Just to update, since Book Of The Empress is now in PDF form and should be available for general purchase very soon... Istavatha V'han's superpowered Imperial Battalion is indeed very similar stylistically to the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, which in turn was of course inspired by the Legion of Superheroes. The Battalion numbers many thousands, drawn from a host of universes and races. BOTE provides full write-ups, stats, and illos for six sample Battalioneers, and includes names and brief backgrounds/ descriptions for over two hundred others. Most of the latter are based on specified characters from the Champions Villains trilogy, with changed names and appearances and sometimes modified powers, making it easy to adapt their PnP character sheets.

okay this has been bugging me a little was 9/11/01 averted? or was it even done

Nope. 9/11 happened in the Champs Universe as it happened here.

Steve Long has mentioned that major real-world events can usually be assumed to have happened on Champions Earth, although in many cases the actions of superheroes will have lessened their negative effects. For example, Hurricane Katrina caused less destruction and death on the Gulf Coast due to the intervention of superhuman rescuers, particularly those with weather-control powers.

okay so what would heroes have done in the case of 9/11?

all i can see happening is some super trying to stop planes

I seem to recall Steve posting something about 9-11 specifically somewhere, but I couldn't find it and don't want to risk misquoting him; so I'll shut up and let him answer that if he chooses.

This isn't canon, this is just common sense speculation. The majority of fatalitities from the 9/11 incident came not from the planes' impact but from the inability to evacuate the buildings afterward. Of the New York based heroes, the Justice Squadron's Flashover had the most obviously useful powers; she can fly, is effectively immune to fire damage, and can extinguish flames. If she were alerted and could reach the World Trade Center in time she could have saved hundreds of lives.

Diadem and the Drifter, both of whom have precognitive powers, might have been able to provide usable early warnings. Then again, maybe not.

Blink's teleportation powers would have been a huge boon in accessing and evacuating the upper floors, as would Black Rose's dimensional portals. Proteus could have been helpful clearing out the buildings with his versatile stretching powers. Independent hero Magneton's abilities have never been statted, but if sufficiently powerful he might have been able to magnetically reinforce the skyscrapers' steel support structure, and he probably helped a lot with post-collapse rescue efforts in removing debris.

There are a number of heroes around the world with megascaled transportation powers who might have provided substantial assistance if alerted quickly enough, but that would be pretty hit-or-miss.

I too am curious about 9/11 in regards to the HERO-Verse.

But! I have a question of my own! Nay, a request of a question that may befuddle the Answermen themselves!

There is a reference to a character by the name of Black Owl on champions universe page 10 and 20.
He seemed like a Golden Age/Pulpy homage to Batman by what little information in Champions Universe there was.
Searching the hero boards I managed to find this post on the HERO boards

I own Pulp Hero on PDF as of now (muahaha, my collection shall be full again, eat your heart out Penny Dreadful) but a quick ctrl+F revealed nothing of Black Owl.

I'm adding a little more spice to my main Grey Hawk for both the PnP and CO, and Black Owl sounds like a good character to use as IC "inspiration" for GH's masked shenanigans--Dark Angel and Night-Hawk not withstanding, of course :)-- but I can't find a bloody thing on Black Owl !

Is he a skilled combatant able to take on several hooded men at once?
Is he so frightening that children he rescues cry at his visage?
Does he threaten martians with books of matches?!

I must know!

What you found in Champions Universe, and that post from the Hero Games forums you linked to, is all that's been written about Black Owl from the Champions Universe AFAIK. Like Steve Long says in his HG forum post, Black Owl is (former HG president) Darren Watts's creation, so he'd be the one to know those details. You could try sending a Private Message to Darren via the HG forum requesting more background -- I don't think he's registered here, but he still frequents the Hero Games forums.

As an aside, a major portion of the current official CU was derived from Steve's and Darren's personal PnP campaigns, which they wove together with elements from earlier incarnations of the setting, and items they created specifically for publication, to produce the coherent background and history we have today. For that matter, a great many of the villains, organizations, etc. which have been detailed in Champions books over the years originated with the campaigns of those books' authors.

I heard from Darren. He says that Black Owl will appear in Golden Age: he described him aa a darker themed vigilante "swinging around the streets of Philadelphia on a rope" and mentioned that "one of several secret identities he maintains is of a mobster, keeping him apprised of what's going on in the underworld!"

Hope that helps.