Power: A
Speed: C
Range: A
Persistence: C
Precision: C (S)
Potential: E

Power: B(A)
Speed: B
Range: E
Persistence: B
Precision: C
Potential: C

Duplicate is hard to explain with a whole bunch of numbers and delving into the *energy* of Hope’s End.

It’s not as clear cut as this, but if you simplify it down…

Each person has 100hp. Every time Hope’s End deals damage to those hit points it gains a charge for every hp lost. So a paper cut might only be 1-2 hp, but losing a limb could be 60+ hp. Now all that energy goes into a pool.
If the target also happens to be an Arms Master, the last hp has code for Arms Abilities. Now that code can only be applied to energy stolen from that target.

So if you deal a killing blow to a heavily injured Arms Master, you will o oh get 20-30 energy points, but they can be used to replicate the abilities of that Arms Master. Once they are used up they are gone.
Some abilities will obviously have a higher cost and as such can’t be used as much.

Power B
Speed C
Range A
Persistence C
Precision C
Potential D

The target used was human sized, 200 rounds were shot for each range apart from the 270meters range where 50 rounds were shot.

Percentage of direct hits only takes into accounts hits that directly hit the target dismissing possible damage dealt through other means.

Percentage of lethal hits takes into account any shot that produced lethal damage either by a direct hit or as the effect of impact shockwave.

Power: C
Speed: A
Range: C-
Persistence: B-
Precision: C-
Potential: C

Power: D (It's Bullets^TM)
Speed: C
Range: B (~300m effective range, no splash effect)
Persistence: B
Precision: S (Precision is dependent on Mikey's own marksmanship, rather than any property of Angel Duster itself)
Potential: C

Power: B
Speed: B
Range: D
Persistence: C
Precision: D
Potential: D

Where Callie’s stamina is represented as 500 of an arbitrary unit…

Portal Creation Time (seconds) = Portal Area^2 (square metres) x Distance Bridged (km)
Stamina Cost upon Portal Creation = Portal Area^2 (square metres) x Distance Bridged (km) + Distance Bridged (km) x 0.1 + 10
Stamina Cost while Portal remains (per second) = Portal Area^2 (square metres) + 1

While Callie can push herself beyond this limit, she risks unconsciousness or death by doing so.

Callie Lidmann was born in the UK and lived there for four years or so. That she knows. In truth, her mother has always been cagey about the first few years of her life and, indeed, about Callie’s father, who Callie herself only knows by scattered half-memories. She didn’t especially care, to start with; her mum, Mary, has always been as good a parent as possible to her, as has her aunt Sandra, with whom the two live.

Good intentions or no, Mary’s actions rendered Callie somewhat poorly formed at first. The two only settled down with Sandra six or seven years after arriving in the USA; before then the two lived hand-to-mouth and constantly on the move. Mary took jobs and found schooling for Callie wherever she could but always became more and more alert, cautious, nervous over the months they stayed in a single place and then swept the two away again, as if running from something. By the time they came to live with Sandra, the damage had been done; Callie, despite a natural keenness of mind and a relative affability that let her just about coast through schoolwork and friendships, was behind on more or less every academic metric and had a lack of motivation to match. If, after all, her teachers and schoolmates changed so regularly, any effort she put into making a good impression or form connections would just go to waste. Why make the effort?

That changed a few months after Callie’s thirteenth birthday. Taking a stroll past a lake just outside the town that had – surprisingly to her – been her home for a good length of time now, her ear caught an odd series of sounds accompanied by what resembled an alarmed voice in the distance. Turning to look, she saw a woman thrashing at the water, small rowboat upturned and floating away over the rippling surface. In that instant, Callie reached out to help – and found that there was nothing she could do. For the first time, she fully regretted her indifference; she regretted not having had the presence of mind when walking here before to memorise where any of the lifebuoys were, dotted around the lakeside; she regretted having let learning to swim go by the wayside somewhere in her various relocations; she regretted being sufficiently apathetic as to not bring a phone with her or, indeed, to know what this lake in particular was called so she could guide an emergency responder to it; and she regretted not paying attention to the assembly given by a lifeguard on one day in one particular school whose name she couldn’t remember, that she might have properly known what to do in the first place.

For the first time in her life, Callie wished she might have done things differently.

She wished she could do something now.

And, from within her, something answered.

A brilliant flash of light in her palm, materialising into solid form. Moments later, a pulse in the air beside her; shimmering, marine light on the grass, followed by a deluge that knocked her off her feet and dropped one sopping wet ex-drownee onto the ground beside her. She had tried – and the world had made clear to her that that would make an impact.

How far could she go?

From that point on, Callie’s every action was infused with energy. Between the story being picked up by the local newspaper, the touch of renown that she gained in the community as a result and her generally more pleasant demeanour, she started to make some proper friends (and, of course, some enemies among those whose carefully constructed cliques were disrupted); astute enough to realise that a lot of these relationships were superficial but sufficiently determined and free-thinking enough to decide to forge them into actual bonds, Callie began building a network that not only further propelled her emotional rise but also brought those others with her towards fulfilment, her joyful and determined demeanour infectious. Simultaneously, realising that the key to her future and her growth laid in her new Noble Arm, she began practising with it on her own and doing research and joining several Arms fora online to start investigating its powers.

Eventually that research led her to the US’ Arms Master Cadets programme, in which Callie saw an opportunity to finally use her newfound power for good. Mary saw something else; Callie would often catch sight of her mother watching her out of the corner of her eyes, wringing her hands, muttering, every tic and negative signal of body language multiplied a thousand-fold. Sandra’s stabilising influence helped; Callie, on the other hand, could not decide whether her presence was causing her mother more pain than she would by leaving, even as her past, so long unquestioned, began to bubble in the back of her mind. With her new impetus driving her on, however, doing nothing simply wasn’t an option and, though she had picked up in school, it was clear that academics would be a path of far, far greater resistance given her track record. Her aunt in her corner and covering for her mother’s concerns, Callie eventually signed up for the programme, packed her bags and made her way onwards.

From there, everything accelerated. Entirely separate from the regular JROTC programme, auxiliary to a normal education, the AMC’s work is simply to take young Arms Masters and turn them into soldiers – to explore and actualise the martial potential of each cadet and especially their Arm’s powers and then integrate them as seamlessly as possible into their armed forces, all while securing their loyalty. For Callie, it achieved one of those three very effectively! With experienced Arms Masters and experts in their study helping her and dedicated testing facilities and events to experiment within at her full potential and full of sharpness and conviction, she became a skilled, diligent and distinguished warrior. Once again, her energy was infectious and she quickly made close friends amongst the other young Arms Masters on the programme (not so hard – being the person to near-instantly evacuate you to your team’s medic in a training exercise tends to endear you to them).

