General Information

Real Name Sterling Hunter
Current Alias Striker
Marital Status Single
Classification Super

Characteristics

Gender Male
Age 42 (10/13/76)
Height 5'10"
Eyes Hazel
Hair Dirty Blond
Discovery April '93
Abilities Invisibility
Solar Radiation Expulsion
Enhanced Combat
Enhanced Marksmanship

Extended Information

Nicknames Hunter
Relatives Charles Hunter
Marion Hunter
Dierdra Malcom
Ernest Wright
Bianca Wright
Jimmy Wright
Susie Wright
Sexuality Heterosexual
Handler Scott Deacon
Occupations Assassin
Reg Recruitment March '16

There's little about Sterling's appearance that would indicate his dangerous nature, at least beyond his apparent lack of interest when resting -he has, what is quintessentially known as 'resting bitch face' in a very extreme manner, to the point it might be 'resting murder face' to some. At 5'10", he doesn't stand out in a crowd as an overly tall person, he's stocky build but compact with broad shoulders. Years in warm and sunny climates has caused a slight lightening of his usually dull blond hair, but typically, Sterling keeps that short. He's very casual and no fuss in appearance, favouring jeans and henleys with the odd leather jacket.

The most obvious thing about Sterling might be his callused hands, burned knuckles and wrists and the bullet wounds around his ribcage. These are not topics open for discussion in any manner and will earn people a glare at best.

Sterling is an exceptionally closed off man; typically described as an asshole, something he really encourages people to think about him. He is argumentative and brash, exceptionally stubborn and mouthy. There isn't really a softer side to the man, he's not overly fond of kids, he doesn't like being responsible for anyone, he struggles a little with any authority figure, but he does grudgingly go with things if it gives him an easier life -incessant annoyances really screw with his calm. He's a man of few words, usually they're grunts and growls, because he's not really been socialised in any form or fashion throughout his life. He does like animals, but generally does not show it.

He is intensely focused on goal orientated things; training, killing, assignments, he can do those easily and usually better than many would assume -he's not stupid, he's exceptionally uneducated, but tends to work around that with skills rather than brains. He does not trust very many people at all, there's a handful of people that he would've said he trusted, about a quarter of them are dead, and he doesn't believe in replacing things, so that hasn't changed. Very stuck in his ways, Sterling dislikes massive change, although he can learn to accommodate it, he's very much against embracing it, stemming largely from a state of constant flux in his childhood, Sterling is a very routine and schedule orientated person.

He's also the eternal pessimist. Outside of his profession, if something can go wrong, it likely will. Which is why he's not entirely surprised at the outcome of his life. He has an exceptionally fatalistic side, considering his job was literally murdering people, and he knows it wasn't just for rich assholes he did it for, Sterling can get very morbid, very fast. He doesn't see things in black and white, but shades of grey, and while he understands he is in no way a 'good guy', he doesn't believe that anyone is entirely good through and through. Everyone has that little bit in them that can and will kill; Sterling is just more open to his own moral flexibility.

He does have a very violent nature, psychologists attribute this to his turbulent upbringing and career path, although Sterling attributes it to his complete lack of empathy or fucks -he routinely gives no fucks about numerous things. While his powers are curtailed, Sterling's freedom (even the modicum of it he's been presented) depends entirely on his ability to keep his fucking cool, which he believes is unrealistic and it's likely just a matter of time before he's shipped back off to jail -however, therapy for the anger issues and trust in his handler not abusing his leash has been requested of him.

At current, Striker's powers are on a complete lock down outside of training and Handler decisions. Due largely to his previous profession and violent nature, Sterling's limiter is fitted with a strong electric shock for when his handler or authority officers choose to trigger it. Sterling is not to use his powers without express permission and infractions of this rule will have him returned to the maximum security prison which he was held in previous to his situation with Regiment.

Invisibility

Able to appear invisible in the blink of an eye, Sterling is able to move around unseen by people or cameras. This ability lends itself to Sterling and all things on his person -his clothes do not need to come off to be invisible, however he cannot make another person invisible and is limited in what items he can have on his person. Typically, Sterling limits himself to just clothes, with the occasional handgun.

LIMITATIONS: Sterling cannot use his secondary power while invisible, he cannot alter his heat spectrum and thus is visible on heat sensitive monitors, he does still cast a shadow and is therefore somewhat visible during daylight. Rain, snow or other environmental changes will show his form if they hit him, he is still visible to people with tracking abilities or invisibility cancelling powers.

Solar Radiation Expulsion

Sterling automatically absorbs solar radiation, using the stored energy to create constructs of pure thermal energy called 'hot knives'. These are believed to be hotter than the sun, and can be thrown as projectiles or used anchored to Sterling's body as weapons for close range combat. Sterling prefers to guide the projectiles from his hand, although it's not entirely necessary, as they can be produced from any part of his body. Once the constructs are made, usually slim blades ending in points, they have a life span dependent on Sterling's concentration, energy and access to sunlight.

