(R.E.B.E.L.S. #9-11) - Starro the Conquerer usurped the L.E.G.I.O.N. from Vril Dox, and went on a campaign of world war. Vril Dox erected a forcefield around Maltus and its' surrounding planets to contain him, and when Captain comet and Adam Strange heard the news, they used a zeta beam to enter the domain and offer assistance in stopping Starro. He told them to go to Dhor to retrieve the Gamma Gong, but Starro's High Vanguard were already there and had smashed the gong, so they rescued Kanjar Ro, it's inventor. Vril was not pleased, and said he could still use the metal from the gong for his plan. He would split the team to Dhor, Kalanor and the Dominator homeworld to retrieve the three items he needed to defeat Starro. Garv suggested they call themselves the R.E.B.E.L.S, and the members of the team that were part of the original team mocked Vril for the acronym he came up with. The High Vanguard arrived to spirit away Vril's son Lyrl. Strange and Comet caught Vril up with the events of Blackest Night, which they'd first heard about from the JLA com channel. Lyrl Dox agreed to come willingly with the Vanguard, but only if Strata and her family were left unharmed, claiming they were his slaves. Vril was furious with them for letting his son get caught, and he directed the R.E.B.E.L.S. to fly offworld. He correctly predicted that Starro would unleash his son's 12th-level intelligence and disable the forcefield around Maltus. He suggested they go to Earth to seek aid from their superhero community when they flew into the middle of a battle between the Sinestro Corps and the Black Lantern Corps, and Wildstar was left behind on Voorl. Black Lantern Corps member Harbinger destroyed the R.E.B.E.L.S. ship, and the resurrected Stealth wanted to kill Vril, who told her that even in death she was insufferable. When Sinestro Corps member Narok was killed by Harbinger his ring sought out the nearest being who could inspire great fear, and it chose Vril Dox, who found the newfound power exhilarating. Strange and comet brought the R.E.B.E.L.S. to the planet Kandato, except for Amon Hakk, who remained in space to repair their ship, and was aided by Wildstar, who'd found her way off of Voorl. Stealth and Harbinger pursued them, and during their battle a transmatter portal opened, the creation of Lyrl for Starro. Lyrl, Starro, and High Vanguard members that had become Black Lanterns poured through. Vril tried to remove Lyrl's Starro spore, but his son told him to get away, and asked Vril to save his master Starro, shocking his father. Lyrl said he would be referred to only as Brainiac 3, and Vril used his power ring to push the Black Lantern's Vril, and Starro back through the portal to Maltus. The ring demanded Vril go to Korugar to join the rest of the Corps, and when he refused the ring flew off his finger for insubordination. Vril told the R.E.B.E.L.S. he was tired of waiting for Starro to slip up, and it was time to take the fight to him. It was clear he was taking it personally that his son had chosen a monster over his flesh and blood.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #12-14) - Garv and Strata had Vril drop them off at Port Slarvit, unwilling to go on what they saw as a suicide mission when they had their son to think of. Xylon said he would shoot the next person who tried to abandon the R.E.B.E.L.S., earning him points with Vril. Vril split the team up to complete his plan for a weapon that would sever Starro's connection with his slaves. Adam Strange, Ciji, Bounder and Xylon went to the secret Dominator science facility on Kaipei to retrieve a genebomb, which the Dominators had long denied having. The Dominator scientists were not eager to cooperate with Xylon, but military caste trumped the science caste, and he told them they didn't have a choice in the matter. On Kalanor Vril found the decapitated Despero, and told him he'd regenerate his body in exchange for help with Starro. On Dhor Kanjar Ro separated from Captain Comet and Wildstar, who gathered the fragments of the gamma going. Kanjor said he was going to retake his world by force, and Vril told his team to let him go. In truth Kanjar was on a side-mission for Vril which would end his feud with Despero. Despero admired how Vril played his teammates against each other, and wondered why he always pandered to law and order. Vril said law was a bludgeon in his hands. Vril Dox and his R.E.B.E.L.S. had need of the Psions' science labs, and Vril asked Elu where the Omega Men Were. He responded that they had been out of contact since