⊘ application for realityshifted
Player Name: Maggie
Player LJ: sykkea
Email and/or AIM: AIM = TharianDream
Timezone: CST
Other Characters: Marta Lualdi, Riku, Eithan Paine
Character: Agent South Dakota ("South" for short); Real name is unknown/classified
Series: Red vs. Blue
Deviance: d1
Age: Never stated. Assumed to be mid-twenties.
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Canon Used: The popular webseries, in all of its loveliness, mini-series included. PSAs... not so much. Since RvB is based off of Halo canon, I will be using that to fill in some logic gaps, explain some terminology... etc.
Appearance: South is usually seen in full armor, which is purple with green trims. If she ever does take off her helmet, you'll see that she has short, choppy blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin. She's shorter than her brother, but not by much, and that still sticks her firmly in the "tall" category.
Psychology: Agent South Dakota... ain't a nice girl. In fact, she’s kind of a bitch. So. Let's break this down.
First - South is not patient. She does not ask questions, she refuses to wait, and damn it, she is so sure of herself that nothing is going to make her slow down and take her time. She is fire and attitude, rolled up together with a dash of arrogance. This isn’t restricted to the battlefield either, oh no. She is that bull-headed all of the time.
Second - South is not kind. She works with others only when she has to, and only because she’s told to do so. (I will note that there’s an exception to this: her brother, Agent North Dakota, but I’ll go into that later.) She looks out for herself first and foremost (and North second). Pretty much everything else is afterthought. She will not watch her mouth or mince her words. If she’s got something to say to you, she’ll say it. More than likely, it won’t be nice. She’s also not above biting comments, said with a slightly mocking laugh and a little half-smirk just to make you all the angrier. There is another element to this: South is a bit of an actress, and is perfectly okay with and capable of lying through her teeth to get what she wants. She doesn’t do it often (at first), but when she does swing it, she’s damn convincing.
Third - South is competitive as hell. She knows she’s one of the best, and she’s going to shove that in your face if ever she gets the chance. She doesn’t want help. She doesn’t need help. She resents the idea that someone would be sent in to help her, especially if it’s anyone ranked higher than she is. She will grumble and complain and protest loudly the entire time she’s receiving said help. Along these lines, she’s also quick to blame others, even if things really are her own fault. She is really not very capable of seeing her own mistakes, let alone taking them to heart and learning from them. Hell if she’s not going to push forward anyway.
Fourth - Well.. despite this self-serving attitude, South does appear to care for her brother. Agent North Dakota, her twin brother, has essentially been her best friend for her entire life. They grew up together, joined the UNSC together, were drafted into Project Freelancer together... Yes, alright, okay, so she hates being a twin. She hates that they were always dressed alike growing up, that people can’t seem to think of them as anything besides a set, that she doesn’t really have much of her own life... but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her brother. (Seriously, tsun harder, right~?) Besides, there’s a reason they’re constantly paired up: they work together astonishingly well on the battlefield. Exchanging weapons, finishing each other’s thoughts, syncing without even saying much of anything aloud... they’re a perfect team. ... Well, okay, they’d be more perfect if South would listen to her brother more often than she does, but she can totally handle herself just fine. Right? ... Right?
However, some things change. And after one mission went awry due to her hastiness and failure to maintain stealth, everything begins to steadily go downhill for South. Her personality takes a very dark turn. Note that this has not happened yet at the canon point she will be taken from, but it definitely bears mention.
When South is knocked down a rank - just below her brother, to add insult to injury - she gets very angry. Later, she is entirely removed from the top six, and is forced to sit out the most important mission(s). She begins to turn resentful. Add this to her already competitive nature, and you can see just how this gets very bad very quickly. Before, she may have been more willing to work with the other freelancers. Now, she only has a desire to prove herself, move back up the ranks, show that she isn't worthless...
And then, the AIs come into play. South doesn't get one, which of course pisses her off. What makes it even worse is that her twin, North, does. She doesn't just resent the other Freelancers above her rank anymore, now she resents the AIs as well. She has become the useless twin, the one left behind. She can't stand it, and more critically, she won't stand for it. What happens is a shift from a bitchy but still loving sister... into a selfish, bitter woman who will later betray her sibling, the one person she loved to any extent whatsoever, just to save her own life. Sadly, just as before, she's quick to throw the blame onto someone else. In her own eyes, it's never her fault.
All of this leaves her with nothing to lose, except maybe her own life. It’s like a metaphorical switch gets flipped in her psyche: she has a new #1 priority, and that is to get out alive, no matter what. Self-preservation is all she knows, and she doesn’t care who she has to kill, maim, and/or shoot in the back to keep herself going.
But... that comes later. Right now, South may be a royal bitch, cocky and a pain in the ass to associate with, but she's no villain. Yet.
Other Skills/Abilities: First thing that needs to be noted: South's armor is pretty fucking hax. She wears MJOLNIR Mark VI armor, which has a myriad of very useful features. The link will give you more detail, but to summarize a few of the important points, here's what she has with this lovely suit:
South is a trained soldier, and a really damned good one. There's a reason she is (... well, later, was) on that top-six leader board in Project Freelancer, which itself is a selection of the best of the best. She absolutely smoked the competition in all forms of basic training: hand-to-hand combat, firearms proficiency, aim, strength, stamina... Project Freelancer posed more of a challenge for her to succeed, but she still managed.
