“I know what the phrase infers. It isn’t my job to inspire people, it is my job to meet expectations.”
NAMEAnastasia Imara Kalfox
CALLSIGNLittle Dragon
ALIASStein
GENDERFemale
D - O - BMarch 12th, 2656 (20)
ORIGINThe Burrow of Seattle, Pacific Northwest Territories
PERSONALITY & MOTIVATIONSAnastasia has had a long and chequered life since the earliest days of her life as an emotional prospective prodigy to her teenage years as a stoic mecha pilot. Her comrades, rivals, and peers have assigned her nicknames and constructed presumptions about her since they’ve known her; a fact that has earned her nicknames like Stein, Little Dragon, and Kalfox.EXE. But who is she beyond the rumors and gossip really?
Raised to be the perfect soldier for the Volkov Security Systems (VSS) since she was ten years old, Anastasia has always had one interest and one interest alone— the corporation. As such Stein has never had a defined moral compass of her own to speak of and has always took a pragmatic approach to such ideologies. The idea of “good” and “evil” never really becoming a tangible concept for the young girl, though she was far from ignorant to the concept of ethics albeit warped ones due to her restricted and closed off childhood she held. After having been conditioned several times over to rid her of her “feminine” emotions and weak traits by corporate instructors, Anastasia was drilled in countless lessons that planned to make her content with not only the actions of the company but her new role in society. However, it wasn’t until she broke down after an incident that confirmed her first kill in her NC that brought her to throw away what was Anastasia Kalfox and embrace a new person entirely. Her field commander of her squadron, Roxa Vox, told her that she couldn’t give in to her emotions and feelings about what words were said to her; that she needed to be strong like stone. This would be the saying that gave her the nickname “Stein” and one she’d replaced her given name with.
Though removing her emotions with pragmatic stoicism would be a challenge that even by her adult years she couldn’t completely erase. While her cold demeanor was represented through coldness, apathy towards others, pragmatic ideologies, and icy honesty there lies the fire within her as well that she cannot seem to control nor seems to want to. When she is particularly annoyed, offended, or confused she gets emotionally enraptured by anger, hate, pride, and fear. It is true that Anastasia is not entirely without her anxieties and issues; though some say it proves the belief that the best NC pilots are the ones who are psychologically damaged from the onset. But whilst that theory suggests they are good potential soldiers, if it has some truth to it there lies the issue of the people themselves.
Despite being aggressive, stoic, and generally hard to read or understand Anastasia isn’t without a nature of friendliness and kindness. Due to her particular upbringing she identifies most with other people younger or relatively so to her age and as such has no issue treating them no different than she would treat any other adult-aged individual. However her neutral tones may make it difficult for more sympathetic and emotionally aligned individuals to warm up to her. But Anastasia is not abhorrent toward ties of friendship, attraction, or even love; though it is clear that such emotions would take a long time to show in a way that seems sensible. Perhaps the answers to Anastasia Kalfox lie not only on her training as a soldier but also in her early childhood?
EFFECTS OF POLARIS SHIFTWhen “perfect synchronization” with a NC occurs, the human mind adapts and is affected by an infinite possibility of psychological effects— some of which including a “bleeding effect” of previous pilot attributes and memories. These can also affect an individual physically, though generally it leans toward mental disorders and issues. This is the curse a pilot bears.
PERSONAL HISTORYAnastasia Kalfox was born in the Megacity of Seattle in 2656 to one of the minor executives of the region by the name of Ingram Kalfox with an unknown, undocumented mother that was believed to be a Volkov pilot that was killed in action in the months following.
E R R O R . . . D A T A C O R R U P T E D . . . A T T E M P T I N G S Y S T E M R E S T O R E
S U C C E S S ! P A R T I A L D A T A R E T R I E V E D.
In the late weeks during the December of 2677 it seemed that things began to take a turn for the girl who had become known as Stein Kalfox. The Seattle branch of The Volkov Corporation had recently taken measures to weed out aspects of their military budget that they found problematic, or so was the “official” story— though many skeptics and critics of Volkov believe it had more to do with the investigation of Ingram Kalfox and his actions that caused him to disappear without a trace. The word was prior to his disappearance he was to have his entire career put on trial after “suspicious circumstances” came out that he was trading company secrets for profit. As a byproduct this resulted in the removal of Stein’s reputation, resources, status, and camaraderie within the company; a company that would hastily abandon her during the middle of a mission in the Alaskan territories which resulted in severe damages to Stein’s NC. Some say Stein was left for dead. Others say it was planned all along.
