[hider=Annika]
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[center][h3][b]Basic Information:[/b][/h3]


[b]Name:[/b] [color=gray]Annika Ivanov[/color]
[b]Age:[/b] [color=gray]21[/color]
[b]Gender:[/b] [color=gray]Female[/color]
[b]Nationality:[/b] [color=gray]Escain[/color]
[b]Heritage:[/b] [color=gray]Frinian[/color][/center]

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[center][h3][b]Personality:[/b][/h3]
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Annika is a quiet woman often seen with a distant and somewhat sad stare. Always trying to hide her feelings, Annika hates to stand out. Due to that, the Sniping job, in one hand, fits her incredibly well. But on the other hand, for someone such as Annika, who has troubles opening herself with other people and showing her feelings, can be rather complicated when working with a pair. After everything that happened with her, her emotions became dull and even now, years after, she still has troubles smiling due to her low self esteem. Her smiles, although incredibly rare and easily missed if one does not pay attention, are indeed beautiful.

Annika is often a bit airheaded, when doing her job, Annika sometimes and forgets to eat or sleep, often putting her duty as a sniper before her own health. It's rare for her to say what she thinks or asking something that she wants. She is a bit conscious regarding her position as a sniper due to the psychological weight of taking innocent lives, so she tries to hide the fact she is a sniper as much as she can, only revealing it to those whom she will work with.

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[center][h3][b]Biography:[/b][/h3]
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To most normal people, the act of murder is an absolutely evil deed, yet, no matter how good or pure one is, they merely need one good reason to justify their acts, any excuse, no matter how shallow or worthless, is already enough.
Soldiers for example, have many reasons to kill, be it self defense, protecting their allies or any other reason, they have many excuses to separate themselves from being just murderers. Excuses that, no matter how small, make the act of killing someone acceptable.

But what happens when this reason, this justification is gone? What happens if after staining your hands with blood, you stop believing the very thing that validated your actions? If this happens, can you really differentiate what you did from simple murder? Will you be able to live with this burden?

Annika's story doesn't begin with a noble reason, happiness or after finding a reason to her life. Her story begins after losing everything that she had. Her home, her father, her mother, her sister and even... her future... Everything she had was taken, denied from her, leaving nothing but an empty husk behind...

There was a time when Annika was a shy but happy Escainian girl, daughter of a hunter and weapon smith, living in a small village near the mountains, just a few days away from a big city. Their life was good, they weren't exactly wealthy nor her father was famous despite being incredibly good with weapons, but they always had enough to feed themselves and to have a good life thanks to some regular customers her father had. Annika was always curious about them, always making large orders for weapons and when they came, they always had strange clothes and they always came and left in a hurry... They even had a special way for her father to know it was them, knocking on the door with a  certain rhythm. But despite that, nothing really out of the ordinary happened there. Living together with her mother, father and sister, Annika spent her days studying and reading her books, learning about weapons with her father or hunting with him. Even though they had just being freed from the Raelinian's cruel and oppressive rule, even though it was no secret that the tensions between Raelin and the alliance formed by Songdae and Escania were rising, that was never a problem in that peaceful village. For those living in such a small, peaceful village, things didn't change that much... Until something happened...

It happened fast, too fast for her family to react. First, it seemed that there was nothing wrong. It was the same rhythmed knocking on the door as always. Annika found it a bit weird due to how late they had came, but probably it was another one of those 'important clients' stuff her father always talked about. As her father opened the door, it was already too late. He took too long to notice that those weren't the usual buyers. Her mother and sister were both asleep. Annika was the only one who was still awake. There was no scream, no sounds of fighting, there was just a sound of gurgling, something falling on the ground with a loud thud and then the sound of boots running inside. Silently sneaking out of her room, exactly how her father had taught her to do when hunting, Annika could feel her blood freeze when she saw blood on the ground, next to her father's dead body. Immediately after she did so, she heard the sound of boots running around the house. Afraid and not knowing what to do, she simply hid herself inside her wardrobe. From her wardrobe keyhole, she could see as two men wearing dark clothes and carrying weapons entered the room she, her mother and her sister were. Annika wanted to wake them up, she wanted to scream for help, but before she could did so, it was already too late. She could only watch, hopelessly as the two men sank their knives into her mother and sister's throat, choking them so they wouldn't make any sound.