Standard military training likely also includes learning how to operate various UNSC vehicles, both on the ground and in air/space. She'd... probably have to reeducate herself on a few of them due to just information overload and not having to use all of them on a daily basis, but that's what field manuals are for. Low-gravity, free-fall and other ridiculous combat scenarios were probably also part of her training.
While she's definitely trained with a very wide variety of weapons (she's seen using a shotgun, a magnum, a battle rifle, a sniper rifle (the wrong way - improvisation, man!) and can be assumed to know her way around other firearms) she clearly has her specialties. She prefers closer-quarters strategies to ranged combat. ... Okay, "strategy" is a loose term, she's really too quick on her feet to plan too far ahead, but her lack of forward planning isn't exactly a hindrance because she still thinks quicker than the average soldier. She also clearly doesn't need a gun, if it comes down to it. We get to see her kick a soldier's head into a locker, leaving him stuck there.
Other Weaknesses: If you want to put it in tabletop RPG terms... while South certainly has a constitution score of Oh God with a modifier of +holyshit from the armor alone... her mental defenses are pretty terrible. It's not anything she's ever had to train for, and thus, she's incredibly vulnerable to psychic/psionic influences. Should someone take advantage of this, she literally wouldn't even know what hit her.
South is incredibly reckless. She rushes into things head-first, and while sometimes this can work out very well for her, sometimes it does not. At all. She's hasty enough that on some missions she neglects to set her motion trackers, which can put her at a disadvantage (not that she'll admit it) if someone's trying to sneak up on her.
The armor has some of its own weaknesses and weaker points. There are areas that are more penetrable than others, and there are surely places where, if breached, the entire electrical inner workings of the whole damn thing could be rendered useless. None of these are specifically and outright revealed, not really. Should it come up in-game, I'll just... logic whereabouts the weaker areas would be and mention them then.
Also, besides, she's still human. If you can get her out of that armor (good friggin' luck), she's just flesh and blood. Feisty, quick, relentless, mean, and not going down without clawing one or both of your eyes out first, but squishy nonetheless.
Personal headcanon says that she might be a little bit hydrophobic. I will rectify this if I'm proven wrong when season 10 starts up, but I'm going to stick with it for now.
History: So, what do we know about Agent South Dakota and her life before Project Freelancer? ... Well. Not much. Just that she had a twin brother and they were very often forced into things as a pair, dressed up alike by their parents... you know, twins-aren't-really-two-individual-people stuff. As such, have an overreaching disclaimer: her history, until the beginning of canon, is a lot of headcanon and a whole fucking lot of speculation.
What was she like as a child? We can guess that she likely had quite the attitude, but we don't actually know for sure. As stated, her parents dressed her and her twin brother alike and often had them forced into the same activities. South hated it, and probably fought it whenever she could... but given that she continues to hate it to this day, it can be assumed she didn't often win whenever she spoke up against it. Of course, there were things they both enjoyed together, and they probably embraced those things fully and supported each other in them. It would certainly set a precedent for their superior joint combat in canon.
Why did she join the UNSC? We don't know that either. Given the way she behaves, how she seems to simply go through the motions because she's there and not somewhere else, suggests that something must have happened to put her there. Something important. We also know that she "followed her brother" in enlisting, so perhaps it was something that impacted the both of them. Yet again... we only have speculation.
Regardless, for whatever reason, she joined the UNSC with her brother. They proved to be far above the average soldier, and after passing every training course and test ever with flying colors and waving banners, they were both pulled by the Director into Project Freelancer. They were given the designations of Agents North and South Dakota, to replace their own names for the rest of their time in service (not... that... we know what their real names are. (yet?) Thanks, canon.) They were continually pushed to their limits, but every time, they rose to the challenge and made their way to the top.
The rest of canon hasn't happened at her arrival point, but very important things happen down the road that need mention to fully understand what changes her.
The mission to the Bjordinal Cryogenics Research Facility (video, for reference) was the beginning of the end for South. The Dakotas were sent in to retrieve confidential data and evacuate, unnoticed. When South is in the process of downloading the necessary intel, however, she is discovered by a soldier... with two coffee cups. He goes to sound the alarm, she shoots him to keep him from doing so... and he falls on the switch anyway. Oops. The twins proceed to the extraction point, taking down anyone and everyone in their way, but in the end, they are surrounded. The Director sends in help in the form of Agent Carolina, Project Freelancer's top-ranked soldier. It pisses South right the fuck off, but they are picked up by a Pelican and taken back to safety. The failed stealth objective, which is entirely South's fault, pushes her down a rank on the leader board. She storms out.
After a new agent is drafted into the program, Agent Texas, a three-on-one fight (Texas versus Maine, York and Wyoming) occurs in the training area. Texas is able to fend the three of them off easily, and eventually Maine and Wyoming switch to live rounds instead of training bullets made of paint. The whole thing really goes to hell when a grenade is tossed, and York is caught in the blast, resulting in the permanent loss of vision in one eye. South, who had watched the entire fight along with several of the others, rushes to the floor in the aftermath, but when the Director appears... those watching are the ones who receive a lecture. Afterwards, Agent Connecticut (CT) drops a cryptic hint to check the leader boards... South ends up completely pushed out of the top six, henceforth forced to sit out all of the most important missions.
