Post by Dirge on Jan 5, 2021 22:30:13 GMT
The Silver Squall
• Name: Virginia Strauss.
• Monikers: The Silver Squall; The Silver Shade; The Emerald Zephyr; The Silent Sylph; Panacea's Bane; Voidborn.
• Gender: Female.
• Age: Officially 18. Unofficially 216 Earth years.
• Height: 5'1''.
• Weapon of Choice: Twin Gunswords.
• Occupation: Mercenary.
• Current Affiliation: Babel Corporation.
• Theme: "It's only the cold wind I feel."
An individual that has lived through several generations in her little corner of the galaxy, Virginia wasn't any different from a common human being in the early years of her life. She grew up in a loving family, got a decent education, and food was never missing at the table... Until her ninth birthday. From one day to the next, all the people she had grown up with, all the people she had known, and all the people her family was comprised of were murdered in cold blood. Nobody knows the why or the how, only that her town was assaulted by one of many mercenary corps serving a higher power. The handful of survivors that attempted to run from the massacre were chased and gunned down without mercy. Virginia managed to survive by hiding under the corpses of her fallen friends amidst the minor confusion. Whether this was out of sheer luck or because she'd play a part in the years to come was anybody's guess.
The next day, the young girl gathered up what little food and water was left in the town and whatever clothes she could salvage from the crumbling buildings near her house before departing into the wilderness. Days went by without any trace of civilization nearby. Desperation had begun to seize her mind, and little by little, she was beginning to lose hope of finding other signs of life. Having exhausted her supply of food and with little water left in a bottle, she eventually collapsed a few miles away from a small village. It was minutes after that moment that a rowdy bunch stumbled across her. A group of vagrants often taking up odd jobs and requests from the local settlements in the area, the boss of the pack saw it fit to pick Virginia up and take her with them. They nursed her back to health, and she'd soon learn they were members of another mercenary group. Initially, it was tough for her to open up, but eventually, she'd come to think of them as her second family. 'Patience always has its rewards.' This was a precept the leader of the group would instill on her, and which she ultimately would take to heart.
Things were going good for the group until a few weeks after Virginia had turned fifteen. Already a full-fledged mercenary in her own right, she'd picked up a pair of daggers with guns attached to them, something that was considered a technological advancement at the time. These weapons were christened gunswords. The rudimentary design and the metal that was used in the forging of both blade and barrel allowed for some of the recoil to be absorbed by a spring system, though the weapons themselves still required plenty of maintenance, as firing multiple bullets on a daily basis brought with it a hefty amount of wear and tear on the blades. It was with these weapons that she'd faced off against a rival corps in the midst of a job her group had undertaken. It was an even fight until the head of the enemy mercenaries deployed a biological weapon that ultimately took his own life. A creature covered by a pitch-black substance, something that had not been classified by neither scientists, spiritualists, or magisters in the arcane arts. The sacrifice was a necessity, however, with the majority of the groups on both sides succumbing to the might of this creature shrouded in shade.
Virginia should have died that day... Yet, she survived.
The moment her eyes opened, an emerald glow was all she saw. Suspended amidst liquid and with a mask that allowed her to breathe, the light eventually gave way to humanoid forms and shapes encased in white cloth. Scientists. She had been captured by one particular faction claiming to possess the cure for all diseases in existence - Panacea. Once her vision cleared up, the symbol on the labcoats was unmistakable. Dark days loomed in the horizon for young Virginia. She was fully aware of it, yet all the skills she had learned from his second family were ingrained deeply within her body and mind; she would not break.
It is uncertain how many years passed since that time. She could not tell. Genetic experimentation, injections of lifestream, exposure to rudimentary forms of crystallized energy... No matter what they tried on Virginia, her physical vessel remained unchanged, as though an extraneous hand was protecting her. And yet, with every new experiment, she retained something out of it. Her cells became stronger, her skin and flesh more resilient, her reflexes heightened, and her senses growing acute.