As for the other two… As she went on through the programme, Callie began to realise that she was being pushed in a certain direction: that of special and covert operations, reconnaissance, assassination. On a purely strategic and tactical level, she could understand that – information gathering, rapid movement and precision striking power were her Arm’s specialities – but she also wasn’t naïve. Even the brief period of research she’d done before she entered the AMC had told her what the country she and her mother had come to was capable of; while she’d put that to the back of her mind at the time it increasingly weighed on her thoughts as she approached the end of her training, something only reinforced by the patriotic tendencies of her fellows and their superiors.

The war in South-East Asia offered a way out. While the US has so far refused to commit to a full military response to Chinese aggression, for fear of escalation to unrestricted conflict between their Arms Masters with a level of accompanying global devastation unseen since WW2, they were willing to send materiel, military advisors and training and, off the table, covert military support. As a capable fighter who had not yet seen action and so was not identifiable by the enemy, Callie was in an ideal position to take advantage – and she knew it, seizing what she felt was an opportunity to use her training and skills to do something fairly unambiguously good. And so, after intensive training in Filipino and in the Philippines’ culture and geography and picking up some new skills over a period of six months, Caroline Lidmann, officially an unaffiliated Arms Master volunteering with the Philippine Army from abroad, headed for her new posting.

Power:B
Speed:D
Range:F
Persistence:C
Precision:D
Potential:D

The only passive ability of Luk Bezdny, this ability is considered the only reason Tonka can perform most of the actions she enacts during combat. The area of effect of this passive reaches out to only 200 meters during the day, while capable of surveilling up to a 800ms radius with extreme focus at night. Bound by Shadow is a double edged sword, giving Tonka the ability to “see” and “hear” through shadows, but is directly responsible for her going blind and stunting her height. She can "toggle" the ability on and off, however upon deactivating this ability, she loses all further stated abilities below. She is permanently destroying her eye sight each time she uses this ability and as of turning 20, she is considered “legally” blind. Her regular vision consists of complete smudges and blurs. She can see large and obvious shapes through guess work and her experience of sight prior to her losing a majority of her version. Think seeing the world in a really really strong misty haze. At about 1ft she can see very very obvious colors and patterns but still as if she was seeing it through frosted glass. Numerous attempts, both practical and impractical, to provide her with any aid have failed to this point and she has reserved herself to being blind after the last attempt to correct her vision two years ago.

The “sight” given to her by this ability is something akin to sonar/echo location and the webs of a spider. Her vision consist of infinite billowing black mist, with the outlines of all shadows around her in glimmering white. Tonka refers to the environment’s shadows, that give her a rough outline of the world around her, as "Tethers". Once a moving shadow, or a physical object, comes into contact with a Tether, it sends back sensory data in the form of a visual pulse that washes over the subject and paints shining white outlines of them into the black canvas of her vision. After catching someone in a Tether, with focus, she can track their movements for a max of ten minutes until needing them to walk through another Tether to reset the tracking timer. On its own, this sight is a curse more than a gift for Tonka. The sensory overload she can experience if she is not making a focused effort to minimize the various extra “noise” other objects in the space can cause (I.E physical touch or shadows casted by bugs and other animals, or from leaves falling off of trees, etc), she can/will have seizures and various other ailments of extreme sensory overload. In the worst overstimulation cases Tonka’s experienced, She’s put herself in a coma for a day.

Some hard counters to this ability, include invisibility (specifically the kind that would leave you with no shadow or make you intangible), both regular lights and light based NA abilities with the abilities to change the positions of shadows rapidly (will cause immediate sensory overload, forcing her to cancel the ability if she is not narrowing her focus and target(s), basically don't surprise her to a rave, she will have a stroke) and any sun or solar based attack, NA or not, if used effectively can render this ability moot. Flashing lights and surprise flashbangs will fuck her up if caught off guard.

Her second "gift" given to her by this ability, hearing through shadows, requires her absolute focus and stillness, else she runs the risk of receiving to much information at once. There are two forms of this ability, the first being a very basic hearing boost within the 200m maximum. Because she isn't sync'd up to the shadows, she isn't able to hear full conversations, more like whispers of a word, labored breathing, or if a target(s) is being especially loud, small phrases. Typically, she only uses this ability in combat scenarios where she's trying to track down a target(s) that proves especially elusive. While using this version of the hearing portion of her ability, she is unable to reactivate or re-ping her tracking ability. The second half of her hearing ability is and should only be used for espionage and surveillance. This version of her hearing, completely erases her ability to see and track, and instead makes her into a living antenna. She must take a full minute to sync with all the shadows in the area. Upon fulling syncing up, her version becomes pure black and instead of the pure white outlines of Tethers, her black vision filled with vibrational frequencies she can mentally tap into, similar to radio interceptors during WW2. She must maintain extreme focus, otherwise she could immediately succumb to sensory overload from all the sounds within the 200m radius rushing to her. She typically will only use this ability after staking out and finding the best place to set up a base of operations more or less. In this form, she is able to listen through obstructions, however they will become muffled, the thicker the material she attempts to hear through.

Hard counters to this ability in general, consist or largely the same for the tracking portion of this ability. However sound proofing, whether from an NA ability, or man made, will drastically reduce the quality of volume of what she can hear. She is unable too, at this point in time, hear through reinforced steel and metal housings, such as bomb shelters, etc. She also will have to contend with sounds at volumes three times as loud as the target(s) she is trying to listen too. If her target(s) were to go into a club for instance, she would be forced to either wait it out, or switch to tracking through Tethers. Doubly so, she is incredibly vulnerable while using the second part of this ability, so much so, that if she were to get tapped or poked while actively surveilling, at the very minimum she'll experience debilitating headaches and nosebleeds.

As of right now, she can only use tracking and hearing together for one minute before suffering a huge blowback, typically showing in the form of a huge seizure. If she tries to persist past one minute, she runs the risk of permanently blinding herself even more, as well as going deaf. She also can suffer falling into a coma, which can last anywhere from a day to two days.

(DT Ver.)
- Is hard locked at 200m radius maximum for the area of effect.
- Unable to see shadows obstructed behind obstructions such as stone walls, brick buildings, reinforced metal, etc.
- All abilities are weakened from the hours of 11AM-2PM, all ranges are cut down to 50m, the lack of shadows makes it incredibly hard to catch and reset targets with natural Tethers.
- Her vision darkens closer to 100% blind

(NT ver.)
- Able to easily reach a 300m radius area of effort with little effort, loses the requirement for having to stay stationary for tracking to reach an 800m radius
- Able to see all Tethers within 200m, regardless of obstructions, however anything outside of the 200m, a target will still be able to conceal themselves behind obstructions
- All abilities are strengthened from the hours 11PM-2AM, with the area of effect reaching a minimum distance of 500m, with focus and effort, she'll be able to view a slightly-distorted view of the target(s) if they trigger the tracking aspect of this ability. Tracking also extends to 30 minutes duration before needing to reset, with the same penalties applying regardless of the time of night.
- Her sight given to her by this ability has increased clarity and definition once the sun passes below the horizon relative to her position.

