Name: Erika Jane Van Straaten
Callsign: Hippo - being from South Africa and a woman of large stature, the name was given as a derogatory one... until it was pointed out that hippos kill
way more people than lions or other 'dangerous' predatory animals do. Erika has embraced it proudly.
Age: 35 (DOB; 22/10/1979)
Gender: Female
Nationality: South African
Role in Team: Support gunner/Heavy Weapons
Appearance: 
Erika is especially tall for a woman, being 6' 6". She has a 'wrestlers' build, with thick limbs and body, but as much of it being solid muscle as fat. She is quite curvy, with a generous bust despite being muscular and solid. She has a good collection of scars, noticeably on her face, but also elsewhere. Her left arm is covered in a tribal tattoo sleeve. Her hair is shaved short on the left side, and the longer back is always in a braid, leaving the top choppy and spiky.
She tends toward tomboyish dress; vests or T-Shirts, jeans or cargo trousers with boots or sneakers. She does dress up when the occasion or inclination strikes her though, and enjoys summer dresses and occasionally a fancy evening dress.
Bio: Erika grew up during the most turbulent part of Apartheid in South Africa. Her family had a strong Boer history, and this was a point of special pride for her father, who had both strong nationalist and Afrikaner tendencies and views. Her family had a ranch, and employed many workers, as well as owning a large area of land. Her father had wanted a son, but got Erika instead, her mother, Elaine, dying when she was a young girl. The death was attributed to an accident, but it was only found out much later that her father arranged the 'accident' due to uncovering a brief, past fling with a black farmhand, though Erika would not find out about this at all until much later in her life.
Being white and with a father that had considerable wealth, authority and standing; Erika attended a very exclusive school, and was indoctrinated with the ways of thinking her father approved of. But, being a curious and intelligent girl, and with the realities of the internal strife of South Africa and the international opinion of it knocking at their door, she couldn't stay blind to it for long.
School couldn't occupy all of her time, and she helped out around the farm and ranch in general, as suited her growing body and tempered it with strength and stamina, and instilled a love of the outdoors and working with and around animals.
When not supervised by her father or other more strict bosses of the ranch, she often talked with the black farmhands and workers, starting to understand them and their situation more, and seeing more of their world.
This spread to her learning more about the other people outside of her small slice of the world, especially as she grew and gained more awareness and independence.
When reform came with the 1994 elections and the official end of Apartheid, her father grew increasingly erratic and vicious. He resisted attempts at change, sticking fiercely to his views and banding together with other white supremacist holdouts, something that in turn invited more trouble onto him and those around him. This escalated eventually into open violence against black and 'coloured' people by him and those like him, and Erika intervened. This finally drove a wedge between her and her father, and she left home, moving to live with more moderate relatives in a different part of the country, and in the more urban surroundings of Cape Town.
Erika enrolled in university while living in Cape Town, studying history. She enlisted in the cadet program of the SANDF when she was at university, sponsoring her degree and then going on to become a soldier full time, as part of the land forces.
Training in the SANDF reconnected her with her love of the outdoors and the wild beauty of South Africa's countryside, as well as working alongside a variety of people from different backgrounds, as the defence forces underwent changes and reforms to shed the image they had gained from Apartheid, and become a more modern, integrated force.
During a spell of leave from the from SANDF, she attempted to reconnect with her father, after learning he was terminally ill, and in respite care. Convicted earlier for racial violence, he had been imprisoned for years. When she visited him, he admitted to the killing of her mother, and of the man she had had her brief fling with - and that the 'fling' hadn't even been that much. Disgusted with him, she never saw him again, and didn't attend his funeral when he finally passed away. Instead, she saw the aunt and uncle - her mother's sister - she had lived with as her parents and guiding figures in her life.
Her military career continued with steady progress, but the Heavenfall gave her her first big taste of combat, as the chaos following the asteroid impact was like a beacon for all the internal dissention within South Africa to flare up. The SANDF was deployed all across the country to put down violent clashes. It was during this time she gained her first scars, along with her reputation for being an immovable object.
Sometime after this, she tried out for and was accepted into the South African Special Forces, and spent a good three years with them, but ended up leaving after an incident that all-but destroyed her unit, and left her hospitalized for several months, and was the source of her facial scarring.
After this, she was a changed woman. She still had the bright and friendly warmth at heart, but it was chipped and brittle at the edges, and she was much more taciturn, stoic and measured with those around her, less willing to be open and let others in and quicker to call out and confront trouble, injustice and cruelty.