Behind the scenes, a line is being drawn between the Freelancers, separating them into groups and pitting them against each other in ways beyond just the normal competitive nature of the program. AI implants will come into play, and South will not receive one, though her brother will. Her anger, jealousy and bitterness will just keep burning hotter and hotter...
... and the rest could change. Canon spans over years and years, and depending on how things on the Plane pan out, something could drastically be switched up. I hesitate to go beyond Project Freelancer in this history writeup, but if you care to see anything pertaining to the later years, I can revise.
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Canon Point: Pre-canon - after joining Project Freelancer, sometime before the events shown in Season 9.
Reality Description: So... Red Vs. Blue. This lovely little fan-made webseries is based off of the sci-fi video game franchise Halo in that it borrows from their world and... in a strange, offshoot, really probably very isolated sort of way, takes place off to the side in its own little sandbox. Sort of. There is overlap outside of just "we used this video game to make our machinima so we're leaving in the weapons names and stuff too," but it's not like Red Vs. Blue is part of Halo official canon or anything.
Let's start with the simple: We are in the future - the year 2550-something (vague timeline, I hate you so much). The human race has expanded beyond Earth. There are space colonies, other inhabitable planets... etc. There's a huge war going on. The Great War. RvB does not describe this war in detail, but it does appear to be the same Great War that's going on in Halo 'verse. What it boils down to: humans vs. aliens. In Halo, this is all very serious business, intense, dangerous, and incredibly deep. ... In RvB, it's just kind of there in the distance. The aliens that do show up speak in "Blargh"s and "Honk"s. The United Nations Space Command (UNSC) exists, but is kinda... meh and doesn't even do shit until the war is actually over (... long story). But like I said, this war has been going on for a damn long time now. Decades. In an effort to end the war, the UNSC came up with a whole bunch of special ops, different branches, etc... anything they could possibly think of to finally bring this dangerous, genocidal chapter of history to a close. Project Freelancer was born from this desire to end it.
So, yes, in essence, the world of RvB is kind of... crack. Project Freelancer... is not quite so much crack. Run by a Director Leonard Church, Project Freelancer drafted the best of the best of the best soldiers in the UNSC - the 49 best, to be exact, to be given codenames/designations based off of the states in the United States (Florida is gone in this 'verse, North and South Carolina went to just one person: Agent Carolina, and... I guess the other one is like Puerto Rico or something?). Freelancer agents are already crazy-insane-powerful, but as if that weren't enough, they continue their training within the project and end up thrown into pretty much every possible scenario they could possibly be tossed into. How do they simulate all of these what-ifs? Well...
Just like there are the best of the best to be had, there are also the worst of the worst soldiers. Inevitably, there are recruits who do not pass either the field tests or the written exams to be considered competent soldiers. But really, this war is so huge, they need to be put somewhere... and so, the worst of the worst are placed as "simulation troops". They were dropped off at various outposts in many colonies (probably not Earth - someone probably would have found them and said something) and assigned to a team: red team or blue team. They were then told that the other color was the enemy and that they needed to defeat them at all costs in order to win and, ultimately, bring an end to the war. Seems a little... stupidly, obviously condescending and wrong, right? Well, remember, these people are the worst of the worst. They're all the kind to easily believe this sort of thing. Seriously. And thus, the reds and the blues stand around in their outposts... sometimes shooting at each other, but mostly just standing around and bitching like bored college students and making fools of themselves. Sometimes, they'll radio Command for orders (which... red and blue command are actually... the same command, teehee, snicker snicker). And every now and then... a Freelancer will be sent in.
When a Freelancer arrives at a simulation outpost, it's to undergo some sort of training scenario for them, though the reds and blues think it's really happening. Sometimes, they're not so bad: infiltrate enemy base, get the flag, save the day. Maybe the only difficult part is that it's raining and visibility sucks. Other times... the scenarios can get weird. For instance, seasons 2 through 4 of RvB is actually, come to find out, one of the weirder ones. Involving a bomb that sends you through time (it really doesn't). And a soldier getting pregnant from an alien. (yes, male. ... yes, it's canon. ... yes I know.) Anyway, after the scenario has been dealt with, however it's done, the Freelancer leaves and the reds and blues go back to bitching, moaning, standing around and taking crack shots at each other... you know, just being cannon fodder.
Project Freelancer is housed on the Mother of Invention RT-636 (referred to simply as "Mother of Invention"), a huge escort-type ship. And by huge I mean oh my fucking god. It has pretty much anything a military project would need: a command center, a huge bridge for operations, training facilities (and even viewing areas so they can watch each other train), barracks, mess halls, sick bay/advanced medical services, rec rooms... etc etc. Seriously, they pretty much took an entire high-end military base and put it on a spaceship for these guys. There is an artificial intelligence (AI) setup to help run things and keep them operational, and her name is F.I.L.S.S. (Freelancer Integrated Logistics and Security System) She helps all agents/personnel both within the Mother of Invention and while out in the field.
