Simon Barrister

Simon Barrister

Simon Barrister is a member of the shadow organization known as Shadowborn. He first appeared in the Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight Issue #10 (2010).

History

Very little is known about Simon Barrister other than what he is willing to provide.

Simon declares himself to be an "expediter", which is an open-ended definition to be someone willing to do whatever is needed to be done, no matter the legality. He does have a law degree from Open University in England, although he is not licensed to practice law in the United States. He prefers to deal with matters on a more "informal" level. He has experience with military weapons, but it is not known if he ever served in the military.

He has been on retainer with the Rocinante Group, and with Lord Lee Geddy personally, since the 1990's, operating mostly from Europe, preferring to be brought in only when necessary, although he has also been working with other organizations and corporations, including those that are considered investors of Shadowborn. Most particularly with the Bilderburg Alliance when protesters threaten to put their clandestine meetings in the media limelight.

After several incidents where Shadowborn operations have failed, Lord Geddy asked that Simon come to Paragon City to personally deal with the superheroes known as the Guardians of the Dawn.

His confirmation codeword for Shadowborn is "Executor".

Encounter with Guardians

With assistance from a contact already inside the organization, Simon was able to hack into the CPCU system, where he eventually had unlimited access of the group's database and their secrets. Some of those secrets, including the designs for the tech-based enhancement suits used by both Icon Powers and Galatea Powers, were sent to Shadowborn for reverse-engineering.

At one point he arranged to have the information sold to the highest bidder on the Rogue Isles Black Market, but that auction was cut short by a covert team of Guardians with help from John Cole.

Downfall

Eventually the Guardians found out that Simon was behind the hacking and MidKnight X pursued him to Europe. It was in Europe, with the help of Shodden Freud's protégé that MidKnight X confronted Simon. Simon believed that he could use the information to blackmail the street vigilante to work for him, but he did not take into account that MidKnight X had friends in the Dawn Patrol, including a telepath that erased all knowledge Simon had of the team's secrets.

Simon was then detained indefinitely by the Dawn Patrol for various counts of espionage.

It was eventually revealed tht Simon was really working for Andrew Wentworth, Paragon City's leader in the Bilderburg Alliance, and that his work with Shadowborn allowed him to provide essential information to the Wentworth patriarch about Wentworth's nephew, Alex.

Death

Although all information concerning the Guardians of the Dawn were purged from Simon's mind by Dawn Patrol telepaths, certain members of the Alliance believed that there was a way to retrieve that information. One such person, Malcolm Rochspare, used his newfound connections in the Rocinante Group to send a team to Europe.

Since retrieving that information for anyone other than for Andrew Wentworth was a breach of trust, Barrister would not want Rochspare's team to have access to him. He was found dead in his cell soon after the team arrived.

It is not known if he took his own life or if he was murdered.

Powers and Abilities

Simon is considered a Blaster archetype with Natural origins.

His primary ability is Assault Rifle. He is an expert marksman and often prefers the CyCorp multi-function assault rifle ofter other weapons.

His secondary ability is Devices, using various devices from CyCorp, CreyTech, and other companies.

Simon relies more on his knowledge than with physical abilities, although he is not one to shy away from taking action when needed. He understands the law and corporate finances, and it is said that he has a bank account that rivals those of major corporate executives.