During a battle with teammate Lobo Strata had portions of her rock-like skin ripped off. This accelerated her maturation process in which all Dryadians shed their outer layer to reveal a second, crystalline skin. Strata has become a very capable member of L.E.G.I.O.N., possessing a good judge of character when recruiting new members and accepting or declining missions from planets. She is slow to anger, the only thing that gets on her nerves is the fact that most strangers address her as if she was a male. It has been revealed that even a thousand years from now Strata will be remembered by all Dryadians as a legendary hero.

(Lobo I #1, 4) - Vril assigned Lobo to bring a prisoner from Oneida VI to L.E.G.I.O.N. hq on Cairn, and when Lobo said it was a job beneath him Vril reminded him of their physical debate. He failed to mention that the prisoner was Miss E. Tribbs, Lobo’s fourth grade teacher and the author of an unauthorized biography of Lobo. Lady Quark and Strata both thought it was a bad idea but Vril thoroughly enjoyed torturing Lobo. Soon after Strata had business to discuss with Vril, but he was too busy containing the havoc he’d unleashed by stoking Lobo’s murderous rage in making him spend time with Tibbs.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #3, 4) - Vril Dox's command of L.E.G.I.O.N. was usurped, and L.E.G.I.O.N. droids sought out to kill former members. They found Strata on Cairn, trying to live out a peaceful family life. Garryn Bek escaped with her baby, while she staid behind to fight, and would have perished if not for her new friend Bounder. Vril Dox arrived on Cairn, saying he was forming a team to restore his control of L.E.G.I.O.N. and Strata made it clear she did not trust him. His recruit Wildfire asked why she hated him, and she replied that she'd find out after spending more than a few minutes with him. Vril assured Strata she was necessary to his plan, but he couldn't explain the LoSH template Brainiac had given him, it was memory data only that couldn't be shared lest Vril affect the future. Strata thought he'd gone nuts, but when he said please she was shocked enough to agree, but said Bounder should come along too. They approached Maltus, only to receive a SOS transmission from the Omega Men revealing that L.E.G.I.O.N. and the planet had been taken over by Starro. Strata and Bounder insisted they save the Omega Men, but Vril refused, saying they were as good as dead. Before the discussion could be settled they were board by a Khund warship commanded by Durlan Captain Ciji, who'd tracked them down with the help of bounty hunters Getorix and Amon Hakk.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #5, 6) - Ciji said she wasn't after the bounty on Vril's head, she'd been assigned by the Durlan Shadow Council to restore order, because after Vril's disappearance from L.E.G.I.O.N. the Khunds, Spider Guild and citadellians began massing their forces, threatening war. Their conversation was interrupted by Starro slave Astrild Storm-Daughter, who said her master was fascinated by the mind that created the L.E.G.I.O.N., and offered him the chance to serve Starro, and retain some degree of free will. Vril had no interest in the proposal, Ciji blasted Astrild, and Astrild responded by attacking her ship, killing a number of Khunds and Getorix, but Amon Hakk managed to put on an EVA suit and flee to Vril's ship before Astrild destroyed Ciji's ship. Vril sent Wildstar to Maltus to retrieve Silica, the sentient computer that formerly ran L.E.G.I.O.N. with him, and proceeded to fly off with the rest of his crew. Amoin Hakk surprised him, pointing a gun at his head. Hakk said he'd been branded a corrupt coward on Khundia, and would be executed on sight, blaming Vril for his time in the L.E.G.I.O.N. Starro and his High Vanguard conquered the Dominator homeworld, and had their sights set on Khundia, and Vril told Amon he could help him save his homeworld. Amon bemoaned that he hated Vril so much he couldn't think straight. Ciji had hitched a ride in Amon's suit, and said she intended to see Vril carry his plans through. Wildfire returned, and Vril used Silica's failsafe programming to regain control of his L.E.G.I.O.N. peacekeepers. They left their client planets, flying to Maltus, forming a forcefield around the planet, effectively trapping Starro and his legions. Silica told Vril she loved him, and he had her activate her self-destruct protocol. Starro was in a fury, warning Vril he had no idea what a powerful enemy he'd made. Vril was pleased, saying an angry enemy made for a sloppy enemy.