa’s killing spree, Tohru urged him to weight those lives against a universe and he ultimately agreed to go with him as long as he could return once the danger was over.
Before they embarked on their journey, Tohru - at Rokkie’s suggestion and with Magnus’ help - left Takashi in Felina’s orphanage.
Back in Japan, Makiko Minashi told Kazuyo Nakadai that she dreamt of slaying her for shattering her Anti–Humanists revolt, but then Kazuyo showed her the prosthesis she wore on her arm where her hand used to be and told her that she expected her to share her hatred for Isao Seko, who mutilated her and betrayed the Healers. When Kazuyo told Makiko that she could kill her at any time but that if they worked together they might see Seko dead first, Makiko sat down and asked her to elaborate on her plan.
When Rokkie, Magnus, Gilad, and Tohru arrived at the mouth of a cave, Magnus told them that he had been there and then he recited a series of words that Willow Talltrees had taught him to open the portal to the Lost Land. When nothing happened, Gilad told Magnus that the words he uttered where nothing more than ancient Amerind stew recipe, while Rokkie said that passage to the Lost Land was a state of mind and that if they wanted to get there bad enough it would happen.
Just then, Rokkie said that, though he wished to go with them since he would do anything to save the planet, there was already a Geomancer on the battlefield and their contributions would be redundant. As he took his leave, Rokkie told the others that he might be able to find others who could help more, and that if he did he would send them along, but until then his heart was with them.
As they made their way down the darken cavern and Tohru asked the others if Erica Pierce could be really as dangerous as Rokkie claimed, Gilad told him that he had learned to respect Rokkie’s opinions, while Magnus said that they had better hope that she did not know they were coming. Just then, the trio came upon a giant obstruction that blocked the portal to the Lost Land. After Gilad and Magnus failed to push and shatter the obstruction, Tohru materialized his energy sword and destroyed it with a single blow. When the dust settled, the valiant heroes stepped into the Lost Land, where a group of Bionisaurs and robots attacked them.
While she watched the battle from within the confines of her Rainbow Tower, Erica mused that as she was poised on the edge of owning time she now did not have enough of it. Enraged that the battle against her had moved too fast, Erica wondered how she could delay the latest assault, and she studied images of Gilad and Magnus, she concluded that Gilad was stubborn and a long-term threat but lacked the raw might to be an immediate menace, while Magnus possessed brute strength but could be countered with the same. As she stared at an image of Tohru and feared that his power posed a greater hazard to her plans, Erica wondered how she could make him turn away and what could be more important to him than stopping her.
While the fight against Erica’s forces raged on, Gilad exclaimed that he had fought for thousands of years but never a battle like that one, and Magnus remarked that that very battle was for those same thousands of years. As Tohru said that they had to get through those hordes to find the allies that Rokkie spoke off, Erica unexpectedly called for a cease combat to have words with him.
As Erica appeared in the form of a hologram projected through a Bionisaur, she offered Tohru a chance to save his world and conjured an image of Japan as it appeared in orbit over the Earth. Callously, Erica told Tohru that she was projecting an energy matrix wavelength into his timeline that increased gravitational fields and then used it to push Japan from orbit to prove her intention.
As Japan dropped Earthward, the suspension support arms deployed automatically throughout the host body to keep the citizens safe.
After Erica gave Tohru a rod that would transport him to Japan and negate the mag-grav field once he arrived there, Gilad warned him not to activate the device, but Tohru said that he had to take the change and then promised to return once his countrymen were safe. As Gilad urged Tohru to question why Erica would give him the means to return, she melted the entrance to the cave so that once he left he could never return. Stuck between Erica’s threat to fill the sky with the blood of millions and Gilad and Magnus’ rationalization that she wanted him gone because she feared him and their plea that he weigh the millions of lives against the billions that would die if they lost, Tohru shattered the rod, and, in retaliation, Erica destabilized Japan’s orbit.
As Japan experienced an increased gravity surge that completely decayed its orbit and made an impact with Earth imminent, the technicians in the headland’s unified operations control center initiated the dragon mode in an effort to break their fall even though its missing limb prevented them from safely making planet-fall.
Dismayed, Tohru fell to his knees and witnessed as Japan crashed into the Indian Ocean.
As Erica’s troops moved against them and Gilad urged him to fight and not to give in to the pain, Tohru clenched his teeth and proclaimed that the death that Erica Pierce had sown that day would be nothing compared to what she would see the next day.
Chapter 8: Heart Failures[]
While washing dishes with Dr. Heyward’s wife, Kris revealed that she was pregnant with Torque’s baby and was considering having an abortion. Just then, Geoff whisked them off to fight in the Unity conflict. Arriving in the Lost Land, Faith Herbert thought that Magnus looked familiar, when then Mothergod’s forces attacked. As Solar engaged Mothergod, Pete Stanchek learned that Solar had died. Escaping Mothergod’s forces, Pete discovered Kris’ condition and, believing the child to be his, decided to keep them out of the fight. After Geoff McHenry told Pete that he could not send them home, he and the kids hid in a bunker for three months. Worried that discovering that Kris’ baby was not his would upset him, Flamingo unsuccessfully tried to seduce Pete, who learned that Kris cheated on him with Torque. Enraged, he lashed out against Mothergod and came close to killing her, but she blindsided him and he collapsed. Returning to the bunker, Pete coldly consoled a remorseful Kris.