But speaking of AI... that's a whole 'nother can of worms in this 'verse. F.I.L.S.S. isn't a "smart" AI, in that she isn't free-thinking, based directly off of a human mind... etc. Everything she is, she is programmed to be. There are smart AIs in RvB canon as well... but at South's canon point, we haven't met the Alpha quite yet. Still, it's important to know that those smart AI exist.
Other things of note that I couldn't quite get into paragraph format:
Third Person Writing Sample:
"Fuck--!"
South dove to her right and safely behind cover as a paint pellet sailed by. She bit her tongue to keep herself from growling aloud - of course he already knew where she was, but it was the principle of the thing, not to give him the satisfaction of hearing her frustration.
"Sorry dear," came Wyoming's mocking, totally-not-really-sorry voice over her radio, "But you were right there. You understand."
"Snipers are supposed to stay quiet," she snapped back through gritted teeth. She hated this. She hated the paint scenarios, she hated dealing with enemy snipers, and she hated the sound of Wyoming's voice. All in all, this had to be the worst training session she could conceivably be put through. The fact that he answered her with a smug, amused little chuckle did nothing to ease her anger. In fact, it just made it worse.
Fortunately for her, she knew where that shot came from. It wasn't hard to figure out. She also knew where he could go from there, and how she could beat him to each of those locations and knock the arrogance right out of him. Time to move. She rounded out of cover on the opposite side from where she entered--
"F--!" A pellet struck her hand. The paint swelled, encasing her glove entirely with pink and rendering it totally useless. "Goddammit!" Fortunately, it wasn't her dominant one, but it would be a nuisance nonetheless. She didn't stop moving, that would be stupid.
"Consider it payback for the way you ended the last round," he said. "Hitting the opponent when they're already down? Tsk tsk."
"You pissed me off." She started down a different row.
He went on, as if he didn't even hear her. "I was already covered in paint, and you put your fist in my face?"
"You're still pissing me off." She took advantage of his losing visual on her to reload, still running. Given the angle of the shot, compared to the last... she knew exactly where to go.
"You do know that you were losing before. Could it be that you're only capable of winning when you're angry? That's certainly what it looks like. I feel sorry for you. And really, perhaps you should be thanking me."
"Hey Wyoming."
"Yes?"
Found him. "I said shut up."
By the time he spotted her again, it was a little to late for him. South fired off three shots, varying trajectories, knowing he couldn't possibly dodge all of them. While one sailed too far to the side, the other two struck his right arm, solidifying into that familiar, rock-hard pink that nullified all use of that limb. He dropped the sniper rifle, but that wasn't good enough for South. She took aim, right between the eyes.
She never got the shot off. Wyoming used his other hand to draw his own pistol, quickly advancing as he fired a few shots of his own. His aim was off just enough that she slipped to the side of the barrage of bullets and rushed forward to meet him, caution be damned. The butt of his pistol came hammering downward, dangerously close to her shoulder. She spun, clocked him in the back of the helmet with her own pistol. As he staggered forward, she knew she only had a split second before he recovered and probably made her life hell. She refused to give him that chance. With two shots, right in the back, Wyoming's armor was completely forced into lockdown.
Round four over. Point awarded to South Dakota. The current score is: South Dakota, two points. Wyoming, two points.
The paint melted away. Wyoming stood, South flexed her newly uncovered fingers a few times, and then they faced each other, neither one of them making any move to look away just yet. Their helmets may have hidden their glares, but the tension was thick enough to smolder.
"I suppose this means that the next round will determine the winner," he said, not quite able to hide his rising anger. "Of course, I'll still have the advantage of distance. I do hope you're ready."
She walked passed him, intentionally bumping her shoulder into his - not at all a friendly gesture. More like a threat. "Stop talking, stop wasting my time, and get your damn rifle. Let's do this."
Did you read the rules? Rules are for pansies. ... good thing I'm a pansy. Yes, I read them. ♥
Player LJ: sykkea
Email and/or AIM: AIM = TharianDream
Timezone: CST
Other Characters: Marta Lualdi, Riku, Eithan Paine
Character: Agent South Dakota ("South" for short); Real name is unknown/classified
Series: Red vs. Blue
Deviance: d1
Age: Never stated. Assumed to be mid-twenties.
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Canon Used: The popular webseries, in all of its loveliness, mini-series included. PSAs... not so much. Since RvB is based off of Halo canon, I will be using that to fill in some logic gaps, explain some terminology... etc.
Appearance: South is usually seen in full armor, which is purple with green trims. If she ever does take off her helmet, you'll see that she has short, choppy blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin. She's shorter than her brother, but not by much, and that still sticks her firmly in the "tall" category.
Psychology: Agent South Dakota... ain't a nice girl. In fact, she’s kind of a bitch. So. Let's break this down.
First - South is not patient. She does not ask questions, she refuses to wait, and damn it, she is so sure of herself that nothing is going to make her slow down and take her time. She is fire and attitude, rolled up together with a dash of arrogance. This isn’t restricted to the battlefield either, oh no. She is that bull-headed all of the time.
