Right, finally sorted out my character. Just for the record, I was given advance warning that our GM was working on a Halo thread, since ST and I are friends. As such, anything about my character that is similar to already existing ones was written before reading any other submitted characters.
Name: Natalie Elizabeth Paladin
Call-Sign: Longsword
Sex: Female
Age: 27
Appearance: For the most part, Natalie wears the Sharpshooter-pattern ODST Battle Dress Uniform. It is primarily black and gunmetal-grey in colour, but the camouflage patterning, chestplate and visor are ice-blue.
Natalie's entire right arm and right leg from the knee down have both been replaced by cybernetics; she received both bionic limbs after one particular incident. She had modifications made to the armour of her arm and leg, so they could be attached to the cybernetics for additional protection, and also because she likes the armour and doesn't want to part from it. The titanium built into the bionics is effective on its own, but Natalie prefers to look at her armour rather than a metal limb in the middle of a fight.
If you happen to catch Natalie outside of her armour, which isn't often except when off-duty, you will find a French woman with slightly unkempt blood-red hair, almost shockingly pale skin and forest-green eyes. The armour of her right arm and leg has been built into her prosthetics, as stated above: she can remove the armour from the limbs, but it takes time to do so. Natalie stands at 5'9" tall, and is of average weight for her age.
Personality: Natalie's primary motivations for being a soldier are to follow in her father's footsteps, and to make herself feel worthy of being given a second chance to serve. She is not entirely sure that she deserves the 'gift' of her cybernetics, and constantly challenges her self to achieve greater feats or do better than she did on the last mission.
Don't tell Natalie how to do her job, especially how to aim properly: she knows the weak spots on almost any Covenant soldier like the back of her hand. She has a particular hatred and fear of Elites, as it was one of them who severed her arm and leg. As such, whenever she eliminates an Elite, she enjoys watching them fall to the ground, knowing full well that one almost ended her life.
Natalie prefers to take out the bigger guys in a Covenant force rather than waste shots on the inevitable Grunts that accompany them. Jackals irritate her when encountered, as their energy shields can cover most of their bodies, preventing her from taking them down easily. Hunters are also a pain for similar reasons. Natalie prefers to use UNSC weapons, especially her own guns, rather than arms dropped by Covenant in the midst of battle.
Outside of combat, Natalie can be a little formal or unfriendly, but that changes once she starts to trust you, both in and out of the heat of battle. If someone befriends her and the two get to know each other, she warms up to them quickly. Natalie does not tolerate stupidity particularly well, be it in speech or action. Naturally, though, she will not speak ill of a superior unless reporting them to a higher-ranked officer.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Role: Sniper
Equipment: 'Sharpshooter' ODST Battle Dress Uniform; SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle; M7S Caseless Submachine Gun; combat knife; two frag grenades; two flashbang grenades. Natalie also keeps a smaller knife in a hidden compartment in her cybernetic leg, in case she is captured and needs some means of escape without her usual weaponry.
Biography: Born in France in 2520, Natalie was raised by her mother while her father, Second Lieutenant Jean-Paul Paladin, continued to serve in the UNSC Marine Corps. In her teenage years, she made plans to follow in her father's footsteps, and enlisted as soon as she was able. In basic training, Natalie was like any other: she turned out to be a competent, skilled, and obedient soldier. Some said that she was officer material like her father, and often pushed her a little bit harder than the others in case she was found slacking. Natalie soon came to display aptitude with sniper rifles, and was entrusted with one of the special weapons in her squad. This choice of weapon earned her the nickname "Longsword", due to her being able to pick off Covenant troops from great distances.
Her military career underwent a drastic change at the age of twenty-three. Natalie, then a Private First Class and due for another promotion, was part of a company that was dispatched to extract civilians from a colony, in the hope of saving them from a Covenant invasion force. The Covenant arrived sooner than expected, however. In the ensuing fight, Natalie found herself up close to Covenant for the first time as opposed to fighting from a distance with her sniping skills.