leaving for Starro's home galaxy. Vril used the Psion's lab to grow Despero a new body, and presented him with the weapon he'd constructed from the gamma gong and genebomb that would sever Starro from his star-slaves. The last thing he needed was Despero's Flame of Pytar to charge its' psionic matrix. Lyrl Dox opened his transmatter portal, and snatched his father away. Starro was planning an invasion of Earth, but Lyrl had decided the warlord was beneath his 12th-level intelligence, and wanted to help Vril kill him. He'd deduced the weapon Vril would construct for the task, and broke Vril's arm, not wanting him to be the triggerman because he said he wanted him alive. Starro thought Lyrl's next transmatter portal would take him to Earth, but Lyrl said he'd be sending him to Vril's ship so he could be ambushed. The R.E.B.E.L.S. were prepared when Starro arrived, and the villain was not entirely surprised that Lyrl had betrayed him. Vril had a rare miscalculation; his weapon had no effect on Starro. He clashed with the R.E.B.E.L.S. saying he'd miss them when they were dead because they provided so much sport. He discovered the Psions lab of genetically altered and dissected Starros, and flew into a rage. His proximity to them gave him control over them, and within moments all of the R.E.B.E.L.S. were his star-slaves, save for Vril, who threw up a personal forcefield. The Omega Men returned from their mission, armed with darts dipped in a poison that could kill Starros. They struck the Conqueror, but missed his Starro, forcing Vril to get close enough to him to kill the creature with a dart. The Conqueror's Starro died, severing his connection to trillions of mind-slaves, and killing their Starros as well. Despero performed the coup de grace, and told the R.E.B.E.L.S. they were invited to Kalanor to witness Starro's execution. Vril sent out a broadcast proclaiming his victory, giving his intention to put L.E.G.I.O.N. back on track and finding some way for everyone he helped to thank him. Adam Strange thought that Vril might be a worse manipulator than Starro

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #15, 16) - All of Maltus protested Vril and the mess he'd made of the planet. Vril railed that he was being treated unfairly, but Amon Hakk told him the people had a point. A sniper almost killed Vril, and it was clear he could not rebuild the L.E.G.I.O.N. on Maltus. Adam Strange said he could use Rann as a base, and Vril promised he could find a way to revitalize the lifeless planet. Strange and Sardath took Vril to Ran, which was still a painful sight to Adam. He reflected on the many times he'd saved the planet, bemoaning that it took one failure to undo all the good he did. Sardath did not believe Vril could bring life back to Rann, because he himself had tried and found the situation hopeless. Vril dismissed him, saying all he needed to do was move the planet's current location and asking Sardath for the largest zeta-beam he had. Vril used the zeta-beam to teleport Rann to the former location of Tamaran in the Vegan system, and cloned samples of Rann's native flora and fauna to make the planet habitable. He intended to rebuild the L.E.G.I.O.N. using lifeforms instead of robots, and to clean up the Vegan system to regain his reputation. Despite media appearances where he praised his own altruism most of Vega was skeptical, and kept referring to him as the son of Brainiac. He told the R.E.B.E.L.S. he was the antithesis of his father, but Adam Strange warned him that he'd landed in a political hotbed, and the neighboring planets might not want him interfering. The L.E.G.I.O.N. recovered a stolen Arcturian vessel, but wounded GLC member Atlin Ad'ms in the process. The GLC warned him, but he said he had a duty to his shareholders to aggressively pursue peacekeeping unless the GLC wanted to buy out his contracts. Captain Comet thought the new L.E.G.I.O.N. would blow up in his face, and planned to quit until Starfire joined the team to defend her native system, and he was impressed with her charisma. As they got to know each other her sister Blackfire attacked Rann, seeing their planet where hers once was as an affront.