Maria Doroshenko was born in Donetsk, Ukraine to a Ukrainian father (Artem Doroshenko) and a Britannian (yes, Britannian) mother, Elizabeth Doroshenko (nee Livingston) as a second child, four years younger than her elder sister Anna. Maria’s parents met during a diplomatic cultural event between the Holy Britannian Empire and Europia United, at the time relations were far less hostile due to Britannia’s focus on the Chinese Federation and Japan at the time. Artem Doroshenko was a colonel in the EU/Ukrainian State Army however was renowned for his political interests in ensuring peace and understanding between Europe and Britannia.

Maria for her early childhood grew up with a loving family, however this became increasingly more strained as EU-Britannian relations once again begun to sour. The suspicion and racial distrust that the Doroshenko’s faced intensified into becoming more overt and vicious. While her father became a target of gossip and a political witch-hunt for potential Britannian collaborators, Maria’s mother and elder sister became disillusioned with the “European dream” that Artem had promised and grew to hate the country and its people. Maria however, was different. After suffering enough abuse and stress as a child, she eventually became convinced that all her classmates, neighbours and distant relatives were right. Maria internalised everything, instead believing that she and her sister was a mistake.

Eventually around the time of the invasion of Japan and Maria’s teenage years, her father was disgraced and forced to resign due to political pressure for him to do so. Her mother and elder sister fled to Britannia, eventually joining the political faction of “Eurobritannians”. Maria stayed behind with her father, a broken man. While Maria came to see her father as a fool and her mother and sister as traitors, she still wished to redeem her father and ‘burn away the disgrace’ in battle, so she joined the military.

Through using the few family connections that had father still possessed, Maria was able to get herself into an elite officer academy in Moscow, as part of an EU military cooperation/integration project. There she flourished, particularly since her family name and the disgrace meant less there (at the time). There, her high aptitude for Knightmare piloting was detected in the mandatory simulation training, something that had only become an experimental project following the invasion of Japan (even though at the time the EU did not actually have any Knightmare Frames). Graduating at 19 years old and given the rank of Sub-Lieutenant in the newly formed "Knightmare Corps", at first Maria achieved very little.

First the EU Knightmares were still being developed. Secondly, The EU was hesitant to enter any wars, even with the debacle that was Japan and the soon to come struggle over the Middle East and Africa. Furthermore, the Ukrainian State Army was deeply suspicious of the daughter of the disgraced Colonel Doroshenko, passing her by for others to be sent on prestigious missions into the African EU member-states/satellite states. This constant suspicion and racism simply further strengthened Maria’s fanaticism and desire to ‘prove her loyalty’ by purging her families disgrace, as well as grew the seeds that would eventually become her own racial hatred towards Britannians.

Eventually, a personal enemy of her father in the Ukrainian State Army had Maria sent to the Congo to fight Britannian-armed nationalist rebels in the hopes she would contract Malaria or some other such disease, instead they simply gave her the opportunity to finally prove herself. There, she first proved her ability to command infantry and armoured units in rough terrain fighting guerrillas. The EU and Ukrainian commands were forced to recognise her, for her skills if no other reason.

Moving into the more recent years, Maria was involved in the war between the Middle Eastern Federation and the Britannian Empire, her first shot at her hated foe. While Zero was first rising up in Japan, Maria was fighting in the deserts alongside Muslim soldiers, fighting the elite army of Princess Cornelia. Maria learned many things in those battles, including guerrilla warfare. She also finally got to get in the cockpit of a Knightmare... or at least a knock-off in the form of a Barnide.

Despite her growing competency, Cornelia was unstoppable and Maria both too insignificant in the chain of command and not experienced enough to deal with her. Once Cornelia moved to Japan, Maria watched Zero grow from in her opinion flamboyant and ‘ridiculous’ cartoon character-wannabe to revolutionary messiah. Adapting both the local Mujahedeen and distant Black Knights insurgent tactics, Maria would go on to fight in the Middle East until recalled to the EU, where her real career would begin in the defence of Eurasia.

In the time span of just a year, the Britannian forces had smashed the EU defences at Vladivostok and Kamchatka and like a storm, rode through the Russian hinterlands in their Knightmares with ease and reached the Urals. The Battle of the Urals was Maria’s largest engagement, the near entirety of the Russian State Army backed by Ukrainian, Baltic, Belorussian and Polish state armies against the invading Britannians. Once again, the EU was defeated, however Maria was now a part of the retreat.

Her next engagement was the Battle of Kazan, where along the Volga river the Russian and Ukrainian armies pulled a heroic last stand before the Britannian army could make its march on Moscow. While the defence was a truly titanic effort and for once giving the Britannians heavy casualties, the Britannians adapted and instead engulfed the soon to be defeated EU defenders in a large strategic encirclement, forcing hundreds of thousands of soldiers to eventually surrender or perish. Through this encirclement, Maria was able to survive, taking command of her dead Commanders remaining operators to break out of the encirclement, mostly through copying the Black Knights trick of stealing Britannian Knightmares, which took significantly longer due to the need of capturing Knightmare pilots to then torture into revealing the access codes. For the next two months, Maria launched a guerrilla campaign behind enemy lines, sabotaging Britannian logistics and launching hit-and-run attacks on “Eurobritannians”, hoping to further delay the march for Moscow.