What would a shadow user be, without the ability to slip through shadows. Dance of the Abyss allows Tonka to step between Tethers, the gleaming white shadows she can see using Bound by Shadows tracking ability. The range is limited to 200m’s as of right now, and she cannot jump through solid obstructions, such as walls and the like, even if she can see the Tether. There must be at least a 1x1 meter wide space in an obstruction for her to be able to teleport through it. Once Tonka steps on a Tether, natural or made by artificial means (I.E she sets up objects to make Tethers, etc), she must focus on the Shadow she wants to move too. It takes place near instantly once Tonka marks a Tether, however she won’t be able to teleport to the same Tether used for a minimum of five minutes. When the affect happens, tentacle like shadows wrap around her legs and drag her down into the shadows instantly. Reaching the targeted place within a second, she can either pop out jumping or rise up slowly. As of right now, she can only move no greater than double her body weight through a shadow unless under special conditions (in times of extreme effort, she can move 380 lbs max and will immediately suffer a seizure and out of commission for a day or two).

There are some penalties for rapid back to back use, starting to present themselves after five uses in under a minute. With her 6th jump, she’ll start to lose her ability to move her limbs, feeling numbness enough to trouble her walking or using her hands slightly. At 12 jumps, she wont be able to raise her hands above her waist and will be limited to a limping walk. At 18 jumps, she loses all function in her arms and can no longer stand. She has never gone beyond 18, or rather, she's never been capable of it despite being forced to attempt it. At each stage of Reset timer, she will have to wait respectively 2 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes for the spam penalty effect to reset its counter. This ability's hard counters are the same as Bound by Shadow, as it is wholly dependent on Tethers to function.

(DT Ver.)
- Is hard locked at 50m radius maximum for the area of effect.
- She is unable to teleport more than 180 lbs, spam penalty trigger is cut by half and Reset timer is doubled when transporting anything over 100 lbs. (6↓3|2min↑4min,12↓6|5min↑10min,18↓9|10min↑20min)
- All abilities are weakened from the hours of 11AM-2PM, maximum range is cut down to 20 meters, and is only able to transport herself

(NT Ver.)
- Time needed to reset the penalty trigger is reduced to half and max range becomes 200m. (60sec↓30sec)|(50m↑200m)
- No longer gain a weight limit penalty for transporting things, and her max carrying weight becomes 280 lbs. She can move multiple things as long as it stays within the max carrying weight.
- All abilities are strengthened from the hours 11PM-2AM, weight limit penalty is temporarily buffed to 300lbs and allows Tonka the special condition of being able to teleport from moving shadows coming off of inanimate objects (I.E she would be able to shoot a shadow arrow, using ”Tyanut'!”, with a flat head big enough to cast a shadow for her to use or some other conventional means.)

"Draw" is the crux of her offensive capability, and the reason her name brings chills and clammy hands to Russian government officials and military officers alike. Pulling where the drawstring would be on Luk Bezdny, a shadow arrow begins to nock against a translucent shimmering string. This abilities range is directly tied to Bound by Shadow, taking on both DT and NT penalty and bonus on range. Where these arrows come from, would be answered standing next to Tonka at night. Those whispers ones hear on the very edge of their hearing next to her, would grant a somewhat sickening realization of what each arrow was. Even more so after witnessing what those arrows do when hitting a killing blow (their own shadow becomes a horrifying snare that drags their dead body back into itself). Using biomass taken from each kill, if you were to touch the arrow, you would feel a cold and grotesque metal like material. The conversion rate for each kill, roughly coming out to every 20 lbs, she stockpiles 1 arrow. However, not every arrow is worth only 1 stockpile. Regardless of type, if a target happens to be hit with an arrow and live, they will become a moving Tether for 30 seconds to both proc Bound by Shadow's tracking ability on themselves and those they touch, shadow or physical. Pulling it out will result in the target hearing the voices or sounds of the unfortunate soul used to create it for the remaining 30 seconds, but it will immediately stop them from being a Tether. The voices will be loud enough to alter the targets ability to hear their surroundings, and can range from being disorienting to incapacitating, depending on how susceptible the target is to psychological attacks. After the 30 seconds, the arrow will dissipate into black smoke, leaving behind a wound, size depending on type of arrow if not removed.

She is capable of changing the shape, size and power of an arrow. There are two "settings" of arrows she can shoot as well, an arrow that flies straight and true, or for a cost, she can shoot through Tethers made from Bound by Shadow (cant kill someone who is stuck with an arrow and considered a Tether themselves, but she would be able to say shoot a person next to them from the arrow stuck in the target). To make things easier for herself in the heat of combat, she categorizes her arrows into three "groups" of arrows, capable of the two settings.


Hard counters vary depending on which type of arrow she is firing, however across all boards, light-based abilities and attacks will dampen the power and speed of these arrows. If one was able to create a wall of fire, or a barrier of light, or flash solar power at Okhota's for instance, they can completely cause the arrow to dissipate into smoke on impact with little damage receiver. Grob's are typically heftier in size and weight, and a successful deflect/block of these arrows, will nullify it's piercing power, but not its kinetic force, still capable of knocking the target down if they are unprepared for the blowback. Zhnet's retain their penetration power, but will be significantly slow down in speed the closer it gets, allowing for a better chance to dodge the arrow. Intangible ability user's can also bypass the arrows, as they do need to physically pierce a target, to get any of the effects of this ability to proc. She isn't capable of running out of arrows, the bow making it mandatory of having at least one arrow to use an Okhota. She can run out of enough arrows to use Grob or Zhnets arrows however and it will not let her over draft her stockpile if she doesn't have enough to pay the tax of sending an arrow through a Tether.

(DT Ver.)
- Is hard locked at 200m maximum draw range.
- Only able to fire Okhota Arrows through Tethers.
- All abilities are weakened from the hours of 11AM-2PM, all range maximums are cut down to a 100m, arrow tax for firing Grob Arrows is increased by one and Zhnets Arrows is increased by three.

(NT ver.)
- Able to easily reach a 300m draw range with little effort, and 500m draw range if firing Grob or Zhnets Arrows.
- All abilities are strengthened from the hours 11PM-2AM, with the area of effect reaching a maximum distance of 600m, Tax for firing Okhota Arrows into Tethers is reduced down to zero and Grob Arrows will only cost three arrows to use total. Grob Arrows also lose their cooldown timer, and Tonka is able to fire these arrows with reckless abandon if she wanted to waste her stockpile.