LIMITATIONS: While this power is able to be used in tandem with his combat and marksmanship powers, it does not work while Sterling is invisible. Presumably something to do with his invisibility masking him from solar radiation, if Sterling attempts to create the hot knives while invisible he emerges as visible starting from the knives. This can still be useful, but it does render him visible for at least as long as the knives are in use. Additionally, long periods out of sunlight diminish the storage and generation of the energy used to construct them, as such it depletes the knives effectiveness and length of time for use.

If the thermal knives stay anchored to Sterling's skin for too long, they do begin to burn him. The longest Sterling has maintained an anchored construct is thirty minutes and he sustained a localised 2nd degree burn at the point of anchoring.

Enhanced Combat

With most known forms of fighting, Sterling is exceptionally skilled. He's focused heavily on martial arts from all over the world; Capoeira, Kajukenbo, Aikido, Judo, Jujutsu, Kenpo, Ninjutsu, Karate, Hapkido, Taekwondo, Angampora, Bare-knuckle boxing, Kapap and Kapu Kuialua. With most styles, Sterling is able to mix them together to create an individual style purely unique to his style and capabilities. Additionally, he's able to learn use of weapons exceptionally quickly, including knife fighting, swordsmanship, most firearms, archery, staff fighting, nunchuks and most throwing weapons.

LIMITATIONS: Sterling requires some form of visual to first pick up the skill, although it becomes second nature afterwards. Those with adaptive muscle memory can copy his styles to mimic them but very little can stop Sterling from innate knowledge of the fighting skills. His skill with the styles may be affected minutely with his powers off.

Enhanced Marksmanship

A sub-power of his enhanced combat abilities, Sterling displays the ability to achieve utter and complete accuracy on targets, regardless of distance, due to an improved brain activity for aim, accuracy and precision being drastically more advanced than average. Sterling can take a second to gauge a shot and is able to make it. This is true of any projectile, not just firearms, and makes it almost impossible for Sterling to miss a target.

Using this ability, Sterling can judge long distances, strength and angle of a projectile, speed or velocity of a moving target and still make the shot cleanly and proficiently. Visual obstructions don't hinder this ability, as they are taken into account during the split second calculations, the ability to hit the target using this ability would rely on the correct use of the proper weapon, which Sterling would be able to gauge himself. Sterling is able to block out distractions when calculating the target, and illusion or perception altering abilities do not work on him in these instances.

LIMITATIONS: People with probability manipulation can override the ability, people with enhanced reflexes or agility will have a better chance in avoiding targeting. Sterling does have to see his target in order to calculate the aim, although targeting can occur while in motion.

Charles and Marion Hunter were, to put it mildly, terrible parents. They really had no business having kids, but with Marion pregnant right out of high school and with an intensely Catholic family, the pair were wed swiftly and left to get on with things. Sterling wasn't really something they expected, or rightly knew what to do with, Marion struggled to bond with the baby, but was never informed that she could have postpartum, left to get on with things, Marion did just that. Charles attempted to work to support them, but his focus quickly shifted from taking care of Marion and the baby to drinking with his friends and breaking the law. In a bid to make ends meet, Marion took up with one of her old high school friends as a small time escort, sometimes leaving Sterling with his grandparents, but mostly leaving him home alone while she went out.

By the time he was two, his father was in jail on petty theft charges and his mother was a full fledged prostitute with a heroin addiction. When the neighbours started to suspect something wasn't right, the child protection agency stepped in and removed Sterling from the situation. Where things were intended to get better, they just got worse.

Upbringing

Temporarily, Sterling was placed with his grandmother, Dierdra Malcom, while his mother was supposed to get help. It wasn't ideal, but Deirdra at least kept her grandson fed and well while he was with her. It equated to a fairly normal few years; Sterling attended pre-school and then began elementary school under his grandmother's care, his mother was in and out of his life but rarely in any positive capacity. For a short while, Marion was granted custody of Sterling again following a rehab and community service program, but quickly fell off the wagon and back into old habits. Sterling spent a week and a half on his own while his mother was on a bender and then had an overdose. It wasn't until Dierdra returned from a church retreat that Marion was found and Sterling was taken back into Dierdra's care.

Understanding death at an exceptionally young age left Sterling a tad traumatised. Having been left to work around his mother's incapacitated state and her passing without fully realising it, Sterling's impression of death was somewhat bland and impersonal. So much so that he didn't really consider death sad or in any way upsetting. It just happened. The elementary school suggested that Sterling be seen by a therapist, however his grandmother didn't believe it was necessary, asking the priest at church to speak to Sterling and leaving it at that.