Chapter 9: ...And Then There Was One[]
Before Geoff arrived in Erica’s house, the Erica from the same temporal dimension as Phil killed her past self and took her son Albert. Living in seclusion, she used her powers to extend their lifespan. On Albert’s 100th birthday, she explained her origin and how Solar’s black hole had changed all time and existence, which she thought was her duty to fix. 1,000 years later, after Albert expressed feelings of loneliness, she used her origin as an excuse to seduce him as she had Phil once before. By 3999, Erica established the San Gabriel haven, which she transported to the Lost Land along with the people. From there, she launched her plan to unite all time and space. As Solar followed Erica, Albert watched him fight her robs while telling his stuffed tiger TJ that he hoped Solar would kill her. Standing in the sidelines, Albert watched as Solar and Erica fought, when then Shadowman distracted Solar and Erica trapped him in Unreality within a cincture wormhole.
Chapter 10: Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops[]
After Sting learned that Mothergod had killed Solar, Gilad ordered the others to withdraw. Hiding in some ruins with Geoff, Gilad met his future self from 4001. 157 days later, Geoff snuck into Mothergod’s complex and found an old record he brought with him from Erica’s house that told him that her father had abused her when she was little, when then Erica’s robs captured him. Meanwhile, the Gilads followed Geoff. Riding a pterosaur into the complex, Gilad asked his future self what the future held, but other than warning him of a fight with Aram he regretted having he did not remember much of his life after Unity. Taken to see Erica, Geoff confronted her over the real reason she planed Unity, to erase her father’s molestation. Enraged, she seemingly killed him as the Gilads broke into the room. Barely escaping, Gilad 4001confessed that he remembered Unity going differently than it had, which was worse than before. Offering to avoid the fight with Aram that his future self regretted, Gilad asked Gilad 4001 not to give up.
Rai Companion: Bloodlines[]
Unbeknownst to Mothergod, Geoff sensed a hidden mirrored panel engineered by her son, Albert, and used it to escape, only to land on the remains of Albert’s victims. As a Geomancer, Geoff could hear the whispers of the bones, and listening to their stories made him contemplate his own mortality. Determined to discover what his fate would be should he survive Unity, Geoff made his way to Mothergod’s computer, which revealed his future to him. Solar was able to defeat Mothergod, but not before she had activated her doomsday machine. As the device raged out of control the end of all time was at hand, forcing Solar to evacuate the inhabitants of the Lost Land through time. The runaway reactor imploded into a black hole, but with his almost limitless power Solar was able to destroy it before all was lost. With that, the Unity conflict was over. Solar and Geoff returned to their normal place in time, April 1992, and parted company, each to pursue their own destines. Unlike Solar, Geoff knew what that destiny would be.
Chapter 11: Turok and Roll All Night[]
Armed with an energy-absorbing arrow Albert gave him, Archer leapt into an observation room to kill Erica. As she revealed that he was destined to become a renowned spiritual leader, Archer aimed his shot and fired but missed his intended target, her eye. Since Mothergod survived the assassination attempt on her life, Albert turned on Archer & Arm and tried to kill them, but Mothergod incarcerated them instead. While Archer & Aram sat on a cell, X–O Manowar broke through the wall and opened the way for them to escape. Two days later in a pile of discarded rob parts, Archer prodded Aram to return to the complex with him to retrieve his bow, when then Turok shot Aram with an arrow. Shooting back, the duo took defensive cover behind a giant rob. As Turok found Archer to be a noble warrior and wondered why Mothergod would command the death of such a fine individual, Archer pointed out the evil being done in Pierce’s name. Realizing that no holy being would sanction those acts, Turok renounced his allegiance to Pierce and let the boys go.
Chapter 12: Out of Time[]
Before Talpa could strike, a ship piloted by Rai landed on him and buried him into the ground. As Magnus urged Rai to help him destroy Talpa, Rai explained the Unity conflict and Magnus agreed to go with him. Arriving in the Lost Land, Magnus came across Solar, then as others from 1992 arrived Mothergod’s forces attacked and Sting learned that she had killed Solar. Escaping with Rai, Geoff, and the Gilads, Magnus took command of the effort to stop Unity. 157 days later, Geoff learned that Kris’s baby was destined to grow up to become Magnus. Realizing that Geoff had gone to Mothergod’s complex, Magnus and the others went after him. During a battle with Mothergod’s robs, a column fell on Magnus. As the others retreated, Magnus made it into the complex and found Geoff, who told him that Solar was still alive. Magnus followed Geoff to Mothergod’s control room and engaged her in battle, but then a squadron of robs came to help her. Rescued by Sting, Magnus met Kris’ baby, and, unaware that he was holding himself, he picked him up in his arms.