Second - South is not kind. She works with others only when she has to, and only because she’s told to do so. (I will note that there’s an exception to this: her brother, Agent North Dakota, but I’ll go into that later.) She looks out for herself first and foremost (and North second). Pretty much everything else is afterthought. She will not watch her mouth or mince her words. If she’s got something to say to you, she’ll say it. More than likely, it won’t be nice. She’s also not above biting comments, said with a slightly mocking laugh and a little half-smirk just to make you all the angrier. There is another element to this: South is a bit of an actress, and is perfectly okay with and capable of lying through her teeth to get what she wants. She doesn’t do it often (at first), but when she does swing it, she’s damn convincing.
Third - South is competitive as hell. She knows she’s one of the best, and she’s going to shove that in your face if ever she gets the chance. She doesn’t want help. She doesn’t need help. She resents the idea that someone would be sent in to help her, especially if it’s anyone ranked higher than she is. She will grumble and complain and protest loudly the entire time she’s receiving said help. Along these lines, she’s also quick to blame others, even if things really are her own fault. She is really not very capable of seeing her own mistakes, let alone taking them to heart and learning from them. Hell if she’s not going to push forward anyway.
Fourth - Well.. despite this self-serving attitude, South does appear to care for her brother. Agent North Dakota, her twin brother, has essentially been her best friend for her entire life. They grew up together, joined the UNSC together, were drafted into Project Freelancer together... Yes, alright, okay, so she hates being a twin. She hates that they were always dressed alike growing up, that people can’t seem to think of them as anything besides a set, that she doesn’t really have much of her own life... but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her brother. (Seriously, tsun harder, right~?) Besides, there’s a reason they’re constantly paired up: they work together astonishingly well on the battlefield. Exchanging weapons, finishing each other’s thoughts, syncing without even saying much of anything aloud... they’re a perfect team. ... Well, okay, they’d be more perfect if South would listen to her brother more often than she does, but she can totally handle herself just fine. Right? ... Right?
However, some things change. And after one mission went awry due to her hastiness and failure to maintain stealth, everything begins to steadily go downhill for South. Her personality takes a very dark turn. Note that this has not happened yet at the canon point she will be taken from, but it definitely bears mention.
When South is knocked down a rank - just below her brother, to add insult to injury - she gets very angry. Later, she is entirely removed from the top six, and is forced to sit out the most important mission(s). She begins to turn resentful. Add this to her already competitive nature, and you can see just how this gets very bad very quickly. Before, she may have been more willing to work with the other freelancers. Now, she only has a desire to prove herself, move back up the ranks, show that she isn't worthless...
And then, the AIs come into play. South doesn't get one, which of course pisses her off. What makes it even worse is that her twin, North, does. She doesn't just resent the other Freelancers above her rank anymore, now she resents the AIs as well. She has become the useless twin, the one left behind. She can't stand it, and more critically, she won't stand for it. What happens is a shift from a bitchy but still loving sister... into a selfish, bitter woman who will later betray her sibling, the one person she loved to any extent whatsoever, just to save her own life. Sadly, just as before, she's quick to throw the blame onto someone else. In her own eyes, it's never her fault.
All of this leaves her with nothing to lose, except maybe her own life. It’s like a metaphorical switch gets flipped in her psyche: she has a new #1 priority, and that is to get out alive, no matter what. Self-preservation is all she knows, and she doesn’t care who she has to kill, maim, and/or shoot in the back to keep herself going.
But... that comes later. Right now, South may be a royal bitch, cocky and a pain in the ass to associate with, but she's no villain. Yet.
Other Skills/Abilities: First thing that needs to be noted: South's armor is pretty fucking hax. She wears MJOLNIR Mark VI armor, which has a myriad of very useful features. The link will give you more detail, but to summarize a few of the important points, here's what she has with this lovely suit:
- Titanium alloy outer shell - Unless you have armor piercing rounds, and you use a lot of them in the exact same place, you're not breaking through her armor unless you know its exact weak points... and those are classified. ♥
- Integrated Communications Helmet - Pretty key part of her armor, this. The helmet has a highly sophisticated computer system for monitoring... damn near everything. Certain things can be shown to South directly on the inside of her visor on her Heads Up Display (HUD): you've got vital statistics monitoring, motion trackers (that she never sets because it takes too long), real-time analysis of ammunition fired/ricocheting nearby (down to the exact velocity citing many significant figures and even the caliber of the bullet), shield status, weapons/ammunition count/status... And of course, the helmet helps her breathe in space. That's always helpful. There's voice amplification (aka, speaker phone), a voice filtering system if she ever needs to disguise her voice, a direct communications and informational link to Command (won't work on the Plane, obvsly), direct communications she can open to other armored soldiers nearby... And this is really long for just a single bullet point. Moving on now.
- Biofoam Injectors - Should South sustain injuries, her suit will automatically inject the wound with a biofoam. This hurts like a bitch. No joke. But it keeps her from bleeding all over the place. It's no substitute for proper medical attention, but it will keep her alive until she's off the field and back at base to actually receive said medical attention.