After those two months, Maria finally was able to return to EU territory. There she was hailed a hero by the Russian and Ukrainian forces. The bloody and gruesome rumours that spread during her two months behind enemy lines finally convinced the Ukrainian State Army (what was left of it) that she was ‘one of them’. Eventually Britannia sent complaints to the EU through the neutral country of Australia, demanding that “Lieutenant Doroshenko and the other ‘Eurasian Blackguards’” be arrested and trialed for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, dressing as enemy combatants, engaging as non-combatants, intentional targeting of non-combatants and acts of terrorism against civilian infrastructure and civilians.

While Britannia does not actually acknowledge the notion of crimes against humanity (or human rights in general), the EU does, thus putting them in a horrible situation, either they bend to Britannia’s will and accept or they ignore it and appear immoral, either was a PR disaster. Eventually the decided to put Maria under investigation for war crimes and demoted her back to Lieutenant (removing her field promotions), however after this, the investigation was abruptly swept under the rug and Maria was almost immediately put back out onto the field. She was told that Europe needs results, and at this put they don’t care how it is achieved. They have tasked her with the assisting a crack team of ace Knightmare pilots in agitating revolution against Britannia overseas in the hope of slowing the Britannia’s advance into Europe.

Maria, having been given an offer she cannot refuse, now is forced to go along with this mission else be put on trial for crimes she believes were justified by the enormous scale of Britannia’s own crimes and the fact that the alternative was death.

Nicknames: Rob, Frenchie, Tech

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Social Status: EU Knightmare Specialist/Engineer

Appearance: Standing at 5'10 and weighing 160lbs, Robert is above average physically and, if his bear hugs and attitude are anything to go by, is unaware of this. He has dark black hair and light grey eyes, an unknown fact do to the thick eyeglasses he wears almost constantly. Rob typically wears an oversized lab coat, white t-shirt and brown khakis, both in public and in private. While he owns a jumpsuit for use in Knightmare, he rarely wears it do to his lack of Knightmare piloting experience. Said jumpsuit is light grey with black highlights. Rob carries a notebook and pen constantly, taking notes and doodling whenever he has the chance, treating it as both a research journal and a diary. He rarely shaves, leaving a constant stubble etched across his features.

Personality: Those who do not know him personally would describe him as an eccentric, dramatic, and annoying annoying brat. He typically brags about his intellect and will use big words, even if he has no idea what they mean. Those who know him on a deeper level, however, are aware that he is a complete mess, doing his best to avoid people's criticism and seeking the approval of anyone who gives him the time of day. Rob places immense value on his intellect, what he believes to be his only positive quality. He originally did not care about the Britannian Empire, developing his anger towards them upon seeing how non-Britannians were treated. The main reason he decided to join the military was to protect his younger brother, Jean, from discrimination.

Rob, despite acting like a big-shot, does not enjoy direct confrontation, preferring underhanded and cheap tactics. He obsesses over Knightmares, and is intimidated when there is a more advanced unit facing him. Rob does not enjoy taking risks, and will urge others to take the 'safe-bet'. He spends hours every day either working out, or studying Knightmares, believing that an advanced enough unit would be able to protect him from the enemy. Rob believes that all people are at least somewhat evil and will attempt to protect and enrich their lives by any means necessary. He is much more laid back then most and, when his trust has been secured, is a very reliable source of wisdom and advice, cultivated by his time raising his brother alone.

Rob believes that his life is less important to others, due to the fact that he has considered suicide before. If it means that he is able to protect a friend or ally, he will use anything he has at his disposal. Rob has seen the effect that the Black Rebellion had on Britannia, which made him begin to appreciate tactics and strategy. He does not believe in the supernatural, instead believing that technology is the strongest force on earth.



Relationship W/ Other Characters:
Jean Guilloux: His 12 year old brother. Rob would sacrifice anything if it meant that Jean would be safe.

(Relationship with other PCs to be added).

Goals:
- The removal of Britannian forces from the EU.
- Protecting his brother, by any means necessary.
- To create the next generation of Knightmares.
- Acceptance and to be depended upon by others.

Skill Set:
- Training with small firearms
- Basic Knightmare piloting skills
- Skilled Knightmare Researcher and Mechanic

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Knightmare Frame: RPI-13 Sutherland (Modified)



Name: None given
Desription: A functional Sutherland captured from the Knights of Raphael, this specific one was given to Rob as his personal defense Knightmare. The Sutherland is much sleeker in comparison to the Glasgow, and has numerous upgrades to the life support system and cockpit. This Sutherland is silver with light purple trims, and has the Factsphere Sensor located on the head, like all Sutherlands. It is a good mix of mobility, durability, and power, and is the main weapon in the Britannian empire, serving as infantry.

Weapons and Operational Systems of Knightmare:
- Cockpit Ejection System
- Factsphere Sensor
- Landspinner Propulsion System

Armaments:
- 1x Assault Rifle
- 2x Chest-mounted Slash Harkens
- 2x Chaos Mines

Knightmare Generation: 5th Generation Britannian Knightmare Frame

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Likes:
- Working out
- Repairing Knightmares
- Building Knightmares
- Jean Guilloux
- Friendship
- Lab coats
- Praise
- Technology

Dislikes:
- The supernatural
- Insults
- Wastefulness
- Anger
- Bossy People