The freelancer shot a blank stare at Han Rui, she heard about him or more accurately read the reports everyone wrote. She couldn’t care less to be honest.
She listened to him as she manifested her Noble Arm, landing simple strikes on an abandoned dummy in quick succession, then she swung more because it wasn’t enough. The last swing cut the dummy in half and burned with white flames.
The freelancer stared at her, one question at her mind.
“And why do you care? It’s not like you know me.” she spat, words filled more venom than intended.
For Cristina, the days after the operation felt like a flash.
It was supposed to be a moment of triumph, they achieved their objective, rescued the hostages and did it without casualties. All things considered she did pretty well facing a Zodiac.
All of it however felt like ash when she found Basilia, her older sister and the reason she even joined this group.
When she saw her sister in that fateful mirror, she assumed the worst and believed that her time to save was running out. Only to know that she was fine and she hated her.
She was fed with lies and now she hates her, worst of all she didn’t even have time to speak for herself.
But what would she say?
The girl decided to simply spend her days training burying herself in training as if she was returned to the days she was in that camp.
She didn’t understand why her superiors were insisting she join this celebration. She needed to get stronger and train mo-.
She felt a slight pain in the shoulder as she went looking for an open secluded space. It was nothing, she was used to it.
Cristina had always dreamed of this moment. In her mind were countless greetings she would say to her sister. Some were rehearsed, others were conceived in her sleep.
None of them, not a single word feels appropriate at this situation however.
When she saw her sister in the mirror, a lot of horrible thoughts entered her head. She might be tortured, she might be crazy but had prepared her heart to face them. In all of those thoughts however she failed to assume that her sister would hate her.
And that she will simply ignore her, like she was a fly on a wall.
She held onto her Noble Arm ready jump at Superbia only to see that it had no place in the battle. That is not how things were supposed to go.
“That was a lie.” she weakly answered as she watched her sister leave with her own tear.
Whether those words are heard are unclear.
The freelancer simply stood on that empty space, alone and more uncertain of what she should do. Her sole reason for living hates her. What was left for her?
The sudden storm suddenly snapped her back, she wasn’t even going to ask how it happened.
She began heading to the POW camp, she will finish this task then do something else. Keep living and finish the mission, that's the thing she could only do for now.
Cristina did not land on her feet like action stars in the movies. She landed back first on the still burning ground. It was painful but she would see the results of her gambit.
Of course, there is no way they are deploying a powerful Arms Master without a safety net. She felt cheated as she watched Huo Ren away.
She tried standing as fast as possible but she is no way going to be standing up in time to assist Nico. When did he get here in the first place.
The world momentarily shook in her eyes, everything blurred as her exhaustion began creeping on her body. Hopefully things will stay fine.
The sun suddenly rising dashed her hopes. She honestly forgot why she allowed herself to be trapped with the monster in the first place. The soldiers now cured from their madness had unleashed gunshots on her and her fellow members of Task force Obsidian. She managed to initially evade the bullets; it won't take long before she was forced to hide at the cover of the trees at the riverbank.
She took a deep breath and inspected her wounds she felt a presence. When she looked however she saw a familiar face.
Truthfully a few details had changed, her previously black haired turned white and the passage of time made taller like she was. Her face had undergo some subtle changes as well but...
“Ate?”
But she will never forget her only family, the one who was the reason she was still alive.
The freelancer wasn’t a stranger to battles even the ones that were to the death like the one she is facing. By all accounts this fight should be an intense but eventually normal day of work for her.
She looked at the large flames and decided that cannot follow that logic. The flames pulled by the Dragon of the Zodiac are some of the largest she had seen and it is only her flight that allowed her to dodge the certain death the fire brought.
She cannot keep the barrier for long, not only the flames are pushing her to the limit but letting the heat be trapped in an enclosed space like this would mean their slow demise.
She dodged another spray of flames before looking at the walls of her domain. She saw the Chinese soldiers falling under madness.
She could use this.
She is in the middle of the soldiers and the Zodiac waiting for another attack from the panicking warrior.
Then did the unthinkable and closed the Mirage Space.
Real World
From there she made tears where she would be protected from the flames but not those behind her.
The heat still affected her but she held on until the attack stopped.
And with a swing, she returned the favor to Huo Ren by letting the flames she captured out towards him.
Before she fell to the scorched earth and burned corpse along with it.
