Saboteur
Context
The Saboteur (technically, the Saboteuse) primarily featured in the 1998 Iron Man flashback series, The Iron Age.
Background
- Real Name: Unrevealed.
- Marital Status: Unrevealed.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: None.
- Base Of Operations: Unrevealed, possibly Mobile.
- Height: 5’5” Weight: 122 lbs.
- Eyes: Light blue Hair: White
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Powers and Abilities
The Saboteur is a highly skilled industrial saboteur. She’s proficient at infiltration, stealth, security systems, athletics, etc..
She is also an excellent weapons specialist.
Interestingly, she seems to operate at a “low cinematic” level. While she is very competent she does not pull off feats that would be impossible in the real world. Thus, a well-guarded installation is not something she can defeat via cinematic stealth or tactics. She has to work on it.
On the other hand, she is unlikely to be detected or apprehended without setting a trap up.
Tools of the trade
While subterfuge is her main game, she sometimes has to go in for some more direct action. In this case, she will be loaded for bear, wearing a special costume and toting an impressive arsenal. It is presented in the game stats.
I have assumed without a shred of evidence she was designing and building her own armoury. There’s nothing to say that she doesn’t either, and she definitely has cutting edge technical skills.
Note that all those weapons were used at a time when Tony Stark himself was still operating the Mark 1 generation of the Iron Man suit. Her tech likely kept developing and could be fairly impressive in more recent times.
History
The Saboteur was a resourceful and proficient industrial saboteur for hire. She operated during the earliest days of Iron Man (Tony Stark)’s career.
She was hired when Republic Oil And Natural Gas (which would later become Roxxon Oil) sought to perform an underhanded take-over of Stark Industries. The Saboteur’s objective was to destroy Stark Industries’ credibility in order to make the company vulnerable. That was meant to lead the then-depressive Tony Stark to sell for a fraction of the value.
The Saboteur infiltrated S.I. and ruined many key projects. She occasionally sabotaged weapon systems so thoroughly as to require Iron Man’s intervention to avoid a disaster.
A grain of Pepper in the gears
The plan was entirely successful until Pepper Potts, Stark’s personal assistant, convinced him to fight the take-over that was emerging.
Stark them gambled everything on a new government contract, a high-performance aircraft. Suspecting the Saboteur was behind some of his recent misfortunes, he had the prototype’s hangar placed under heavy and alert guard. This forced the Saboteur to reveal herself and make a direct attempt at sabotaging the aircraft, but Iron Man was waiting.
The Saboteur’s extensive weaponry proved useless against Iron Man. Despite her skills it looked like she was headed for a swift defeat. But she had a backup plan and hijacked a mothballed prototype for a heavily-armoured, well-armed ocean floor walker.
But Iron Man knew the weaknesses of this mecha , since it was his own design. He leveraged them to defeat and arrest the Saboteur.
The Saboteur appeared later in Daughters of the Dragon, a series whose continuity status I’d rather not consider.
Description
The Iron Age is set in the sliding ten-year timeline continuity. If you do not use the ten-year timeline for your Marvel campaign, her outfit is way too risqué for the early 1960s, which is when she would have appeared if one sticks to publication dates.
You can either design a 1960s costume for her, or come up with some rationale for running around in a thong and light blue nail polish in the 1960s.
Her hair (including her eyebrows) seems naturally white. Somehow, this distinctive trait does not seem to hamper her from being a successful undercover operative.
Personality
Confident, resourceful, reasonably smart and competent. She may in fact be overconfident or too proud for her own good.
For instance, she had no idea of how tough Iron Man actually was. Though in her defence he was still a bit of a newcomer at that point, his abilities still undocumented.
She tried to stick with her mission against overwhelming odds.
Quotes
“I’m pleased to be considered dangerous enough to rate a super-hero.”
(Switching tactics) “I suppose I’ll have to try something else.”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Saboteur
| Dex: 05 | Str: 03 | Bod: 04 | Motivation: Mercenary |
| Int: 05 | Wil: 04 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Mercenary |
| Inf: 04 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 | Resources {or Wealth}: 005 |
| Init: 018 | HP: 025 |
Skills:
Acrobatics*: 05, Artist (Actor)*: 05, Gadgetry*: 05, Martial artist*: 05, Scientist (Drawing plans)*: 05, Thief*: 05, Vehicles (Air, Land, Water)*: 05, Weaponry*: 05
Advantages:
Scholar (Exotic Personal Weapons), Intensive Training, Lightning Reflexes.
Connections:
Underworld (Low).
Drawbacks:
None demonstrated.
Equipment:
- Eyepiece [BODY 01, Telescopic vision: 03, Thermal vision: 05, Ultra-vision: 06].
- FLECHETTES GUN [BODY 04, Poison touch: 05, Projectile weapon: 04, Ammo: 18, Bonus: Projectile weapon and Poison Touch are Combined]. This triple launcher is on the back of her left hand, with ammo and toxins stored in a container over her left forearm.
- Anti-Magnetic Hover Mines (x3) [DEX 02 BODY 04, Bomb: 09, Detect (Movement): 02, Flight: 05]. These three spheres are shot from a large handgun with a very wide barrel. They float around the target, and will detonate if the target moves quickly. Iron Man just used his repulsors, the beams shaping the explosion away from him as they destroyed the hover mines.
- Electro-Disruptor [BODY 03, Paralysis: 07, Cling: 06, Grenade Drawback, Bonus: Paralysis is its own AV ; Limitations: Paralysis has No Range and only works against electrical systems.] This limpet-style device adheres to the target and emits pulses designed to mess up with the guidance systems of fighter aircrafts (and thus most power armours ).
- Custom-built submachinegun w/jack-hammer shells [BODY 05, Projectile weapon: 08, Ammo: 08, Advantage: Autofire]. A compact and well-built SMG shooting exceptionally potent shells.
- Shrapnel charges (x5) [BODY 02, Bomb: 10, Dart Bonus, Grenade Drawback].
- Smokescreen pinwheels (x4) [BODY 03, Fog: 08, Grenade drawback]. Those dispensers with multiple nozzles apparently rotate on themselves to quickly cover a large area in opaque smoke.
- Corrosive gas (x4) [BODY 01, Acid touch: 09, Fog: 04, Grenade Drawback, Bonus: Fog and Acid Touch are Combined (Acid is active throughout the Fog)].
- Sonic pinwheel (x2) [BODY 02, Sonic beam: 10, Grenade Drawback, Note: Sonic beam both has a Bomb-like AoE and a Continuing Damage effect like Disintegration or Poison Touch].
Source of Character: Iron Man : the Iron Age.
Helper(s): Darci.