Peter James was one of a number of former soldiers working for the defense contractor, PulseTech. James had shown technical know how and a disciplined approach that PulseTech looked for and he eventually became the project leader for the Furite Blast weapon. The weapon was a design of flame thrower that didn't rely on a large fuel pack for energy. The cells that Peter and his team had developed were in their prototype stage when Pete, having been in meetings all day came to the lab late one night and saw one of his team busily copying files. Knowing industrial espionage when he saw it; Pete immediately called security and in a fit of overconfidence, confronted the man. The spy, a VIPER undercover specialist, proved to be Pete's physical superior. During the struggle, Pete was knocked into the prototype. The spy had sabatoged the prototype and he simply detonated it. For a second Pete thought he saw the golden light he'd heart about. He felt no pain and when his eyes adjusted to the light and sound around him, he realized that he had been transformed by the Cell's explosion. The security team arrived and took both men into custody. Pete went peacefully and figured out how to "power down" really quickly. He decided to put his new abilities to the good of the public. Pete took the name Firelord from a comic book in his youth (and he's received permission from the creators and owners of said character in exchange for producing the Atomic Rangers and Firelord comic lines based off of his image and adventures). Pete is still a soldier, he serves the American People as Firelord as he did as Lt. Peter James, the uniform is just different. As the most potent of the Atomic Rangers and the most tactically sound, Pete is generally considered the teams leader. "Remember Kids, don't play with matches and you won't get burned." Firelord's tactics stem from the versatility of his abilities. Able to create and manipulate fire and his "Firey Arsenal" allows him to affect a wide variety of potent attacks. His defenses are average but he has enhanced speed and reaction time, he tends to keep his distance. Pete's blonde hair and blue eyes have turned black and gray respectively since the accident. He wears comfortable clothes often with a long gray overcoat (he is almost immune to temperature extremes and wearing a long coat in New Mexico amuses him). His costume is a deep red, metallic bosysuit with gold gloves and boots. When he activates his forcefield he appears to be a flaming man made of molten gold.