[Cal] Cal @ Final Fantasy Legends

*edit* And omfg. This is probably the longest app I've ever written x.x Why all this for a simple game? Simple! I kind of got engrossed in (re) writing the story and had my fun doing it. XD And I love Cal too much not to laugh over writing an alternaverse :X Posted here for my own enjoyment.


Persona

Cool, aloof and self-possessed, for all that she is known to be rarely deterred from any given course of action, Caliah often seems more inhuman than many of her kind; the process of augmenting her with Mako energy seems to have enhanced some of her mental functions, including her perception and thought processes. On the other hand, it has impaired her in more ways than one, including a marked lack of empathy and suppression of certain finer human emotions.

Despite her flawed states of emotion Caliah is complex, with more subtle depth of character than might appear at first glance, and her inner thoughts are difficult to discern even for those who might be said to know her well. A perfectionist and aesthete, she cares little for those she perceives as frivolous or without purpose, and her respect is a thing rarely accorded or given; once earned, however, it is accompanied by her sense of honour. Keenly intelligent, swift-thinking and coldly intuitive, she prefers to be underestimated rather than thought of as posing a threat; though appearing to concern herself little with the travails and lives of those who surround her, she possesses enough caution to be sharply observant of both friend and foe.

She works best as an efficient cog in a smoothly running machine, and expects the same dedication and level of commitment from her comrades, oft proving harsh when others are judged by her as having not met her standards. Severe and ascetic, she indulges in few whims, and demands much of herself, sometimes to the detriment of her own efforts.

Gifted as she is with a heightened awareness and a competent intellect, it mightn't be surprising to learn that the young SOLDIER is accustomed to adapting a rather dry, ironic demeanour at her ease; it's a matter of some pride to her that she's never once lost her cool under pressure during her service in Shinra's military. She is well enough aware of societal norms and the psychological reactions of others to adapt what she believes is the ideal persona for a situation in which other people are involved, even if it is but a mask to be donned or discarded at need. Thus, if at least in outward manner and speech she might be reasonably human, at its core her heart remains cold; this is both an advantage and a terrible weakness.

This is not to say that she is not susceptible to such fears and shortcomings that others are subject to; she is merely emotionally crippled, and faced with such aspects of life as love, loss and despair, she may merely dismiss them as either banal, or be unable to cope with their effects herself, what little of them remain to her.

Due to an incident in her history which left a lasting impression on her, she secretly fears forming dependencies and personal attachments of any kind, construing them as weakness and therefore to be avoided. Strangely enough, despite this, she has had a number of involvements in the past, but all seemed only to fulfil physical need or personal gain.


Background

Seven years ago, in Midgar, a young man by the name of Demian Liancourt de Llys was recruited by AVALANCHE and never seen or heard from again. His older sister, having exhausted all possibilities, decided to turn to Shinra in the hopes of reaching her brother before the Shinra soldiers and ensuring his survival.

The Liancourts were a relatively well-to-do family originally from Nibelheim who had relocated to Midgar after Caliah's father was promoted to a position as a Shinra executive; her mother was already one of their scientists in the R&D division. Fearing that her parents would be implicated by Demian's involvement with the mercenary group, Caliah revealed his whereabouts to no-one, and sought to be admitted into the ranks of Shinra's military. Unbeknownst to her, her mother had submitted a sample of her DNA to the Shinra labs on one of their routine checks for viable candidates for SOLDIER. The reason for this remained unclear until much later in Caliah's life. [Her mom was using her as a test subject. :P]

As it was, the girl's build and innate athleticism favoured her in military training, and the inner drive that would remain with her the rest of her life was already apparent in how she approached the rigours of the program. Two years passed before Shinra decided that there needed to be a new taskforce to crack down on increasing terrorist activity within Midgar. At this time Caliah underwent a battery of tests to determine her fitness for SOLDIER, and having passed them, readied for her mako treatment in the laboratories. The process changed her irrevocably, but in her the side-effects seemed more varied and subtler than in the average SOLDIER that lived through the augmentation, including marked changes to her personality as well as the memory loss typically associated with mako enhancement. Her body showed no inclination to reject the Jenova cell injections; it was immediately apparent, at least in her case, that the treatment was a success.

Exhibiting the expected levels of ability for a soldier who'd undergone the process, Caliah's reflexes, spatial perception and speed were exceptional. There were a few noted irregularities, such as the fact she seemed unable to wield certain materia types with the same proficiency as most SOLDIERs, and she experienced lapses due to the altered manner in which her brain functioned. Last and perhaps the least of Shinra's concerns, she was rendered barren. Her results in the other tests, however, were sufficient to assure her entry into SOLDIER.

