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Arachnos Personnel File
Serial: 0014827-1248B

DiCosta, Anita Francine

Rank: Marshal
Species: Human
Ethnicity: Caucasian/Hispanic
Age: 38
Date of Birth: December 19th, 1973
Place of Birth: Paragon Heights (later Galaxy City), Paragon City, RI, USA
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 114 pounds
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Primary Base of Operation: Base 78294-7B
Base Position: Marshal
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Divi DiCosta (sister, rogue longbow operative), Carmine DiCosta (father), Ramona DiCosta (mother)
Powers: No superhuman abilities.
Skills: Several years of command experience, Expert level marksman (Assault Rifles, Pistols, Grenade Launchers, Rocket Launchers, Shotguns, Blow Guns, and Bows), Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Ph.D. in Anthropology.
Equipment: Marshal Issue Power Armor (non standard, heavily modified), Marshal Issue Arachnos Assault Rifle (non standard, heavily modified), Non-Standard Power Armor (self built), Safety Glasses, Holo-Computer, Micro-Factory (self built), Recall Device (used to call in Arachnobot Disruptor Reinforcements), possibly other unknown equipment.

Contents 1 Biography and Service Record 1.1 Early Life 1.2 Post-Adolescence 1.3 Prison Life 1.4 Early Arachnos Service 1.5 Early Huntsman Service 1.6 Huntsman Service, First Class 1.7 Recent Service, Promotion to Marshal 2 Base of Operations 3 Affiliations 3.1 Lord Recluse 3.2 Arbiter Umeki 3.3 Black Scorpion 3.4 Celia du Cialesta 3.5 Kakabele 3.6 Stronglaw 3.7 Divi DiCosta 4 Psychological Profile 5 Known Equipment Loadout 5.1 Body Armor 5.2 Safety Glasses 5.3 Arachnos Assault Rifle, Marshal Issue (Heavily Modified) 5.3.1 Single Shot 5.3.2 Burst 5.3.3 Heavy Burst 5.3.4 Wide Area Web Grenade 5.3.5 Venom Grenade 5.3.6 Frag Grenade 5.4 Holo-Computer 5.5 Micro-Factory 5.6 Recall Device 5.7 Arachnos Flier 6 Surveillance Footage

Biography and Service Record

The following is a compilation of all known, or otherwise public data pertinent to this personnel file. For questions or comments, please contact Webmaster Jelens.

Early Life

Anita Francine DiCosta was born the younger twin of Divi DiCosta on December 19th, 1973, at the Hospital in the neighborhood that would later be known as Galaxy City. She was born to Carmine DiCosta, a warehouse worker in Kings Row, and Ramona DiCosta, a Mexican-American immigrant.

All evidence points to a fairly decent and normal life, with loving parents, and a stable home environment. As most twins are, Anita and her sister Divi were very close, sharing many experiences and being, it would seem, inseparable.

Post-Adolescence

When they were twenty, Divi insisted that they join a supergroup, The Crimson Marauders. The Crimson Marauders were, at the time, a group much like Longbow, resembling a self-righteous militia more than a collection of spandex clad, grinning idiots. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Marhsal DiCosta regarding this point in her life:

Arachnos Interviewer: That was a point of contention between the two of you. DiCosta: Yeah, I was mad, real mad. I didn't wanna go put my ass on the line when there were plenty of real heroes with actual superpowers flyin' around. It didn't make any sense to me, I couldn't understand why she would want to run off and get killed by some super powered punkass when you have people like Statesman running around breaking faces.

This created a rift between the siblings that culminated in a fist fight, and Divi subsequently joining the Marauders without her sister. Records indicate Anita was thrown into a deep depression at the departure of her sister and began acting out by associating with the "punks and losers" her sister was out defeat. According to an interview, Anita had a boyfriend named Mark who was trying to get in with the Hellions gang. Anita rode along with him as he robbed a liquor market, and stayed in the car while he did the job. Unbeknownst to her, he had planned to murder the clerk in cold blood as part of an initiation, and then set the place on fire. While we admire his ambition, he did very little to prevent actually getting caught.