The gold-armoured Elites that were part of the primary strike force were hacking their way through defenceless civilians, using their strange energy-based weapons. Though Natalie put one of them down herself, another thought to avenge its comrade by hacking off part of her leg. When she fell, she desperately tried to pull out her sidearm, but the Elite severed the arm that fumbled with the gun. In complete shock and agony, Natalie thought she was about to die... but her comrades rescued her, cutting down the golden Elite and carrying her onto their Pelican.
The Elite's sword had cauterised the wounds it had inflicted, making treatment a little easier. When Natalie was approached by her superiors, they had claimed that she would have received a promotion to Lance Corporal had she not been wounded so badly. However, her father, who had also elected to visit her, had called in about half a dozen favours and used a year's pay to obtain cybernetic replacements for his daughter: she could continue her service as a Marine, rather than be discharged with nothing but a Purple Heart, missing body parts and bad memories. Natalie accepted this offer, not wishing to let her father down while she could still serve.
On the day she received her bionic arm and leg, she swore to strive to be worthy of them, to continue fighting in the Marine Corps as long as she was able. It took the better part of another year before she became fully accustomed to the mechanical limbs and learned to use them as she would her organic limbs. She put herself through vigorous training regimens and exercise routines while she got used to her cybernetics.
Life as a rank-and-file soldier became less satisfying for Natalie, even after she served for another full year. She wanted a greater challenge, something to prove her worth beyond anything she had already experienced. So in the year 2545 she took her trusty sniper rifle and registered to become an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. After being accepted, she received her 'Sharpshooter' Battle Dress Uniform, a submachine gun sidearm, and instruction in the use of the SOEIV, which Natalie quickly understood and accepted. She was transferred to an ODST squad soon after and began to fight in a way she had never done before: feet first.
After two years with the ODSTs, during which time she served with three different squads on over a dozen missions, Natalie received another transfer order, this time to a ship by the name of Divine Intervention.
Notes: Natalie has added a couple of personal touches to her sniper rifle, the most obvious one of which is an inscription: a work in progress, it currently resembles a pair of crossed roses etched into the stock. Natalie uses her smaller knife to work on this inscription when she has free time, being exceedingly careful not to disfigure it.
Natalie speaks with a noticeable French accent, and slips into the language occasionally; either in the heat of the moment or when she can't think of the right words to use.
Call-Sign: Longsword
Sex: Female
Age: 27
Appearance: For the most part, Natalie wears the Sharpshooter-pattern ODST Battle Dress Uniform. It is primarily black and gunmetal-grey in colour, but the camouflage patterning, chestplate and visor are ice-blue.
Natalie's entire right arm and right leg from the knee down have both been replaced by cybernetics; she received both bionic limbs after one particular incident. She had modifications made to the armour of her arm and leg, so they could be attached to the cybernetics for additional protection, and also because she likes the armour and doesn't want to part from it. The titanium built into the bionics is effective on its own, but Natalie prefers to look at her armour rather than a metal limb in the middle of a fight.
If you happen to catch Natalie outside of her armour, which isn't often except when off-duty, you will find a French woman with slightly unkempt blood-red hair, almost shockingly pale skin and forest-green eyes. The armour of her right arm and leg has been built into her prosthetics, as stated above: she can remove the armour from the limbs, but it takes time to do so. Natalie stands at 5'9" tall, and is of average weight for her age.
Personality: Natalie's primary motivations for being a soldier are to follow in her father's footsteps, and to make herself feel worthy of being given a second chance to serve. She is not entirely sure that she deserves the 'gift' of her cybernetics, and constantly challenges her self to achieve greater feats or do better than she did on the last mission.
Don't tell Natalie how to do her job, especially how to aim properly: she knows the weak spots on almost any Covenant soldier like the back of her hand. She has a particular hatred and fear of Elites, as it was one of them who severed her arm and leg. As such, whenever she eliminates an Elite, she enjoys watching them fall to the ground, knowing full well that one almost ended her life.
Natalie prefers to take out the bigger guys in a Covenant force rather than waste shots on the inevitable Grunts that accompany them. Jackals irritate her when encountered, as their energy shields can cover most of their bodies, preventing her from taking them down easily. Hunters are also a pain for similar reasons. Natalie prefers to use UNSC weapons, especially her own guns, rather than arms dropped by Covenant in the midst of battle.