January 5th, 1997. Somewhere outside Kemerovo, Russia.

---

Wind howled and screamed, threatening to destroy the only sanctuary from the worst blizzard of the season. On a small farm, deep in the backwoods of Siberia, the screams one could think the wind, instead came from the hobbled together barn, tucked behind the house and fortunately holding up against the wind and snow despite the sounds coming from the walls. Karina, a woman typically of little words, and even smaller in stature, screamed in pure agony louder than she ever thought possible.

"Push one one more time Katherine!" the woman between her legs beckoned to the small woman. She had a horrified and fearful look on her face, as she chanced a glance to her left at the man standing behind her. The fucker who swindled them with sick cattle for her beautiful daughter. The man stole her away, and kept her constantly working, slaving away on this god forsaken farm. Isolated her away from her family and friends, forcing this child on a body no where near fit to bear it. The man who wouldn't listen when she pleaded with him to let Karina move back into her home, where it would be only a ten minute drive to a hospital, at least until she gave birth in the last months of her awful pregnancy. Everything about this felt wrong and even so, she wouldn't abandon her baby, even as the malice and evil oozing off the man threatened her heart to stop. "Nik-" the edge of a short sword pressed into the side of her neck, dreadfully still.

"Vera, the only thing you need to do from this point on, is to make sure that baby makes it through this" the dry tone of Nikoli's voice only served to confirm Vera's worst suspicion. Karina's sudden scream seemed to snap the woman away from the dread of the situation, the process of giving birth with a body wholly malnourished and overworked. Karina engulfed in the agony of child birth, unaware of the horrifying situation unfolding in front of her. All she could do, no all she begged and needed to do was push, praying to god for this to end. In a matter of seconds, though she would be born to no name until much later in life, Tonka emerged into this world, her already head full of black and grey baby hairs appearing quickly. With one last push, Tonka was free from her mother, however, she hadn't made one noise yet. Vera heart began to sink with every second passing with no cry, as she began to go through the motions of an Apgar test, after proceeding cleaning and snipping of her cord. She wasn't off in color, and she was giving the correct responses that would illicit she was okay, but still no cry, even after a slap on her bum. Wrapping her up quickly, the room was filled with Karina's labored breaths alone, Vera unable to look at Nikoli as she stood to the left of Karina. She placed a hand on her daughters cheek, who couldn't even so much as open her eyes, but smiled as her mom guided her hand to Tonka's, the baby grabbing hold instinctually.

"She's not crying mom...that cant be...good, right?" Karina struggling with every minute passing. Her mother looked in horror, thinking of any way to save her daughter, to escape this place, from this demon. If that short sword was one of those things her late husband told her about, no, she couldn't think that way. Besides, why would a Russian super solider choose her daughter?

"She passed all the test I can do without hospital equip-"

"Shhh" Nikoli crossed the space between them in the blink of an eye, the baby already cradled in the nook of his left arm. He flicked his wrist effortlessly behind himself as he turned away from the women, two sickening drops could be heard from behind him, followed by a horrific spray. "I thought maybe one had manifested since the bizarre hair color and lack of crying. Maybe if I had increased the risk variables leading up to birth to the absolute maximum without risking you coming out malformed..." he trailed off as he made way for the door "Well we have time, right?" he looked back to the two very dead women "Right, right..." he burst into laughter at his twisted joke, which in turn caused Tonka to cry for the first time, though it certainly wouldn't be her last.

May 12th, 2004. [REDACTED], Russia

---

The sounds of squelching and crunching rung out from the "dorm hallway" of this hell-scape of a "school". A circle of all of the students on the floor crowded close enough to see, but not close enough to get hit. A girl, probably no older than seven, with short white and black hair, was covered in the blood of the girl she sat on top of. Holding her fist up and slamming it back down, the girl struggling to breath with each passing blow as Tonka threatened to relieve her of her status of living. Raising her fist one more time, her wrist was caught from dealing a death blow. Yanked up and held above the ground, Nikoli raised her eye level with him "my little wild cub, we need that one for the next rounds of test, but it seems you've offered yourself as replacement since I don't think" he glanced over to the twelve year old the other students were now trying to help off the floor, her face horrifyingly caved in a noticeable amount. He clicked his tongue "is gunna be ready tomorrow for testing, clever girl" his smile was anything but sincere and full of love.

The girl spit blood from her mouth onto his off white uniform "Cyka (bitch)" holding out her middle finger with her free hand. Nikoli took the finger as quick as she got it up and bent slightly, dislocating it. Tonka didn't so much as cry, only gritting her teeth, a technique she learned would distract her from the pain. She knew that if she let a tear show now, he would do much much worse.

"Take this one to the testing room, it looks like she's eager to get a head start, my devoted daughter" he tossed her into the hands of one of the many faceless guards here. The guard let the girl walk on her own, standing just far enough away from her. He had heard about General Puzakova's hellion of a child. At the age of seven, she already attempted two escapes, killed ten guards and ten students, and was on her way to claim more. The guard and his comrades would never understand what the General was doing, or why he would let this frail child go through this Program. Though the sound of her grunt after resetting her middle finger herself, would show the Guard she also was anything but normal.

After a few minutes of walking through labyrinths of confusing halls and stairs leading deeper underground, they stopped at a metal door, etched with monsters and indescribable horrors, blood splatters and claw marks. The Guard knocked on the door, it ominously opened seconds later, to pitch black, but not the natural kind from lack of light. It was wrong, that darkness in the room, anything that crossed it's threshold would be "Swallowed" up by it, gone instantly once passing the door frame. The guard had his rifle ready, pointing it to the door, Tonka however stepped through without a second thought. The door shut behind her instantly and the sounds of muffled screams began to escape the room. The guard shuddered, he had been working on the "Valkyr" project for ten years and that room was the only room he refused to be near. People, students, animals, they've all gone missing next to that room and no one but General Puzakova and seemingly his daughter knew what was in there.

January 5th, 2007. [Redacted], Russia

---

Five years...five years of this long game of cat and mouse with her father. The girl would be turning ten today, and was going to be given her first mission by her father. Befriend the new instructor she was going to be learning from now on. She was a graduate from the first batch apparently, at least that is what she had gotten one of the guards to tell her before they quickly distanced themselves from her. She was too broken to try an escape anymore, the last time being when she was seven but...obviously it didn't work on account of the fact of still being there. After the last attempt, she decided she would try winning this rigged game another way. Become the best, make it so HE couldn't deny her this opportunity. She realized there was no winning, only reducing the amount distrust her father had for her. She needed power, more than anyone in this program could offer her.

