Shieldmaiden

= Shieldmaiden =

ORIGIN
Shieldmaiden, The American Knight, is Aisha Russel, current holder of a sacred relic Aegis of Avallach - an indestructible shield from times of King Arthur. She has a white Irish father and a Syrian mother. The Shield, together with Excalibur are the key to Holy Grail, which is why they're never supposed to be carried together by he same person. Bearers of Excalibur and Aegis have kept them for generations since times of King Arthur, until it is prophesied one day rightful heir of King Arthur will use both to return and right all wrongs and save England. Usually it's a man (Swordsmaster) wielding Excalibur, and a woman (Shieldmaiden) wielding Aegis, though that isn't always true.

During American Revolutionary War, wielder of the Aegis - Christine McRob - sided with the revolutionaries, while wielder of the Excalibur didn't. Because of that, two last Shieldmaidens have served USA since then, while their counterpart Swordmasters remain loyal to the UK. Current Swordsmaster is a SAS operative.

Aisha was born during Irish Potato Famine in 1845, and her family ran away to USA, where she became candidate for wielding the shield after old Shieldmaiden, Christine, died during early years of Civil War. Aisha took up the mantle, and secured the victory for the Union - since then, she has a strong distaste for people flowing rebel flag, as she saw some of her friends get killed by Confederates.

She lives till this day, as the shield grants her extended lifespan, and enhanced strength and reflexes. She uses a traditional weapon of the Order of the Grail, the Hurlbat throwing club, which she uses for tossing or bludgeoning.

HISTORY
She fought during WW2 as American supersoldier among the myriad wave of vigilantes and supersoldiers who fought for America, both Nazi spies before the war, and in active combat later. During that time her existence was declassified as a propaganda measure to use her as a symbol of America, British have responded by revealing the Swordsmaster. She faced off against her archnemesis Crimson Butcher's and his Thule Society superhumans many times, and lost a sidekick and a descendant, her great-five times grand son Squire (Jack Russel), who was supposed to be the next Shieldwarden in event of Aisha's death.

After the war, Shieldmaiden helped form spy organization Epoch as branch of the UN and hunt down remnants of Thule Society. Unbeknownst to her, Epoch is actually continuation of an ancient society that is the militant arm of the Illuminati, a secret society that behind the scenes protects the world from threats. She did discover though that Crimson Butcher is a vampire, and still alive and active.

More recently, she was a founding member of the superhero team Task Force Spearhead, together with Transistor, Dasbog, Wulver, and the superhero couple Alice and Cheshire (who use size-manipulating powers).

After formation of Spearhead, more recently an alternate version of Squire turned up as an assassin trying to kill Aisha. He was sent as an agent of the British-American empire Oceania from another universe designed Circle-250603. In that world three such ultra-authoritarian powers - Oceanica, Europa and Dongya ("Eastasia") are in an eternal deadlock, and Oceanica in their year 1984 developed a technology to conquer other dimensions to gain an advantage. Oceanica is a direct descendant of British Empire, which in this reality has never waned thanks to dark magic of the ritual of 1888, conducted by one known as Jack The Ripper. In fact, the reality altering ritual allowed Brits to reconquer America, forming Oceanican Empire.

When this alternative Jack comes to our universe, Aisha succesfully manages to convince him to see the light and abandon the Party line. Together they stop the invasion - and Jack, now calling himself the Veteran, travels between his universe and ours, fighting crime on this Earth, but also strengthening the underground resistance movement Brotherhood back on his own Earth (travelling back and forth), hoping to one day end the pan-fascist rule.

PERSONALITY
Aisha is patriotic in her own peculiar way. Her views were considered radical in her time, radicalized by her hatred of British imperialism, but as an immortal she is now a relatively mainstream progressive, though with occasional reactionary blind spots. She's a devout Muslim and a hijabi, as such she prefers to not reveal her hair to men in public


 * Likes:                   Liberty, potato dishes, Irish-Middle Eastern fusion cuisine, industrial metal
 * Dislikes:                Authority, prejudice

POWERS AND ABILITIES
Aisha is one of the best martial artists in the world, surpassed only be the likes of Inquisitor. However, she could easily match up to him, as she has enchanced strength, reflexes and agility, while also wearing state-of-the art armor, including chainmail from a lightweight titanium alloy, and a partial polymer plate armor.

She uses a special Hurlbat throwing club, which is blunt despite its axe-like appearance, and the indestructible shield Aegis of Avallach.

She also carries an M1911 Colt as a sidearm for emergencies - she is a crack shot and prefers to shoot to wound, or even shoot out guns from enemies hands if possible - rather than kill. She carries spare armo, first aid kit, and variety of explosives, including door breaching charges and flashbang and tear gas grenades in her carrier pouches.

Aisha is one of the best martial artists in the world, surpassed only be the likes of Inquisitor. However, she could easily match up to him, as she has enchanced strength, reflexes and agility, while also wearing state-of-the art armor, including chainmail from a lightweight titanium alloy, and a partial polymer plate armor.

She uses a special Hurlbat throwing club, which is blunt despite its axe-like appearance, and the indestructible shield Aegis of Avallach.

She also carries an M1911 Colt as a sidearm for emergencies - she is a crack shot and prefers to shoot to wound, or even shoot out guns from enemies hands if possible - rather than kill. She carries spare armo, first aid kit, and variety of explosives, including door breaching charges and flashbang and tear gas grenades in her carrier pouches.

Weaknesses:

Her enhanced strength comes from exposure to the shield, and her powers will fade over time if she is separated from the shield.