Chapter 13: Crossroads[]
150 days into Unity, Aric led a raid of Mothergod’s facilities to steal a power converter. Finding Rai, who was there to destroy his prize, Aric convinced him to fight him over it at his camp. There, Rai, Magnus, and Gilad talked Aric into destroying the converter so Mothergod could not use it. Three days later, Aric granted Mothergod an audience. Using his lustful eyes against him, Mothergod tricked Aric into bedding one of his bims in a ploy to get him to shed the X–O. While Aric and Cayla made love, Erica used her power to move the X–O away from him. Just then, a Bionisaur broke into Aric’s tent and almost ate him. Responding to its masters cries, the X–O escaped Mothergod’s control and flew back to Aric. Wrapped in the Good Skin, Aric lead the Skammers against Mothergod’s army, but in the end Mothergod slaughtered everyone. Awakening four days later, Aric learned much to his sorrow that it would take the Good Skin 10 years to make him whole away. Filled with hatred, Aric swore revenge on Mothergod.
The Lost Chapter[]
While searching for Mothergod, Aric found a group of Skammr scouts. Learning of the survival of some of his people, Aric enacted his revenge. The next morning, while the Skammers broke into one of Mothergod’s weapon caches, Aric killed the Bionisaur who ate Cayla. With the Skammers armed with Mothergod’s own weaponry, Aric led an assault on her complex that resulted in the apparent demise of all his followers. Joining the other heroes’ attack on Mothergod’s reactor, Aric assisted Solar in destroying its core. With the Lost Land self–destructing in a cataclysm of exploding energy, Solar laid down a temporal field penetrating all those who remained. Their thoughts lead them to their own respective times, and to the places they called home.
Chapter 14: No Love Lost[]
While Jack Boniface drifted between life and death inside a chamber filled with healing fluids in the Rainbow Tower’s med center massive reconstruction unit, Elya Ann Smith found his data file in the historical archives and learned his name as well as his identity as Shadowman. A month later, as Mothergod’s doctors learned that Jack’s regeneration rate accelerated in the dark, they allowed it to run its course, even though they had no explanation for it, and within a few weeks Jack was well enough for Elya to talk with him.
Unable to discern what happened to him from his dreams, Jack barely remembered Elya, whose strong eyes, bosom, and toned muscles hidden by her curves captivated him when he saw her again. As Elya helped Jack with his recovery, she told him that time was absolute in the Lost Land, where the present was real while outside it all times coexisted, then, as she told him that the only time that mattered was the now, she urged him to make the most of it, and soon a romance blossomed between the two.
As weeks turned into months Elya told Jack that the archives said he would become a successful musician, perform many heroic deeds, and die a horrible death in 1999, then she begged him not to leave the Lost Land. Though Jack missed his friends and sax, all he wanted was to stay with Elya, so he asked her to tell him about Unity, but all she would say was that Mothergod wanted to bring time together as it was there. Just then, Elya received a priority alert she surmised meant that the resisters were attacking and had to go, and though Jack wanted to help, she told him that he had to stay because he was a guest, so he kissed her and wished her luck.
Watching as Elya flew on her ptero to a satellite fusion booster–reactor dome, Jack wondered why he stayed behind while she went to fight, when then he saw a replica of his mask and uniform that she made for him and reasoned that Shadowman would not stay there. Donning his costume, Jack shattered a window and, refusing to give in to the light, jumped out and fell on a pterosaur whose pilot he forced to take him to the dome.
After he took the pilot’s gun, Jack went to find Elya, but then he saw Archer & Armstrong, setting up a bomb in a main support pillar to destroy the dome. As Jack shot Aram, who fell off the milespire, Archer disabled his gun with an arrow, so Jack had to fight him unarmed. Realizing that if he fought smartly Archer would beat him Jack fought as unpredictably as he played his music, but then Prince Albert and his guards arrived, so Aram took Archer under his arm and ran away. As the duo fled, Albert, who despised Jack for saving his mother, shot him under the pretense that he was shooting them, but Jack avoided the blast, then, while Elya instilled in Albert that Jack was a hero of Unity, Jack escaped.
Later that day, Albert visited the control nexus of the main reactor, where Mothergod told him that they were within hours of extending Unity to all existence. Confused, Albert thought that it would take years to achieve Unity because everything had to be built in the Lost Land, but Mothergod revealed that while she kept the resistance at bay their major resources, key personnel, and her power were focused on the objective. Hiding his repulsion for his mother behind a false veil of loyalty, Albert told her that Shadowman broke out and that he was worried of what trouble he might cause, so Mothergod authorized him to take care of him.
Making his way to Elya’s home using a stolen uniform, Jack startled Elya, who thought that he was crazy for returning to the first place where they would look for him. As Jack joked that he would have to be crazy to be there, he heard a song that he had not recorded yet that Elya was listening to and wondered how that could be. Reminding Jack that time was not absolute and that everything outside the Lost Land was dreams that were only real when they went there, Elya reiterated that the only time that mattered was the now and kissed him. Later, while they lay in each other’s arms after they made love Jack asked Elya why Albert would try to kill him and she told him that Albert was not only Mothergod’s son but also her lover, and that there was a vice den somewhere where he was a regular. Just then, Albert ordered Elya to report to ready–room JK–1.