In shock, Annika couldn't even find strength to get out of the wardrobe. She only sat there, hearing as the three unknown men searched every corner of the house for something. After a good few minutes, the sounds stopped. Finally being able to get out of the wardrobe, she immediately went to where her mother and sister were and then to where her father was. It didn't matter how much she tried to staunch the bleeding or wake them up, they were already dead. Their lifeless eyes, their frozen, panicked expression...

On just a few minutes, Annika had lost everything. No one from the village came to help. No one didn't even know what happened. They were all sleeping peacefully while all that happened. Her kind mother, her beautiful younger sister and her caring dad, all dead. After seeing that, after having everything taken from her, how could Annika continue living, now a mere empty husk, a shadow of her former self? After suffering such fate, there are a few choices one can take. Either give up on their own lives and break or... to live for vengeance. Those unknown men simply came and took everything from Annika. What did they want? Were them after the weapons her father made? They were certainly not those 'important clients' her father was always so serious about... Using the last of her strengths, she walked, absentmindedly to where the weapons were, only to see them all there, untouched. Why did they even came for then? They simply destroyed her life, her family without reason?

With distant, cold eyes, Annika did the only thing she could do. By herself, she carefully carried her family to the backyard, got the shovel and started to dig their graves. To anyone else, it would be a very painful thing to do, to bury one's own family, but to Annika, who was still in shock, only an empty husk, a shadow of her former self who always had eyes so full of life, nothing had meaning anymore. As she finally put the last bit of dirt on top of her father's grave, she, for some reason, remembered one day, when she sneaked on her father's workshop and saw him hiding a big, strange box he was, for some reason, carrying like it was really important, inside a hole under the floorboards. When she got there, she broke the floorboards with the end of the shovel. The box was still there. On it's lid, Annika could read "Escain's Sniper Corp." written with black paint.

With nothing but hate and her desire for vengeance she opened the box, hoping to know why her father was killed and what those strange men were looking for. Inside the box, there was a prototype sniper. Based on the most popular and recent sniper model, largely used by Escainian snipers, it was disassembled and built again by her own father until it was almost completely different from a standard model. She remember how many hours he had spent on that weapon, improving it, trying to make it more powerful, precise and deadly. She remembers him taking it apart, cleaning every single piece one by one, she remembers as he spent hours and hours working hard only to shout excitedly, running out of his workshop with a tiny metal piece... A trigger box made from scratch by him. Better, more consistent than the previous one. The laughter from her mother after seeing how happy he was due to a little piece of metal, her bright eyes, curiously staring at her father as he worked... She never knew what her father had done with that weapon... But now, she had her answer. A few moments later, she walked out, with that sniper rifle on her arms, the last 'gift' from her father, holding a few stripper clips as she walked outside to the dark night. Her beautiful dress that once had a wonderful blue tone, now covered with ashes and dirt after burying her family. She knew where she needed to go.

After much searching and mentioning her father's name a few times, Annika finally was able to get in contact with the Escain Sniper Corp. At first, they simply wanted the rifle but she was quick to let them know that she wouldn't give I to them. After much discussing, she proposed to leave that rifle with her and she would work for them. After a small show of her skills, she quickly got the position as a sniper. It was there that she met Garsin. A young man who would work as her spotter and sniper pair. For a long time, Annika killed without remorse. Targets, no matter who they were, armed or not, were quickly dispatched by Annika. Her duty as a sniper and her vengeance were the only things that mattered for her. Quickly being regarded as the resistance's aces. Feared by their enemies, their presence on the battlefield was terrifying. The rhythmed sound, almost like a clock, making everything cold and emotionless. Shoot, eject the shell while being careful for it to not fall on the ground and make noise, shoot again. Five times, five target's down. Get a stripper clip from the pouch, reload, carefully taking out the clip so it doesn't make any sound, shoot again, reposition themselves, reload, shoot... Annika's eyes, which were filled with life, now were cold and distant, not even reacting as her target's cold body fell on the ground. There was no need for her to think about how many lives was she taking with her own hands. There was no need to think about the reason for her to do such thing nor the psychological weight of being a sniper. She already had a reason, something to justify everything that she did, burning into her mind. Vengeance.