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #17) - The invasion of Rann was halted by GLs Altin Ad'ms and Gorius Karkum, and Blackfire wondered why the Corps was suddenly showing an interest in the Vegan system. Neither the Rannians nor the Tamaraneans appreciate the interference, and attacked the GLs. Adam Strange used a zeta-beam to teleport himself, the GLs and Blackfire into space. They said they could resolve their differences without outside help, and Blackfire agreed that she could talk to Adam if he was not directly working for Vril Dox. A Thanagarian warfleet interrupted their discussion. Vril Dox was aboard, having brokered a peace treaty between the Thanagarians and Rann. They no longer shared the same solar system, let alone the same planet, and those who blamed Rann for Thanagar's destruction were dead or deposed. They returned to Rann, and Vril offered the empty southern continent to Blackfire and her people as a new home. She admired the brilliant and ruthless egomaniac, seeing a lot of herself in him.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #18, 19) - Vril brought Brainiac to Colu as a prisoner, chest-thumping and playing to the media about being the man who brought a monster to justice. The R.E.B.E.L.S. watched from Rann, and argued the sincerity of his performance. Captain Comet returned to Earth for the first time in years, visiting the grave of his sister Edna, who'd died a few years after he'd left for space. He met Starfire aboard her ship, and they both felt like they were without a home. Comet barely recognized the Earth he remembered from 1955, and bemoaned that even Yankee stadium was gone. They made love, and it was clear comet was falling for her. She told him he comforted her, but she was still in love with Nightwing, and as a Tamaranean her love was eternal once given. On Colu Brainiac was placed in a thought-cell, dampening his intelligence, and Vril enjoyed gloating over him. Brainiac said he never thought much about Vril, not seeing his inferior intellect as a threat, and Vril demanded he acknowledge that he'd been defeated. Lyrl, who'd created Pulsar Stargrave, a Solaris class macroprocessor, attacked Colu, and told them Brainiac 3 was their new master. Brainiac broke from his restraints, said he acknowledged no heirs to share his knowledge or his name. The R.E.B.E.L.S. had already turned off the Coluan broadcasts, sick of hearing Vril talk.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #21) - Vril and Lyrl drove Brainiac from Colu, but the planet was left in ruins, and they clashed with the GLC, who wanted to arrest them for the damage.. Vril said he intended to rebuild Colu, so unless the GLC was up to the job they could forget abbout arresting him. He assured them Lobo would be in his safekeeping since he always paied his debts and Vril could help him with the bills he'd accumulated as archbishop of the triple-fish god. Vril was joined by his R.E.B.E.L.S., and said their name was apt because that's how the Guardians of the Universe viewed them. He said the L.E.G.I.O.N. used police by consent utilizing each planet's laws, but the Guardians sought justice using only their own capricious whims. Vril denied charges that Lyrl had invaded Colu, saying he was under the control of Pulsar Stargrave, and painted Stargrave as having always been Brainiac's pawn.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #22) - Adam Strange called a meeting of the R.E.B.E.L.S. concerned with Vril's continuing anti-GLC rhetoric, and keeping the psychopaths Lyrl and Lobo around. Lobo didn't care about his opinion, and the others said Dox had shown he knew how to run a successful business. Vril was listening in, and when Strange told him he'd invited a GLC member to speak to him he welcomed it. Starfire signed up new client worlds, but was being followed by GL Gorius Karkum. The Psion felt kinship with her because she'd suffered at the hands of the Gordanians much like Psion females suffered at the hands of their males. Females were used as breeding stock, and she and Starfire killed a number of Psions before attempting to liberate the breeding nexus where females were kept prisoner. The Psions exploded the nexus rather than having that aspectt of their culture revealed. Starfire returned to Vril in a rage, because he'd recently signed up the Psions as a client world, and said she'd kill him if he had any idea what they did to their women. Vril saw the rage in her eyes and quickly dropped the Psions as clients.