Raquel Amanda Gabriela Silverio was born the 3rd child out of 5 in a poor working class family living in the heart of the Brazilian favela, the shanty town of Rocinha, Rio de Janéiro. Her father and her older brothers worked as underpaid labour whereever they could, while Raquel helped her mother and grandmother to look after her younger siblings. While life was hard and unforgiving, Raquel was blessed with a loving and tight-knit family. But time passed and her father eventually turned ill when Raquel was 7 years old. Desperate for money, her older brothers, Jorge and Fabio, turned to a local crime lord and drug dealer for work. The physical labour throughout their lives had made her brothers tough and hardy, and being from the favela made sure noone would miss them, the perfect kind of disposable grunts. They ended up becoming debt collectors, walking from shanty to shanty and extorting sometimes imaginary debts from the poor residents, by any means necessery. Raquel's mother was furious when she found out, but her brothers insisted that they did it for their father and refused to step down.
But even so, their efforts ended up being in vain as Raquel's father succumbed to his illness before Jorge and Fabio had amassed enough money for his treatment. Their mother, devastated, begged them to reconsider their affiliation with the local drug lord but they again refuse, claiming that with their father dead they needed the money now more than ever. That was an arguement neither Raquel nor her mother could fight, because it was indeed true. Raquel was 8 years old at this point.
Another 6 years would pass and Raquel's family was doing better. Jorge and Fabio had risen in the ranks and had started to bring in the big money, though it had cost the entire neighbourhood's trust in the Silverio family. And eventually, Raquel's brothers got in over their head. Caught in the crossfire of a deal gone bad with a rival druglord, they both lost their lives in a flash. Raquel's mother was stricken with grief, having outlived two of her children, and their family once again fell on hard times. When then Raquel's younger sister, Maria, fell ill like her father had before, Raquel was now forced into working hard like her siblings had before her. Desperate, she approached the drug lord that had employed her brothers against her better knowledge, knowing fully well that he was her best shot at money. While he was no saint, far from it, the drug lord knew that there was always money to be had with desperate young girls who had run out of options. Officially, the 14-year old Raquel was hired as a Maid at the drug lord's mansion, which was nothing short of a front for a bordello and drug den. Raquel believed that this would be her life from now on, but that was before the man known as Victor Cruz stepped into it, a Revolutionary with a message.
Raquel hadn't even begun "Working" at the bordello before the man known as Victor Cruz stepped in. He was a tall, handsome man with flowing black hair, dressed in a white suit and flowery shirt. When Raquel first met with him, he had stepped into the bordello with a declaration of war, and a message of revolution. Claiming to be an agent of someone known only as "The Baron", he made a theatrical announcement to the workers of the bordello to join him in their "righteouss cause". When the men of the local drug lord pulled their guns, the whole building was flooded with armed soldiers who quickly dispatched them all. Rounding up all the workers and ushering them outside, Cruz made his final statement by setting the giant mansion ablaze and once again offering the collected girls the chance to join the Baron's Army. Many said no, and they were surprisingly sent on their merry way with a word of condolence from Cruz, but those who said yes were promptly given a gun and an armband, on spot, and told to aim for what the soldiers were aiming for. Raquel herself had gotten entirely mesmerised by the strange man's performance. In her eyes, he was like a superhero, here to vanquish the evil and save the poor and the suffering from their torment. Impressionable as she was, she didn't hesitate a second to answer his call. However, she was not ready for what was to come.
Cruz literally took the war to the streets of the favela and straight to the local drug lords. She saw as his men worked systematically to eliminate each and everyone of them, eficient and ruthless as killing machines. It took them only one evening to purge almost the entire favela before they retreated. All the while, Cruz spread his message among the people living there, amassing followers with each footstep. Raquel asked if there was a chance for her to see her family off, but Cruz insisted that there was no time, though he promised her as he promised everyone present that their families would be looked after in their absence. Raquel didn't learn of this as a lie until many years later.
With the recruits he had gathered, Cruz retreated into the Amazonas, hiding away from prying eyes among the untouched wilderness. There, boot camp began. No division was made among the recruits. Young and old, men and women all trained, ate and slept together throughout the basic training. But it was brutal, unforgiving and utterly merciless. Most of the recruits didn't have it in them and many collapsed from exhaustion or fled the camp during the training. Those who were only average or underperforming were soon removed from the main group into a "reserve troop". Raquel, on the other hand, persevered only through her willpower and her idolization of Cruz, forcing herself past her limits time and again in order to impress him. Her zealous effort and unquestionable loyalty eventually caused him to catch eye of her, leading the man to study the young girl's growth over the course of the training.
