Cerulean Light
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Caitlyn's Mist Armor, in its current incarnation | |
| Cerulean Light | |
| Player: @FreelanceWizard | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Peacebringer/Defender |
| Security Level: | 41/18 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Caitlyn Cheryl McCormack |
| Known Aliases: | Caitlyn Skye |
| Species: | Human-Kheldian hybrid |
| Age: | 22 |
| Height: | 6' 0" |
| Weight: | 150 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Transdimensional, lawful permanent resident (non-citizen) of America |
| Occupation: | Portal Corporation technician |
| Place of Birth: | New York City, Mu Theta 3-22 |
| Base of Operations: | Kings Row, Paragon City, RI |
| Marital Status: | Sort of single |
| Known Relatives: | Mu Theta 3-22's Galen McCormack (father, deceased), Emily Weir (mother, separated), Mazin Wystan (quasi-significant other) |
| Known Powers | |
| Luminous Blast (melee specialist), Luminous Aura, competition-level Archer | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Skilled engineer in robotics, AI, and psychotronics, including portal physics; passable guitarist | |
| Equipment | |
| Mist Armor, the Gateway, a lab for electrical and mechanical engineering | |
| Plays the guitar. Has been seen occasionally in the company of the known villain, Slade Allister. Maintains a clear division between her secret identities. | |
Cerulean Light is the alias of a Kheldian superhero affiliated with the Templars of the Abbey. She's rarely seen outside of her androgynous Mist Armor, which she claims allows her and her Kheldian symbiote (Xen) to channel quantum energy into luminous blasts and energy shields. Unlike many Kheldians, Caitlyn and Xen retain their individual identities, and are more akin to roommates in the same body than a merged being.
Contents |
History
It was into the mutant dominated world of Mu Theta 3-22 that Caitlyn McCormack was born. The daughter of two powerful telepaths -- Galen McCormack and his wife at the time, Emily Weir -- Caitlyn was a rare and unpleasant surprise in that she was a baseline human with no powers whatsoever. Such "zekoirj," or half-breeds, are the dirty secret of the mutant elite, and many simply die of convenient "accidents" at an early age to avoid bringing shame upon their houses. The Galen of Mu Theta 3-22, however, wanted to raise his daughter and give her opportunities unheard of for any human; offended at this breach of protocol, his wife left them.
Normally, Galen's actions would have had him censured with extreme prejudice. However, he was the Vice-President of Research of Xe Idoijn Makl, a key company producing psychotronic devices that can enhance noetic powers. Due to his key position in such an influential company, his keeping of his mundane daughter was considered distasteful and pathetic, but not problematic enough to warrant his demise.
Caitlyn grew up attending private schools with mutants. She tried to keep her mundane nature quiet, but like all secrets, it often became common knowledge, making her the target of her classmates. The hatred they, and their teachers, carried towards baseline humans forced her to work harder to earn some modicum of respect -- and also hardened her rebellious instinct. Her mechanical acumen allowed her to defend herself with technology where others had superpowers. By age 9, she had created several ingenious traps to ward off bullies; by age 14, she had implemented a small, portable noetic dampener, which allowed her to disable the powers of nearby mutants and simply beat them up with her fists. Eventually, the other children simply shunned her, for it seemed too dangerous to try to attack her.
When she graduated from high school, she went to MIT to major in psychotronic engineering, and with Galen's help, got a research internship at Xe Idoijn Makl. She was working on the Mist Armor and Kheldian research projects when portals opened across her world, letting loose a flood of twisted biological creations -- some which even looked like meldings of the werewolves and Rikti that her world's researchers had seen while remotely probing the multiverse. Little did any know that these were the minions of Doctor M., a dimension-walking warlord out to capture as many worlds as possible while eliminating other versions of himself.
