Star Knight
Maria’s parents were both children of immigrants: her father’s family from Central America, her mother’s from Greece. She grew up in California, where she decided to attend the police academy and become an officer. She earned high marks in criminal procedure, shooting, and hand-to-hand combat, but also had a problem with authority. Her temper got her into trouble on occasion, but she graduated with honors and found a job with the police force.
Officer Montoya worked the streets, dealing with gangs, organized crime, and other risks on a daily basis. A routine investigation led her to evidence of corruption within the department. She was warned to mind her own business, but instead chose to dig deeper on her own. Maria discovered far more than just a few dirty cops. She uncovered infiltration by the shapeshifting alien Grue!
Hunted by the Grue, she found an ally in Pseudo, a rogue member of his race, who sought to warn Earth of the impending invasion, and was also hunted by them. Maria came to the attention of Mentor and The Star Knights.
With the Grue threatening to invade, Mentor appointed Maria the new Star Knight of Earth’s sector of space. She accepted the job and got her initial training “on the job” using her Star Knight armor to help the Freedom League and Earth’s other heroes against the alien invasion.
Once the Earth was safe, Maria underwent training at the Star Citadel, and met her predecessor, A’Lan Koor. Once her formal Star Knight training was complete, Sri Montoya returned to Earth, where she serves as Earth’s resident Star Knight and a member of the Freedom League.
Star Knight served as a stalwart of both the Freedom League and the interstellar Order of Star Knights, although occasionally criticized for spending too much of her time on Earth and not the neighboring star systems.
Physical Description
Special abilities
Maria Montoya is a trained police officer, her skills enhanced by Star Knight training and working with the Freedom League, as well as considerable experience in the field.
Apparel & Accessories
The Star Knight armor she wears is a product of advanced alien technology, powered by the cosmic Star Stone. The armor provides its wearer with perpetual life support and the ability to fly in both planetary atmospheres and in the depths of space, using hyperspatial “folds” to travel at faster than light speeds between star systems.
The armor can generate and offensive “sword” of cosmic energy that can be wielded as a short beam like an actual sword or projected as a ranged blast. It can also generate a protective “shield” to deflect attacks, in addition to the armor’s inherent protective qualities.
Mental characteristics
Morality & Philosophy
Star Knight is fairly hard-nosed compared to her teammates, she had to be in order to make it as a woman in a largely male police force. She tends to go for aggressive solutions, although she’s learned some diplomacy from the Star Knights and some restraint from Pseudo and Captain Thunder. She admires her Freedom League teammates and it took her some time to get past their reputations to get to know them as people, rather than heroic icons.
She also admires and respects her fellow Star Knights, particularly after spending time “in the trenches” with them in conflicts against the Grue, the Argents, the Blackguard, and the Stellar Horde. To Maria, the Star Knights are truly members of an Order that transcends differences of species and other superficial concerns with dedication to a cause.
That said, Sri Montoya’s temper and tendency to challenge authority has gotten her reprimanded in the past, and she continues to struggle with the rules and regulations of the Order versus the day-to-day realities. Allowing a despot like Star-Khan to remain in power and consolidate his hold over the new Imperium rubs her the wrong way but, if the Star Knights have no regard for other civilizations, would they be any better than the Argents or the Blackguard?
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