But nothing lasts for ever, not even the searing hot flames of vengeance... After a long time, Annika saw herself without a reason to shoot anymore. The flames of revenge had cooled down... It was then that she finally thought about what she had done. How many people had she killed just so she could avenge her family? She lost the count a good while ago. What was the reason to do so? Revenge? What was the difference between her and the people who killed her family then? Her targets never even knew her presence. It wasn't like she was defending herself... The way she killed her targets was the same as the way her family got killed... As she aimed down the sights, she always had a choice. She herself could choose if someone would live or die, yet, she always choose the latter. No matter if they were armed or unarmed. No matter if they were soldiers following orders or strategists that weren't even carrying weapons. 

All the times she was called a killer, a demon by her enemies, all the times she was called a hero, a savior by her allies... To be a sniper is not to be a hero, no matter how many times her allies told her that. To think so is a very one sided way to see things. Being a hero means being an existence akin to a devil to someone else. In fact, the sniper position is one of the most torturous there is. She didn't have a reason to kill anymore. Her hands were red with blood, with innocent blood. No matter how much she thought about that, she simply couldn't find a reason to justify all the lives she had taken. She was just... a murderer. She couldn't be called a hero by killing others without any reason. She had nothing on this world to her name but the blood on her hands. To try and live a normal live after all that was impossible. Falling in a deep depression after the resistance was disbanded, Annika was back to the same state she was when her family died. Once more, she saw herself empty, as something that shouldn't be alive...

Sitting in the ground of an small, cheap room she had rented, alone, without one of her boots, hugging her sniper rifle as she reached for the trigger with her toes. She didn't deserve to be alive anymore. She didn't have anything left. She had already forgotten her father, mother and sister's faces, drowned under the dead flames of vengeance on her heart, what remained of the only reason for her to be alive. It was like that that Garsin found her. For the first time, he saw any emotion on her eyes.

The only words that prevented her from taking her own life was Garsin's.
"I don't see a murderer. I see someone who fought to prevent more people from being in the same damn position you and I have been in. You are all I have left... Don't you dare leave me alone."

After that, Annika was finally discharged from the Sniper corps, both due to her unstable emotional state and due to her impeccable record. It took some time for Annika to recover herself. Together with Garsin, they would start working as Bounty Hunters. Due to their position as one of the best sniper duos when they worked to the Escainia's Sniper Corp, they still have good connections and a good relationship with them, often receiving 'bounties' directly from the military, or even some contracted jobs, especially made for them due to their status as ex-agents. These contracts are often about things that are outside their jurisdiction, jobs that could cause problems with other countries if discovered or even lack of manpower.
This 'unusual' relationship with the Escain Military forced put both Garsin and Annika in an interesting position. While they're formally not part of the Escainian military forces anymore, they often run contracted jobs for them due to being trusted by them, making it easier for the military to offer more 'important' jobs for them.

Their latest contract was a strange one though. Instead of simply receiving a name, they were sent to Raelin, to meet with a contact from the Raelin Military forces, a spy. Arriving there, they would receive the details, their target and their objective from this contact.
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[center][h3][b]Combat:[/b][/h3]
[b]Level:[/b] 25
[b]Class:[/b] 
Escainian Sniper - [color=gray] Wielding the powerful Sniper Rifles developed by Escainia, the snipers are an existence feared on the battlefield. Being able to take down a target from an incredible distance, their presence on the battlefield is often felt before seen or heard. Masters on positioning themselves, their only job is none other than assassination, to take down their designated target without it even knowing their presence, be them armed... or not. [/color]

[b]Traits:[/b]
[b]Piercing Bullets[/b] - [color=gray]When using a Sniper Rifle, attacks ignore 50% of the target's total defense or, if the user has magick shield, Pierce 50% of it instead.[/color]
[b]Precision Shooting[/b] - [color=gray]If the target's speed is less than 50% of the user dexterity if the user is moving or 70% if the user is standing still, completely ignores dodge.[/color]
[b]Dead Silent[/b] - [color=gray] User's steps are completely silent, plus some actions that may cause noise (reloading rifle, mechanical noises from pulling back the bolt...) Are silent. User cannot be detected by any type of detection magick. User is able to use both Stalk (negates 50% movement penalty from stalk) and Repositioning at the same time.[/color]

[b]Stats:[/b]
[i][color=gray]Strength:[/color][/i] 0
[i][color=gray]Dexterity:[/color][/i] 14
[i][color=gray]Mind:[/color][/i] 0
[i][color=gray]Piety:[/color][/i] 0
[i][color=gray]Speed:[/color][/i] 9 
[i][color=gray]Defense:[/color][/i] 1
[i][color=gray]Soul:[/color][/i] 1