Tonka, however, was still too young to outsmart her father, the man responsible for all of this program. He knew she was playing the game, in hopes of gaining enough power with a Noble Arms to bide her time and eventually kill him. He applauded her in fact, because that was the only way she was ever going to leave this program, just not of her own freewill. Everything that Tonka did, was within the grand scheme he created when he met her mother, Karina. Today would be no different, in fact he made sure the graduate with the highest kill count after graduating, was sent back here so that He and her could have a "conversation" about her becoming an instructor. He had made an elaborate scene and claimed he needed her to come back as an instructor at the program. All so he could lure her back for the NA she had manifested. She held a Noble Arm that would be perfect for breaking his daughter, the curse of that Noble Arm still fresh in his mind, what it did to the person who inherited it. How they became one of the SVR's best hunting dogs, and most subservient of their hunting dogs.

When the unsuspecting woman arrived, she was met with open arms from the Guards and the General. They lulled her into a false sense of security, the plan taking place over the coarse of a week. The woman was introduced to Tonka, the girl still yet to receive her name, but was impressed with what the ten year old had accomplished in the last five years here. The little girl attached herself to the woman, not because of companionship or anything of the like, but because her dad told her too. She was given the privilege of skipping classes and test. Instead given a chance to be taught by the woman personally, and when the end of the year came, she was to drive a knife deep into the woman's throat after.

December 29th, 2007. [Redacted], Russia.

---

Her first mission, was anything but straight forward and easy. This woman was incredibly kind too her, a vast and uncomfortable difference from her father. The woman was patient, wanting to hear what the girl had to say. She let the girl express herself, to cry, to create, to be just a ten year old child. Of course only in private classes between the two, but still this small gift she gave the girl for the 11 months she'd been here to teach, was the very thing that doomed her to die at the the end of the little girls knife. Tonka could not let this woman give her hope, could not let this woman break her in a far different way. Words her father said to her every night after reporting on the day with the Graduate. The little girl wasn't capable of understanding wrong from right here, she was doing her job, being the perfect doll for her Fathers approval. It was at the end of the year, when they had a break to spend time out of their rooms for a day, she was with the Graduate, who asked the little girl why her father hadn't named her. The little girl shrugged, unsure of how to answer that question, to which the Graduate would proclaim that she would now be Tonka. Tonka cried and cried, sharing a rare moment of real feeling, and Tonka knew she had to finish this mission tonight, or else she might ask this woman for something stupid.

She poisoned the woman's food and water later that day, and made a scene to be able to sleep in her room for the fated night. The woman tried her hardest to not let it happen, but the General gave the order. The woman said that things are strange at night around her, and to try and not give it any attention. Tonka was confused and simply nodded, bidding her goodnight and pretending to fall asleep. Then it came, this being the first night she spent with the woman, who typically locked herself away from the facility once the sun dipped fully below the horizon. The Whispers and screams that came off the woman, were almost enough to make Tonka piss herself in fear. The woman had somehow fallen asleep, or rather, wanted Tonka to think that, as the little girl shook with fear, walking ever so slowly and quiet towards her bed. Raising the knife above her head, Tonka brought it down just as harshly, looking to the woman's face that had a smile on it. She fell back as the woman's eyes locked with hers and Tonka could swear she saw the woman mouth "thank you". As she took her last breath, the once slightly shimmering whispers of the voices and screams she heard before, were now deafeningly loud. The shadows in the room seemed to dance and ebb like that of flames, and all of it seemed to be racing towards Tonka. The girl screamed in horror as the shadow tendrils from all around the room began to snake their way around objects towards the end of her feet. Trying to get up, she turned to kick into a run, but was immediately ripped down by a tendril that found its way around her ankle. Pulling her back towards the body of the fresh kill, her eyes were locked on the black billowing smoke that was raising off of the woman's chest. She was certain there was nothing there when she struck just above it, but beneath the woman's now crossed arms, was a black bow with no drawstring. It beckoned in whispers at first, than rose into angry screaming, none of the words Russian or coherent. The bow rose from the woman, and a black shadow like hand erupted from the middle of it, grabbing Tonka's wrist and pulling itself into her hand.

Silence at first, deafening and maddening silence, only Tonka's labored breathing filled the room. The shadows stopped moving, the voices gone from the room. She looked over to the bed, only a blood stain left, the woman's body vanished. Than it all rushed inward from the walls of the room, her vision blackened and was met with an infinite void. White shadows lined her black vision, giving her distorted view of the room, but she only had a second to react before tiny white dots filled the blackened vision. There were thousands of bugs in this room, all moving through the shadows, causing her vision to pick them up. She fell to her knees from the pain beginning to form in the back of her head. Confused, she slammed into objects into the room, trying to reach the door, knocking over furniture and the like, before slamming into the door itself. Reach around for the handle, feeling and pulling open the door was the worst thing she could have done. Her blackened vision was no longer contained to the room with no windows, it now extended to each end of the hallway. She immediately succumbed to a seizure, falling into the arms of her Father, who was waiting behind the door for exactly this. The horrifying smile bearing down on her was the last thing she remembered before blacking out.

March 13th, 2012. Moscow, Russia

---

A fifteen year girl sat near a window, looking down on a city park, the unsuspecting civilians going about their life like ants. The sun was below the horizon, shadows stretched far "Tonka, target is entering park, northside, backpack, about 20m from your position" Nikoli spoke through her earpiece and she opened her hand and the wretched bow appeared in her hand. Her vision went black as she began tracking people in the park, a man with a backpack indeed moving quickly towards the center of the park. She followed his would be path to Igot Koltsov, definitely his drop-off marker. Opting to use the hearing portion of her abilities, she waited until they made contact, listening in to their conversation.

"Larvo isn't happ-"

"You idiot, you have no idea what could be listening to us" the seated man seemed more anxious than she had seen him before. Though, she probably was responsible for that, as all his business partners seem to have mysteriously and spontaneously died in the last two weeks here in Moscow.

The standing man scoffed and looked around, or at least that was what Tonka assumed from the second it took him to reply and smug tone of his voice "Look Igor, it's beyond worrying about anyone else listening to this, which in case you haven't noticed" he raised his hands to the empty park around them "I dont see anyone nearby?"

"Moron, you have no idea what it is the Motherland is capable of, e-?" the standing man pulled a pistol out and slapped Igor across the face with it, before taking his collar in hand and pulling him face to face.

