Orion the Omen-Bringer

Orion was Ethan Pilot, the grand-nephew of the original Orion the Omen-bringer. When the original Orion died battling the Coven, his body expelled the Crystal Eye of Babylon, the artifact that gave him his powers. Ethan's grandfather inherited his brother's things, and Ethan inherited them in turn. It wasn't until after the reading of the will that Ethan opened the old and rusted war trunk of his great-uncle to find the costume, journals and scrapbook of the summoner of the Great Hunt. Also buried in the trunk, carefully wrapped, was the Eye, which Ethan, like his great-uncle before him, injudiciously touched.
    Once his body absorbed the crystal, Ethan found he possessed the powers his predecessor wielded as Orion. He had served his time in the military, and had just left the Army with the rank of corporal in the signals division, with plans to get a civilian job in computers. He was very much at loose ends, sure that he was through with the Army but unclear on a future career, with no romantic attachments and a significant sum of money from his inheritance, and time as a costumed adventurer felt like the thing to do. Perhaps there was even a career in it.
     Ethan operated in Dallas for several months before MEDUSA approached him. Given the original Orion's close ties with the Department, their investigative branch had little difficulty discovering the new Orion's identity. Ethan had been troubled in Dallas, fighting against the Syndicate, a team of variant mercenaries. While he was powerful enough to beat any two or three members, they were winning by tactics and superior numbers. Lacking a support structure of his own, Ethan was defending innocents but failing to stop the threat. The damage costs were rising, Ethan saw little chance of ending the crime spree, and his great-uncle's legendary temper was rising in Ethan as well. When MEDUSA offered him a place on their team he jumped at it. His next encounter with the Syndicate was with a MEDUSA five-man team supported by Seraph, leading to the mercenaries' sound defeat. Ethan joined MEDUSA full time after that and apparently never regretted the decision; a capable leader with military experience and versatile powers, he made a near perfect agent.
    A year after he joined, MEDUSA gave him a special assignment: official liaison between MEDUSA and Ground Zero. This was an experiment for MEDUSA, strengthening ties with external organizations to gain non-standard resources during emergencies (it would later repeat this procedure with the second incarnation of the Justice Defenders). Orion was to ensure that basic standards of conduct and security were maintained by the more rambunctious young variants.
    Far from being a spy within their ranks, Orion alternated between being a soldier, a leader, a mentor, and a catalyst for action. When Ground Zero's funding was stripped during the MEDUSA/Shroud (CIA-backed Naval Intelligence team) maneuvering, Orion fought the government policy to the bitter end, going against orders to remain with the team. (No reprimands were placed in Orion's file for these actions, in part because of revelations of Sidari involvement in the affair, and in part because MEDUSA was unwilling to sever their relations with Ground Zero themselves, and were backing Orion's play behind the scenes.)
    Orion followed Ground Zero into the New York Daemonwar and died when Tengu magically separated the Crystal Eye from Ethan's body. The Coven had never forgiven the previous Orion for his obsessive hounding of their activities, and they took this opportunity to revenge themselves upon his successor. Bereft of his powers in the center of the battle, he was quickly killed by the forces the Coven had unleashed. Orion's statue stands with the rest of Ground Zero in Harborview's Heroes Square, a tribute to the fallen warrior. The Crystal Eye was lost in the conflict and hasn't been seen since, but since it is indestructible, we can trust another wielding its power will arise, given time. After his death, Orion's origin and identity were declassified; Ethan had no other family, and MEDUSA felt it appropriate that he receive the honors due a hero.
    Ethan Pilot was a trained soldier, though not possessed of variant or even extreme skill. He was familiar with most modern military weapons, was an able computer operator and programmer, and had a flair for cryptography and signals deciphering. He was somewhat trained in the martial arts and had played with his great-uncle's collection of archaic weapons. When he absorbed the Crystal Eye of Babylon, his combat skills increased fivefold. This raised his skills with unarmed conflict, archaic and modern weapons to enhanced, if not variant grade levels. He would carry a spear, hand axe, and prototype energy/projectile pistol as Orion.
    The Crystal Eye enhanced his strength and endurance fivefold, raising him to near human maximum levels. The Eye also let him control the weather, specifically to generate thunder and windstorms of impressive levels. He could direct the violent discharges from that weather at his opponents, either from the storm or directly from his own body. More than just thunderstorms, the Eye granted a limited control of all electrical forces, allowing him to short out electrical devices and absorb electrical energy into his body to enhance his health or powers. Orion once survived colliding with a speeding subway train by grabbing the third rail a second before the impact, and used the entire output of a power station to fuel a single attack against Death.
    Finally, Ethan had learned to use the Crystal Eye to transport himself and his companions vast distances instantly. He and those around them would be consumed in a bolt of lighting and reappear in a similar bast up to hundreds of miles away. This just scratches the surface of the Crystal's powers, but Ethan was a more scientific and pragmatic man than his great-uncle, so he never succeeded in bringing the Eye's less obvious and more mystical abilities under his control. This aspect of same-dimensional travel is the closest he came. As the exploits of the original Orion indicate, the Crystal Eye is capable of far, far more, and Ethan never had the time, ability or inclination to exploit.

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