2 years after she had been drafted into the revolutionary army, she was sent on her first mission, ordered to attack an ARGENT wildlife foundation located deep in the Amazonas. The building was heavily fortified and well-protected, both by ARGENT troopers and mechanized units.
Raquel had been put on the bomb squad, tasked with infiltrating the compounds and planting explosives throughout the fight while the other units held ARGENT's attention. This was most likely what saved her life, as most of the soldiers on the bomb squad were already trained soldiers of the revolutionary army. Some of them where not all too happy with having the "Favela Brat" on their team, but Raquel sucked up their insults in silent defiance, only caring for one thing: To prove her worth in the eyes of Victor Cruz, as she was entirely convinced that him putting her on the bomb team was a vote of confidence on his part and she would rather die than let him down. It was thanks to this zealotry that she managed to close her eyes and cover her ears to the screams of her fellow soldiers who died down on the field acting as a diversion. Instead, she flawlessly carried out her mission, her smaller stature and nimble body proving very adept at infiltration and subterfuge, something her fellow soldiers caught on to. After this mission, she was assigned to the 27th regiment, the Covert Operations team, permanently. In time, their attitude towards their new "little sister" changed, and Raquel quickly came to like it with her new team, performing several successful raids and sabotage missions against all manners of targets, including governments, ARGENT, VIPER and even UNTIL. Throughout the years, Raquel grew ever more zealous and lyoal to the Baron's cause and forgot almost everything of her old life. For 15 long years did she fight alongside Cruz and his team as an infiltrator and spy, being active behind the scenes all over the world. USA, France, Germany, China, Japan, no place were there that the Baron's influence didn't reach and under the radar, Raquel worked feverishly to further his dream of a new world order. Among her peers, she was given the moniker of "Favela", a nod to her origins and because "Favela Brat" didn't quite cut it when she grew into a woman.
Experimentation
As a revolutionary, the Baron was not a man that believed a worldwide war could be won solely with firepower and fear. Throughout his army was several specialized units focusing on everything between science, research, engineering and politics that were as devoted to his cause as any of his footsoldiers. One such research cell, lead by Dr. Jawali M'gabe, had been working since the late 70's in order to produce a serum that could rival the likes of VIPER's Draysha or PRIMUS' Silverline treatment. In 1998, they finally had developed what they thought were a working prototype, and sent out a request among the ranks of the Baron's armies for volunteers. Cruz would've been their first choice among the 27th regiment, but he refused and so Raquel stepped in to take his place. Her vigorous training and expertize made her a prime candidate as well, and as the only woman among 10 subjects, experimentation began.
Though a few setbacks ended up seriously disfiguring 3 of the subjects, the final result could not have been more positive. All 10 subjects emerged from experimentation alive and enhanced in different ways. All were granted above-human strength, resilience and endurance, however each subject was given a unique mutagen of the serum in order to provide them all with different abilities. Raquel herself was given Substance-07, a serum developed in order to heighten the response time of Synapses in the brain and create a Neural link directly connecting the sensoric organs in the eyes with the musculate around the body. With this enhancement, the speed at which Raquel could confidently lock on to a target was dramatically increased and her accuracy in closed quarters entered into a staggering 99.8%. With her newfound abilities, she returned to the 27th regiment with her head held high, ready to use every inch of her new body for the sake of the revolution.