The time was nigh for her to break free... After twenty years of experimentation, as she would soon find out. From one day to the next, much like it had occurred with her hometown, the complex where she had been imprisoned in turned into every single worker's personal Hell. Topaz eyes shining vibrantly, her form was a blur of gold and silver as she tore through the chambers and hallways as though she was nothing more than a fierce, slicing maelstrom. Not a single worker survived that night.
Officially, Virginia was reported dead after an experiment in another creature went haywire, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Panacea complex.
Unofficially, Panacea's top brass were sending team after team after her, attempting to smoke her out to no avail.
Over the next hundred years, Virginia kept to herself as a mercenary. She would trust no one and form ties to no one, becoming a veritable loner and suspecting everybody around her. She would also find out that her cellular growth was slowed down to a crawl, with her physical appearance adopting extremely little changes over that period of time, while her mental development was nothing short of extreme. Not a single mercenary wanted to cross paths with her, having earned quite the ruthless reputation for herself as well as several nicknames along the way. One of them stuck and she'd embrace it as her own. "The Silver Squall."
During this time, whispers would reach her about a rival corporation buying Panacea out only to dismantle its assets completely, something that would undoubtedly have enormous repercussions in the years to come given the reach of the former behemoth. One thing led to another and eventually, she found herself contacted by the Babel Corporation, attempting to contract her for unspecified services, though making it clear it dealt with her expertise in mercenary work. Babel was a company that had managed to become the cornerstone of this corner of the galaxy in an extremely short period of time due to their technological advancements, their mining operations, and their refinement and production of most of the materials that are required in today's world. The leader behind Babel, however, remains unknown up to this day. With a mixture of curiosity and the drive to keep her reputation intact, this mercenary of high renown chose to accept the contract. Perhaps this would serve to keep things interesting for now.
Personality: Virginia is generally an aloof individual who prefers to keep communication short and efficient. Emotionally detached most of the time, she'd rather focus on the task at hand than delve into pointless dialogue with other mercenaries or work companions, and she never goes out of her way to establish conversations. A lone wolf through and through, Virginia enjoys solitude and missions revolving around a single individual rather than full teams. In her free time, she keeps up with the latest technological advancements in the industry, mostly regarding her gunswords, but also explosives, vehicles, and other mercenary corps.
Weapons: Highly modified twin gunswords. A gunsword consists of a long handle, a barrel, and a blade. The handle curves down at an angle, adopting a design similar to early single-shot pistols, which possesses a complex spring system whose sole objective is to absorb most of the recoil from every shot. The gun barrel is generally positioned above the blade, though depending on whether the blade is straight or curved, the barrel may be positioned to either side. Virginia's gunswords are linked to her energy signature via a mechanism sitting behind the barrel, which operates with different forms of 'fuel'. Gunpowder is not necessary, and the bullets within are assumed to be limitless, given that not a single individual has seen Virginia reload her gunswords even once. The mechanism converts energy provided by either Virginia or by the capsules on the sides on the weapon to generate projectiles, which are then fired from the barrel. Advancements in gunsword technology have allowed for extremely minimal wear and tear of the metal of the blades, which are generally straight edged and possessing a wide effect area to slash and stab with.
Appearance: Virginia can often be seen in her work attire, something that has become her trademark mercenary wear. In this ensemble, she wears an open black jacket with several pockets and details in silver, an extremely short and tight green shirt underneath, a pair of goggles, a green scarf with details in white, combat boots with black socks, and grey shorts fastened by a brown leather belt. She also wears a garterbelt upon her right leg, with several daggers equipped and holstered to it. Her short silver hair highlights her vibrant yellow eyes, and she is never found without a blank, stoic expression upon her young visage.
With the mastery over her particular ability to transition into a murderous assassin clad in black, she's capable of altering her physical form to 'age', so to speak. After three years, her attire in this form shifts to include a short skirt instead of shorts. Her long, black jacket is replaced by a shorter, brown jacket still open at the front; a short white shirt with details on black over her breasts is found underneath it. Her green scarf is relinquished in favor of a blue one with details in white thread. Long, black gloves stretch all the way down past her elbows, and she wears a pair of black boots coupled with black leggings. In heavy contrast to the short hair she sports naturally, disheveled silver locks cascade down her back, with long bangs framing her visage.
