Gloria Baker

This article is about the human. For the Maximal, see Aura.

Gloria Baker is a M.A.S.K.-aligned human from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Gloria Baker, codenamed Aura, is an agent of M.A.S.K., operating the Shark vehicle.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Born in India, Gianni Batra grew up in a wealthy family with ties to British politics, and when her family moved to the UK to maintain those same connections, Gianni had her name Anglicized to become Gloria Baker. From a young age, the independent Baker displayed a high aptitude for computers, mathematics, and ten different forms of martial arts — much to the dismay of her parents, who wished for her to become a "proper" young lady. At age fourteen, she successfully hacked into NORAD's defense network and changed the launch codes. This caught the attention of MI5, who quickly recruited her to strengthen their electronic security. Gloria quickly distinguished herself in the field, and sometime around 2015 she caught the attention of General Miles "Mayhem" Manheim, who inducted her into M.A.S.K., a new taskforce designed to counter Cybertronian activity on Earth. Gloria Baker profile

Following a year of intense training designed to weed out unsuitable recruits, M.A.S.K.: Revolution the government deployed Gloria and the other M.A.S.K. recruits to the G.I. Joe base on Governor's Island, where they finalized the disguised war machines engineered from Mayhem's vivisection of Blitzwing's living techno-biology, capable of rendering them undetectable to Cybertronian sensors. Piloting her Shark, Gloria joined the mission to neutralize the Autobots Kup and Aileron in Greece, ambushing the pair of them and successfully capturing Kup. Though Matt noticed that their robotic captive was seemingly in pain, Gloria assured him that, with supplies of Ore-13 across the planet threatening to explode, and the Cybertronians seemingly culpable for this act, Earth's safety came first.The Divine Source of Liberty She once more drove the Shark in M.A.S.K.'s assault on Autobot City The New Colossus and flew it in battle against the Dire Wraith-empowered Baron Karza. Miles Mayhem seemingly perished in the crossfire, and the forces of M.A.S.K. were ultimately cut loose from the United States government as G.I. Joe stepped up as an international crisis response team. Valley Forge

Under the leadership of Matt Trakker, several members of M.A.S.K. found themselves skirmishing with the forces of Mayhem's V.E.N.O.M., and despite their new status as international fugitives they remained on good terms with Scarlett. Power and Glory On one occasion, they wound up skirmishing with the villains for control of an alien virus that had attached itself to Astrotrain's remains. The Deathstone Some time afterwards, Scarlett offered Matt and Gloria as mercenaries for Kup, Garrison Blackrock, Action Man, and Mayday when they prepared to breach Garrison Kreiger's Project: Ice Man bunker in Brasnya. Using the Shark's submarine mode, Gloria rescued Action Man from the flooded base, trading fire with one of the "I.R.O.N. Cybertronians" as she did so, and eventually regrouped with Matt's Thunderhawk for the final battle against Kreiger—only to find that Kreiger's old guinea pig Mike "Atomic Man" Power had been brought his senses and taken himself offline, deactivating the base's security systems in the process. Power and Glory

Not long afterwards, Scarlett once again contacted the two operatives for help regarding the Iron Ring's invasion of Cybertron. With a modified sample of the alien virus in tow, the two set course for Metrotitan to meet with Scarlett as she prepared to send reinforcements to Cybertron. Conslting with Stormclash and Skyburst, the heroes—Scarlett, Doc, Quick Kick, Roadblock, Lady Jaye, Matt, Gloria, Soundwave, and the Torchbearer twins—set course for Castle Destro to seize the M.A.S.S. Device that had teleported their foes to the metal world. First Strike #2 Matt and Gloria kept the outside defenses occupied while the other members of G.I. Joe secured the teleportation device. Once on Cybertron, the group helped take down the initial invasion wave, while Gloria hacked a fallen Iron Grenadier to reveal that Joe Colton, having abandoned his "Baron Ironblood" disguise, had already set course for Cybertron's core. Though the team made a path to Iacon, they were barred by Strika, and it was only thanks to the intervention of Ironhide that the team was instead delivered to the Spire so that the Council of Worlds could judge their intentions. First Strike #3

Though Elita One was eager to execute the humans, some diplomacy from Scarlett helped to calm the tense situation, but not enough that the heroes could continue their quest; instead, the humans were detained in Iacon, pending deportation back to Earth pending while Starscream's forces tried to contain the threat. First Strike #4 They failed to so, and in the chaos, it was Optimus Prime who wound up having to spring the group from jail. With Prime now on their side, the team raced to the core before Colton could execute his plan to detonate the alien Talisman in the center of the planet, disarming traps and navigating holographic trickery along the way, before catching up to the villains just outside the entrance to Vector Sigma.First Strike #5

Battle quickly broke out between the two sides, a situation that was only compounded when Elita One, Starscream, and Obsidian arrived, intent on arresting both sides. In the melee, Matt wound up unleashing the alien virus that he'd brought from Earth, and Gloria used her mask to take control of the infected Elita. Before either side could gain the upper hand, "Garrison Krieger" made a dash for the Talisman and activated it there, its magic revealing him as the wizard Merklynn—an alien who had orchestrated the entire attack as a means to recreate his lost homeworld. As he harnessed Cybertron's supplies of energon to give rise to the city of "New Prysmos," Gloria and the other combatants were teleported back to the surface of Cybertron. First Strike #6

Notes

• Gloria Baker's Aura Mask and Shark vehicle provided the inspiration for the Beast Wars: Uprising Maximal character Aura.

External links

• Information by Albert Penello about Gloria Baker and the Stiletto