"Cyka, do I look scared of the Motherland? Now did you bring what Larvo has been asking for, for the last two months, or am I terminating our contract right here, right now for wasting our time?" there was no sign of a joke, as the standing man brought his hands together in front of him, resting his pistol on his belt buckle. Igor stunned from the hit, sluggishly took a piece of paper out of his front shirt pocket and handed it to the man, who snatched it and opened it up. "Jesus Christ Igor, was it that hard? Why did it take so long for the formula to be ma-, ah fuck it I don't care" he swung the backpack off his shoulder and onto the bench next to Igor "pleasure doing business with you, I'd say we'll be seeing you, but after the hang up, who knows" he stuffed the pistol and paper back into his jacket pockets, turning on his heels and walking out the way he came in.

"Wait!" Igor said with the backpack full of money in his arms "where is the rest?"

Stopping in his tracks, the younger man slumped his head down defeated and shook it disapprovingly. Turning around, he kept the pistol in his jacket pocket "Igor you were two months late with the compounded formula, you're lucky to be alive, what is it you're not getting?" he stepped towards Igor, who took one step forward as well.

"Without me, Larvo would have no business to run, my partners are being hunted down and slaughtered, this isn't even enough for me to get my daughter out. You two OWE me, for helping you two when you had no where else to go. I am his uncle, by blood, and he cant even bother to make an appearance and instead sends out his lac-" a shot rang out, and Igor fell to his knees, blood starting to pour from the gunshot wound freshly in his stomach. Falling to his side, the man approached Igor, sucking air through his teeth and he picked up the backpack full of money.

"You science types really talk too fucking much!" he kicked Igor onto his back and slung the pack over his shoulder "stupid fuck, you should have just been grateful we even paid you" standing over him, he raised his gun towards his head "but dont worry, Olga will be in very good hands from now on, ill make you a proud father watching from Heaven, or Hell more likely" he stuck out his tongue in a vulgar act with a laugh and shot, quickly walking away from the deceased man and the park.

Tonka reactivated her tracking ability, and teleported to the roof through the shadow she was standing on. Appearing on the ledge, she drew her bow and fired a toothpick size arrow at the Man with the backpack. Hitting its mark, Tonka stalked the man, using shadows to teleport to the next roof top while the arrow pulsed where he was. Following him for ten minutes effortlessly, before he dipped down into the metro, forcing her to have to teleport to the ground level and follow him in. Catching sight of him through her shadow vision, she tailed him one train car back, the man seeming to have met some of his comrades at the station. He laughed and joked around, as if not ten minutes prior, he murdered a man looking for a fair price, and just go on the subway with his boys on the way to a bar.

"Do not engage with them yet, wait until they reach their base of op-"

"I know Father." Tonka replied flatly, watching the five men as they harassed the train car they were in for their own entertainment. Goading and missing with the passengers, hoping a white knight would present themselves for a rigorous jumping from the five. But these people knew better, not with the skull and star tattoo's all these men sported on their necks. Much to the upset boredom of the five men, they arrived at the next stop and embarked out into the station. Tonka followed behind, her vision pulsing each man as they climbed the stairs and stepped on shadows respectively. Upon making it back up to the street level, Tonka returned to her spot, moving across the rooftops, and shooting down small tracking arrows to help when she would occasionally lose sight of them. They took many twist and turns, and sometimes double backed, as if aware they might be followed, before reaching a run down old soviet apartment block. Reaching the doors at the bottom, they pushed past a dozen of similar buzz cut wanna be gangsters and into the elevator, Tonka fully losing vision of them as they went up.

"Father, Base of Operations has been found, sending coordinates and pictures now. Permission to proceed with mission?" Tonka snapped pictures of the entrance and building using a phone and texted them off, before teleported to an adjacent abandoned apartment block. Pulling her bow out, she quickly tied her hair up, drawing back the bowstring and taking aim at the biggest man at the door. His head within her sights, she held her breath in anticipation of a green light.

"Site of Mission confirmed, permission granted."

"Ivan, did you see Dimitri come back with the bag? You think he wasted Igo-?" Ivan raised his hand to the smaller man to stop talking and the other twelve men instantly quieted down at the sight of their gang's Lieutenant suddenly going still.

The 6'5, 300 lb hulk of a man, turned to the outside, feeling something was incredibly off. One of his Noble Arm's abilities granting him a sixth sense that seemed to activate when he was in extreme danger, it was one of the reasons he rose to the position within this organization. "Radio up to Dimitri, I think the-" he opened his hand in front of him, turning to steel as a black arrow pierced through and stopped inches from his eye. Ivan retreated to behind a stone half wall panicked, in disbelief that the arrow was able to pierce his NA's ability. As he went to pull it out, he heard a man scream as if dying a horrible death right next to him, making him stand up in fear. "What the fuck wa-" another black arrow split through Ivan's neck from behind, making him fall forward on his knees and hands into the middle of of the room, where the rest of the 12 men shook in fear and confusion. Suddenly two waves of five black dart sized arrows, shot out from the arrow stuck in Ivan's head, firing indiscriminately out into the room. Four men had been able to scramble behind their friends who had been hit, popping out only after a minute of trembling silence. They stared at the massacre of their comrades, black arrows riddled their bodies, whispers of screams filling the room. The four rushed to the elevator, pushing the button to initiate its climb down the 30 floors. They starred out at the small open lobby, just minutes ago filled with their voices and laughter, now littered with devastation. The lights to the lobby shut off, as flat steps could be heard walking slowly towards from the outside. The four instantly drawing their guns and spreading out evenly into a defensive line in front of the elevator.

"FUCK YOU! COME OUT!" one of the men broke under the pressure of the situation, rushing towards the entrance firing wildly. Only to be swallowed up by a girl in the shadow he happened to step on, his screams muting as soon as his head sunk below. The three men all looked at each other, and then to the shadows all around them in the dark, a sense of dread filled them at the realization, but was an observation made to late. An arrow roughly the size of a polearm erupted from the darkness of the wall, impaling the three men together like vegetables on a barbeque skewer into the wall. Tonka rose from the shadows in the middle of the blood soaked room, anyone alive, slowly bleeding out or crawling away from the demon in absolute fear. She made sure the only NA User wasn't dead, just incredibly incapacitated, as he grasped at his neck to stop the bleeding. His eye's wide with rage at being killed by a child, making Tonka smirk.

"Many men have given me that same look, you Russian men die so unoriginally" the man went to stand, only to find another arrow finding it's place in his chest. He was knocked back down, a hand holding onto the new arrow, trying to get an angry word out but was met with blood drowning him. He watched as the girl walked up to the elevator and paused for a second, suddenly being ripped down into the shadows again. All the black arrows in the room vanishing from the room just as the elevator doors opened to let three men out. One rushed to Ivan, while the other two spread out to look for anyone alive enough to help.

