When the V'sori still held dominion over Earth, they managed to capture one of their highest priority targets among Omega's resistance: Cinder. She and Profit were planning an impressive heist when the alien forces descended on them. Profit, thanks to his own powers, managed to elude capture. And though they paid a high price for their success, they managed to subdue Cinder. Unknown to any at that time, their captive was pregnant with Profit's child.
The next several months were not kind to Cinder. She was kept alive and healthy, but confined to a generator core. Her ability to sap energy directly from the sun proved a boon for her V'sori captives too ripe to ignore. Their scientists knew it was not an endless source of energy, however. Abusing her powers too much would eventually bring with it the threat of destabilizing the sun. Modest projections included a forecast of crippling solar flares that would wreak havoc even on the advanced technologies of the V'sori. They were delighted to discover that Cinder was with child, however, and after rigorously studying the child's genetic information they found that the baby would result in a self-renewing source of energy. Whereas Cinder borrowed from a solar source directly, the child would produce solar energy directly. Not surprisingly, they elected to continue feeding off of Cinder's energy until she had given birth to the infant. Thanks the Omega Cell that would become The Dark Legion, their plans went awry.
Cinder's mental state was irreparable when they managed to free her from the generator's assembly. Ragnarok, a super with lion-like features and superhuman strength, was forced to kill Cinder before she annihilated her would-be rescuers. His claws nearly eviscerated the child in the womb. A small cadre of V'sori scientists were able to stabilize the child and effect an escape before the entire complex was destroyed by the chain reaction begun by Inquisitor's self-sacrifice. They returned to one of their flagships in orbit and awaited instruction on what to do with Cinder's baby. Ultimately, they decided to transport her to an off-world research facility whose time dilation would allow those V'sori stationed on Earth to reap the rewards of Ember's powers more quickly (relatively speaking).
Fortunately for Ember, Dr. Destruction had learned of the V'sori's plans for the child of Cinder and Profit, even though the pair were ignorant of their offspring's existence. She was roughly fifteen years old by the time they returned her to a new compound in a Boston ruin. And Dr. Destruction was waiting. It took three full Omega Cells to break her out of the facility, each team taking on losses during the extraction. For Destruction, it was a worthwhile gambit—a potential leverage on Profit that would help him deal with the disaster that was Darknaut.
The next couple of years were spent preparing Ember for action and educating her on Earth's situation. Dr. Destruction was hard on her, but had been the closest thing to a father figure Ember would ever know. Of her parents he remained tight-lipped, saying no more than her mother had been used by the V'sori and perished in the rescue attempt (though he knew full and well that she had been revived at this point). She was taught well, however—to hate the V'sori with every shred of her being and fight them tooth and nail. When he felt her ready, Dr. D attached her to one of his more successful Omega cells.
Destruction eventually did confront Darknaut—and Profit, and all the rest—but things went awry. He had underestimated Darknaut's team, Cauldron most of all, and the good doctor was killed before he could make use of his information regarding Ember. The vacuum left in his wake was difficult to fill. Lacking the coordination they had enjoyed before, each were left to their own devices, and fared poorly. Ember and her team were captured. Their fate seemed certain, but The Dark Legion were able to finally secure a means of liberating their planet from the iron grip of V'sori occupation. Striking an alliance with The Maw's race from an alternate universe, they descended on Star City and the V'sori fleet in orbit without warning or mercy. Ember and her team were free once more.
