Chet Edwards, an action-packed bionic hero and former astronaut, is on a mission in Gotham City. Code-named the Cybernaut, he has been working for U.S. government intelligence officer Amanda Waller and her second, the super-spy King Faraday. Waller leads the team of "reforming" villains the government uses for Black Ops, the Suicide Squad, and she is looking for a new recruit after some recent losses. To this end, Waller and Faraday send Chet on an assignment to Gotham City. He is to recruit-- or most likely capture-- the Batman villain Killer Croc. Whatever it takes, Waller wants Killer Croc as part of the Suicide Squad, and she is a woman accustomed to getting what she wants. Going undercover, Chet begins an investigation in Gotham that quickly draws the attention of both the Batman and the Killer Croc.
As Chet investigates Croc, Dick Grayson, the current Batman, begins to investigate Chet. According to information from Hal Jordan (who knows Chet in passing), Chet was a talented test pilot and astronaut who was horribly injured by an explosion while on a covert NASA mission to Mars. Exploring, he had found strange ruins and a glowing pool hidden beneath the planet's surface. Apparently, Chet's memories of the event itself are fuzzy, but a sudden explosion nearly killed him. During the explosion, Chet was also splashed with the unearthly liquid and exposed to uncanny alien nanotechnology. Luckily, Hal Jordan was returning from Oa when his Green Lantern Ring noticed the nearby explosion. With his ring, Jordan saved Chet's life and returned his unconscious body to Earth, but Chet remained comatose for years afterwards. However, at some point his body was required by a mysterious organization, who combined cutting edge Earth technology with the Martian nanites to rebuild Edwards and restore him to life.
Little is known about the organization that restored Edwards, or why they did so, but after his rejuvenation Edwards stayed in the service of the U.S. government, working in espionage instead of space exploration. He was quickly recruited by Checkmate and worked for Amanda Waller, at the time Checkmate's White Queen, to assist in implementing Operation Salvation Run, an initiative involving the mass deportation of supervillains to an alien world. When this was discovered by the rest of Checkmate, Waller was forced into resigning as White Queen in exchange for their delay in revealing what the US government was doing, but she took Edwards with her into her new operations. During this time, he took on the codename Cybernaut, a spy and adventurer named only in whispers by members of the intelligence community.
As Batman discovers this info, Edwards has received numerous threats from the Croc and has to wipe out a team of thugs who are sent to dispose of him. Acting quickly to avoid Batman's interference, Chet manages to find Croc's lair, but is disgusted by what he finds: evidence of cannibalism by the superhuman criminal. In that moment, Chet loses all faith in any boss who would want such a beast as an agent. He is surprised as he attempts to leave the lair by Killer Croc's return. Batman arrives as well not long after, and the two of them team up to defeat the Croc together. In the aftermath, Chet promises Batman he is done working for his current employers, then escapes.
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