[b]Equipment[/b]
[b]Main Weapon[/b] 
[hider=Escainian Sniper - Modified]
[color=gray]Modified Sniper rifle. Based on the latest Escainian military model this particular weapon was modified by a not well known, yet very promising Gunsmith. It's more precise, powerful and has a better range than the standard model. Thanks to it's modifications, it has no 'sniper glare' nor flash when shooting, making it easier to hide the sniper's location.[/color]
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[b]Offhand[/b] Combat Knife - [color=gray]Standard, sharp combat/survival knife. Serrated edges give it a nasty bite and utility when cutting branches, leaves & etc.[/color]
[b]Armor[/b] Sniper's Light Garment - [color=gray] Light armor, focusing more on mobility, being practical and protecting the sniper against the environment and climate. It offers very light protection to actual attacks. [/color]
[b]Accessories[/b] Sniper's Camouflage [color=gray] Covering the sniper's head, shoulders, arms and back, it's fabric has different colors on the inside and the outside, gray and green. It can be used with both sides. It's fabric, although light, is resistant and it's covered by a net on the green side, allowing the sniper to get branches, leaves, sticks & etc. On the gray side, it does not have a net, but instead it has a rugged texture resembling rock, debris and cement (with pieces of cloth of other shades of Gray to help conceal the user's sillouette), allowing the user to become almost imperceptible when standing still both in the wilderness or in an urban scenario.[/color]

[b]Skills[/b]
• Repositioning [[i][color=98f99d]Spe[/color][/i] 7] - [i][color=gray]Puts the Sniper Rifle on the user's back by using the sling. As long as it's still on the user's back and not on it's hand, user has 20% more speed and can pass through obstacles like small or medium walls, thin passages & etc. User can still hold a small offhand weapon without denying the 20% speed bonus.[/color][/i]
• Sniping Stance [[i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 8] - [i][color=gray]By kneeling down or laying on the ground, user completely stabilizes it's weapon, granting +20% bonus dexterity.[/color][/i]
• Stalk [[i][color=98f99d]Spe[/color][/i] 8 / [i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 8] - [i][color=gray]User is able to move itself in complete stealth (simple stealth, as in silent. Not invisible) with -50% movement speed.[/color][/i]
• Buttstroke [[i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 5] - [i][color=gray]Hits a melee target with the buttstock of the user's rifle. Causes no damage but stuns the target for 2 second. Can be used as a reaction to a melee attack that the user wouldn't be able to dodge.[/color][/i]
• Artery Strike [[i][color=98f99d]Spe[/color][/i] 7 / [i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 7] - [i][color=gray]Lightning fast attack with the offhand weapon to a vital artery. Causes no damage but inflicts heavy bleeding. Can be used quickly after Buttstroke and does not break stun.[/color][/i]
• Reverse Grip [[i][color=98f99d]Spe[/color][/i] 7 / [i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 9] - [i][color=gray]User uses a special technique and stance when using knife type weapons, making their damage scale with dexterity, doing it so all attacks done with a knife are critical hits.[/color][/i]
• Distraction [[i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 9] - [i][color=gray]By using an empty stripper clip from it's sniper rifle, user can throw it far away to make noise, drawing enemy attention.[/color][/i]

[b]Legacy Skills[/b]

• Snipe [[i][color=98f99d]Dex[/color][/i] 13] - [i][color=gray]Can be used only while in Sniping Stance. Carefully takes aim on an enemy, dealing massive damage to the target.[/color][/i]

[b]Limit Break[/b]
• Double Tap - [i][color=gray]Can only be used when in Sniping Stance. User fires two shots in very quick succession. Dealing massive damage up to two targets. If the user chooses to fire two times in a single target, deals 2x damage. [/color][/i]

[b]Opportunity[/b]
• Head Shot - [i][color=gray]When using a sniper rifle, using telescopic sights and aiming down the sights, attacks always crit.[/color][/i]
• Genius Sniper - [i][color=gray]When using a sniper rifle and a telescopic sight, user gains +20% total Dexterity.[/color][/i]
• Synchronization - [i][color=gray]When with another sniper, able to fire at the same time to take out multiple enemies at a time on her or the other sniper's mark or synchronize their shots with a loud, rythic noise such as a bell or any noise that happens with a certain interval of time to mask their gunshot.[/color][/i]
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