Xe Idoijn Makl was one of the first targets to be attacked. Impulsively, Caitlyn donned the prototype version of the Mist Armor and attempted to help defend the building. It was the timely arrival of Primal Earth's Galen through a portal that turned the tide of the battle, however. He and a few heroines of Primal Earth defeated most of the expeditionary force, but not before Caitlyn fell to one of the invaders. Upon seeing her broken body, and noting her vague resemblance to him, the Kheldian he had been carrying left him and fused with her and her armor, reviving her just as the remaining servitors of the evil doctor detonated charges around the lab. Galen of Primal Earth shoved directions to the Abbey in Caitlyn's hand and threw her into the portal to Primal Earth just before the uncertainty compensators failed, collapsing it.
Since she arrived in Paragon City in November 2005, her opinions on mutants have softened thanks to the kindness shown her by the Templars. She's still wary around all telepaths and has an arguably irrational fear of certain of the Templars, but has settled comfortably into being a superhero. She's been careful to maintain her secret identity -- outside of her armor she's known as Caitlyn Skye, a computer technician for The Abbey and a precocious new portal technician. Some in the public have speculated that she's actually a mutant due to her association with that metahuman only bar.
Personality
Caitlyn tries her best to evoke the image of a cool, calm, and logical person with a penchant for violence, sarcasm, and raunchy jokes. This "tough girl" image isn't too far from the truth, because her past has led her to have a certain strength of will and a very tomboyish nature. However, she also has a rather significant, and weird, geek side; she's often found toying with strange devices such as bouncy ball launchers, enjoys They Might Be Giants, and has been known to idly wonder about the makeup of hot dogs and other processed foods. She enjoys playing the role of a superhero as its own reward -- not necessarily because she gets to help people, but because she enjoys pretending to be a superhero.
That's not to say that she doesn't want to help people, however. In general, she's very open and empathetic, trying to comfort and protect those who are hurt and in need -- assuming they're actually in need, in her opinion, and not just faking it to manipulate others. Her past run-ins with telepaths have made her rather paranoid in general, and very paranoid about being manipulated. Those who attempt to harm or manipulate her or her friends will run into her very deep and very nasty mean streak.
On her home dimension, English is only spoken by the lower class, the baseline humans. As she was educated with the mutants, her knowledge of English was originally very weak. In her time in Paragon City, it's improved tremendously, but she still speaks in a relatively formal English with a strong Eastern European accent. To this day, she still misses certain metaphors and cultural conceits.
Caitlyn maintains three identities. One is that of the Kheldian warrior Cerulean Light, who is androgynous under its powered armor and speaks with a robotic voice thanks to a vocal modulator. Many in Paragon City believe that Cerulean Light is, in fact, a robot. Her second identity is that of Caitlyn Skye, a Portal Corporation technician who takes graduate classes at Paragon City University and occasionally dabbles in fighting crime with her bow. Her third identity is her real one -- Caitlyn McCormack, refugee from another dimension and daughter of that dimension's Galen McCormack. Only the Templars, Sunstorm, and a few trusted contacts in ELITE and among other Peacebringers know of this identity. She takes considerable care to separate her identities, especially the one of Cerulean Light. She doesn't particular enjoy the spotlight that other heroes seem to covet. In her own words, "I do not like being watched or having fans, they get in the way. I like my privacy."
Caitlyn has one habit she considers a dirty secret: when she's under stress, she smokes. She takes considerable care to hide this from others, going so far to only smoke in isolated rooms next to fans.
Powers
Caitlyn's powers come from three sources: her Kheldian symbiote, her experience in brawling, and her keen skills with technology.
Xen
Xen is the name of Caitlyn's Kheldian symbiote. He's relatively young as his race is considered -- possibly less than two years old -- but often presents himself as an older, more knowledgeable being. It's his energy that Caitlyn calls upon to charge her fists with a quantum force capable of launching foes through the air and disassembling them on a subatomic level. Xen is capable of withholding his power from her, though he's never done so.