But, whichever the case may have been the result was the same with Stein being on the verge of being decimated by fringe raiders who were looking to eliminate her and reap the rewards. However, this was not to be. With the arrival of Sophia Torres, the operations commander of the independent faction known as New Anchorage, it would feel like Stein was saved from a death wish but it came with a favor. Stein would work for Sophia to pay off her “debt” as a show of gratitude. Thankful for the help and believing she had little other options with a half-blown NC she joined New Anchorage and carried on as a mecha pilot under Torres. However, it would be concerning when Sophia Torres disappeared without a trace thus leaving New Anchorage without a military leader. The ruling council of the settlement hired newly independent commander Michael Graham to replace her, though the reasons why are obscure at best. Regardless, Stein continued to operate as Graham brought in more pilots in a recruitment drive in the following weeks.
Passing Commander Graham’s ultimatum at the top of all of the pilots served Stein her first commendation at New Anchorage. It is now March 1st of 2678 and Stein eagerly awaits her first field assignment with her new squad.
INFLUENCE & RELATIONSWithin your family and comrades. Use a hider, please.
APPEARANCEHaving been conditioned to be a soldier since she was ten years old and serving on the battlefield since she was eleven, the woman known as Stein Kalfox exhibits a cold but determined presence. Youthful in appearance, most people make presumptions upon Stein’s abilities especially considering she is not tall (5’6”) nor overtly muscular due to her deceptively unassuming physique. Though what Stein makes up for in appearance she quantifies in atmospheric expressions that could be described as “fire and ice” due to the combination of scowls, grimaces, narrowed brows and cold emotionless eyes. In form of her conventional appearance Stein holds bright blonde hair with pale blue irises; her hair done up in generally a disheveled manner depending on its current length. She has had short hair that runs slightly past her ears, but for some reason when her hair gets long she tends to keep it there in terms of preference; a long hair she draws into rough disheveled ponytails, or pigtails. Whether she considers it a tactic to keep up the façade that she’s a meek little girl or enjoys the look of things is unknown to anyone but Stein.
TRAITSMechanic: Stein is also an average NC technician due to the responsibility being forced on her upon training. She can maintain, repair, and comprehend facets of her mech though it is likely she requires a specialist when it comes down to finer notions of technical work such as upgrades, reinforcements, and maintenance she could have overlooked.
Perfectionist: A common saying uttered by Stein is “Do better with each attempt. Push yourself so there can be no possible margin of error to the point of logical limitation”. It is in this that Stein constantly strives to push herself physically beyond her limits with each exercise, trial, or contest. If she completed a run in ten minutes and nine seconds she will want to do her next run in nine minutes and eight seconds. This is obviously due to the dangers of failure in her profession but even for a corporate soldier it is said that Stein takes things too far.
Reactive Tactics: Stein is a woman of analysis, perception, and instincts— as such her skills as a soldier and fighter outside of her NC are accented and enhanced by such reactive abilities. She’s quick, dexterous, fast and seems to be able to react to potential altercations quick and efficiently.
Soldier: Outside of being a highly skilled pilot with a high synchronization score, Stein is a soldier outside of the mecha just the same. She’s proficient in small arms weapons such as handguns and low-powered submachine guns, skilled in close quarters combat with her hands due to being trained in various martial arts, and is decent with a combat knife.
INVENTORYGeneral equipment used or educated with.
MANUFACTURERVolkov
TYPEMedium
SQUAD ROLEAssault
ARMAMENTSSensor Array (H): Text.
Shoulder (R+L): Several mounted anti-armor machine gun armaments that are based off the MEK-50 machine gun system that was designed with anti-tank purposes in mind. Alternative to contemporary uses of railgun’s, the MEK-50 armaments use flak rounds and are faster and more reliable in certain situations.
Arm (L): A dynamic long capsule containing several charges of explosives that can be launched from a compartment in the arm, good for entering combat zones as well as breaching other NC’s.
Arm (R): An experimental generator that creates a personal defense force-field made of kinetic energy to shield the NC from oncoming attacks at the cost of high thermal heat buildup.
On-Hand Weapon: Thermal Assault Rifle
Leg (L): N/A
Leg (R): N/A OBSERVATIONAL NOTESThe Little Dragon is a medium sized mecha that was designed by The Volkov Corporation some years ago. Painted in a metallic sheen of crimson with black undertones, the Little Dragon flies the colors of its former corporation though the branding of the company logo has since been removed as well as the paint faded due to its constant battles it has been forced to endure in harsh environments. But despite this wear and tear the Little Dragon is not weak nor is it worse off for it— it has survived two lifetimes of pilots before Stein and will continue to do so when it moves hands in the future.
In addition to its standard antimatter power core and cockpit, the mecha is fitted with conventional and experimental equipment— though it doesn’t hold more than two modes within its function as a NC; thus the standard module and the advanced module that allows it to work at a hyper reactive level are the only ones installed and available to a pilot.