Within hours, police and heroes descended upon the city streets and tracked him down. In order to save himself from a heftier sentence, he cut a deal with the DA and gave up Anita. The authorities tracked her down, and by chance, her own sister arrested her. Indicted as an Accessory to Murder, she was sentenced to 25 years in Prison. She was subsequently sent to Ziggursky Penitentiary (AKA the Zig) to serve her sentence.

Prison Life

She spent eight and a half years there. She stayed relatively safe by using her body to weasel her way into favor with the wannabe prison crimelords there. She also spent a lot of time studying various subjects, earning two Ph.D.s, one in Mechanical Engineering, and another in anthropology.

During that time she apparently had association with future House of Cialesta member Stronglaw (AKA Kari Larsen, AKA Standup Girl). During much of 2008, DiCosta (then Huntsman) was seen with several HoC members, and while it was difficult to tell what she was up to, all official inquiries to Arbiter Umeki were subsequently stiff-armed.

That said, eye witnesses report that DiCosta and Larsen did not get along well, and may have fought one another several times. They report that Larsen took issue with DiCosta's attitude towards the criminal elements, saying she should be above it. It should be noted that Larsen has maintained her innocence for the crime she was charged with since day one. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Wolf Spider Morough, who served time with both Larsen and DiCosta:

Arachnos Interviewer: DiCosta and Larsen, they didn't get along well, hm? Wolf Spider Morough: No way, Larsen even tried to act like a hero in the Zig. None of us bought it, we knew she was a bad apple. You know the kind, repressed, wants to live up to the ideals of others, but you know she has the beat of her own drum strikin' in the back of her head.. Arachnos Interviewer: And her and DiCosta? Wold Spider Morough: Oh, yeah well, see Kari always tried to act all high and mighty, and Anita? Well she had a good upbringin' I guess and yet she fit right in, so Larsen I think took issue with that. DiCosta slept around and got in favor with a buncha the big bads in there, made herself a pretty safe lil spot to pursue whatever it was she was studying. Larsen, hah! Goody two shoes totally reviled by it, and pretty much everything else that went on there.

It should also be noted that DiCosta has recently been overheard calling Stronglaw "thunder thighs".

In 2002, shortly after the First Rikti Invasion, the glorious machinations of Arachnos set up the Zig as a target of opportunity, the first steps in Project DESTINY. While DiCosta herself was not specified as a Destined One, she was picked, along with many others, as a candidate to enter Wolf Spider training. Offered the opportunity to leave prison, in exchange for service to our prestigious organization, she agreed with little hesitation.

Early Arachnos Service

DiCosta received high marks during training, rating highest in her group for marksmanship and ingenuity on the battlefield. Live fire exercises at the end of training saw her wound or kill several of her opponents, leading her squad to victory.

She spent two years as a Wolf Spider Soldier, participating in several successful skirmishes in Siren's Call, Bloody Bay, and Warburg. She received several commendations and medals and was promoted to TacOps.

As a TacOps, she infiltrated and destroyed several enemy assets in Recluse's Victory which threatened Lord Recluse's glorious future. After a year as a TacOps, she was instrumental to the success of a key battle. Longbow and Hero forces threatened to take the primary base, and she single handedly held them off for three hours until reinforcements arrived. Once they arrived, she took command of the battlefield and led her fellow Soldiers to victory, destroying a heavily fortified enemy position and eliminating many of their brainwashed, self-righteous followers.

When asked about this incident, she had this to say:

"Some of the newer recruits assigned under me couldn't handle the pressure and pretty much blew it. Longbow forces had prepared a massive surge, several officers and at least three Ballistas, in addition to a couple of Heroes. It was ugly. I wasn't gonna stand for that crap though, I holed up behind a broken wall and lobbed some grenades out there. Managed to shake 'em up a bit, which is all I really needed. I had stolen some kinda sleep grenade from one of the Heroes I had killed earlier in the engagement. Working quickly, I modified it, using some of our Venom to create a noxious hallucinogenic payload. I put on my gas mask, tossed that sucker out there and damn.. ten seconds later they started slaughtering each other. That gave me the edge I needed, and over the next couple hours I was able to pick them off. I didn't get 'em all, but I had seriously put a dent in their forces by the time reinforcements arrived. There was so much chaos, we just tore right through them and then rushed their base and slaughtered everyone inside. It was &%^#ing awesome!"

