The Iron Maidens

 







As the Iron Grenadiers' Chief Intelligence Officer, the Baroness knows how to get important men to reveal their secrets.  Her most trusted and competent intelligence operatives are an elite group of hand-picked women oficially designated as Azonia Squadron.  However, the group is most often referred to by their informal name, The Iron Maidens. 

Baroness - Former head of Cobra's Intelligence Division, she now puts her considerable skills to work for Destro.

Scythe - Scythe was the first woman to be accepted within the ranks of the Iron Grenadiers.  As such, she was once referred to as The Iron Maiden, but later changed her call sign to Scythe.  It is generally believed that the Baroness adopted the name Iron Maidens as a nod to Scythe's unofficial status as the senior female Grenadier.

 

Cutlass - Cutlass and her brother Ghost are among Destro's most deadly operatives. She is one of the best sword fighters on the planet, a living phenomenon. Though she is a Champion fencer, she never particularly cared for trophies. Instead, her recognition comes when her opponent is lying in a pool of blood and she is still standing. 

Banshee - Little is known about Banshee prior to her involvement with the Iron Grenadiers. It is believed that she was born in Paris and worked as a freelance assassin-for-hire, amassing a nearly perfect record over a ten year period. At some point, she was recruited by the Baroness to be one of the first in her “Iron Maiden” program.  In Irish mythology, a banshee is a feminine spirit, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Banshee’s many targets could attest to the appropriateness of her code name – if any of them were still around to do so. 

Natasha - A Russian folk hero, so much so that hers is a household name among Russian citizens who love to show up in throngs to her staged appearances on national holidays and in military parades. Paraphernalia autographed by this highly decorated Leningrad-born sniper is known to sell for many tens of thousands of rubles, though few Russians would be unconscionable enough to willingly part with such a treasure. Allegedly, Natasha's natural talent with a rifle was discovered early on by military recruiters, who worked with the press to make her name and prowess become the talk of the Motherland - until she met the Baroness.

Lace - Very little is known about Lace.  She is believed to be highly skilled in disguise and is rumored to often serve as a body double for the Baroness.  Her mere presence within this group indicates that she is not to be taken lightly. 

Credits:   

1) Scythe is a character created by me.  She was originally named Iron Maiden, but when I decided to create this group I wanted to use that name, so I came up with a new one for her.

2) Cutlass is a character created by Kneroh and used by Cobralalalala! for the HissTank RPG. I merely adapted the character to figure form, as I pictured her.  

3) Banshee was created by me, with significant input from my daughter Kate, who wanted an Iron Grenadier character that she could pretend was her.  

4) Natasha is entirely based on the fictional character Natasha Volkova from the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.  Natasha was played by former MMA fighter Gina Carano.  I've never played the game, but I happened upon a photo of the actress in costume and immediately thought she was a perfect fit for this group.  I used an existing character bio found at Wikipedia and tweaked it just slightly to fit my purposes. 

5) Lace was an unnamed female character that I had created for my fan-fic story blog Tales from Castle Destro.  She appeared in a chapter that featured a character loosely based on a friend and avid reader of the blog, so I decided to name her after his girlfriend because I knew he'd enjoy it when he read the story.