Outside of combat, Natalie can be a little formal or unfriendly, but that changes once she starts to trust you, both in and out of the heat of battle. If someone befriends her and the two get to know each other, she warms up to them quickly. Natalie does not tolerate stupidity particularly well, be it in speech or action. Naturally, though, she will not speak ill of a superior unless reporting them to a higher-ranked officer.
Rank: Lance Corporal
Role: Sniper
Equipment: 'Sharpshooter' ODST Battle Dress Uniform; SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle; M7S Caseless Submachine Gun; combat knife; two frag grenades; two flashbang grenades. Natalie also keeps a smaller knife in a hidden compartment in her cybernetic leg, in case she is captured and needs some means of escape without her usual weaponry.
Biography: Born in France in 2520, Natalie was raised by her mother while her father, Second Lieutenant Jean-Paul Paladin, continued to serve in the UNSC Marine Corps. In her teenage years, she made plans to follow in her father's footsteps, and enlisted as soon as she was able. In basic training, Natalie was like any other: she turned out to be a competent, skilled, and obedient soldier. Some said that she was officer material like her father, and often pushed her a little bit harder than the others in case she was found slacking. Natalie soon came to display aptitude with sniper rifles, and was entrusted with one of the special weapons in her squad. This choice of weapon earned her the nickname "Longsword", due to her being able to pick off Covenant troops from great distances.
Her military career underwent a drastic change at the age of twenty-three. Natalie, then a Private First Class and due for another promotion, was part of a company that was dispatched to extract civilians from a colony, in the hope of saving them from a Covenant invasion force. The Covenant arrived sooner than expected, however. In the ensuing fight, Natalie found herself up close to Covenant for the first time as opposed to fighting from a distance with her sniping skills.
The gold-armoured Elites that were part of the primary strike force were hacking their way through defenceless civilians, using their strange energy-based weapons. Though Natalie put one of them down herself, another thought to avenge its comrade by hacking off part of her leg. When she fell, she desperately tried to pull out her sidearm, but the Elite severed the arm that fumbled with the gun. In complete shock and agony, Natalie thought she was about to die... but her comrades rescued her, cutting down the golden Elite and carrying her onto their Pelican.
The Elite's sword had cauterised the wounds it had inflicted, making treatment a little easier. When Natalie was approached by her superiors, they had claimed that she would have received a promotion to Lance Corporal had she not been wounded so badly. However, her father, who had also elected to visit her, had called in about half a dozen favours and used a year's pay to obtain cybernetic replacements for his daughter: she could continue her service as a Marine, rather than be discharged with nothing but a Purple Heart, missing body parts and bad memories. Natalie accepted this offer, not wishing to let her father down while she could still serve.
On the day she received her bionic arm and leg, she swore to strive to be worthy of them, to continue fighting in the Marine Corps as long as she was able. It took the better part of another year before she became fully accustomed to the mechanical limbs and learned to use them as she would her organic limbs. She put herself through vigorous training regimens and exercise routines while she got used to her cybernetics.
Life as a rank-and-file soldier became less satisfying for Natalie, even after she served for another full year. She wanted a greater challenge, something to prove her worth beyond anything she had already experienced. So in the year 2545 she took her trusty sniper rifle and registered to become an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. After being accepted, she received her 'Sharpshooter' Battle Dress Uniform, a submachine gun sidearm, and instruction in the use of the SOEIV, which Natalie quickly understood and accepted. She was transferred to an ODST squad soon after and began to fight in a way she had never done before: feet first.
After two years with the ODSTs, during which time she served with three different squads on over a dozen missions, Natalie received another transfer order, this time to a ship by the name of Divine Intervention.
Notes: Natalie has added a couple of personal touches to her sniper rifle, the most obvious one of which is an inscription: a work in progress, it currently resembles a pair of crossed roses etched into the stock. Natalie uses her smaller knife to work on this inscription when she has free time, being exceedingly careful not to disfigure it.
Natalie speaks with a noticeable French accent, and slips into the language occasionally; either in the heat of the moment or when she can't think of the right words to use.