Early Huntsman Service

Following her success in Recluse's Victory, she was promoted to Huntsman, and assigned to Huntsman (First Class) Sarah Waters. DiCosta received assignments from Waters, who reported directly to Arbiter Umeki. DiCosta and Waters hit it off immediately, some say a little too well. Rumors at the time pointed to a physical relationship between the two, but the only investigation launched was quickly quashed, both by Arbiter Umeki's intervention, and DiCosta's rifle.

DiCosta was entrusted with several solo assignments, assaulting key assets in Paragon City. Among her most noteworthy was taking the Medi-Com grid offline for more than a day after bombing the "Healing Node", which allowed our prestigious organization to execute several successful operations within the city with very little Hero resistance.

In September of 2007, DiCosta and Waters were working as a Joint Strike Force to destroy several generators that powered the westernmost War Walls on the outskirts of Paragon City. This would not only cause the walls to power down, but for the safeties on the massive blast doors to activate, disengaging the locks and allowing free access to ground troops from the Western Side. This was part of a plan to execute a pincer attack on Paragon City, one set of forces attacking from Siren's Call as a distraction, and then an immediate surprise attack from the west gates. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work out completely.

Waters betrayed the glory of Arachnos and warned Longbow and the PPD about the plan. Faced with this reality, DiCosta did her duty and killed Waters on the spot. DiCosta warned the forces outside the walls of Waters' betrayal, and we were able to pull most of our forces from the front lines before the brunt of the Hero counter attack. Even with a withdraw order, DiCosta went above and beyond the call of duty to our Lord Recluse. To show the Heroes and Paragon City that Arachnos would not be denied, and to show them how vulnerable they really were, she battled for over an hour and managed to take the generators down anyways.

For this act of selfless duty to Arachnos, she received one of our highest commendations. For a short time following the incident, some rumors said that Waters had been loyal, and DiCosta in fact betrayed Waters, setting her up in order to elevate herself as a triumphant, distinguished soldier of Arachnos. Arbiter Umeki found those who started the rumors and had them killed. No investigation was ever launched. Even so, Wolf Spider TacOps Enton had this to say:

"Sarah was loyal, Arachnos was her life, she woulda never turned on us. If she was workin' with Longbow, it was a ploy. She just wouldn't have done it. That bitch DiCosta killed her to further her own career, mark my words."

DiCosta blew Enton's head off two days later, and said this:

"That Sarah woman betrayed us, ok? We were close, real close, and she betrayed us. I wasn't gonna stand for that, so I killed her, and I'm not gonna stand around and let some jackass startup spread these bull$%^& rumors!"

Huntsman Service, First Class

Following her actions in exposing Waters, and destroying the key War Wall assets in Paragon City, Huntsman DiCosta was brought before Arbiter Umeki and Lord Recluse himself. She was commended by our Lord, and given a medal by him. He then promoted her to Huntsman First Class and placed her directly under the authority of Arbiter Umeki. Huntsman DiCosta was one of very few of the highest ranked Huntsmen, and answered to no one except Arbiter Umeki and Lord Recluse himself.

In mid-2008, she was inexplicably added to the list of Destined Ones, allowing her even more freedom. Some speculated this may have been a deliberate sabotage of the list on her part, or perhaps part of a larger, more secretive operation handed to her by Arbiter Umeki. Regardless of the circumstances, speculation ...was discouraged and only in place here as a matter of record, as DiCosta reportedly said this to someone who had the guts to ask her:

"No freakin' comment. Stop asking questions before I put a bullet in your head."

She acted with complete autonomy for a time, doing what she could to further her agenda as a Destined One, eventually working side by side with Black Scorpion. The details of what they worked on together are a matter of utmost security and secrecy, and this file lacks the proper clearance and authorization to include it.

In August 2008, she was taken off of the Destined Ones list as inexplicably as she was added to it. After that, she worked with several contacts in Grandville on a multitude of assignments. Some, such as her work with Vernon von Grun, are a matter of public record, while others are considered Black Ops and are not scheduled for inclusion in this dossier.

