Disgraced in both his personal and professional life, Matthew Stone translated his experience as a U.S. Special Forces operator into the mercenary field, assembling his personal squadron of soldiers for heists and private convoy runs. Eventually invited to join the Black Cross, Stone and his team became founding members of the radical terrorist group after seeing their leader, the Death Herald, wreak havoc across the Town of Wolfeboro.

Alias: Matthew Stone

Abilities: United States Spec Ops training; peak human strength, speed, resilience, and endurance; expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat; exoskeleton-augmented speed and strength

Affiliations: Black Cross

Background

Matthew Stone served in the United States Marines for eight years, then spent another four carrying out covert operations with Special Forces Unit 604. Upon arriving home, however, he found his wife in the arms of another man and his employers unwilling to pay him for his services.

With few other options, Stone assembled his old group of Spec Ops comrades and embarked on becoming a mercenary. They stole prototype weaponry, including the namesake of Matthew’s new codename: an exoskeleton capable of augmenting the user’s strength, carrying capacity, and speed. Escaping the country and working mostly overseas, Stone and his squad delighted in the action and began raking in more cash than they could spend. Unit 604 eventually returned to the States to investigate a unique job offer: a paid position as a freedom fighter for a new ideology. Meeting the mysterious employer on the edge of the Town of Wolfeboro, Stone and his team encountered the Death Herald.

The Death Herald, also called Maverick, proclaimed he’d seen a new age of gods coming, and he need muscle to prepare for the soon-to-arrive world. Offering ludicrous cash and a display of otherworldly power, Stone and his comrades accepted, becoming founding members of the Black Cross sect. Although initially only joining the Black Cross for the cash and fear of the Death Herald’s abilities, Stone eventually found himself genuinely drawn to Maverick’s conviction and converted, fully investing himself in the cause.

After the Herald’s defeat at the Battle of Wolfeboro, Stone and his comrades took up mercenary work again until Captain Decker and the Blue Market contacted them with a job-offer. Requiring additional reinforcements and expertise with the supernatural, Decker hired the Black Cross in a joint-effort to break Maverick out of the Serpent holding facility. Stone himself led the mission to release the Death Herald–to this day the only successful incursion into the Serpent–and afterwards played a crucial role in defending his leader during the Bloodmoon event. After the Peacemakers foiled the plans of the Black Cross yet again, Stone delivered Maverick beyond city limits where he and the team proceeded to lie low.

Related Pages: The Death Herald / The Black Cross / The Timeline / Captain Decker / The Peacemakers