As the rising hot air began reaching Cristina, she only had a single thought.
The place was too hot, it felt like someone tied in the middle of the desert to die.
Fortunately for the freelancer however Huo Ren cannot or didn’t summon another sun inside her domain. She was pretty sure that the battle would instantaneously over if that occurred furthermore it appears that the group who stayed was doing better than she thought.
She won’t have the bravery that Ernesto showed as he brazenly ignored the flames from the Dragon of the Zodiac, it would be foolish for her to take the man head on despite the power-up she gained by the virtue of being in this domain.
So she did the one thing could do.
With sweat trickling down on her body, she flew her way from Huo Ren’s back, as much as she wanted to return his own attacks,she would have to make do with this.
She threw a blinding star behind Ernesto, making Huo Ren see a stream of light while he’s busy fighting the titan that is Ernesto.
Furthermore she summoned three Starfires, ready to strike him down in a moment.
…
This place was too hot, they need to kill this man as soon as possible.
And with a bang they went in. Cristina could only do nothing but gawk at the sun that is shining in the close to midnight, hopefully her position at the back would keep anyone from noticing.
So this is Huo Ren of the Zodiac.
She watched as Noel nervously gave her time to prepare herself. That man blocking them was his worst match-up and the task force had brainstormed together a plan on how to stop him from stopping their trump card.
The first involves shady agent Myron and his ability to turn people into data, the main problem was setting a situation for him to use that ability. The one that involves her however only needs to lure Huo Ren at her range. She hatched ideas on how she is going to lure him in.
Only for the man to conveniently at her range begin. He must be ignoring everyone else with the way his face looks.
Big mistake.
Using this skill early on is probably a mistake but in a task where time is of the essence, it would be perfect at containing monsters like Huo Ren. [Mirage Space]
For the perspective of everyone who stayed in the Real World they would see Huo Ren suddenly disappear without notice with the artificial sun he made dispelled at the night returning, the more perceptive would notice that some members of Task Force Obsidian will disappear as well. Not that it would matter as they will soon succumb to the might of those who stayed.
For those who enter and the forcibly dragged Huo Ren, they would find themselves in an outline of the world.Everything was painted in the darkness of the cosmos with glowing light.
“I apologize for my intrusion but you need to pass through us first.” Cristina demurely walks in the air before sending a glowing light sword slash at the 5th Seat of the Zodiac.
The battle has begun and this man shall not pass her.
Only the sound of the engines filled Cristina's ears as the boats slowly march through the Mekong River. For Cristina, it is her first time operating outside the country, or as part of Task Force Obsidian.
When war first broke out she promised to herself that she won't let it distract her search for Basilia, only to realize that to find her she really need to walk into this mess.
She doesn't know the Descent did to her sister but she will save her, like she had done countless times on her.
And that is why she is here trying to make her closest impression of the wind as the boat stopped at a PLA checkpoint. They will managed to get past it like they did to many others.
But it won't last long sooner or later, they will be forced to fight their way in. Especially when they encounter other Arm Masters.
Let them come, she will be ready regardless of who they are.
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: Sinagtala(Starlight), a complete dark blade with multiple white spots that is comparable to the stars in a night sky.
Noble Arm Rank: C
Power: C Speed: A Range: C- Persistence: B- Precision: C- Potential: C
Noble Arm Type: Melee Element Space Range: Close to Mid Range
Noble Arm Abilities:
Rip Space- Cristina can create a tear in spacetime by swinging her blade, allowing her to capture anything smaller than the size of a small truck that passed through into a pocket dimension she called the Imaginary Space. Her next swing would release everything she captured. -Cross Space- Cristina can hide inside the tear instead allowing her to temporarily access the Imaginary space for herself and move across it for a maximum amount of 30 seconds. While inside this space she cannot interact with objects in the real world.
Addendum: If someone was partially captured inside the Imaginary Space like having a limb covered, they will automatically be sucked into it.
Night's Edge- Cristina imbues the separation of space into her weapon, granting it unparalleled sharpness that can only be blocked by select Noble Arms. -Night's Edge Burning- Cristina burns her Noble Arm with the flames of Shooting Star allowing it to apply burns in contact.
Blink Space- Cristina can now 'blink' in short distances allowing her to achieve short range teleportation.