In mid-September 2008, she picked Statesman out as a target of opportunity, attacking and defeating him as he gave a speech in Atlas Park. This has earned her much prestige within the ranks as a sort of Giant Killer, noted by one reporter for WSPDR as being:

"A petite woman with a gun and some robot spiders, taking down one of the most powerful beings on the planet."

After being added to the Destined One list, she closely associated with the House of Cialesta for quite some time. The House of Cialesta was a small group led by a woman from another universe who styled herself some kind of nobility, Celia du Cialesta. The people she led were quite dangerous, and oddly enough, ranged from heroes, to mercs, to outright villains, and everything in between. Celia herself was known to have radical anti-Arachnos views, but had an excellent ability to generate great PR for her group, and had at least once, through her actions, prompted our Lord Recluse to commend her publicly.

It isn't known what DiCosta was doing with the House of Cialesta, but both she and Arbiter Umeki have strongly discouraged questions.

Finally, as a matter of public record, and not actually implying anything, some have said that DiCosta is sleeping with Umeki, and this has led to her great favor. All who have said this with intent of spreading rumor have been shot to death. Others will hopefully be more intelligent.

Recent Service, Promotion to Marshal

In October of 2008, the leader of the House of Cialesta apparently returned to her home universe, leaving the group in shambles, and it eventually all but disintegrated. As of December 2008, Anita DiCosta officially broke ties with the remains of The House of Cialesta. Later, in January 2009, she was promoted to Marshal by order of Lord Recluse through Arbiter Umeki and placed in charge of a new Arachnos Project. Though Marshals are usually military commanders for entire islands or districts, it is a special rank that can be granted to a high ranking Arachnos Soldier overseeing personnel on a widespread scale. A sizable paper trail is the source of the only available information about this new project, apparently dubbed Project: MIST. At least fifteen Arachnos Bases throughout the Rogue Isles have been repurposed with new top clearance operational mandates, and new personnel who have been sworn to secrecy. At least five new bases were constructed between September and December of 2008 specifically for this Project, and personnel began being assigned to them in late January 2009. A total of 1,429 Arachnos Personnel have been assigned to this Project. Nothing else is known about Project: MIST.

In the last week of January 2009, a very stupid Blood Widow (who has already been caught and executed), leaked information about the paper trail to WSPDR. Reporter Courtney Peterson caught up with Marshal DiCosta later that week, and attempted to conduct an interview about this mysterious Project:

Courtney Peterson: Marshal DiCosta, congratulations on the promotion. Marshal DiCosta: Thanks. Courtney Peterson: If I may have a moment of your time, Marshal, we were recently told about a new Arachnos Project you're heading up called Project: MIST. Can you tell our viewers anything about it? Marshal DiCosta: That's a very stupid and dangerous question. Absolutely freakin' not. Courtney Peterson: Well, we only ask so that the people of the Rogue Isles have a better idea of what their government is doing to look after them. We at WSPDR feel we have a right to know- Marshal DiCosta: An Elite Arachnos Death Squad says you don't. Courtney Peterson: ... Thank you for your time Marshal!

Base of Operations

Marshal DiCosta has been given direct command of over twenty bases in relation to Project: MIST, but her primary command center still seems to remain in an underground facility at Port Recluse, on Sharkhead Isle. Labeled only "Arachnos Base 78294-7B", precious little information is available as to its operational mandates, individual mission parameters, or personnel, as it is kept largely under wraps and classified Black Ops. The only concrete evidence of what lies within comes from a statement by DiCosta herself, saying that it's where her modified Arachnobot Disruptors are manufactured and stored.

Affiliations

Marshal DiCosta seems to have very few actual friends. Rumors abound that anyone closely associated with her is either being blackmailed, or engaging in intimate relations with her, or both. This is being stated for the sake of record, though she has confirmed some of it as true, this Operative doesn't believe most of what is obviously such malicious rumor mongering towards one of Arachnos' most gifted officials.