After Albert ordered Elya to find Jack and deliver him into his custody, he went to the Speakeasy and beat up Bunsie, a bim dressed like his mother. Unbeknownst to Albert, Jack followed him and then confronted him outside the vice den. When Jack accused Albert of being a demon, Albert told him that his mother was the true demon and that because of him she would become a God and destroy everything.
Just then, Elya ordered Jack to release Albert, who she knew he would follow, and told Albert that she would tell his mother about his excursions to the vice pit, a notion that upset him. As Albert reached for a guard’s gun to kill Elya, Jack kicked it from his hand, but then Albert ordered her to tell Jack how Unity would wipe everything away and erase his friends as if they never existed and Jack understood that her faith had blinded her. Realizing that he was wrong to stop Solar, Jack refused to give in to Elya and left to fix his mistake.
As Jack and Albert made their way through the compound, they came across Archer & Armstrong at a bunker where Mothergod kept the prison where she trapped Solar. As Jack barely avoided Archer’s arrow, Armstrong tossed a crate at a wall which rubble buried Jack. Crawling out of the wreck, Jack stared at the energy from Mothergod’s reactor in the distance and blamed himself for causing Unity.
Chapter 15: Sacrificial Spirit[]
As the sun rose in the Lost Land for the 12th time since the fall of Japan, Tohru Nakadai stared at a pile of shattered robots and dead Bionisaurs from atop a mound and renewed his vow of vengeance. When a robot rose from the pile and lunged against him, Tohru destroyed it with his sword and then mused that there was one less foe to stand between him and the woman who murdered his nation.
Just then, Magnus came out from behind a ridge and told Tohru that Mothergod had sent reinforcements and that they had better retreat, but, undaunted in his quest, Tohru pointed in the direction of the Rainbow Tower with his sword and told Magnus that that was the only direction he was going to go in. While he expressed sympathy for Tohru’s loss, Magnus asked him to think about their little resistance force, which had become his people, and urged him to work together with them, and though he wished to continue, Tohru relented.
In Mothergod’s bedchamber in the Rainbow Tower, a robot informed Erica Pierce that the night before the resisters attempted to destroy their robot comm–link center, but they maintained their perimeter and their losses were insignificant. As she donned her rob, Erica asked if they killed any of the resisters, particularly Tohru, but the robot said that they all escaped before reinforcements were deployed.
When the robot informed Erica that the army captain requested permission to institute a massive search and destroy operation, she authorized a few patrols to keep the resistance from getting too comfortable, but said that she did not want him to scatter their forces and leave the complex vulnerable. As Erica told the robot to convey to the captain that he keep all scanners focused on their perimeters and their troops in defensive positions, her son, Albert Pierce, awoke on the other side of her bed and asked what was happening.
Concerned, Albert asked Erica if the resisters were attacking and if they were in trouble, but she told him that with Phil Seleski dead they really were not much of a threat, except for Tohru, who she wished they had killed. When Albert asked what was special about Tohru, Erica told him that he possessed a vast reservoir of pure energy inside of him that he shaped into weapons that troubled her, because she did not understand its nature or its form, and it would not come when she called it, and, that in fact, she could not move at all.
Disturbed, Erica said that, while Aric Dacia and Pete Stanchek were very dangerous, Tohru was the only one who worried her. When Albert asked Erica if she though that Tohru could kill her, she said that she did not know, but urged him not to worry, as, very soon, she would be far beyond anyone’s power to harm, even his, when she became God. When Albert wondered how soon until her transformation would happen, Erica told him that once her reactor was finished and then she took him to a window from where they could look into it.
While the sight of the reactor incited Erica to express satisfaction with the progress her followers had made, her lamentation that they had to wait until they arrived in the Lost Land to being their work prompted Albert to ask her why. Though she was tired of repeating herself, Erica reiterated that one could not assemble a delicate and powerful piece of equipment just anywhere, they would need a place like the Lost Land that was free of the fluctuations that occur in normal timespace, but Albert failed to understand her words.
Condescendingly, Erica told Albert that the reactor was powerful enough to rip a hole in timespace, and that, once it opened the infinite to her grasp, she would take control and bend it to her will, then, she would move timespace as easily as she moved energy and be able to make everything just the way she wants it.
When Albert snarkily told Erica that, unless they stopped her, her plan would be wonderful, she said that the resistance did not have a chance, as they had hundreds of thousands of loyal followers, millions of robots, an endless supply of dinosaurs, which were easy to mutate and enhance, and armies of native converts. As Erica tenderly took her hand to Albert’s cheek, she said that she wanted them to spend the day together alone, but he told her that had promised to visit a friend in the med–center and left.
Soon, Albert made his way to the underground infirmary in sub–level 169, where Bunsie was resting from the beating he gave her. After he sarcastically apologized to Bunsie, Albert told her that he had input the credits he owed to her account along with a little extra and assured her that what he did to her was not personal.