She drifted for a while, not really settling in any place. She tried to work in the civilian sector for a while, living for a short time with her aunt and uncle, and while they loved her and she them in the same way she always had, city life and a 9-5 routine didn't work for her, and her skills were elsewhere.
The rising threat and looming presence of the NCAA sent shudders through South Africa and its' neighbours, and the upset it caused sent Erika on a journey to a new place for herself, and a way to contribute. She found it in an unlikely place - poaching and illegal hunting or exploitation of the vast natural resources, as well as the wildlife of South Africa and it's neighbours to the north was on the increase drastically, with many cruel incidents and losses of life as wildlife rangers were confronted by heavily armed poachers and hired mercenaries by private companies looking to exploit resources in countries less able to defend themselves.
Erika joined up with a paramilitary anti-poaching unit, where her work was well-regarded and she formed strong friendships. She was feared by the poachers, and respected by her comraders-in-arms for her tactics and ferocity. She made some good friends during this time, as well enjoying the surroundings and being able to see so many exotic animals in their natural habitats.
Her experience and success in this field took her around the world to other national parks where illegal poaching was a problem.
Eventually, she got frustrated with dealing with the endless symptom and not the root cause. She filed several requests to move against several notable persons involved in the international trade, including proven links between the ivory smuggling, arms trades, and narcotics. After these were ignored or denied, she put together an operation 'off the books' which, while successful, cost her her job.
After this, she worked for a few months as a military advisor and armourer for the entertainment industry (also doing some work as a background extra), thanks to one of her old SANDF contacts, before returning to active service after signing up with a PMC.
Analysis: Erika's size, strength and stamina are her most obvious traits, along with her relative stoic silence. With something of a mild reputation for incredible destruction and ferocity against her enemies, the other half of it that goes unsung or unmentioned is that her ferocity and violence are wrought at their worst against those that act against the code of morals and ideals she holds. While this is noble and respectable, it can make her something of a liability in some situations and in need of some careful guidance and leadership; especially as this could potentially cause conflict among team members.
Nonetheless, her ability and experience speak for themselves, and her lack of financial motivation ensures her loyalty and dedication to the mission and unit, rather than her paycheck.
Erika may have a stoic and silent exterior, and this often makes her hard to approach initially. However, she builds strong loyalties and connections to those she does have a chance to bond with, and is a dedicated team player.
Service History: - Enlisted at 18: 1997
- Deployed on border security duties, participated in joint training exercises.
- Heavenfall, internal security duties and first real high-intensity combat.
- Passed Special Forces selection; 2006.
- Participated in national and international operations, including counter-terrorism, reconnaissance, anti-piracy; first full battlefield engagements. 2006-2009.
- Classified incident; unit lost and suffered serious injury 2009. Spent 6 months recovering.
- Discharged from SANDF with honours and full pension, 2009.
- Joined anti-poaching operations, 2010
- Went worldwide with the anti-poaching team 2010-2012
- Private covert operation 2013, fired from operation.
- Joined entertainment company specialising in military advice and armouring for entertainment productions
- Joined PMC ahead of Op DAYTRIP 2014
Primary Weapons: To be chosen as mission specifics dictate:
HK21E LMG(7.62x51mm NATO)
-
C79 optical sight, - Modified with front rails mounting:
-
AN/PEQ-15,- Tactical light,
- Vertical foregrip with pressure switch
- Detachable suppressor.
Denel DMG-5 GPMG (7.62x51mm NATO)
-
ACOG sight
- Vertical foregrip
- Tactical light
- IR illuminator/laser designator
Ultimax-100 Mark 8 LMG (5.56 X 45mm NATO)
- Vertical foregrip
- EOTech EXPS sight with magnifier
- Tactical light
- IR illuminator/laser designator
- Detachable suppressor
H&K MG4KE (5.56 x 45mm NATO)
- ACOG
- Tactical light
- IR illuminator/laser designator
- Detachable suppressor
PKP Pecheneg-SP (7.62 x 54mmR)
- C79 Optical sight
- Detachable Suppressor
- Vertical foregrip
- IR illuminator/laser designator
- Tactical light
Sidearm: H&K Mk23 SOCOM pistol with KAC Suppressor and LAM unit
Ammunition: Ball, Tracer and AP 7.62 & 5.56 ammo
.45 ACP for sidearm
Other Equipment: Carried as needed for operational requirements:
Family And Notable Acquaintance: Erika's mother and father are both deceased, and she had no known siblings
Her legal next of kin are her aunt and uncle, who both reside in Cape Town.
Miscellaneous Details: Erika has a remarkable rapport with animals, both wild and domesticated
She is an experienced driver of light and heavy vehicles, and a relatively competent mechanic
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