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #7) - Vril reached out to his client worlds, and planets nearby Maltus like Dhor and Kalanor that had been trapped in his force-field, but no one was willing to help, and some planets threatened to kill him on sight. Most L.E.G.I.O.N. clients wanted to break their contracts, but Vril said that was untenable. He landed on Gil'Dishpan with his teammates, because if Starro conquered them he'd have access to their warp-weave technology and be able to escape the forcefield. The Gil'Dishpan had already been warned by a Dominator fleet admiral, and were prepared to hand Vril over to Starro to push for a nonagression pact. Vril and the Dominator both made it clear that Starro could not be reasoned with, and their debate became moot when Starro launched an invasion on the planet. The Gil'Dishpan launched their conch-cannons, and Vril's team backed them up, but they fell, and their leader Gelmyr became a Starro slave, urging Vril to be subsumed by Starro's mind. Vril and his team fled, with the Dominator in tow. The Dominator dropped a nuclear reactor from his ship onto the planet, destroying the Gil'Dishpan warp-weavers. Strata wanted to kill him for committing genocide, but Vril said he'd killed millions to save billions, and he admired such pragmatism. Vril also commented that being subsumed in Starro's consciousness, a mind idiotic compared to his own, would be a fate worse than death.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #8, 9) - Vril gave Wildstar a sample of his son Lyrl Dox's hair, and she tracked him to the planet Voorl, which had become a refuge for various races whose planets had been taken by Starro. Tribulus easily captured Lyrl, who was in anguish because L.E.G.I.O.N. troops had killed Stealth. Vril took the news well, which surprised Bounder, and Vril told him he had no love for the woman who once assaulted and murdered him. Strata told Bounder it was a long story. Amon asked what happened after Vril left L.E.G.I.O.N. to raise his son, and he said that he first suppressed his intelligence, which was too dangerous without experience and maturity, and Stealth suggested he live in the jungle to hone survival skills. Strata told Wildstar Garv and her son Rocky were supposed to meet heron Voorl, and asked if she could track them. Wildstar was eager to help, and soon located them. Garv reunited with Strata and made it clear he didn't like the idea of Vril coercing her again, and telling Vril that the worlds he'd trapped near Maltus with his forcefield were furious at being in Starro's path. Vril said he never was one for popularity contests. Tribulus, always a good watch dog, snarled at Garv, but Vril told him to back down. Lyrl was still mad at Vril for taking away his intelligence, and started backtalking him. Vril said sarcasm was a lazy form of aggression, and even though he had no intention of bonding with his son he couldn't let him slip into Starro's hands for tactical reasons. Kanjar Ro contacted the team, offering his help, but the Dominator knew what he really wanted was a rescue because the Vanguard were on their way to Dhor. Ro mocked him for the failure of the Dominators to defend their world, and said he was a caste of one. The Dominator scratched off his caste circle before walking away. Ciji was bonding with him, and decided to call him Xylon to give him a sense of identity. Captain Comet and Adam Strange had gotten word of Starro's exploits, and used the Zeta Beam to reach Vril and offer his help. He told them to go to Dhor to retrieve the Gamma Gong, but the Vanguard were already there and had smashed the gong, so they rescued Kanjar Ro, it'sa 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. Garv had a change of heart, and convinced Strata to slip away with him and Rocky, saying their main priority was their son, and they had no reason to be loyal to Vril. Lyrl found them, and said he'd lead them to a spaceport if he could come with them. The High Vanguard arrived to kidnap Lyrl.

(R.E.B.E.L.S. #10, 11) - 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.EB.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) - 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.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo & Keith Giffen