Sunspot
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Sunspot is an archer in the formerly in the employ of Meta-S.W.A.T., and now working for the Freelancers.
Contents
Appearance
With her long, dark hair and cupid’s-bow lips, Aeva is an attractive woman. However, being taller than average and possessing an acrobat’s excellent muscle definition, she is deceptively effective in battle. When dressing casually, she normally wears jeans and t-shirts, but her superhero costume is a red and yellow leather body suit that flares like the sun. Currently a member of Meta-S.W.A.T., she’s taken to wearing an Advanced Combat Environmental suit, or ACE suit. The suit includes integrated armor, a breathing and life-support apparatus, communications equipment, and currently a psionic-dampening body suit beneath that protects against psionic attack.
One distinguishing feature about Sunspot is her right eye. While she was born with a natural eye, it has since been removed, and replaced with a PRIMUS-level prototypical artificial eye. This allows her to see in low-level light and increases clarity of vision, allowing for greater accuracy. For full technical specifications, please see separate PRIMUS dossier.
Personality
Sunspot is a tomboy, always competing and/or socializing with men, but is not without her feminine charms. She has a sarcastic side, and a sardonic wit, but does in fact care about her closest friends, even if she doesn’t always show it. Her determination and reluctance to back down has helped her stay alive in her chosen profession, but she does not lack a cool-headed and rational approach to challenges. At times she can be angry, but it is a controlled anger, and she uses it to her advantage. And while she can be modest, she is not a prude, and can laugh at inappropriate remarks with the best of them. She does, however, have a problem watching her language, especially while on the public communications link.
History
Sunspot was born Aeva Adrienna Marone to parents Nicholas and Francesca Marone on June 30, 1984 in Morris, MN. Her first eight years were fairly normal for a girl of her demeanor, but she was very close to her father. Being a tomboy, Aeva was always participating in sports and activities usually consigned to boys, including archery. She had an amazing aptitude for the sport, even when she first began to learn in the woods around Morris, and her mother and father both encouraged her. She also participated in gymnastics and acrobatics classes, excelling in both.
It was sometime in 1992 that Nicholas Marone left his family. It was a sudden decision, and Aeva was left without her beloved father. Hurt, she devoted herself even more fully to other pursuits, including archery, to try and forget about her father. She and her mother grew even closer, and over the next few years they cultivated their mother-daughter bond.
On her sixteenth birthday, Nicholas Marone returned to Morris, appearing without notice at the door. Surprised and pleased, the family was reunited around the table as Aeva blew out her candles. It was then that the men who had returned with her father broke into the house, and, along with Nicholas himself, they managed to use chloroform to subdue the sixteen year old girl and her mother.
The explanation of the next few hours comes directly from Aeva herself, and because of her extreme duress, the account is fragmentary and incomplete. However, it is known that she had been kidnapped and taken to a secluded place by the men, and her mother was bound and left in the basement. Nicholas, in the years after he left Morris, had fallen in with a cult worshipping an obscure but evil goddess. He had returned to use his own daughter as a sacrifice to the goddess, and had brought most of the cult with him. Aeva was tied to a post, and the cultists chanted as they stacked wood below her, intending to burn her at the stake.
How she escaped is unknown, but she reports that she managed to undo her restraints and attempted to escape. Her father, intent on using her in the sacrifice, tried to stop her. In the ensuing fight, her eye was gouged out by the flaming branch her father had been using to light the pyre. In pain and burned, she somehow eluded him and the other cultists. It is not known how she made it away from them, or how she got out of the woods where she had been bound, but the police and emergency services responded quickly to a frantic, nearly-incoherent 911 call. They managed to round up most of the cult, arresting them on charges of kidnapping, breaking-and-entering, and attempted murder. Murder charges were later added as investigators discovered other sacrificial victims in other states, usually relatives of the cultists.
Aeva was brought to the hospital, but recovered from most of the wounds quickly. Her eye, however, was irreparably damaged, and she was forced to cover the socket. Falling into a depressed state after the attack, she claims that the only thing that got her through was her sudden determination to continue practicing archery, despite her handicap. After months of training, her accuracy and natural talent for the sport was above most archers with both eyes. However, she gradually began to use that ability to benefit her community.
What started out as a few good deeds around Minnesota quickly grew to a full-fledged career as a crime fighter. By the time she was in her early twenties, she registered with PRIMUS under the name Sunspot, and was sanctioned for hero work. It was around this time that she was approached for an experimental procedure involving the implantation of an artificial eye, performed by a PRIMUS scientist by the name of Allen Baumer, PhD. She agreed, and the results have been positive. For further information, please see separate PRIMUS dossier.
In November, 2009, Aeva and Francesca moved to Millennium City so that she could assist other heroes in their duties. Francesca, however, had never fully recovered from the incident in 2000, and had been on several anti-depressant medications for years. Sunspot had been attentive to her mother’s needs, but with the move to Millennium City, she found herself unable to watch her mother consistently. Francesca suffered a breakdown soon after the move, and is currently receiving psychiatric help and evaluation at Mercy General Hospital.