- Lock-down system and overrides - Certain things can activate the lockdown of a suit of armor. For example, in RvB 'verse, the freelancers train with a special sort of paint (whee, paintball!) that will lock up any part of the armor that it hits. But wait, this can be a strength too: know why these people can be hit by a vehicle and get right back up? Because armor lockdown will force the body into a rigid position that can withstand high impact (for the most part). This reduces trauma and damage.
South is a trained soldier, and a really damned good one. There's a reason she is (... well, later, was) on that top-six leader board in Project Freelancer, which itself is a selection of the best of the best. She absolutely smoked the competition in all forms of basic training: hand-to-hand combat, firearms proficiency, aim, strength, stamina... Project Freelancer posed more of a challenge for her to succeed, but she still managed.
Standard military training likely also includes learning how to operate various UNSC vehicles, both on the ground and in air/space. She'd... probably have to reeducate herself on a few of them due to just information overload and not having to use all of them on a daily basis, but that's what field manuals are for. Low-gravity, free-fall and other ridiculous combat scenarios were probably also part of her training.
While she's definitely trained with a very wide variety of weapons (she's seen using a shotgun, a magnum, a battle rifle, a sniper rifle (the wrong way - improvisation, man!) and can be assumed to know her way around other firearms) she clearly has her specialties. She prefers closer-quarters strategies to ranged combat. ... Okay, "strategy" is a loose term, she's really too quick on her feet to plan too far ahead, but her lack of forward planning isn't exactly a hindrance because she still thinks quicker than the average soldier. She also clearly doesn't need a gun, if it comes down to it. We get to see her kick a soldier's head into a locker, leaving him stuck there.
Other Weaknesses: If you want to put it in tabletop RPG terms... while South certainly has a constitution score of Oh God with a modifier of +holyshit from the armor alone... her mental defenses are pretty terrible. It's not anything she's ever had to train for, and thus, she's incredibly vulnerable to psychic/psionic influences. Should someone take advantage of this, she literally wouldn't even know what hit her.
South is incredibly reckless. She rushes into things head-first, and while sometimes this can work out very well for her, sometimes it does not. At all. She's hasty enough that on some missions she neglects to set her motion trackers, which can put her at a disadvantage (not that she'll admit it) if someone's trying to sneak up on her.
The armor has some of its own weaknesses and weaker points. There are areas that are more penetrable than others, and there are surely places where, if breached, the entire electrical inner workings of the whole damn thing could be rendered useless. None of these are specifically and outright revealed, not really. Should it come up in-game, I'll just... logic whereabouts the weaker areas would be and mention them then.
Also, besides, she's still human. If you can get her out of that armor (good friggin' luck), she's just flesh and blood. Feisty, quick, relentless, mean, and not going down without clawing one or both of your eyes out first, but squishy nonetheless.
Personal headcanon says that she might be a little bit hydrophobic. I will rectify this if I'm proven wrong when season 10 starts up, but I'm going to stick with it for now.
History: So, what do we know about Agent South Dakota and her life before Project Freelancer? ... Well. Not much. Just that she had a twin brother and they were very often forced into things as a pair, dressed up alike by their parents... you know, twins-aren't-really-two-individual-people stuff. As such, have an overreaching disclaimer: her history, until the beginning of canon, is a lot of headcanon and a whole fucking lot of speculation.
What was she like as a child? We can guess that she likely had quite the attitude, but we don't actually know for sure. As stated, her parents dressed her and her twin brother alike and often had them forced into the same activities. South hated it, and probably fought it whenever she could... but given that she continues to hate it to this day, it can be assumed she didn't often win whenever she spoke up against it. Of course, there were things they both enjoyed together, and they probably embraced those things fully and supported each other in them. It would certainly set a precedent for their superior joint combat in canon.
Why did she join the UNSC? We don't know that either. Given the way she behaves, how she seems to simply go through the motions because she's there and not somewhere else, suggests that something must have happened to put her there. Something important. We also know that she "followed her brother" in enlisting, so perhaps it was something that impacted the both of them. Yet again... we only have speculation.
Regardless, for whatever reason, she joined the UNSC with her brother. They proved to be far above the average soldier, and after passing every training course and test ever with flying colors and waving banners, they were both pulled by the Director into Project Freelancer. They were given the designations of Agents North and South Dakota, to replace their own names for the rest of their time in service (not... that... we know what their real names are. (yet?) Thanks, canon.) They were continually pushed to their limits, but every time, they rose to the challenge and made their way to the top.
The rest of canon hasn't happened at her arrival point, but very important things happen down the road that need mention to fully understand what changes her.
The mission to the Bjordinal Cryogenics Research Facility (video, for reference) was the beginning of the end for South. The Dakotas were sent in to retrieve confidential data and evacuate, unnoticed. When South is in the process of downloading the necessary intel, however, she is discovered by a soldier... with two coffee cups. He goes to sound the alarm, she shoots him to keep him from doing so... and he falls on the switch anyway. Oops. The twins proceed to the extraction point, taking down anyone and everyone in their way, but in the end, they are surrounded. The Director sends in help in the form of Agent Carolina, Project Freelancer's top-ranked soldier. It pisses South right the fuck off, but they are picked up by a Pelican and taken back to safety. The failed stealth objective, which is entirely South's fault, pushes her down a rank on the leader board. She storms out.