Lord Recluse

Our Lord Recluse has shown great favor to her on at least two occasions, first by personally promoting her to Huntsman First Class after her actions at the War Walls in Paragon City. Our Lord recently promoted her to Marshal by way of Arbiter Umeki, and placed her in charge of Project: MIST. There doesn't seem to be any relation beyond that, and of course, her loyal service to him. When asked about her thoughts on Lord Recluse, she had this to say:

"Lord Recluse is the biggest one on the block, and deserves our respect and loyalty for his sheer audacity alone, but he's actually earned it again and again for many other reasons. Long live Recluse!"

Arbiter Umeki

Arbiter Umeki is one of the most senior Arbiters in the corps, earning many medals, commendations, and awards for his service to the Will of our Lord Recluse. Like Daos, he has golden shoulder pads, signifying his rank, but unlike Daos, he is not a public figure. In fact, it is said no one but our Lord even knows what he looks like, as he always wears his helmet. Arbiter Umeki often works from the shadows and is only very rarely seen. When he is seen however, he is barking cryptic orders, or killing those who threaten the stability of Arachnos. It's theorized that Arbiter Umeki is actually a primary planner for several of our most glorious organization's more ingenious and successful plans. Speculation abounds, and some have said that the "writing on the walls" incident may have been his brainchild, or may have been developed more thoroughly by him upon our Lord Recluse's initial flash of pure genius. Others still say that he had a large hand in the planning stages of the Jade Spider, and helped to oversee much of the engineering behind The Web. Of course, no one but Arbiter Umeki and our Lord himself truly know whether or not these rumors are true.

Black Scorpion

Not much needs to be said about Black Scorpion and who he is, but his relationship to DiCosta is shrouded in mystery. No one's sure exactly what business they have together, but smart soldiers don't ask. Regardless of what it is, DiCosta was recently overheard saying this:

"Black Scorpion? Mm, turns me on."

Celia du Cialesta

Celia du Cialesta, or "Lady Celia" as she preferred to be called, was a radical anti-Arachnos upstart from another universe who had collected a band of villains, mercs, and even heroes. Her group, the House of Cialesta, was publically a monster PR engine, well loved by the working class of the Rogue Isles. We're not sure if this was a front for something more diabolical, but if it was, we admire the audacity. We're certain her anti-Arachnos agenda was real though, and not some kind of cover. Celia du Cialesta left Earth for her home universe in October, and the House of Cialesta thusly all but crumbled. Regardless, why DiCosta would associate with her in the first place is unknown. Some said she may be a traitor. They were killed. This article will consider the most likely circumstance to be true: she was working undercover for Arbiter Umeki. There's no telling what her goals were however, as asking questions has been strongly discouraged.

Kakabele

Kakabele is well known to us, especially our mystical division. She heads up what still remains of the House of Cialesta. Kakabele is a fallen angel (though strangely, not a demon, and some question whether she's even evil or not). Kakabele used to be a Watcher, a being charged with keeping tabs on the whole of the universe, but she was cast down for reasons unknown to us. She still possesses a good deal of her angelic powers, including the ability to throw holy fire. Strangely, she also has developed powers of darkness, not part of her holy repertoire. In addition to this, she still seems to at least partially possess her "sight", which allows her to look upon anything in the universe with ease. Rumors had circulated for a while that this was why DiCosta was associating with the House.

Stronglaw

Otherwise known as Kari Larsen, Stronglaw was a member of the House of Cialesta until very recently, leaving in the wake of Celia du Cialesta's departure from this universe. It isn't certain if the nature of the relationship between DiCosta and Stronglaw has changed since their time served together in prison. All evidence points to them cooperating for some reason, but still sharing a deep disdain for one another.

Divi DiCosta

In the years following Anita's arrest at her hands, the Crimson Marauders merged with the fledgling Longbow, and Divi DiCosta went along with the merger. Divi DiCosta spent several years climbing her way through Longbow's ranks. She has time and again proven herself more than adept at being a thorn in our Lord Recluse's side, and that of Arachnos as a whole. Over time, she became known as "The Divisionist", for her uncanny ability to divide and conquer. Like her sister, she is a genius on the field of battle, but unlike her sister, she is not one for the more "straight forward" side of combat. Divi DiCosta excels at stealth insertion and infiltration. She has proven extremely effective against groups such as Malta and the Rikti, inserting herself into a base, and then tearing it apart from the inside, causing confusion and panic.

