Bio: Soldier

 Jared Freeman only wanted to serve his country.  It was his highest ambition—his life’s goal.  After enlisting, he accelerated through the ranks; Special Forces, counter terrorism, advanced recon, and tactical deployment were his forte and the powers-that-be took notice.

Jared served with honor.  On every continent, below the sea, and beyond Earth itself; wherever Uncle Sam pointed, Jared fought with an unquestionable patriotic fervor fueled by his love for the Red, White, and Blue.

This highly decorated, experienced, and supremely loyal soldier drew the attention of a new administration as Lex Luthor rose to power and claimed the Oval Office as his own.  President Luthor prized unquestionable loyalty and blind patriotism.  He used it.  He controlled it.  The star soldier became an elite member of Luthor’s new Secret Service.  Like everyone else he knew the rumors surrounding Luthor, but he admired this businessman-turned-president’s dedication to the protection of humanity, at first.

Over time things began to change for Jared.  It’s not that he outright disobeyed or even questioned his orders, but something in his conscience began to nag at him about the nature of the administration.

And then, during a trip to Africa, President Luthor was publicly insulted by an outspoken village leader in front of a global television audience.  In trademark Luthor style he painted a pretty picture spun full of philanthropical goodwill.  However, behind closed doors the president was furious and ordered the village leader to be “dealt with.”  Freeman was assigned the task.

For the first time in his military career he was at odds with his orders.  He was conflicted.  His conscience demanded satisfaction and for the first, and last, time in his long career he questioned his assignment.  Jared not only refused the task, but actively intervened to protect the African leader.  The response was swift and immediate.

Freeman was arrested by his superiors, detained in some dank forgotten hell-hole typically reserved for dethroned dictators and would-be assassins.  It was during this time that Luthor’s Secret Science Squad began the early stages of Project Zero, an endeavor which would later come to be known publicly as the Everyman Project.  The president offered them Jared as a primary candidate for testing.  Who better to serve as a test subject than some betrayer to the White House?

Time was meaningless to him.  It could have been weeks, for certain it was months.  Day after day after day he endured unending, excruciating punishment, as Luthor’s Secret Science Squad sought to unlock the formula for the genetic manipulation of the meta-gene.  Jared’s mind almost broke.  He fell within himself and concentrated on the only love he had ever known—his country.

Soon after Luthor went crazy and named Superman as America’s top fugitive, his presidency ending in a blur of madness born of desperation and jealousy.  The Secret Science Squad lost their primary backing and was absorbed and hidden by LexCorp along with all their research, including Project Zero.  Jared Freeman, failed experiment, forgotten soldier, fervent patriot, stayed locked away, until the day the exobytes came.

When Lex Luthor returned from the future and released Brainiac’s exobytes into Earth’s atmosphere the countless experiments Jared had endured awoke within his DNA to startling dramatic affect.  Power, pure and raw, manifested itself as the captive soldier threw off his restraints and burst from the LexCorp holding facility.

Donning the colors which had been his life’s service Jared set out with his newfound abilities to ensure the protection of life and liberty, for all, as The Soldier.  Over time other heroes rallied to his cause and F.L.A.G. was born, for . . .

 “We are dedicated to the ideas of Freedom, Liberty, and Glory.  Echoing the patriotic sentiments of this great nation we call home, we stand unified against threats foreign and domestic, alien and earthly, extra and intra dimensional.  Having built this League of Super Heroes around these basic principles: The Freedom from tyranny for everyone; The Liberty to control your own destiny; and Glory that can only be found through the betterment of all mankind..

We protect life, liberty, and happiness for all beings through the practices of preserving justice and protecting the innocent.  We do this because . . .

In the face of great tyranny it is incumbent upon us to act in accordance to the fullest measure, either in pursuit of individual liberty or in the hopeful accomplishment of liberty for those who can not free themselves.  It is in the hopeful pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness for all within our reach that we guard against all enemies to the these hallowed virtues --for when the citizenry fails to guard the nation, the republic itself will no longer be an indivisible force for Freedom, Liberty, and Glory!” –Taken from the F.L.A.G. manifesto