[hider=The Admiral][b]Name:[/b] Rex Serrano
[b]Callsign:[/b] Bastion
[b]Age:[/b] 67
[b]Species:[/b] Uplift- Wolf/"Retired" Pilot
[b]Appearance:[/b] Rex is very physically imposing, even by the standards of other lupine uplifts and Pilots. He has the appearance of a man half his age, nearly unchanged since he volunteered for the Pilot Program at its very inception. Nearly seven feet tall, and three hundred pounds of muscle, implants, and fur. His eyes are bright red and glowing, a stark contrast to the black-and-grey fur that covers his body. His left arm up to the shoulder is entirely sleek black metal, due to an incident involving his Dragon.
[b]Personality:[/b] On the surface, Rex is a very serious man. He takes the duty of leading his pack with the utmost responsibility. He's a born leader, seemingly unfazed by anything the war might throw at him. Underneath that facade, however, is a simmering cauldron of conflicting emotions, just waiting to jet forth. Anger at the Shard and the war in general. Fear and apprehension of being so near to his Dragon again. Guilt toward that same Dragon, for blaming it for circumstances beyond its control. Guilt again, for the ones who died while he was safe in the core. And... however small, there is anticipation, even excitement, to finally back in the thick of things once again.
[b]Biography:[/b] Rex was once an average fighter pilot, somehow lucky enough to survive engagement after engagement against the Shard, even as he and his fellows were pushed back from the Red Line, time and again. His frustrations with Origin's repeated failures to conquer this new invader is what led him to the first whispers of a project called "Batch One-" a radical new weapon against the Shard. Rex, desperate for a victory against the enemy, volunteered almost immediately. Through the pain and suffering, mental and physical, Rex endured, earning his place in the legendary First Squadron; the first Pilots, the first Dragons, able to be fielded in active combat.

His luck did not hold as well, after that success. Even as armed as they were, even with his beloved Sakura Blossom, the fight was far from easy. Death was commonplace, daily even. Even as they finally began to push back, finally started to [i]win,[/i] the meat grinder feeling of the front lines did not dissipate. Over a decade, these feelings ate away at Rex, even through his facade of professionalism. Until the unthinkable happened: at the Battle of Sundowner, one of the last, worst failures of the Red Line, the First Squadron's leader, Haruka Koda, was killed in battle along with her Dragon. And something in Rex Serrano snapped- he saw red, and went out for blood. He pushed himself farther than he ever had before. Farther than was considered safe. And even when he and his Dragon were literally dragged back bodily from the carnage, it was too late; he was paying the price for his anger and hubris. His integration rate had reached critical, and was approaching terminal. Try as they might, his support crew could not stop his Dragon from consuming him- he had mere seconds before he was a part of his machine forever. 

In a moment of desperation, Rex decided that he'd rather live, and pulled a knife from one of his crew members' belts. And swung.

Rex has never been quite the same since that day, seeming a shell of his former glory. The loss of his beloved commander, and the trauma of his Dragon- intentionally or not- turning on him, let him broken in comparison to how he was before. He allowed himself to be coaxed into a desk job, doing his best to fight from behind the scenes, with strategy rather than his claws and teeth. And for a while, this was enough. But as the years went on, and the war showed no signs of ending, complacency gave way to anger once again. He yearned to do more, feeling guilt for surviving when so many others would never be returning home. Even though he still feared what had happened, he felt worse through his inaction.

With his recent promotion to Admiral, he intends to rectify his previous passiveness. Even if he's still unsure of ever stepping foot in a cockpit again, he feels better about being on the front lines again, with Operation Checkmate, where his actions might actually mean something again.
[b]Favors:[/b] [list]
[*] A good fight
[*] His Dragon
[*] His crew
[*] His ship
[*] Victory
[/list]
[b]Disfavors:[/b] [list]
[*] Shard
[*] His Dragon (it's complicated)
[*] Losing control
[*] Death
[*] Being afraid
[/list]
[b]Affinities:[/b] Rex's strength, both of body and will, is top-notch. His courage is unflinching in most situations, making him ideal for leadership in high-stress scenarios. 
[b]Faults:[/b] Rex's temper is legendary, and while he usually has a handle on it, once it's unleashed, there's little to no chance of stopping it until it's burnt out. Furthermore, once he's set on something, Rex is extremely stubborn toward changing. He's single-minded and determined, and his strong emotions can make it difficult to shake off a potentially destructive course.
[b]Text Color:[/b] [color=9e0039]9e0039[/color]
[b]Theme Song:[/b] 
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k9CuXZ4D0I[/youtube][/hider]

[hider=The Mother, the Healer][b]Name:[/b] Sakura Blossom
[b]Appearance:[/b] Strangely humanoid, for a Dragon, being taller and more graceful-looking than most of its kind. It is constantly floating, the bladed tips of its feet never touching the ground, even at rest. It has four long, slender arms, ending in three-clawed hands. Its head is the most inhuman part, even then resembling a draconic helmet rather than an actual organism. Its colors are deep, blood-red, except for its six wings, which fade to pale, cherry-blossom pink at the tips, which appear to be flaky and brittle, despite their solidity.
[b]Personality:[/b] Nurturing and caring, especially of other Dragons. Has an extremely strong protective instinct in battle. A long period of isolation from its Pilot has left it far more quiet and reserved than before, however. 
[b]Classification:[/b] Joker
[b]Capabilities:[/b] Sakura Blossom is, at its most basic, a healer. Dragon metalflesh regenerates extremely fast in its presence, healing "injuries" in mere hours that would otherwise take days or even weeks to heal. This is only the most basic application of its abilities, however, as its regeneration applies to its wings, as well, giving it an almost unlimited supply of metalflesh shrapnel and flechettes to use as weaponry. With concentration, Sakura Blossom can manipulate Shard units' flesh, as well, twisting and crushing them with their own bodies, though this is very taxing to both Dragon and Pilot.[/hider]