[B]Name:[/B] Tanya Carson [B]Race:[/B] Human [B]Sex:[/B] Female [B]Age:[/B] 28 [B]Class:[/B] Engineer, Vehicle Mechanic and Weapon Tech [B]Appearance:[/B] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/8XkTD34.jpg[/IMG] Picture commissioned by Riley Stark, many thanks! Tanya stands at 5'06" and sports a lean, strong frame of the Alliance Marine she once was. She sports a piercing gaze with her dark grey eyes and a non-regulation crop of nearly black hair that gives her a somewhat wild appearance. She carries herself in a confident but independent way. [B]Background: [/B] Born 2148CE to a Systems Alliance Marine named Lieutenant-Commander Eric Carson, Tanya was born a month after the Prothean relics were discovered on Mars. Tanya’s father was initially a member of the British Armed Forces, but when the Systems Alliance Charter was formed a year after Tanya’s birth, he found himself transferring to the newly formed alliance of 18 independent nations with the hopes of being among the first humans to see another solar system. The discovery of the Prothean artefacts confirmed what he always suspected; there was other intelligent life in the galaxy. Lt. Commander Carson signed on with 4th Frontier Division, attached to the 6th Fleet, and the Carson clan found themselves among the first colonists on the newly discovered Terra Nova. Tanya’s family had a long history of military service, and she is able to trace her ancestry back to the Napoleonic Wars. The firstborn males had a tendency of enlisting in the military, a proud Carson family tradition, although that was by no means the only member of the family in the service; during the Boer War, seven Carson brothers fought in South Africa, and only four came home. The man who would eventually end up becoming Tanya’s great-great-great-great grandfather brought home his Lee-Enfield rifle and passed it down to his firstborn son upon his deathbed. This was the beginning of a well-established family tradition. Terra Nova was the first home Tanya remembered, and the dark, barely hospitable planet seemed perfectly normal to her, although she noticed her parents often argued over their new home. Terra Nova was a dark, mostly desert world with scorching temperatures and an atmosphere with high concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide, making it uncomfortable for the initial Earth-Born colonists to acclimatize to. Their argument was put on hold when an incident at Shanxi in 2157CE caused the 4th Frontier Division to assign regiments on loan to the 2nd Fleet as a reaction force, with the promise of being returned to the 6th Fleet after the incident was resolved. This incident would become the First Contact War, and Lt. Commander Carson’s first encounter with extra-terrestrial life would prove to be fatal. He returned to Terra Nova to a grieving wife and an only child. Tanya was only 9 when she lost her father, and instead of growing to hate the aliens who killed him, she wanted to know who they were. She had grown up on the knee of her father, telling her stories of great wars long past and the deeds of her ancestors. This was no different, only the enemy wasn’t human. Her father died a hero, and while she missed him terribly, she was proud of him. He may have died, but he took out half a platoon before he succumbed to his wounds, the man who came to their prefabricated home told them. To Tanya, these turians were probably like the Dutch, French, Russian and German enemies of her ancestors’ past. If they could learn to forgive each other after decades, if not centuries, of fighting, maybe the turians wouldn’t be so different. To her surprise, her prediction came true shortly after the counter-attack and Tanya was shocked to discover there were more aliens out there than just the turians, and they were the ones who stopped the war. While Eric Carson didn’t leave a son behind, his daughter was more than willing to pick up the mantle. Despite her mother, Belle’s, protests, Tanya took to wanting to learn how to be a marine like her father, and get off of Terra Nova to see who these aliens were in person. She threw herself into learning how the family vehicles worked, as her father had shown her, and continued shooting with her father’s hunting rifle. Her life was becoming increasingly surrounded by machines as well as her school studies, and she was on a fast track to joining the Alliance as a combat engineer. Her dreams were almost derailed by a falling for a boy named Gary she had grown up with on the colony whose father was close to hers, and both never came home from Shanxi. The two threw themselves at becoming mechanics and he had all but convinced her that the colony needed people with their skills. It was true, in their suburb in Scott, barely anyone knew how to maintain their own vehicles, as most of the skilled members were in the Alliance and needless to say occupied elsewhere. They were even set to get married after a whirlwind romance when Gary was killed on his motocycle the week before the ceremony, leaving Tanya bitter and alone. Three months later, in 2166CE, Tanya enlisted in the Systems Alliance 63rd Division and specialized as a combat engineer shortly afterwards. Before she left Terra Nova, her mother presented Tanya with the old Lee-Enfield rifle and her father’s medals, and her blessing to do what all Carsons were born to do. In 2170CE, Tanya and the 63rd Division found themselves moving in respond to the bartarian slaver raid on Mindoir. Tanya did not know much about the bartarians other than they didn’t see eye to eye with humanity over colonization rights, but the brazen attack on the colony left her shocked. Her unit deployed and she had her first taste of combat, and it was not a positive experience. Her unit was heavily outgunned and the casualties were staggering; the 63rd was unable to break the bartarian lines and attempt to rescue the colonists. Tanya found herself running off less than 4 hours of sleep in two days, and the new A-61 Mantis Gunships and M29 Grizzlys were in constant need of repairs due to the chaos of combat. While the men and women of her platoon fought off a bartarian counter attack, Tanya fought in the way she knew best; fixing the hell out of anything that needed it. Because of her efforts, there was enough armour and air support to keep their line from collapsing. She was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for her actions. After the battles in Mindoir, the 63rd was deployed in various regions of the galaxy, and Tanya had found herself becoming rather bitter at the whole affair. She had regular nightmares about what she’d seen on the colony, and couldn’t shake the feeling of that happening to Terra Nova. For the next 3 years, Tanya served with the Alliance until she decided to retire with honours after seven years of service in 2173CE. She returned home for a time until she grew restless, realizing her place was with the galaxy. After taking off to Elysium to look for work in the wake of the Skyllian Blitz, she decided to take her chances with an upstart crew where she could make her mark on the galaxy - and escape from her demons. [B]Equipment:[/B] -Elanus Risk Control Services M-15 Vindicator Assault Rifle -Ariake Technologies M-23 Katana Shotgun -Elanus Risk Control Services M-3 Predator Heavy Pistol -Kassa Fabrication Polaris Omni-Tool -Devlon Industries Explorer Light Armour [IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/LoSI6eb5wE8c4nPt1ijwkWyYD_rEN0KvqiecF6FufAyXfzFsfXSxvlJt11QUiI9jDXFrdjzKzFMcs41k1NntGVcecTn5zkCP6h9chi0Sh97PCokBzFFqHzh-DQ[/IMG] [B]Powers: [/B] -Energy Drain -AI Hacking -Cryo-Ammo -Sabotage -Combat Drone -Incinerate [b]Font Colour:[/b] [color=6ecff6]Cyan, 6ecff6[/color]