Things worked out fine for a few more years; Sterling went to school, went to church, got okay grades and helped his grandmother keep the garden tidy. Until he was eight, and Deirdra had a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. This time the school noticed quickly, since Deirdra was a much more hands on guardian. The hospital intervened with Dierdra's care and Sterling was placed in an all boys foster home until arrangements could be made.

Foster Care & Powers

Foster care was chaos. Having never had siblings or even kids his own age around all the time, Sterling wasn't sure how to adapt to being one of several young boys in a house. The all boys house was crowded and a little cramped, Sterling was one of eight boys living there for the time being, sharing a room with three others, all around his age but having been in the system a little longer. For the first few months, Sterling was withdrawn and guarded, unsure if his grandmother would be coming back or if he was going to be there for a long time. It didn't help that the other boys, all mostly older than him, were somewhat mean and cruel.

Six months in, Deirdra slipped away from her coma during the night, one of the older boys heard the social worker telling their foster guardian and revealed the news to Sterling in a less than friendly or caring way. It marked Sterling's first real lesson in foster care; don't show emotion. It was the start of major changes in Sterling's behaviour, more so than just the closed off approach to things, Sterling started to watch people better, trying to preemptively work out what they'd want, how to approach interactions and how to make the best use of them. People were no longer seen as potential friends or allies, but everyone was an enemy or a tool to be used. The older boys at the foster home continued to try needling at Sterling, getting more physical than just verbal in search of a bigger reaction, especially after they learned that his father was in jail, it started to thicken his skin, showed him not to depend on adults but to figure out his own solutions.

Not surprisingly, that solution was violence.

Knocking out a kid several years older and a good couple of pounds heavier is an exhilarating feeling, especially when you're prone to not feeling anything. Even the beating that followed didn't deter Sterling from that notion. The next time a kid tried to push him around, Sterling fought back. He used it to get out the things he pushed down, until all he really knew how to process was anger. It wasn't the best coping method, and it got him removed from the group home and placed elsewhere, which didn't really change the situation, just the bystanders in it. He did figure out that he needed to be caught less, before he got himself put in a juvenile facility.

It all got progressively easier when his power manifested.

One day, while still navigating the horror of puberty and teenage life within the foster system, Sterling woke up invisible. For the first few hours he couldn't figure out why no one had woke him for breakfast, and then he couldn't figure out why they were acting like he hadn't been in his room. Until his current foster parent walked right by him like he wasn't there and Sterling figured a few things out. It wasn't as simple as just wanting to be seen and wanting not to be seen, emotions seemed to be a part of it and Sterling had done his best to not feel those. Sterling's control attempts fluctuated throughout the first few months, although he was exceptionally lucky to never be caught fading or disappearing and reappearing, after the first month of intense practice, getting the hang of his triggers and control techniques, Sterling stopped involuntarily going invisible and only used his power when he wanted.

Within four years, Sterling travelled through twelve foster placements, staying in places as little as two weeks to as long as six months. By the time he was approaching seventeen, Sterling knew he was likely to age out of the system with no fall back option and a lot of uncertainty ahead of him. It just so happened that his last placement was with the Wright family. Ernest and Bianca Wright were unlike any foster placement he'd had before. They had two children of their own and only ever took in one foster child at a time, usually around the age of them processing out of the foster system. Ernest made it his job to prepare the children for the real world and their new life as independent adults. It was a lot to take in for Sterling, especially when Susie, who was four years younger than him, treated him like he was just her big brother and had always been that. For the first time since his grandmother died, Sterling felt like people actually gave a damn.

Coming out of his shell just a little, Sterling made the effort to listen and try to not cause trouble with the Wright's. He put in school work, stayed out of fights and worked a few shifts in Ernest's garage, putting together a small fund like Ernest suggested so he had money behind him for when he left care. It almost felt like it could change things, change the direction Sterling felt his life was headed, and there was a good chance that it would've. If circumstances weren't what they were. Sterling was just shy of his eighteenth birthday when it went to shit. And naturally, it involved yet more violence.

Susie was a small girl, at least for a fourteen year old, she was shy but sweet and a bit of a nerd. It made her a bit of a target for bullying, and most of the time it never came to much but name calling and rumours. Until a school jock having a bad day started to take it out on Susie after school one day, where Sterling could see. He wouldn't have said he was proud of what happened, not in the least, but he'd never regret it either, even with what it led to. Getting a little too rough with Susie, the jock underestimated his strength, knocking her over and causing the girl to hit her head on the pavement. Sterling's anger took over, and before he really knew what had happened, he'd manifested his second power and burned a hole straight through the jock. There was a surprising lack of blood due to the cauterising of the wound upon the impact of the white hot construct that Sterling had stabbed the guy with, but the end result was a clear wound from a super power.