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #23) - Vril, Blackfire, Sardath and the R.E.B.E.L.S. welcomed Honor Lantern John Stewart to Rann, and after a public handshake and media coverage they went behind closed doors for negotiations. Their talk quickly broke down, with Stewart demanding he let the GLC do their job, and Vril claiming his rhetoric hadn't influenced the Vegan people to turn against the GLC and demands that they vacate their sector. The Citadelian Liberation Front announced that they had a singularity module, and were going to implode the Vegan sun unless the GLC left the Vegan system. Stewart suspected that Vril orchestrated the affair, but Vril said he had no proof. Stewart sent GL's Admos and Gorius to handle the situation, but after taking out the Gordanians they couldn't figure out how to defuse the module. Stewart said he had faith in them, and refused Vril's offer of L.E.G.I.O.N. assistance. Vril reminded Stewart that his arrogance destroyed the planet Xanshi, and Stewart's temper started to flare. Stewart had called in Ganthet, Soranik Natu, and Kyle Rayner to back up his rookie Lanterns, but Gorius figured out how to destabilize the bomb, cracking its shell and causing an explosion, but preventing it from opening a black hole. Ganthet promoted the rookies to full GL status, and Vril was forced to maintain peace with the Corps, at least in public. Vril met with Lyrl, disappointed that the bomb he'd created that Vril secretly gave to the Citadelians was so easy to disarm. Lyrl responded that if he'd made it more complex the L.E.G.I.O.N. couldn't have cracked it either, and said that while he preferred being his father's secret weapon instead of being lobotomized again they were not friends.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #24-26) - Vril had a diplomatic dinner with Blackfire, and she told him there was no need for his bodyguard Tribulus. Vril said Tribulus was like a child, and he felt like a bad parent when he went abroad without him. Captain Comet drowned his sorrows in drink, and Lobo told him he had to face facts that Starfire didn't want anything from him beyond a physical relationship. Lobo got the whiff of Czarnian pheromone, but it was a trap laid by Astrild Storm-Daughter, who'd borrowed the pheromone from the Psions. she leeched his lifeforce until Starro's alien was at peak health, able to produce new starspore. Starro said he was already to attack the R.E.B.E.L.S. and Smite began the assault, hitting Vril Dox in his starship. Smite and Astrild kidnapped Dox after Smite buried a battleaxe in Tribulus' skull, grievously wounding him. Starro showed off his new army of mindslave Psions to Dox, as well as the cloned Czarnians the Psions created. Vril knew that if he could strike with them he would have already, correctly deducing that the clones of Lobo would kill themselves before being made into Starro mindslaves. Starro made Vril into a mindslave as his punishment for defying the conqueror. On Rann Adam Strange gave Lyrl Dox the job of trying to patch up Tribulus, and when Lobo went off after Starro half-cocked, the other R.E.B.E.L.S. were able to follow him using Wildstar's tracking ability. On the Psion Homeworld Astrild was eager to face Lobo in combat, but he put a quick end to things by putting his hook and chain through her head.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #27, 28) - Lyrl rebooted Tribulus' brain, boosting his psionic lightning power. He called the R.E.B.E.L.S. and said they were needed back on Rann to deal with the invasion of Starros, so Adam Strange used his personal zeta-beam to return himself, Captain Comet and Starfire. Starro, with Vril at his side, declared himself ruler of Rann, and told Blackfire to kneel before him. She said she knelt before no man, and engaged him in battle, soon aided by the returning R.E.B.E.L.S. Lobo continued his fight against Smite on the Psion homeworld, and they recounted tales of gruesome mutilation and murder as they clashed. Lobo found him interesting, so when their fight carried them into a Psion bar they decided to talk things over, becoming fast friends. Lyrl sent Tribulus against the Starros, and he freed mindslave after mindslave by roasting their starfish. Lyrl sent Tribulus against Starro, badly wounding his alien and freeing Vril. Realizing he was near defeat Starro prepared to order his remaining slaves on Rann to commit suicide. On the Psion homeworld the R.E.B.E.L.S. used Starro's transmatter portal, and called Dox, telling him to push Starro though. Back on the Psion homeworld Starro found himself face to face with Smite and Lobo. One week later Sardath, Blackfire and Vril signed a mutual defense pact. Blackfire told Vril not to get kidnapped again, because she didn't want people thinking her consort was weak. Ciji reported that Oa had gone black and Vril said it was a good thing the L.E.G.I.O.N. was back.

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