She eventually ascended through the ranks and came to command her own insurgent team, which made various, somewhat successful campaigns against our prestigious organization, and amazingly successful operations against the likes of Malta. Her tactic at this point would be to infiltrate a given base or compound, and then destroy vital infrastructure, such as communications or radar arrays. She would then have her BEtS team (Bad End of the Stick) air dropped by stealth helicoptors at key, strategic points throughout the compound. They would then proceed to devastate it. With some re-education, she could prove to be an effective Arachnos Operative.

In February of 2007, she went rogue for reasons unknown to us, shortly after an operation against one of our bases which was experimenting in mystical space-time manipulation. Longbow had her put under lockdown, confined to quarters, this much we have discovered. She escaped however, and then committed several crimes and was thrown into the Zig before Longbow could intercept the authorities and take her back into custody. She somehow managed to time this perfectly with one of our regular raids on the Zig, and was picked up, having recently been added to the Destined One list. It's not known whether or not she was aware of this.

Then Huntsman Anita DiCosta was once asked by a WSPDR reporter how she thought her sister escaped from a full lockdown at a primary Longbow base. She told the reporter this:

"My sister is like a freakin' female Steven Seagal. Do you put Steven Seagal in a cell? Or in a meat locker? Or something like that? Sure! But do you keep Steven Seagal in there? No, he escapes. So does Divi."

She has since wandered the rogue isles, apparently pursuing her own agenda, and her BEtS team has apparently gone rogue right along with her. Divi joined the House of Cialesta in early 2007. It wasn't known if they had begun speaking to one another again, but Divi apparently fell into a coma in August 2008. It's been reported that Anita is keeping Divi in her house, taking care of her comatose sister.

Psychological Profile

Anita Francine DiCosta is ambitious, and absolutely ruthless. Being a person who used to abhor and avoid violence, once she was truly introduced to it, she pursued it wholeheartedly. She is extremely efficient in combat, and a quick thinker, able to improvise for any given situation. This stems from her upbringing. She was raised to be a critical thinker and a problem solver, and was always told "you can do anything if you set your mind to it".

It was this phrase in fact, that has, according to her, stuck with her throughout her life, giving her a strong sense of determination. Indeed, it was this determination that earned her two doctorates in just under eight years while in prison.

If Anita wants something, she makes sure she gets it. Everything she has, from her weapons to her body, are tools to be used to achieve that goal. She has been recorded many times, sometimes in her own reports, killing fellow Arachnos Operatives whom she feels are standing in the way of her success, or sleeping with people outside Arachnos and then blackmailing them. Of course, her ruthlessness and her success have contributed to rumor mongering. One of the more vicious and obviously absolutely untrue rumors says that she killed Huntsman Sarah Waters in cold blood to elevate her status within Arachnos. While she freely admits and is seemingly proud of some of the nastier things she's been reported to have taken part in, some rumors take it a step further. They say she has used her body and her natural charisma to force her way to the top of Arachnos in a very short amount of time, purportedly having slept with and blackmailed many people within our organization, from low level clerks to Arbiters. Of course, this is simply here for the sake of record and they are completely untrue. Anyone found spreading such rumors will likely find themselves with a bullet in their head, so it would be wise not to talk such nonsense about your superiors within Arachnos.

Even so, while she is indeed ambitious and has left a wake of bodies and broken dreams behind her, she isn't a total sociopath. She does seem capable of connecting with people on an emotional level, creating friendships, and it seems she loves her sister (as she is taking care of her). People incapable of making emotional connections with others are much less likely to remain loyal to any organization, and though it may be hard to believe, even our most glorious Arachnos. As such, this is a portrait of a nearly perfect soldier, psychologically.

Known Equipment Loadout

Marshal DiCosta has taken her standard Arachnos equipment and modified it heavily, essentially rebuilding it from the ground up. She has in fact, designed a completely new body armor, which she refuses to share with the rest of Arachnos. Recently, one of our top scientists used leverage in his department to order DiCosta to submit the blueprints for her armor and weapons, but Arbiter Umeki intercepted and vetoed the order. He cited extenuating circumstances and matters of Arachnos Security. Needless to say, she has submitted some pictures and basic technical specifications for both her weapons and armor, saying:

"Here, check these out. It won't teach you how to build 'em, but it should make you jealous!"