As he grew increasingly upset, Albert slammed his fist on Bunsie’s bed and said that he just got frustrated and elected the rental–bims to vent his anger. Hoping to incite pity from Bunsie, Albert told her that he was an abused child, though, technically, Mothergod was not really his mother, but a doppelganger caused by a fluctuation in normal timespace who killed his real mother and took him away with her. As he stared at Bunsie with a deranged expression on his face, Albert said that, while they lived in seclusion for a long time while Erica worked on her project, their loneliness pushed them together while he grew up. Albert then said, that, sometimes, there was something dark and wicked about it that tortured him, but then he hated himself for feeling that way and her for making him feel that way.
While Albert loomed over Bunsie, he said that he had tried to talk to his mother about his feelings thousands of times, but she always started to get mad and he had to stop, because if he lost his temper and hit her, she would kill him. Filled with rage for his mother, Albert said that she really needed to hit her, but, sometimes, when he tried to talk, she would start playing, and next thing he knew she got him wrapped around her finger. Enraged, Albert told Bunsie that he had to kill his mother before she became God.
Tired, Albert sat next to Bunsie’s bed and, mockingly, said that he could see that she was broken up about his tragic story, but then he turned somber and said that she knew too much and he could not have her spread vicious rumors about it and killed her.
Two days later, in relative time, as Tohru and Magnus stood on a knoll that overlooked the Rainbow Tower, Magnus told Tohru that Mothergod seemed content to defend her perimeter and sent occasional patrols out to harass them and Tohru said that regardless of what the rest of them did, he would end her wait before long.
After Magnus said that they were trying to gather the others who were scattered the first day, like Aric and Pete, so they could strike with as much power as possible, he asked Tohru why he was determined to go at it alone. Guilt-ridden, Tohru told Magnus that, as a matter of honor, he had to kill Erica, then he said that, for a thousand years, forty-one generations of Rai greeted every sunrise and renewed their vow to keep Japan and its people safe, until he came along and stood by and watched while Mothergod slaughtered his nation.
When Tohru told Magnus that there was nothing left for him but revenge and death, Magnus said that he had something to tell him, but then Tohru heard over the trees that Gilad Anni–Padda and Geoff McHenry had found Pete. Shortly after Tohru and Magnus joined Gilad and the others, a robot patrols ambushed them, but Tohru swiftly destroyed it with three consecutive blows from his sword. While Pete took off with Faith Herbert and Charlene Dupré, two members of his Harbinger Resistance, Magnus suggested that they take off as well before a larger force showed up, but Tohru pointed at the Rainbow Tower where his enemy laid and said that he would not retreat.
Twenty-six sunrises later, Tohru awoke in an infirmary in the ad hoc headquarters of the resistance where Magnus dragged him and mended him with whatever few med–resources they had been able to capture after he almost got himself killed for the third time.
When Tohru rose from the bed to continue his battle, Magnus stood in his way and urged him to understand that if he worked with them they had a chance, but if he did not, sooner or later, he was going to die a futile dead, and, probably, so would the rest of them.
After Tohru acquiesced to work with him, Magnus confessed that, shortly before he arrived in the Lost Land, he had a confrontation with Grand One that ended with her death. Enraged, Tohru manifested his sword and said that, now that his losses were complete, he had one more to avenge and no one left to apologize to. With the sword in his hands, Tohru bowed before Magnus and told him that, for the moment, his sword was at his service, but that after Mothergod had been dealt with, he would kill him and, then, he would kill himself.
Sixty-five sunrises later, Tohru and Pete breached the Rainbow Tower’s second perimeter and entered the complex at its most weakly defended point, but as they made their way through it, Pete left his mind wander and something hit him from behind. When two robots came after Pete, Tohru mused that Magnus would want him to save him and destroyed them.
While he helped Pete stand up, Tohru mused that, while his personal concerns were still with him, he had to turn his back on a clear path to Mothergod and let opportunity die behind him. After Pete airlifted them and they escaped, he apologized to Tohru and told him that the next day they would get another chance, but Tohru wondered how many tomorrows were left.
In the early morning of their 157th day in the Lost Land, Magnus told the rest of the resistance that Mothergod was less than two hours away from activating her reactor, but then Geoff said that Phil was still alive, as Mothergod could not really destroy him, just trap him until the reactor gave her the power. As Geoff told the others that he found a secret way into the complex, and that he knew where Mothergod kept Phil, he urged them to rescue him and said that with him back they could beat her.
As Magus said that Geoff was right and that it would take all of them working together to free Phil, he looked at Tohru and Kris Hathaway, who had just given birth to a child, which made Tohru wonder if he was more concerned about Pete or about him.
Forty-six minutes later, the resistance entered Mothergod’s complex through an entryway Geoff found that her troops rigged so that one of the native tribes could smuggle drugs and women inside. When the resistance arrived in the ground level of the central sector, the sentries sounded the alarm, but Gilad assured them that they were already past most of Mothergod’s forces.