After a new agent is drafted into the program, Agent Texas, a three-on-one fight (Texas versus Maine, York and Wyoming) occurs in the training area. Texas is able to fend the three of them off easily, and eventually Maine and Wyoming switch to live rounds instead of training bullets made of paint. The whole thing really goes to hell when a grenade is tossed, and York is caught in the blast, resulting in the permanent loss of vision in one eye. South, who had watched the entire fight along with several of the others, rushes to the floor in the aftermath, but when the Director appears... those watching are the ones who receive a lecture. Afterwards, Agent Connecticut (CT) drops a cryptic hint to check the leader boards... South ends up completely pushed out of the top six, henceforth forced to sit out all of the most important missions.
Behind the scenes, a line is being drawn between the Freelancers, separating them into groups and pitting them against each other in ways beyond just the normal competitive nature of the program. AI implants will come into play, and South will not receive one, though her brother will. Her anger, jealousy and bitterness will just keep burning hotter and hotter...
... and the rest could change. Canon spans over years and years, and depending on how things on the Plane pan out, something could drastically be switched up. I hesitate to go beyond Project Freelancer in this history writeup, but if you care to see anything pertaining to the later years, I can revise.
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Canon Point: Pre-canon - after joining Project Freelancer, sometime before the events shown in Season 9.
Reality Description: So... Red Vs. Blue. This lovely little fan-made webseries is based off of the sci-fi video game franchise Halo in that it borrows from their world and... in a strange, offshoot, really probably very isolated sort of way, takes place off to the side in its own little sandbox. Sort of. There is overlap outside of just "we used this video game to make our machinima so we're leaving in the weapons names and stuff too," but it's not like Red Vs. Blue is part of Halo official canon or anything.
Let's start with the simple: We are in the future - the year 2550-something (vague timeline, I hate you so much). The human race has expanded beyond Earth. There are space colonies, other inhabitable planets... etc. There's a huge war going on. The Great War. RvB does not describe this war in detail, but it does appear to be the same Great War that's going on in Halo 'verse. What it boils down to: humans vs. aliens. In Halo, this is all very serious business, intense, dangerous, and incredibly deep. ... In RvB, it's just kind of there in the distance. The aliens that do show up speak in "Blargh"s and "Honk"s. The United Nations Space Command (UNSC) exists, but is kinda... meh and doesn't even do shit until the war is actually over (... long story). But like I said, this war has been going on for a damn long time now. Decades. In an effort to end the war, the UNSC came up with a whole bunch of special ops, different branches, etc... anything they could possibly think of to finally bring this dangerous, genocidal chapter of history to a close. Project Freelancer was born from this desire to end it.
So, yes, in essence, the world of RvB is kind of... crack. Project Freelancer... is not quite so much crack. Run by a Director Leonard Church, Project Freelancer drafted the best of the best of the best soldiers in the UNSC - the 49 best, to be exact, to be given codenames/designations based off of the states in the United States (Florida is gone in this 'verse, North and South Carolina went to just one person: Agent Carolina, and... I guess the other one is like Puerto Rico or something?). Freelancer agents are already crazy-insane-powerful, but as if that weren't enough, they continue their training within the project and end up thrown into pretty much every possible scenario they could possibly be tossed into. How do they simulate all of these what-ifs? Well...
Just like there are the best of the best to be had, there are also the worst of the worst soldiers. Inevitably, there are recruits who do not pass either the field tests or the written exams to be considered competent soldiers. But really, this war is so huge, they need to be put somewhere... and so, the worst of the worst are placed as "simulation troops". They were dropped off at various outposts in many colonies (probably not Earth - someone probably would have found them and said something) and assigned to a team: red team or blue team. They were then told that the other color was the enemy and that they needed to defeat them at all costs in order to win and, ultimately, bring an end to the war. Seems a little... stupidly, obviously condescending and wrong, right? Well, remember, these people are the worst of the worst. They're all the kind to easily believe this sort of thing. Seriously. And thus, the reds and the blues stand around in their outposts... sometimes shooting at each other, but mostly just standing around and bitching like bored college students and making fools of themselves. Sometimes, they'll radio Command for orders (which... red and blue command are actually... the same command, teehee, snicker snicker). And every now and then... a Freelancer will be sent in.
When a Freelancer arrives at a simulation outpost, it's to undergo some sort of training scenario for them, though the reds and blues think it's really happening. Sometimes, they're not so bad: infiltrate enemy base, get the flag, save the day. Maybe the only difficult part is that it's raining and visibility sucks. Other times... the scenarios can get weird. For instance, seasons 2 through 4 of RvB is actually, come to find out, one of the weirder ones. Involving a bomb that sends you through time (it really doesn't). And a soldier getting pregnant from an alien. (yes, male. ... yes, it's canon. ... yes I know.) Anyway, after the scenario has been dealt with, however it's done, the Freelancer leaves and the reds and blues go back to bitching, moaning, standing around and taking crack shots at each other... you know, just being cannon fodder.