Melee Specialist
Unlike many Kheldians, Caitlyn focuses almost exclusively her melee skills. She has considerable self-taught knowledge in streetfighting from her experiences brawling with tougher and stronger mutants during her schooling. While she has no formal training in martial arts, she knows where to hit where it hurts, and Xen's Kheldian light makes her blows even more devastating.
Quantum Regeneration
The same quantum energies that grant Caitlyn's blows the ability to decimate her opponents also regenerate her body, making her very difficult to hurt or kill. She can rapidly heal most injuries without any scarring. All of her regeneration is "fast regeneration," however; she can only regenerate in bursts spread out over time. As such, sufficient injuries can incapacitate her and could potentially kill her outright.
Vulnerability to Quantum Array Weaponry
Like all Kheldians, Caitlyn can be quickly felled by Quantum Array weaponry and other sources of Nicti energy.
The effects of such weapons on her are dramatic. In addition to the long-lasting "burning and tingling" pain left by the blasts, by injuring Xen directly, her quantum regeneration is lessened or even reversed, causing old wounds to appear and reopen. Some of the older wounds, received on Mu Theta 3-22, are in fact lethal. An appropriately equipped opponent could use this weakness to kill her.
Mist Armor
Caitlyn's Mist Armor is a suit of armor constructed out of a substance known on Primal Earth as omnium. This metal has the unusual property of being both incredibly hard, to the point of being nearly indestructible under normal conditions, and extremely pliant to the quantum signatures of Kheldians. On Mu Theta 3-22, where the metal is common, the latter property had just been discovered by researchers at Xe Idoijn Makl. The plan was to bind Kheldians into weapons and suits of armor built of omnium, then use them as weapons against the Rikti, of which their tentative dimensional explorations had recently made them aware.
The Mist Armor, in addition to providing preternatural strength and armor, allows Caitlyn and Xen to shapeshift into the White Dwarf form. For some reason, they are unable to access the Bright Nova form. The armor can also "turn inside-out" and retreat under her skin, making it invisible. Several custom modifications Caitlyn has made to the armor since she's been in Paragon City -- in many cases to repair battle damage -- have given it a wide-spectrum sensor package and stealth generator, both only usable when the armor is visible.
The energy shields Caitlyn calls upon in battle are the result of Xen's quantum energies channeled through the armor's skin. To both her and Xen's surprise, however, the armor need not be visible to raise those shields, leading both to wonder exactly what role the armor actually plays.
The armor's name comes from the light blue mist it emits.
Archery
In her home dimension, Caitlyn practiced archery as a hobby. In Paragon City, she occasionally fights crime using her composite bow and a number of arrows of her own design. She isn't nearly as capable with the bow as she is with her Peacebringer powers, however.
Gadgetry
As a student of engineering, Caitlyn has built a few handy devices for use in crime-fighting. In addition to her custom arrowheads, she has a translocator wristband that lets her piggyback on the MediCom network for short-range teleportation. Her leather jacket also conceals thin plates of omnium that act as armor, though the paper-thin plates provide only minimal protection.
Affiliations
Caitlyn is currently a member of the Templars of the Abbey and works for Portal Corporation as a portal technician.
Friends and Allies
Her best friend and sometimes lover is Mazin Wystan; they're currently far more than friends, but not in a relationship. She counts Cassandra Nightshade, Kara Dengo, and Jada Austen among her close friends, though she gets along well with most of the Templars.
Enemies
Caitlyn considers the Council and their Void Hunters her greatest foe, and given her high security level and interference in their affairs, it's likely they consider her at least a plausible threat. She has no immediate foes among those in the Rogue Isles, though she certainly considers Arachnos and its allies her opponents should she encounter them.
Most telepaths start on Caitlyn's list of enemies, including those who are seen by most as good people, such as Mindwork and Persephone Jenkins. With considerable effort and care, they can sometimes escape her prejudicial condemnation, but currently the only living telepath Caitlyn trusts is Mentalis -- and even that trust is tenuous at best.