After Geoff convinced the door that guarded the bunker where Mothergod kept Phil to let them in, an army of robots bore down the hallway and Tohru stood between them and the door. While Gilad wanted to stay, Magnus refused to let him and told him that Tohru knew what he was doing. As Magnus followed the others, Tohru told him to remember that he kept his vow.
As Tohru wondered what was taking the others so long to return, a light like the sun’s washed over him and Erica Pierce materialized in an explosion of multicolor lights. With clenched teeth and with two swords in his hands, Tohru steadfastly stood between Mothergod and the door and told himself that, while it was sunrise outside, the time for vows was over.
When Mothergod ordered Tohru to get out of his way, he realized that she feared him and he knew that fear would make her strike first, but though he blocked a blast of multicolored lights with his swords, its intensity pushed him back and blinded him.
As he plunged his sword forward, Tohru asked his ancestors to guide his hand and he stabbed Erica on the shoulder, but, even though the blow weakened her, it did not kill her and she removed the blade. Angered, Erica told Tohru that only Phil had ever hurt her so badly, and that if she was not careful he might kill her, then she blasted him with a discharge of energy that scorched his flesh.
Though his body was charred, Tohru lunged against Mothergod to honor his vow, but, with every step, he fell to his knees while she mockingly told him that she was almost ready to believe that a spirit filled him, but that once she burnt its house of flesh, it would die.
As Tohru perished at Mothergod’s feet, he asked those that he failed to forgive him, but then Erica said that the others had freed Phil, and, with his last word, he proclaimed that the sun had risen, which signified that his sacrifice had not been in vain and he kept his vow.
Moments after Mothergod left to activate her reactor, Albert grabbed Tohru’s sword and vowed to kill her.
Chapter 16: Children of Destiny[]
157 days after they arrived in the Lost Land, Kris went into labor. Desperate, Pete brought Aram to help with the delivery, which occurred soon after. Kris gave birth to a boy whom Geoff had told her would become Magnus. Just then, Faith returned from an assault on Mothergod’s complex and said that Magnus had fallen in battle. Scared, Kris made Sting go get him. Rescuing Magnus and Geoff, Sting brought them back to their HQ, where Geoff told them that Solar was alive. As the heroes broke into Erica’s complex to rescue Solar, two robs entered their headquarters and captured Kris. Finding Solar trapped in a wormhole, Sting entered his mind. Finding himself in Unreality, Pete almost succumbed to his shortcomings, but fighting past them he helped Solar escape. While Solar led the heroes against Mothergod, Sting rescued Kris and the baby. As Mothergod’s reactor destroyed reality, Sting and Kris made peace over her infidelity. As Pete flew away to help Solar, Geoff appeared and told Kris to give him the baby.
Chapter 17: Dreams That You Dare[]
Trapped in Unreality, a victim of his thoughts, Phil was stuck in a loop reliving the events that transformed him into Solar until Pete made contact with his mind and helped him escape. Discovering this, Mothergod activated her reactor. As Solar and the others escaped, X–O joined the battle. Meanwhile, Albert joined Erica, who as she explained Unity he stabbed with Rai’s energy sword, which opened a rift in her defenses that Solar used to enter the complex. Looking to make amends, Solar tried to reason with Erica, but filled with rage she refused to listen. As Erica’s reactor shredded time space around them, Solar engaged her in battle, but she was more powerful. Ranting about the abuse she suffered at her father’s hands, Erica released all her rage on Solar, nearly killing him. Erica’s attack made Solar take responsibility for his part in giving her the power at her command, so rising up he defeated her and trapped her within a wormhole of his own making where she was forced to relieve her nightmare.
Chapter 18: Until the End of Time[]
Unable to control the power unleashed by Erica’s reactor, all Solar could do was save as many lives as possible.
Making his way through the chaotic compound, Jack found Elya, and after they declared their love for each other, he took him with him back to the doorway that he crossed to enter the Lost Land.
Besieged by robs that tried to kill him, Magnus was exhausted, when then Solar appeared and rescued him. Before Solar returned Magnus to North Am, he promised Archer & Armstrong that he would send them back to where they came from when he returned. Realizing that Solar was sending them back to face the Sect, Armstrong searched the wreckage for a shield.
Down in the Speakeasy, the bims took their revenge on Albert and killed him.
Upon his return, Solar blanketed the Lost Land with a field that penetrated everyone so their consciousness would take them home.
As Aric mused of what he could have accomplished with the Manowar when he was a warrior in 408 A.D, he vanished in a flash of light.
When Pete and the others found Kris, he discovered that the baby was gone just as they all vanished in a flash of light.
Standing on a mountaintop, Gilad thanked his past self for helping him renew his spirit, and as they contemplated the unique chance the Lost Land afforded them to see his past, the Gilads vanished.
Dreading going back to Los Angeles, Armstrong found a large shield with which to protect himself and nagged Archer to prepare his weapon, when then they vanished.
While Jack led Elya through the underground stream, Solar sent everyone from 4001 back to North Am and she vanished. Afraid that Elya drowned, Jack submerged himself in the water to look for her.