Cruel. And admirable.

Body Armor

Her reports say little about her body armor. Visually, it appears to be a set of interlocking plates, made out of some unknown material, etched with a tiny diamond shaped pattern. It's a deep gray in color, and she wears most of it unexposed beneath her clothing. She says that it uses an ablative armor matrix that constantly rebuilds itself using micro-factories she designed, placed at several key points within it. Nothing more is known, but first hand accounts point to it being incredibly durable and taking extreme punishment not only from small arms fire, but elemental attacks, magical and otherwise. When damaged, it's been seen repairing itself within moments. Truly a marvel of technology, and hopefully something she will share with the rest of Arachnos one day. We somehow doubt that will come until she has herself developed an even better version that she will also refuse to share.

Upon being promoted to Marshal, she was given a new set of Arachnos Armor, painted specifically for her rank. She's taken to spending much more time in uniform these days, though she has apparently upgraded this new set with the same technology as her personal armor.

Safety Glasses

Marshal DiCosta hasn't actually said anything about the safety glasses she wears. While safety glasses are common equipment when firing weapons such as shotguns and assault rifles, Marshal DiCosta's may be something entirely different. She has been recorded on camera several times apparently being shot in the head, only to have the projectile stopped a few inches away by a force field. Whether her glasses project this field is unknown, but it's a reasonable assumption, given the sophistication of her other equipment.

Arachnos Assault Rifle, Marshal Issue (Heavily Modified)

Marshal DiCosta has made substantial modifications to her primary weapon, essentially rebuilding it from the ground up. The modifications have increased its ammunition stores exponentially, as it now uses micro-factories to transform raw materials into needed ammunition. She has streamlined the loading systems, making them substantially faster than the standard model, even with the ammo being built onboard. It's estimated her modifications have made the ammo loading somewhere between three and four times faster than standard.

While her weapon manufactures all of the standard ammo, it does so in name only, as everything about the weapon, including its ammunition, has been significantly modified. The most obvious example of this is the fact that it will periodically create special ammo as it attains the necessary resources collected from particles in the air.

Single Shot

Marshal DiCosta's assault rifle is designed so that it can not only fire in three modes (single, burst, heavy burst), but these are all manufactured and loaded separately within the weapon. This means that she can constantly switch firing modes, and always have bullets ready to kill her enemies with. Her grenade launcher works on the same principle, and that will be covered later. The Single Shot mode loads a single, titanium round into the chamber. It's highly accurate and has a very long range. While it lacks the punch of her other rounds, when the proper materials are gathered, the round can be wrapped in a tiny mesh that generates a negative energy field, increasing its stopping power.

Burst

On Burst mode, Marshal DiCosta's rifle will fire a quick, three round burst. The Burst mode rounds are teflon coated, armor piercing titanium, and larger than the Single Shot round. Their micro-factories are specially engineered for extra speed and can reload this firing mode very quickly. On top of that, this firing mode uses a technology similar to the Single Shot mode's, but significantly improved. When the proper materials are collected, the mechanism wraps all three rounds in a mesh that generates a sustained and more powerful negative energy field. This substantially increases stopping power, and few foes can withstand the damage this can put out.

Heavy Burst

Heavy Burst mode loads thirty small bullets and fires them one after another. Marshal DiCosta uses this as a crowd control mode, spraying the bullets back and forth at multiple enemies. Each round is a titanium hollow point, intended primarily for stopping lightly armored ground troops, though it has proven decently effective against heavier targets as well. A special technology in the micro-factory that produces these bullets gradually collects specific materials from the air. When it has enough, some of the bullets will be coated in an electrified plasma. When this strikes a target, it will disperse into a liquidous cloud which can choke foot soldiers. More importantly however, this cloud will be electrified with a latent but powerful charge, which can cause significant damage, collateral and otherwise.