"Ivan what the fuck happened?" the man trying to put some pressure on his wounds. Ivan grabbed the mans sleeve, desperately trying to get out that the girl was still here. But still he couldn't speak, the man calling over to the other two to help him, Tonka slipped out of the shadows behind them and into the elevator as it was getting called back up. Ivan was freaking out trying to point her out to the men, and as the doors were about to close, Tonka offered him a wink and kiss, the man unable to reveal she was infiltrating the building in a screaming rage.

January 5th, 2019. Kiev, Ukraine

---

[REDACTED]

January 4th, 2021. Mukachevo, Ukraine.

---

"We should be getting rid of her General Komar" a man and woman stood watching behind a one way glass, watching as two men beat the ever living shit out of Tonka tied to a wooden chair. "The amount of damage she's caused in the last two years since she's been in Ukraine is fucking incalculable. She's more than just a security risk or danger to the Ukrainian Military Infrastructure, she's a fucking nuclear bomb waiting to take us down. She's killed four generals, three Colonels, Ten Majors and we're not even able to verify how many infantrymen have died due to her "accidents". I should have known when I caught her in a restricted area the first time, that she was bad news."

"I know this Captain, but what do you say to her kill count being similar with the amount of Russians she's killed for us?" the older gentleman looked to the Captain, who sighed and crossed her arms "Your thinking isn't necessarily wrong, but that woman was captured, trying to come to MY office, instead of fleeing after killing General Movchan. At the very least I want to hear why." he walked into the interrogation room, the two men putting the work on Tonka stopped and stepped back, saluting and bringing their hands together behind their back. The general pulled a chair to be adjacent from Tonka, out of arms length, despite her being restrained. "SVR's best Hunting Dog Tonka Nikolayevna Puzakova, Age, unknown. Daughter of General Nikoli Puzakova, former head of SVR espionage before the fall, and current head of the SVR's R&D programs. Completed Contracts, fifty five, making you the second most accomplished in the agencies history. Do you know how we got this information Ms.Puzakova?" Tonka looked at him through a swollen face and shook her head no "we asked for it, and they gave it to us, free of charge. Why do you think your Motherland would do this?"

Tonka whipped her head back, moving the hair from her eyes and sat up "because they wanted you to get rid of their loose end, free of charge. Russia doesn't have to hide anymore, not with this war going on, and they probably figured you would kill me for what I've done to your country, since that's what the wonderful Motherland would do. Am I allowed a question?" the general sat silent, nodding "why didn't you kill me?"

"It's still on the table. Why did you kill General Movchan?"

Tonka sighed and sat back in her chair "you probably wont believe me if I said I didn't?" a scoff came from one of the soldiers and the general shrugged "it was my Father, he's in Ukraine wrapping up all the projects Russia's let him release for testing here. I was trying to save General Movchan but I was too late, and when I arrived, is when you guys busted in after receiving his tip-off. In every mission you involved me in, did I ever kill someone up close and personal like that? Why wouldn't I have shot through the windows or walls from an adjacent building, or disappeared his body. Why would I have done it during mid day, when I'm weakest?" Tonka and the General sat making eye contact, neither willing to look away.

"Why should I believe any of what you're saying, you're one of the greatest SVR agents in it's histor-"

"That's exactly why you should believe me, would a great spy make this kind of blunder?" Tonka's eyes now pleading for the General to believe her. "What if I told you, I could get your hands on Nikoli Puzakova?"

"Bullshit" The Captain said over the intercom from the room watching.

"I wouldn't have even said it, if I didn't have a plan" she looked at the one way glass where the woman stood. Turning back to the General who was still watching her "General, I wont sit here and make the case that I'm a good person, or I did the things I did for a righteous reason. I was born into this life, with no option to climb and climb to stay alive. Ive taken more live than I care to remember, and until the last two years when I started my mission in your company, I was certain that I had made the right choices in my life. But your company has taught me more about living, than the last twenty years of my life combined, and that Captain that said you all should waste me, taught me what love is suppose to be. Give me this chance to start making things right, please general" Tonka bowed her head in shame, as the last two years of being a double agent came to crescendo in her memories.

"Release her" the General stood.

"Gen-"

"I'm giving her this chance Captain, you'll be watching her while she grabs us her Father, understood?" the Captain came into the room and gave the man a salute, as the General and the two soldiers walked past her and out the other room.

She came behind Tonka and began cutting her free, an awkward silence sitting between them "Fucking cry me a river, "taught me what love is suppose to be", Jesus Christ you're dramatic" her face was trying to convey anger and distrust, but the edge of her lips and the red cheeks threatened to wreak the act.

"its nice to see you too Yuliya." Rubbing her wrists were she was bound, she went up to the mirror to take stock of what the damage was from the beating minutes prior.

"What's your plan?" she crossed her arms and sighed in frustration, walking up and placing her hand on Tonka's shoulder, healing the bruising and swelling and reducing it significantly.

Tonka caught her hand as Yuliya went to remove it and kissed it "thank y-"

"Dont, you dont get to do that after everything thats happened, not before we talk at another time" she pulled her hand away and crossed her arms again, this time the amusement and embarrassment was gone from her face, only the captain remaining. Tonka's heart broke slightly at her statement, but she understood.

"I understand, thank you for at least healing my face" she motioned for Yuliya to follow her a bit defeated, as she left the room and started across the base, back to her car. If they wanted to catch her Father, they had one chance, one window to catch him off guard. She was finally given a chance to get her revenge for the life her father took from her.

January 5th, 2021. Mountains Outside of Mukachevo, Ukraine.

---

The plan succeeded but at an enormous cost.

Nikoli stood tall, blood falling from his mouth as he backed himself closer to the edge of a cliff. He was riddled with black arrows of various size and shape, each step, make blood splatter out onto the cliffside. "You little rat, you thought you could take me? Nikoli Puzakova? Who do you think you are!" he beat his chest in anger, pure rage emanating from him. "One job, One job was all that was left and you could have come back home, to me. WHY? Why didn't you just kill the General? WHY WOULD YOU WASTE ALL YOUR WORTH FOR SOME UKRANIAN WOMAN?! You stupid fucking child, I realize what my mistake was, I should have killed you with your whore of a mother and stupid grandmother that night 24 years ago when you came out as a girl. Only a fucking woman would let her heart dictate her future like you have" two helicopters rose over the cliff and hovered above the two Russians. He smiled when he saw Yuliya training a mounted machine gun on him from the left helicopter, he looked back at Tonka with crazed eyes. Tonka could feel it, what that man was planning now that he was cornered like a wounded bear, he was going to try everything he could to hurt her one last time. Teleporting to the helicopter, she grabbed Yuliya, teleporting back to the cliff side, as Nikoli appeared in front of the Helicopter she was just in. He slashed at the air, and the Helicopter was perfectly bisected by an invisible cut. Turning to the other Helicopter, he grabbed it by the tail and tossed it at Tonka and Yuliya like it was made out of paper. Tonka again teleported away with Yuliya, deeper into the woods away from the cliffside. "Tonka! My baby girl, do you think you can run from Papa!" he could feel himself losing steam as blood was seriously spilling from his wounds. He held the short sword with both hands, as he landed back down on the cliff. Stepping forward with one foot, he took a deep breath, and cut diagonally at the woods in front of him. Tonka pulled Yuliya down to their stomachs, as the wind sounded first, passing above them as the hit the ground. Trees for in a 50m radius were cut in half roughly at the height of where their heads were.