August 27th, 2003
Even though the Baron worked mostly behind the scenes to avoid being seen by UNTIL and other peace-keeping forces, the odd skirmish with them wasn't beyond the norm. Cruz, being one of the more prominent figures in the Baron's "2nd Army", often stood on the frontline alongside his troops, leading every battle personally in order to inspire their trust and loyalty. And while Raquel would love nothing but to stand at his side, she knew fully well that her role was as a shadow, working alone in the darkness to further their goals. But time passed, and with no "revolution" in sight, even Cruz grew disillusioned. He urged Raquel to leave the fight, every time they were apart seemed to eat him from the inside out knowing she was alone in enemy territory. Of course, Raquel refused to leave, believing whole-heartidly that the "revolution" was coming, they just needed to spark the flame. She managed to convince Cruz that all was well and so he stayed with the revolutionary army. Two months later, on August 27th, Cruz' team was given the order to secure a missile platform built by VIPER in the heart of the Amazonas jungle. While they had fought VIPER before, this missile base was heavily fortified and even said to house Metahumans. Nonetheless, Cruz deviced a plan for taking it down. He sent Raquel to infiltrate the compound under nightfall, ordered to disable security and communications while the rest of the army would create a diversion. Everything went as smoothly as it ever had at the beginning. Raquel easily infiltrated the compound while VIPER's forces were busy fighting against the diversion team, lead by Cruz. They were in their element and used to dark of the jungle to launch quick, successive hit-and-run raids, never giving their enemy a shot at rest. Once inside, Raquel managed to disable their communications and security, and gave the signal to Cruz to charge in.
But they were all walking straight into a trap, devised by the VIPER master tactician Stanislav Zakov. Having already anticipated their strategy, he had kept the majority of the base's forces hidden within the base and then caught Cruz' team in a pincer maneuver as soon as they entered the compound. Raquel rejoined their forces only in time to see them slaughtered at the hands of VIPER's Draysha enforcers. She was about to rejoin them, but Cruz saw her before VIPER did. In a last gesture of his love to her, he convinced her to turn and run without a word, staying behind to fight the VIPER forces until death while a distraught Raquel fled into the jungle, disappearing into the darkness of the Amazonas.
UNTIL Years
Disillusioned and heartbroken, Raquel wandered the inhospitable jungle on her own for a long time, barely clinging to life for the sole reason of knowing that Cruz had given his life for her to survive. Eventually, she came to the decision to head back to where it all had started: Rocinho, the favela of Rio de Janeiro. But standing on the streets of the Favela, she could notice how nothing had changed. The poor still struggled day to day in order to eat, a new set of drug lords had already laid claim to the vacuum left behind by Cruz 15 years ago. And in her old home, someone else lived. Another family, just as poor. No matter how she searched up and low, she couldn't find her mother, or her sisters. They didn't even have a grave with their names on them, they were just gone. This struck Raquel hard, as she realized that the revolution she had been apart of for almost her entire life had lead to absolutely nothing. She had fought and killed mercilessly for them, only to see that the world had not changed at all. Even worse, Cruz had lied to her, and she had abandoned her family when they needed her without a word. Devastated, Raquel decided to leave her life as a revolutionary behind and just disappear, not certain where to go. On a fateful night of drinking her worries away, she ran across what seemed to be the kidnapping of a young boy by the cartel. The terrified screams of the child awakened a fierce fire within Raquel, who rushed in and quickly dispatched the boy's kidnappers. Without thinking, she had ended up on the cartel's hit list and had a terrified child clinging to her. Though Raquel didn't mind, she liked the situation. For once in her life, she felt like her actions had a tangible result, she was actually making a difference. The child spoke english and was obviously not native to Brazil, so Raquel did the first thing that came to mind and brought him to the US Embassy. There, it was revealed that the boy was actually the son of an UNTIL officer stationed in the area. Impressed with her ability and willingness to take on an entire cartel for a stranger child, he wanted to recruit Raquel into UNTIL's ranks.
While initially doubtful, Raquel eventually agreed to join with them. Her background caused some complications, however by giving up information on the Baron and the experimentation that had taken place, she earned herself a pardon and was allowed to work under supervision for UNTIL. She's since become one of their most trusted agents, working mostly alone in missions of infiltration, espionage and sabotage against enemies like VIPER.
Appearence
Standing at only 5'11, Raquel still manages to be quite the imposing figure while in uniform. Through vigorous training and experimental drug therapy, she's reached even beyond the peak of human physical limits. Though she maintains mostly feminine traits (Admittedly through some effort), what primarily stands out is her musculature and amazonian figure. While she's no stranger to dolling herself up for a night out on town, Raquel's stern features are prominently displayed on her face at almost all times. A lifetime of warfare has hardened her something great and her piercing gaze is said to silence even the wolves, you will know when she means business.
She has an old scar running across her right eye, an old reminder of what being careless gets you. Despite her rigid appearence, however, her movements are very graceful and feline, while still maintaining an intimidating posture earned from years as a Special Ops operative.