OPL Spells
Bind- Cristina releases a rope of energy that attaches on contact from there she can manipulate the size of the rope for her advantage.
Shooting Star- Cristina can fire starlight projectiles from her sword. They have homing properties and explode on contact with force equal to a grenade. -Blinding Star- A variant of the Shooting Star skill where instead of an explosive blast, a flash of blinding light was instead released.
Mirage Space- Cristina's greatest technique which allows her to indiscriminately trap everyone in a 30 meters long dome of the Imaginary Space . While inside Cristina has the ability to fly, fire sword beams and teleport in exchange for taking a huge strain in her body and inability to activate Rip Space due to being already inside the Imaginary Space. This ability can be canceled with overwhelming power, by defeating Amelia or voluntary deactivation.
Misc Abilities:
Swordsmanship- Cristina after the activation of her Noble Arm had sought to master the usage of her weapon, studying and practicing forms she could find until she completed a personal style.
Intrigue- Life as an mercenary had made Cristina naturally observant, allowing her to figure out the intent behind someone's words and determine if she's being swindled.
Pain Tolerance- Cristina's ability to make herself believe that she can endure more damage was far higher than the average. During her time in the facility, she will get her bones broken, muscles torn, body bleeding and tell herself to just 'finish the task'. This served her well when taking blows from other Arms Masters.
Personality: Straight to the point and doesn't mince her words. She will uphold her end of the bargain as long as the other side doesn't screw her over. Has a soft spot for children and silent bloodlust for combat.
*Likes: Night Sky watching, fighting people, children
*Dislikes: Torturers, Liars, beating around the bush
Fears: There was a silent possibility that her reunion with her sister won't be the heartfelt moment she thought it would be.
Bio: An orphan who doesn't know the identity of her parents, a young Cristina has always been aware of the struggles of life but always believes that with help of her wiser, clever older sister Basilia. This belief has persisted even when they are both sold by their orphanage to be trained in an STP program with the hopes of them developing their own Noble Arms.
It was hard, it was grueling and sometimes she wondered if she was in hell but with Basilia’s support she managed to push through the program despite failing to develop a Noble Arm unlike her sister. Things for a while are looking up for the two.
That was until one day, when the members of the Downward Descent suddenly attacked the facility, killing everyone in their path. Man, woman and children every single one of them was slain while some fled to the scene. Cristina was one of those who escaped from the attack while Basilia bought her time to escape.
Cristina ran until her legs gave out and she herself passed out. When she woke up, she learned that the facility was burned to ashes and she is one of the few survivors. She also learned their treatment of their students was actually illegal to the point of being considered torture.
When everything sank in and Cristina made a promise to herself under that night sky.
She knew her sister was alive and that she would find her. That was when Sinagtala appeared in her hands as if it was a silent gift.
From that moment forward she works as a freelancer for people, doing escort missions, espionage tasks and even extracting kidnapped children. That was until she received an offer from someone.
Items:
OPL Suppression Collar/Cuff: A device that inhibits the wearer's access to the ability to manipulate Occult Programming Language, no matter what form that may take. In a "mundane" person or raw OPL practitioner, a single restraint is sufficient to either stop them from casting OPL entirely, no matter their tools or to stop them from manifesting a new Noble Arm, should they have the potential.
> On an Arms Master, the devices do have an energy limit. They can completely suppress a Noble Arm with a Power of D or lower from even being manifested. C-Rank Power can manifest the Noble Arm but can't use its powers beyond that. B-Rank Power is only greatly weakened to 50%. And A-Rank Power at worst may be suppressed to 75% percent with a single restraint. With a total of three such devices applied, it's possible for a C-Rank Power NA to be prevented from manifesting entirely, a B-Rank Power to be suppressed to no access to its abilities, and an A-Rank to 40% of their overall strength.
> The restraint device itself is generally immune to supernatural tampering. Noble Arm powers and the weapon itself are usually incapable of damaging or removing a device, no matter how creatively interpreted the power is. The device is a black hole of OPL nullification. The only way to remove it is through physical, mundane interaction. The device also suppresses a Noble Arm from conveniently manifesting any new powers that could act as adaptations to either increase its rank or that could otherwise be specifically designed to enable escape. This nullification isn't, however, truly absolute, provided the energy is too much to quell.
OPL Bracelet- A bracelet adorned with a black gemstone. Used as a focus for OPL spells.
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