[HIDER=Samara][color=00aeef]Name: Samara Lehmann [HIDER=Appearance] [IMG]http://orig07.deviantart.net/d908/f/2011/029/4/7/yellow_snipe_by_nuriko_kun-d38aglm.jpg[/IMG][/HIDER] Age: 16/19 Rank: Corporal Background: Samara was born in the mountain village of Solei. Her father, Ghiri (JHI-rih), was the chieftain of their town and would be passing the reins to his daughter when she was finally ready. She was raised learning all sorts of skills for her people like how to hunt, speak publicly, and even dance. By no means did the girl master any of the things she was learning, but she certainly acquired a background in them all. It wasn’t until a group of professionally uniformed monsters appeared at her village and took her and a few of her best friends away did she find her true calling. The village of Solei had outdated techniques for hunting and defending against titans. Samara took to 3ODM gear like a fish to water. She felt like she ruled the skies, the streets, and the forests with it. The equipment was heavy at first, but she learned quickly how to control it and how useful it was. Apart from that, what really clicked or her was one of the most important facts of her young life: her very own captors were teaching her all the skills she needed to lead her people into an even better life and the skills she needed to escape the kingdom’s control over her and her friends. They were promised the orders of their choice when they first arrived to the training company, contingent on graduating in the top ten of the trainees. But no, of course the betrayal and pain did not end at their capture, did it? Samara would have, based on her scores for the final tests, achieved third overall in the graduating class. Unfortunately, the Solei natives found that there was yet another insult added to the list: they weren’t even given the privilege of graduation or recognition. Their names had been stricken from the rankings and their entire existence expunged from the records of the company. The day before the ceremony, all of the cadets from Solei were whisked away to be assigned to the Survey Corps. They weren’t just conscripted to any battalion either, they were being sent a classified division of the corps called the 72nd Expansion Battalion, which was supposedly full of other conscripts, criminals looking to get out of jailtime, and what could only be considered crazy patriots who thought they could actually make a difference by killing themselves. Fine. If that was the way they wanted to play it, Samara would take her people and escape this place easily. Nothing could hold them back anymore, maybe they would even end up being escorted all the way back to Solei.[/color][/HIDER] [HIDER=Koto][color=39b54a]Name: Koto Roth [HIDER=Appearance] [IMG]http://orig07.deviantart.net/d4c2/f/2011/030/9/8/kakariki_by_nuriko_kun-d38g6cl.jpg[/IMG][/HIDER] Age: 19/22 Rank: Private Background: Having grown up under Solei’s strongest, most talented hunter, it came as no surprise when Koto turned out to be as good a Titan hunter as he was a beast hunter. At least, by the standards of the clan. He could set traps faster than anybody else and rarely showed fear when it came to removing the chunk of flesh from the necks of the abominations. His younger sister didn’t take to it quite so easily, but she certainly had the potential to be a great huntress. Koto loved hunting, though admittedly he preferred hunting game rather than Titans. They didn’t just chase human flesh by some supernatural ability to feel it. No, prey needed to be chased rather than confronted, it required a steady hand and a quiet foot. Patience. Titans, on the other hand, cared not whether they were hunting or being hunted. They had hollow eyes and uncontrolled bodies with no coordination. And yet, they could swallow men by the handful. When strangers from a distant land showed up, armed to the teeth, to their village… The simple folk had no choice but to give up some of their most prominent youth and future leaders. Koto was at least relieved that, if they were taking his sister Ki’te, they were taking him too. He could keep Samara and Ki’te safe and help them learn to hunt. At least, that’s what he thought, except… The strange equipment was so hard to handle and the way these people hunted was macabre. They chased the Titans? They didn’t trap or trick the monsters, they just… launched themselves up to the necks and carved the flesh away. To be honest? Koto never got a true handle on the gear, at least not the way that Ki’te or Samara did. It made no sense how they controlled it so fluidly. It was frustrating beyond belief, he was certain that they would both end up wherever they wanted and he’d be stuck getting slapped into the ground or bitten in half alone in the field. But then all three of them got snagged away from their graduation and thrown to the 72nd Expansion Battalion. Secretly, he was pretty relieved, but he didn’t feel any better about his odds at survival, considering it was supposedly the most dangerous assignment.[/color][/HIDER] [HIDER=Ava][color=aba000]Name: Ava Ekkehardt [HIDER=Appearance][URL=http://www.zerochan.net/1553734][IMG]http://s3.zerochan.net/Kazemaru.Ichirouta.240.1553734.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/HIDER] Age: 23 Rank: Sergeant Background: Having been born and raised inside of the heavily protected Wall Sina, it comes as no surprise that Ava received very little support in her youthful desires. Every day as a child, she thought about what life without the titans would be like… Sprawling cities with no boundaries, free travel between them all, an endless world with seas and rivers and mountains. Perhaps she was just a romantic and she was idealizing the potential of such a world. There wasn’t a babysitter, family member, teacher, or noble who didn’t try to quell her adventurous spirit. They all failed and at thirteen years old, the girl ran off and enlisted in the military, hoping to join the Survey Corps after she finished. Her parents absolutely abhorred her decision, but by the time they knew what she had done, there was nothing they could do. She was gone. And in the cadet corps, she met four of the people who would mean more to her than any friend she had ever made inside of Wall Sina. And after graduating in the top three of her class with one of them, she would lose all four within just a few years. Two died on their first assignment, with all of their potential squandered. Jonah, another top ten graduate from her squad, lost an arm after making sergeant and was confined to the military police, back to desk work inside of Wall Sina. Alois, a guy who tied with her for second in their graduating class, disappeared one day… Just out of the blue, in the middle of a fight. Nobody saw him die… One minute, he was rallying for battle and the next he was gone. There was no scream of pain or horror and not a single pair of eyes watched him get eaten. But regardless, they were all gone. Now, it’s been seven years since she joined the 72nd Expansion Battalion. It was her first assignment and she voluntarily renewed it every round. Working with outsiders and criminals trying to earn their freedom meant that nobody out here felt above anybody else, regardless of rank, citizenship, and liberty. Despite her youth, Ava made sergeant rather quickly both due to the mortality rate of her regiment, her hard-charging attitude, and her undeniable skill. Unfortunately, she has yet to decide if she wants to take on a commission or secure a post as a master sergeant in a couple of years. Recently, the master sergeant for the battalion was killed on an assignment and so, as the senior sergeant, Ava has temporarily taken his place until the higher ups decide who to assign or promote to the newly opened rank. One thing was for sure, she had no plans to leave the 72nd until her military career was over. There was still so much world to see.[/color][/HIDER]