Personality
While on duty, Raquel is focused, driven, responsible and stoic. She will do her outmost to make sure her team finishes their objective, and does so while staying alive. Human lives remains the most important to Raquel in any situation and she'll go to painstaking lengths to preserve them if necessery. She prefers working alone, because then the only life she feels responsible for is her own, which she feels makes it easier for her to focus on the objective. Raquel also has a strong sense of justice and faithfully follows the laws set but UNTIL, forwning greatly upon vigilantes and especially mercenaries. While she has a tendency to get hung up on what the law dictates, she will never let it get in the way of what she believes is right. While she likes to think that everyone has something good in them, she's seen enough of the dirty, gritty reality to know that such isn't the case. Whatever her opponent's intentions, if they do evil upon innocent then she will take them down, no exceptions. Though while she will use any means necessery, save for deadly force if she can help it, Raquel has a tendency to put psychological limits on herself, knowing fully well that she's above human potential.
While off duty, Raquel becomes more laid-back and casual. She enjoys socializing and drinking, often hanging around the local clubs on her off-hours. Social, friendly and extrovert, she's more comfortable around crowds than her gruff work persona might suggest. She can be outgoing and affectionate when the mood strikes her, but generally limits herself to a pleasent smile and tone while conversing with strangers. Raquel's personality type is ESFJ.
Abilities
- Hyper Synapses - Through bioengineering, Raquel's nervous system has been hardwired with a direct link connecting her arm musculature to the synapses in her eyes. This resulted in a reaction time that is far beyond any regular human. Bypassing the actual thought process between spotting a target and taking aim, Raquel's muscles immedietally respond the second she makes eye contact with a hostile target and takes aim before her brain has even processed the full information given, with a surgical precision of 98.6% hit chance while the target is within a range of 100ft, detoriating only slightly for ranges up to the double. There are, however, downsides to this ability. The first is that in order for Raquel to lead a normal life without her Hyper Synapses reacting wildly to any sudden movement, it has been deliberately designed to activate only when the Adrenaline level in her blood reaches a certain threshold. Furthermore, the hypersensitivity makes her highly reactive to just about any movement and the higher the level of adrenaline in her body, the more prone she is to fire before she can tell friend from foe. This is one of the reasons why Raquel prefers to work alone, as it diminishes the risk of friendly fire something great.
- Muscle Memory - Coming hand in hand with her Hyper Synapses, Raquel had already developed muscle memory before she was subject to the experimentation with Hyper Synapses. Raquel is so used to her specific choice of firearms that she easily wields them as an extension of her body. Her body knows the weight, length, balance, recoil and mechanisms of all her weapons, so she doesn't have to waste precious brain activity on them while on the battlefield, allowing her to work with the swiftness and precision of a robotic unit.
- Physical Enhancements - Another boon she gained from the experimentation, in which her physical traits such as muscle mass, reflexes and resistance to physical pain was increased beyond the limits of a regular human. In every aspect, she's at peak physical condition, however such a high-maintenance body requires plenty of nutrition to keep running, making Raquel quiet the big eater (Though she'll never let this show if she can helpt it) and the aftermath of most of her missions generally consists of her stuffing herself with several days worth of food in order to recover.
- Military Veteran - A veteran of war, especially guerilla warfare, Raquel has intricate knowledge of the rules of engagement and the unwritten laws of the battlefield. Having spent over 20 years as a soldier, Raquel commands a level of experience and wisdom that few soldiers can claim, for better or worse.
- Martial Training - Raquel has also been taught in a variety of martial arts, both for dispatching hostiles silently and for self-defense. She's a master of Capoeira and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, having trained in the former since before she joined the militia, but she's also very skilled in Grappling martial arts such as Krav Maga and Combat Sambo, having learnt those in order to perfect her role as a covert ops soldier.
- Covert Ops - Raquel is a ghost when she wishes to, able to sneak past some of the most advanced security systems on the planet. She's been inside ARGENT, VIPER and even UNTIL bases without being caught or even suspected before, but her skills doesn't end with just infiltration and espionage. She's also very adept at subterfuge and misdirection, not above using her feminine viles in order to gain information or to avoid suspiscioun if necessery.
Equipment
Friends and Allies
Enemies
RP Hooks
Trivia
Theme and Characterization
Theme Songs
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Brazilian, 
American Immigrant