Project Freelancer is housed on the Mother of Invention RT-636 (referred to simply as "Mother of Invention"), a huge escort-type ship. And by huge I mean oh my fucking god. It has pretty much anything a military project would need: a command center, a huge bridge for operations, training facilities (and even viewing areas so they can watch each other train), barracks, mess halls, sick bay/advanced medical services, rec rooms... etc etc. Seriously, they pretty much took an entire high-end military base and put it on a spaceship for these guys. There is an artificial intelligence (AI) setup to help run things and keep them operational, and her name is F.I.L.S.S. (Freelancer Integrated Logistics and Security System) She helps all agents/personnel both within the Mother of Invention and while out in the field.
But speaking of AI... that's a whole 'nother can of worms in this 'verse. F.I.L.S.S. isn't a "smart" AI, in that she isn't free-thinking, based directly off of a human mind... etc. Everything she is, she is programmed to be. There are smart AIs in RvB canon as well... but at South's canon point, we haven't met the Alpha quite yet. Still, it's important to know that those smart AI exist.
Other things of note that I couldn't quite get into paragraph format:
- Spartan armor in Halo 'verse is actually rare. And fucking heavy (half a ton, without the person inside). And ridiculously complicated. Also most of the Spartans are dead now. In RvB, they... haven't explained why everyone, including the dumbest of the dumb, actually has Spartan armor (besides the obvious "Shhh, machinima mechanics~"), but we'll just uh... roll with it. I guess.
- Important NPCs include all of the other Freelancers (Of note: Carolina, New York ("York"), Connecticut ("CT"), Maine, Wyoming, Texas ("Tex")...), the Director (head of Project Freelancer), the Counselor (takes care of the more mental-based exercises in the project; works very closely with (and is just as bugnuts as) the Director), and F.I.L.S.S. (The ever-helpful AI).
Third Person Writing Sample:
"Fuck--!"
South dove to her right and safely behind cover as a paint pellet sailed by. She bit her tongue to keep herself from growling aloud - of course he already knew where she was, but it was the principle of the thing, not to give him the satisfaction of hearing her frustration.
"Sorry dear," came Wyoming's mocking, totally-not-really-sorry voice over her radio, "But you were right there. You understand."
"Snipers are supposed to stay quiet," she snapped back through gritted teeth. She hated this. She hated the paint scenarios, she hated dealing with enemy snipers, and she hated the sound of Wyoming's voice. All in all, this had to be the worst training session she could conceivably be put through. The fact that he answered her with a smug, amused little chuckle did nothing to ease her anger. In fact, it just made it worse.
Fortunately for her, she knew where that shot came from. It wasn't hard to figure out. She also knew where he could go from there, and how she could beat him to each of those locations and knock the arrogance right out of him. Time to move. She rounded out of cover on the opposite side from where she entered--
"F--!" A pellet struck her hand. The paint swelled, encasing her glove entirely with pink and rendering it totally useless. "Goddammit!" Fortunately, it wasn't her dominant one, but it would be a nuisance nonetheless. She didn't stop moving, that would be stupid.
"Consider it payback for the way you ended the last round," he said. "Hitting the opponent when they're already down? Tsk tsk."
"You pissed me off." She started down a different row.
He went on, as if he didn't even hear her. "I was already covered in paint, and you put your fist in my face?"
"You're still pissing me off." She took advantage of his losing visual on her to reload, still running. Given the angle of the shot, compared to the last... she knew exactly where to go.
"You do know that you were losing before. Could it be that you're only capable of winning when you're angry? That's certainly what it looks like. I feel sorry for you. And really, perhaps you should be thanking me."
"Hey Wyoming."
"Yes?"
Found him. "I said shut up."
By the time he spotted her again, it was a little to late for him. South fired off three shots, varying trajectories, knowing he couldn't possibly dodge all of them. While one sailed too far to the side, the other two struck his right arm, solidifying into that familiar, rock-hard pink that nullified all use of that limb. He dropped the sniper rifle, but that wasn't good enough for South. She took aim, right between the eyes.
She never got the shot off. Wyoming used his other hand to draw his own pistol, quickly advancing as he fired a few shots of his own. His aim was off just enough that she slipped to the side of the barrage of bullets and rushed forward to meet him, caution be damned. The butt of his pistol came hammering downward, dangerously close to her shoulder. She spun, clocked him in the back of the helmet with her own pistol. As he staggered forward, she knew she only had a split second before he recovered and probably made her life hell. She refused to give him that chance. With two shots, right in the back, Wyoming's armor was completely forced into lockdown.
Round four over. Point awarded to South Dakota. The current score is: South Dakota, two points. Wyoming, two points.
The paint melted away. Wyoming stood, South flexed her newly uncovered fingers a few times, and then they faced each other, neither one of them making any move to look away just yet. Their helmets may have hidden their glares, but the tension was thick enough to smolder.
"I suppose this means that the next round will determine the winner," he said, not quite able to hide his rising anger. "Of course, I'll still have the advantage of distance. I do hope you're ready."
She walked passed him, intentionally bumping her shoulder into his - not at all a friendly gesture. More like a threat. "Stop talking, stop wasting my time, and get your damn rifle. Let's do this."
Did you read the rules? Rules are for pansies. ... good thing I'm a pansy. Yes, I read them. ♥