After Solar sent Kris’ baby to the future where he would become Magnus, the energy from the reactor imploded into a black hole that threatened to destroy the Lost Land, but with Geoff's encouragement, Solar transformed the black hole into energy and turned the Lost Land into an unreal fantasy that never existed.
Once they were the last one left, Solar opened a rift back home and returned himself and Geoff back to reality.
Epilogue[]
Almost 2,000 years later, in 3975 A.D., baby Magnus appeared in the sky over Antarctica, and as he fell to the ground, Solar swooped in and caught him. Thanking the Geomancers for reminding him, Solar took Magnus to 1-A, the tin man with a heart that would raise him to become a robot fighter and mankind’s savior.
Post-Unity[]
The Unity Saga[]
The scope of the Unity Saga – especially after you sit down and read it from start to finish – makes it hard to envision the incredible impact the story had on the Valiant Universe. Because the saga’s near–omnipotent villain, Mothergod, chose the Lost Land as her ultimate battleground, the conflict’s powerful tendrils were capable of reaching through time, affecting the world’s past, and present, as well as its future. I’ll endeavor to give you a road map as to where the Unity Saga has taken us so far, and where it’s bound to take us next.
In the midst of the conflict, Solar destroyed the reactor Erica had constructed to wipe away all time, but not before it had begun to release its awful energies. Solar managed to rescue the Lost Land’s inhabitants by encasing them in “time bubbles” and sending them to their respective “homewhens”. This action alone gave rise to major events throughout the Valiant Universe.
The Heroes[]
The Unity Saga marked the beginning of the great friendship that was to develop between Obadiah Archer and Aram Anni–Padda, whom we’ve come to know as Armstrong. They entered the Lost Land as fresh acquaintances and emerged as virtually inseparable. Armstrong came to respect and grow fond of his new partner, and when they returned from the Lost Land, Aram would continue his tutelage of the youngster. Archer would find himself questioning whether or not he believed the fantastic tales told by the immortal, but truly came to value the man’s company and guidance.
Gilad Anni–Padda would, naturally enough, be changed in two ways: He was brought into Unity in two incarnations – the Eternal Warrior of 1992, and the Eternal Warrior of 4001. Both men were instrumental in preventing the fruition of Mothergod’s plans. Gilad of 4001, thanked his “other” self for “reminding me of who I am – renewing my spirit”.
The timing could scarcely have been better. Within a year of returning from Unity, the revitalized 4001 Gilad would become one of the Future Force, defending Earth from the Malev Invasion. The Gilad of the present was also quite changed by having the opportunity to examine himself in the form of his future self, and reassess the direction his life was taking.
Geoff McHenry, possibly the youngest person to ever attempt the role of Geomancer, survived his test of character and succeeded his Uncle Buck as “the Eyes and Ears” of the Earth. Unity had been foretold by Geomancers for centuries. It was Geoff’s lot and Earth’s luck that it was he who had to rally Earth’s heroes against Mothergod. He faced the villain by himself and convinced Kris to allow her baby to fulfill its destiny as Magnus.
Only two years later, the Chaos Effect would remove Geoff from the scene, but not before he would free one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century. Mothergod’s computers told Geoff of Angelo Mortalli and Project Rising Spirit. Using this information, he would free this man in an effort to set time right. Of course, Mortalli would take on a new identity as Michael Lazarus, better known as – Bloodshot.
The Harbinger Renegades fought what was perhaps the strangest and greatest battle of their careers. The kids passed through a period of mourning for their fallen comrade Torque, with more on their hands than the memory of his death. Sting uncovered the truth about Kris’ pregnancy and consciously unleashed the full force of his Omega power for the first time. Shortly after the birth of her child, Kris was asked by Geoff to make the hardest decision of her life – whether or not to give up her child to the future, as Magnus of North Am. The decision would hunt her for the rest of her life.
Faith Herbert, and Charlene Dupré would each have the opportunity to hone and perfect their abilities. Faith got the chance to be a real superhero in a fantastic “comic–book” world. Charlene helped Kris through the pregnancy and met her future husband, Archer, for the first time. Solar and Sting replaced their adversarial first impressions with a measure of mutual respect. It would be the last time the team would truly operate as a whole.
Magnus’ full origin was revealed during Unity but the Robot Fighter would not learn of it himself for a while. He fought with his great strength and leadership qualities, and carried the Resistance forward against Pierce. He accepted the sacrifice of Rai, fully realizing that the end was at hand. It was not the first friend he was to lose in so courageous a way. In some regards, Unity prepared him for the major struggled to come in North Am.
The last of Grandmother’s Rais, Tohru Nakadai, died saving all of time. He’d always felt that he came up short against the forty-one Rais that served before him, but he showed that he was in fact the most gallant of them all. He had left an infant son and wife aboard the shattered remains of what had been Japan. His homeland was smashed as a result of his refusal to submit to Pierce, through he knew this would be a far better fate than if Japan had been wiped from existence in Pierce’s new “reality”. Tohru was the only one who could and would have killed Mothergod. But, while his sacrifice was indeed noble, it would serve to warp his son, Takashi, into a villain of great magnitude.