Wide Area Web Grenade

Marshal DiCosta has taken the common Arachnos WAWG and enhanced it substantially. It is now constructed entirely inside the weapon, using a specialized micro-factory. When fired, the grenade explodes on impact, ejecting a massive cloud of heated Web Material, which sticks to everything in range, and then dissolves a short time later. This will not only stop pesky flying heroes from taking off, or even jumping, but will typically stop even the strongest heroes in their tracks. DiCosta has taken this one step further, increasing both the payload of the Web Material, and the length of time it will last before dissolving. Beyond that, when the micro-factory collects the proper materials, the round will be loaded with a special add-on that will cause a small space-time distortion in the area the grenade impacts. This will cause her opponents to be forced off of their feet and twisted around in the air, warping along with the fabric of the universe itself. Nasty.

Venom Grenade

Marshal DiCosta has significantly modified the standard issue Arachnos Venom Grenade. Not only does it create a choking cloud of poisonous, corrosive gas, but it does so with much greater efficiency. She has increased the toxicity of the Venom formula, to the point that a second application can have a compounding effect, and can be more destructive than most heavy weaponry. On top of this, the micro-factories associated with the construction of her Venom Grenades use a similar technology to that of her Heavy Burst. When the micro-factories collect the proper materials, a special additive is injected into the grenade along with the Venom. When the grenade impacts, it will not only release the Venom, but also disperse a diffuse cloud of electrified plasma, shocking anything it touches. It's what Marshal DiCosta has called:

"A true weapon of War... and awesome! A weapon... of awesome!"

She then fired one into a crowd of nearby Luddites, who were sitting upon the grass at the university. None survived. Awesome indeed.

Frag Grenade

Marshal DiCosta has essentially thrown out the standard Frag Grenade and completely redesigned it. It no longer fragments on impact, releasing a spray of metal shrapnel. Her design instead blows open large hatches on all sides, and then uses an explosive to eject hundreds of tiny, razor sharp gyro-blades. These spin through the air and tear through anything in their paths. A slight moment after ejecting the blades, the device itself explodes, both to prevent enemy recovery and reverse-engineering, and to of course, cause yet more damage. In addition to this, the micro-factories, upon collecting enough of the needed materials, will encase many of the small blades in an electrified mesh. These blades can then become lodged into her opponents and cause severe damage due to a sustained electrical charge that can last several seconds.

Holo-Computer

Marshal DiCosta has also procured herself a small computer of unknown origin. We don't know who made it, only that it is extremely sophisticated and advanced. She has been seen using it for what appears to be a normal computer, but she has also been seen using it in combat, scanning enemies, apparently for weaknesses. Not much else is known about it, but it is theoretically possible she uses it to control her personal micro-factory.

Micro-Factory

In addition to the context-specific micro-factories she has, Marshal DiCosta also has a larger one with more robust features. She won't elaborate on what those features might be, only that it assists her in improvising what she needs in any given battle.

Recall Device

Marshal DiCosta possesses a small "Recall Device" which taps into the Arachnos Teleportation system and sends her two Arachnobot Disruptors from her private lab (one pictured left), deep within the base she operates. These Arachnobots have been specially engineered by her, increasing the power output on their destructive blasts twofold. She won't go into details as to how she managed this, and as with everything else regarding her base, official questioning is quickly stiff-armed.

Arachnos Flier

Marshal DiCosta owns and operates a personal Arachnos Flier, which she named "The Dread Bounty". She often uses it to make raids on Paragon City, or to transport her and her allies between airports and bases throughout the Rogue Isles. She's certified as a Class A Arachnos Pilot. She is fond of expressing her deep admiration for her own personal piloting skills and the modifications she's made to the flier itself, including, but not limited to:

•Upgraded Ablative Armor System.
•Lasers replaced with high powered Plasma Cannons.
•Missile warheads upgraded with small Anti-Matter canisters.
•Improved Navigation and Guidance System.
•Power Core replaced with an Anti-Matter Reactor.
•Upgraded Control Console and Piloting Interface with higher sensitivity.
•Improved Troop Deployment System.
•Inertial Dampeners.

When asked by the media about her piloting, she said:

"Making missile strafing runs on the cops in Paragon is pretty funny $#@%! Hahaha!"

Surveillance Footage

Marshal DiCosta is not one for subtlety, and so is often caught on tape destroying various enemy assets, or speaking to reporters. Some recent footage has been compiled here.