In the beginning of January, 2010, Sunspot was accepted into the Meta Special Weapons and Tactics, or Meta-S.W.A.T., a special operations branch of the MCPD. She has been an active member since that time.
Abilities
Sunspot possesses no superhuman, meta-human, extraterrestrial, or mystical abilities. Through training and effort, along with a natural aptitude, she has extremely advanced skill at archery, acrobatics, and gymnastics. She seems to have a preternatural ability at landing difficult shots and dodging incoming attacks from enemies. Her speed and reflexes are above average, and she has an above average jump height. Her accuracy has increased with her artificial eye, making her able to easily perform feats of skill that would normally be impossible for someone without superhuman powers. She can also see very well in the dark, mostly aided by her eye.
Equipment
‘ACE Suit’: Nicknamed “Eve”, Aeva’s ACE suit is an all-purpose suit of advanced body armor designed specifically for Meta-S.W.A.T. agents. The suit allows her to breathe underwater, withstand toxins in the air or water, increases her physical durability by an order of magnitude, and is an all-purpose life support and monitoring system for times when the environment is especially hostile. Her particular suit adds to her strength and speed while keeping her arms and fingers unhindered to allow easier use of her bow.
‘Compound bow with specialized arrows’: Her primary weapon is her compound bow, which, while bought as a high-end product from a well-known manufacturer, has been modified by UNITY to perform in uncommon ways. The bow has been reinforced for extra durability, and can now fire underwater using inventions by UNTIL superscientists. There are multiple types of arrows that Sunspot employs at any given time. Her standard arrows are hand-made personally. The uncommon arrows, including but not limited to sonic arrows, taser arrows and exploding arrows, are purchased from providers specializing in archer heroes. She carries a wide assortment in her quiver at all times.
‘Offensive/defensive enhancement device’: While the device has no official name, it is in fact a highly technological piece of superscience from an indeterminate benefactor. It appears to be made of some sort of metallic alloy, and looks like a sleek, flattened egg-shape that fits easily in her palm. It has two buttons. One button controls a sonic device capable of either enhancing the effectiveness of her sonic arrows or, if not synced with an already-sonic arrow, capable of letting out a high-frequency, high-amplitude sonic “shriek”. The second button activates a transparent, glowing shield that surrounds her body as a “second skin”. This shield protects her from physical harm above and beyond her ACE suit, but has a short duration.
‘Psionic dampening suit’: A new addition to the Meta-S.W.A.T. defenses, this suit is a form-fitting and lightweight underarmor that appears as a shiny film across the entire body (excluding the eyes). It is in fact a thin layer of undisclosed “anti-psionic material”, capable of blocking out telepathic attacks against the wearer. Another invention of PRIMUS’ Allen Baumer, all agents of Meta-S.W.A.T. have been issued these suits, which they wear under their ACE suits.
Connections
Even before moving to Millennium City, Aeva had connections. Now, however, her exposure to so many heroes has forged new connections around the city. Members of her own team, including Flynn, Striker, Justice, Girl Genius, and the recently-deceased Keioseth, form the central body of her friends. Her relationship with Flynn in fact has progressed into a romantic connection, and they are currently dating.
Also close to her are Titan, Siegebreaker, Nightstar, Lady Incendiary, Wyrd, Overwatch, Huscarl, Thundrax, and many others, all of whom are from various supergroups and perform various functions around the world. Her PRIMUS contact, Allen Baumer, is considered a close associate as well.
Recently, she has been stalked by a man calling himself Richard Masterson, who at first appeared to be a vampire or undead of some sort. It has been discovered, however, that Richard Masterson was in fact the avatar of the same goddess Aeva was nearly sacrificed to on her 16th birthday. The goddess, freed by the avatar Masterson, attempted to regain full power and absorb the rest of Sunspot. With the help of Flynn and Rezz, Aeva managed to entomb the deity beneath countless tons of stone somewhere in the southwest desert.
Quotes
"...I'm half serious when I say I'm going to do my damnedest to get old and fat when I retire." -Aeva to Huscarl on being hit on.
Aeva: "Quit being antagonizing. For five minutes."
Chaosiris: "Hello, evil here, s'what I do."
Aeva: "Hello, bitch with a bow here. Don't make me shoot you." -Excerpt from conversation with Keio's nemesis.
"Keio, next time you feel like going adventuring in space...you can kiss my ass." -Aeva to Keioseth after a nightmarish journey into space. She was promoted and given a raise a short time later.
"If I wanted to "upgrade" I'd get a boob job, but since I'm pretty sure I don't need one... I'll pass, thanks anyway." -Aeva on the public comm system after it was suggested the human heroes upgrade to become more machine-like.
"Being humble is one thing, being fucking depressing is another." -Aeva speaking to Thundrax about his psychological state.
"...I don't know about facing my fears, but I can at least tell them to go fuck themselves long enough to get things done." -Aeva speaking to Thundrax the day after a villain take down that struck a little close to home.
Theme Song
T.B.D.