Somewhat panicked, Sterling took Susie home, leaving the jock there. Sneaking into the house with an unconscious girl wasn't easy, but he managed it, getting a compress for Susie's head and trying to work out how to explain things. He knew that it was likely he'd be turned in for being a super, he didn't expect to overhear Ernest and Bianca discussing a news story about the found jock's body and exhibiting sheer contempt for a super of any kind, without even knowing the situation. In an instant, Sterling's carefully constructed view shattered to the point where he packed his few belongings and just left, disappearing. He still doesn't know if Susie realised what happened and told anyone or if Ernest and Bianca just thought he'd given up and run off. He doesn't really care too much either way.

Mercenary Life & Regiment

Figuring out what to do with his life didn't come easily. He had limited skills, big secrets and the threat of criminal charges looming over him. Sterling moved states, lied about his age and worked a few odd jobs with the limited abilities he had available. It was in a bar, working a shift he shouldn't have had, that led Sterling to his next big bad idea. Two small time gangsters were talking about knocking off a rival, but were unable to get close to him, against any kind of good judgement, Sterling volunteered his services. For a price. Despite laughing at him, the goons agreed to a price, paying half upfront and the rest when Sterling pulled it off -they expected he'd be killed, and weren't too fussed with losing the little money they paid him. Lo and behold, Sterling didn't fail; with the power to become invisible and still figuring out how to use the energy expulsion he'd been slowly figuring out, Sterling had the advantage over most other would be hitmen. Getting in wasn't a problem, standard security and everything being about the visual meant that Sterling could walk right inside, rather than leave another charred hole in someone, Sterling used the other mans gun, taking the requested lighter as proof -which he thought was stupid, and leaving the gun behind after placing it in the dead mans hand.

It paid off; Sterling got paid, got away with it and had an inkling of just what he could do with his life. The lack of guilt accompanying either of the people he'd killed should've been a red flag, but ultimately it was just another thing he didn't think about. He got a few repeat customers from the two gangsters he did his first job for, then some of their associates were given a number for him, and Sterling started to build up a client list and put a few hits under his belt. He was still a little shaky on a lot of details, occasionally getting ripped off and one time killing a client for screwing him over. It built him a bit of a rep, to the point where he came up on the radar of a group.

Deacon Childs was a gnarled old man with more patience than Sterling could ever dream of possessing, he ran a group called The League, who worked in some of the darkest circles in society. Still finding his feet, Sterling thought better of blowing Childs off and accepted an invitation to see just what the League did. What evolved from that were some of the most intense lessons in Sterling's life, leading to hours of training in the art of assassination, and a far less suspect way of doing business. Sterling found himself a natural at combat arts, picking up fighting styles easily from others in the League, sometimes to the point of enraging others, his natural assholish attitude didn't endear him at all to instructors, but Deacon had strict rules about League members and violence against the brethren.

Unsurprisingly, Deacon was the first person to call Sterling out on his powers, explaining that he was playing with fire, but not explicitly showing distaste. In truth, Deacon highlighted a few traits that Sterling hadn't thought of himself. His ease with hitting targets and his ability to catch on to most fighting styles exceptionally well. Sterling didn't ask Deacon if he was a super, although he had his suspicions, but Deacon never brought up Sterling's differences again. For several years, Sterling operated with the League, taking jobs from the rich and powerful, from the corrupt, even hush jobs from governments who funnelled sensitive operations through the League when they couldn't be attached. While Sterling had been warned about leaving a distinctive mark behind, he did occasionally utilise his hot knives on jobs which needed a more sensitive touch, other times operating with just firearms.

Typically, there wasn't a rivalry within the League, but some personalities just clashed, and Sterling had always had his problems with being a 'people person'. It came to a head in 2016, when he was sent to kill a states witness against a rich crony. Sterling was sold out on the job by another member of the League, and caught in a Federal building. Rather than go quietly, Sterling exposed himself and took out numerous federal agents before being shot in the shoulder and then tranquillised. He wasn't surprised to wake up in the medical wing of a super max prison for super powered people, although it was the first time in years he hadn't felt the heat of his energy power under his skin. Regularly, Sterling was found to be a troubling prisoner, if just because he didn't care about what happened to him, or because he got a kick out of riling other people up.

He wasn't considered for the Regiment program until he displayed a modicum of potential during a small riot in the hospital wing when he stopped another inmate from killing a nurse. Despite the stitches he'd needed in his arm, and the fact that he'd smashed another inmates face into a wall repeatedly, Sterling was pitched for Regiment with exceptionally strict guidelines, rules and restrictions.

Since he was starting to go stir crazy in the prison, and had some small hope for potentially getting a tiny bit of revenge, Sterling agreed to play by the rules in exchange for a change in scenery.