Jack Boniface learned during Unity that Shadowman was destined to follow Rai’s example and, in 1999, sacrifice himself to rid the world of the Darque power. This was before Jack had even learned of the existence of Master Darque, and before he came to understand what he had been transformed into. Unity provided him an opportunity to learn more of what Shadowman was, and to allow Jack to fall into a love so passionate, that no brief reunion could ever do it justice. Jack returned to a very real, very harsh world, that needed him more than ever.
Unity provided the climax of Solar’s origin and arrival into our universe. He would, for the first time, deal with what he had done to the world from which he came. The evil that Erica Pierce had become would present him with an opportunity to redeem himself, and he would take his place as the greatest hero in the Valiant Universe. At the moment of truth, Solar realized that he could defeat and imprison Erica, but he could not bring himself to kill her. Pierce was a demon, while Solar was not.
Turok, Son of Stone, found himself used as a pawn by Mothergod. With Solar’s help he was transported into the present Valiant Universe (along with his greatest foes, the Bionisaurs, thanks to Pierce). The fate of Turok’s friends and compatriot, Andar, would be resolved a little over a year after Unity, when Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, would resume his role as teacher – this time for Andar’s grandson, Andy.
Aric of Dacia once more gained a people to lead. In the Lost Land he could use the power of the X–O Manowar and live as his heritage dictated – as a bandit prince! He would find, and lose, a new people in a pattern that he would face again and again. His pride led him to bargain with Mothergod and cost him years trapped inside his armor. Ultimately, Solar’s power granted him his hearts desire – to return to his original home. But, he would find that you cannot always go home again. Aric underwent tremendous change as a result of Unity, change that would mark both him and his armor.
The Villain[]
If Unity revealed anything about Erica Pierce, it was that she was to be pitied. Her mother was an alcoholic, unable to give a child any love. Her father was an abuser who physically battered, sexually abused and psychologically demeaned his daughter. He was the ultimate destructor, who twisted his child into the monster who became Mothergod. Her warped psyche led her to abuse her "own" child as she herself had been abused. In the end, this abuse culminated in her downfall, when Albert managed to strike back at her for the centuries of unnatural attention. Solar exploited this opportunity to defeat her and prevent her plans for Unity. Ever the “good guy” he could not bring himself to destroy her, and so he locked her outside of time and space in a cincture wormhole of non–existence, where her nightmares are forever turned back upon her. Killing her would have been kinder.
The Lost Land[]
The Lost Land is gone forever – well, not quiet. At the end of Unity, it appeared that the energies from Erica’s reactor overran and destroyed the Lost Land. But what actually is the Lost Land?
"Off the backstage of the Universe, what some call Unreality, there is a sluggish area of the timestream. In that region lies a pocket continuum called the Lost Land." Phil Seleski, aka Solar
"Most people think of time as a stream, but it’s really more like a hurricane – countless endings and beginnings chasing each other’s tails. While you are in it, it seems orderly and absolute – but it isn’t. The Lost Land is at the center – like the eye of the storm. From the Lost Land you can see that it’s all chaos out there." Erica Pierce, aka Mothergod
The Lost Land appeared to be converted from mass to energy, which was then dissipated by Solar. But the Lost Land is not matter as we know it. Entry to the Lost Land is made from different epochs via strange entryways that are themselves anomalies in the timestream. One such entryway, the one from 1992, has been destroyed forever. But the other doorways – like spokes on a great wheel – still exist. In June of 1994, during the culmination of the Chaos Effect, the Lost Land was remade! (Alas! That is another story entirely!). The Rainbow Tower has reappeared, glimmering over its horizon, and deep within its bowels, a madwoman surely schemes. Undoubtedly, she awaits the heroes of the Unity Saga, once more.
Issues[]
- UNITY - Time Is Not Absolute
- Chapter 1: Unity #0
- Chapter 2: Eternal Warrior #1
- Chapter 3: Archer & Armstrong #1
- Chapter 4: Magnus, Robot Fighter #15
- Chapter 5: X-O Manowar #7
- Chapter 6: Shadowman #4
- Chapter 7: Rai (Volume 2) #6
- Chapter 8: Harbinger #8
- Chapter 9: Solar, Man of the Atom #12
- Chapter 10: Eternal Warrior #2
- Chapter 11: Archer & Armstrong #2
- Chapter 12: Magnus, Robot Fighter #16
- Chapter 13: X-O Manowar #8
- Chapter 14: Shadowman #5
- Chapter 15: Rai (Volume 2) #7
- Chapter 16: Harbinger #9
- Chapter 17: Solar, Man of the Atom #13
- Chapter 18: Unity #1
- Unity Yearbook #1: The Lost Chapter
Notes[]
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Gallery[]
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Related[]
- Unity
- Unity (Valiant Comics)
- Unity 2000 (Acclaim Comics)
- Unity (Volume 2) (Valiant Entertainment)
References[]
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