"We have to kill him, he's too strong for us to capture alive" Yuliya whispered to Tonka, as Nikoli scanned the freshly cleaved wave of trees for them. "Ill distract him, you take the shot, easy enough right?" Tonka stopped her from getting up.

"It's too dangerous Yul-"

"It wasn't a question Lieutenant." Tonka swore silently, compiling and readied herself as Yuliya stood up.

"Ah, there you are!" Nikoli slashed at Yuliya who quickly jumped out the way as the air slash cut a path into the earth would she stood previously. Tonka stood, her most power arrow ready to blow him away, but he smirked at the two women "child's play" he pulled an imaginary line in Yuliya's direction. The woman suddenly in front of Nikoli, who now had his hand planted firmly on Yuliya's shoulder. Tonka screamed in terror as the arrow found it's mark tried and true, leaving a hole in Yuliya and Nikoli as it passed through them like butter. His smile turning into a crooked and malevolent laughter "wonderful shot daughter, just like I taught you" falling back off the cliff, leaving Yuliya, who had fallen to her knees. Blood began pouring from her mouth as she fell forward into Tonka who teleported to catch her.

"Yuli, I didn't know he cou-" Yuliya's hand found the back of Tonka's head, her smile stopping any words from leaving the Russian's throat.

"Dont do that....it was my call to make....I wouldn't change my choice...if it meant you....killing that bastard...I....I...." her hand fell from Tonka's neck as Tonka brought her into an embrace, sobbing harder than she ever thought possible.

January 5th, 2022. Kiev, Ukraine.

---

It had been a year since Tonka had officially joined the Ukrainian International Legion. A year since Captain Yuliya Savenko had died in the battle with her Father. While originally, they had recovered Nikoli's body, the facility that it was being kept in, was attacked and his body was stolen in the attack. Tonka surmised that the SVR had taken his body back, for whatever purpose however made Tonka incredibly nervous. She hadn't quite been absolved of her sins, in regards to the many military officials deaths that Tonka had a hand in. She had to serve one year out in the worst battle fronts, doing the most deadly espionage missions the Ukrainian International Legion needed done. She also was to forgo pay for the first six months of her deployment and was forced to wear a tracking collar everywhere she went, under no circumstance could she take it off or tamper with it. Tonka was more than grateful for them willing to give her a chance again, and Tonka would spend the next year proving the Higher ups that she longer had any allegiance left for Russia. Each kill, brought faith in the form of the Ukrainian soldiers talking to her more again. Eventually, she was forgiven, by most not all, but Tonka was content with that. Today was her 25th birthday, okay with forgoing it completely, but the UIL had other plans for their legendary comrade. Taking Tonka on a bar crawl with all twenty of her squad mates, two soldiers attempting at each bar to out drink her, of course to no avail.

By the time they got back to the base, they all could barely make to their rooms, Tonka opting to sit on the roof of the barracks and look out into the city. Steps behind her and a quick use of her power confirmed to her that it was General Komar. He brought top shelf vodka as a present, as he took the empty seat next to her, pouring Tonka a glass, and then himself.

"You here to try your luck General?" Tonka raised the glass to Komar, and drinking it all in one sip. Spinning her glass by the rim, as she looked over to him.

He chuckled and followed suit, pouring them both one more, before capping the lid and sliding the bottle closer to Tonka "I fortunately, am aware of that bizarre liver of yours. And I, unlike the rest of you, have to work tomorrow" Tonka laughed back, doing the same with glass as before putting the glass down, and opting for the whole bottle.

"Do you regret giving me a chance?"

"Not one bit, though I do miss Captain Yuliya, she would be happy to know someone she loved is taking care of her men and trying hard to right the wrongs they committed in past. Rest easy knowing that, and don't drink that bottle all tonight, you'll go blind" he collected both glasses, and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before taking his leave "Happy Birthday Captain Tonka, ill see you in a couple days"

November 29th, 2022 Kiev, Ukraine.

---

"General, are you sure it's okay for me to leave for the time being to go volunteer down the Philippines?" Tonka and General Komar were walking to a briefing about the current situation going on in SEA. They didn't have a huge information network like they did in Europe, but they knew it wasn't looking particularly good right now. The last thing they wanted, was Russia canning the chance to have a Unified front with the addition of Chinese reinforcements, so an all hands meeting was taking place today to decide what they were going to do and how they could help. Tonka was already packed and ready with the five other men from the Legion that were returning back home to the Philippines to help their families. This was more of a formality at this point, Tonka already made her choice months ago, but she had a feeling she wouldn't see General Komar for a while.

"Yes Captain, but you wont see me stopping you from changing your mind, with this move by China, who knows what it means for Ukraine. And then there's your fathers body situation, but I still think that was more of out respect for the man, than something more ominous like you. Still feeling a bit anxious about that?" He looked over to her, as they passed soldiers standing and paying respects to both Komar and Tonka. She had become quite respected, especially so after saving a group of 10 soldiers stuck behind enemy lines recently.

"I so dearly hope you're right General, but you don't know what the Motherland is truly like. What I got to see and hear so little of it, but all of what I heard was horrifying. Nikolai wasn't the only insane General in Russia, and certainly not the only capable one. I'm sorry you wont have me around to pick up the extra work, but I promise the Legion will be more than capable of performing without me" they reached a huge double doors, men and women alike inside already arguing "I guess this is where we say our goodbyes?" Tonka unsure of how to leave. After spending so much time here, with the General, the acceptance she felt her. This is the closest she'd get to home for who knows when.

"I'll be seeing you Captain Tonka" he placed his hand on her shoulder "don't worry, stay focused, and make sure to come back with lots of stories, Ill have more of that Vodka I gifted you on your birthday" Tonka's eyes lit up and Komar laughed a hearty, sincere laugh. Wiping his eyes of tears, he shook his head, and tightened his hat, walking in to the room ready for war.

Tonka left with wet eyes and a smile to grab her things, and found herself on a plane, heading for Philippines, unsure of what to expect, but ready to help as best as she can.