The new graduate was then put through a stringent training program; along with the traditional courses required of all SOLDIERs, she learned close-quarters combat, marksmanship, driving/piloting military vehicles, demolitions, medical aid, observation skills and building defense. At the completion of her studies she was assigned to Junon, where she continued her training and gained much of her skill in driving and piloting various vehicle types. Despite her efforts at procuring a transfer back to Midgar to seek out Demian, she was repeatedly denied.

Her senior officer had, however, taken note of her ability and efficiency, and recommended that she set her sights on joining Shinra's inner-city antiterrorist taskforce in Midgar. Competition was fierce, however, and as an extra measure against AVALANCHE's growing threat it had been decided only higher-ranked SOLDIERs were to be allowed to apply. It was this goal that Caliah set herself, and it took a number of years before she was even considered for the division. By that time she had established communications with anti-Shinra factions and AVALANCHE sympathisers in Junon by posing as a would-be deserter in the seedier parts of the city.

Upon her return to Midgar the young SOLDIER joined what was to be Shinra’s urban war against AVALANCHE. Working with the Turks and other divisions of Shinra’s forces, Caliah was given the name ‘Circe’, often infiltrating the slums as either a lone operative when information-gathering or disguised with others of a four-man unit when on a manhunt. The city knew little to nothing of them, only of the raids that often followed in their wake, and the members of the taskforce were given little leeway in terms of having a life aside from serving Shinra.

As time passed, Caliah grew aware that the chances of finding her brother were growing dim; she took many risks in seeking out members of the resistance, going as far as feeding them what information she could spare on Shinra in order to win their trust. She formed a tenuous rapport with members of fringe groups and underground figures, including a man who headed gunrunning and black-market operations and was willing to tell her what he knew for a certain price. But Demian proved elusive to hunt, and his trail was always cold.

On one of their missions this hitherto reliable informant gave them a lead in Sector 6 that turned out to be a trap. In the encounter that followed only Caliah survived, alone out of the unit who’d ventured into the slums. She barely managed to escape alive; two of the leaders managed to trail the injured SOLDIER and engaged her in a prolonged gun-battle in the dark alleyways and atop the roofs of the slum. It turned out Demian was one of her pursuers, as she discovered too late in the ensuing fire.

Leaving her brother for dead, Caliah was forced to retreat to the upper plate, back to the safety of territory held by Shinra's enforcers. It was a blessing, perhaps, that her emotions were impaired; even then, seized with bitterness, she would not rest in the days immediately following that fateful encounter. Offering to lead the counter-strike against AVALANCHE, she headed a unit to take out the group that had slain her comrades, and succeeded in capturing or killing enough of the resistance involved to cripple the rebel group’s activities in that sector. The informant who had betrayed her numbered among them. It was this operation, as well as her steadily increasing abilities, that earned her a rise in rank, and she was promoted to SOLDIER, 1st class.

The pale-haired SOLDIER had no time to adjust to this change of status, however. The Heartless chose to invade Midgar, and as their numbers grew those who’d been deadly enemies before were forced to fight alongside each other against this new, terrifying threat. Fierce fighting broke out as the Heartless encountered pockets of resistance all over the city, and what defenses that were not crushed by the invaders’ initial attack slowly gave way before them. Shinra finally relinquished the Planet to the Shadow; what little remained of its military that were not annihilated or gave in to their fear defended the retreat as best they could. Fighting on the front lines, it was all Caliah could do to pull the remnants of her unit together and retreat into one of the singularities that had begun to open and tear the fabric of their reality apart.

Finding herself on a strange new world, it didn’t take Caliah long to find and assume her usual place in the scheme of things. All that she has now is her life as a soldier, and even then what remains of her true self is uncertain.


Abilities and Weapons

SOLDIER
Mako Enhancement, Jenova Cells

Caliah's natural abilities have been augmented far beyond that of normal human beings, as with all members of SOLDIER. Her mako enhancement has affected her neural responses as well as that of her mind, resulting in exceptional spatial perception, split-second reflexes, finer motor coordination, and greater speed than your average SOLDIER. An unusual side-effect that accompanies her altered nervous system seems to be that her body does not normally go into shock or trauma given a sizeable injury. This allows her to continue fighting without being incapacitated by pain, with the drawback being that she might sustain several serious injuries and not be able to gauge the seriousness or extent of the damage. Her strength and endurance are average for SOLDIERs her rank, and she has lower affinity for materia use than most; however, it has resulted in an increase in the resistance that all SOLDIERs have against magic.


SOLDIER Firearms and Combat Training

SOLDIERs were an elite fighting force, and as such those who were appointed to higher ranks were expected to be well-versed in all weapons of standard issue in the Shinra military, as well as those used by a particular division. Caliah's stringent training in firearms, coupled with the accuracy granted her by her mako treatment and her experience in their use has given her an edge in this field. Like all men in her division she was also trained in CQB (close-quarters combat) with both guns and other weaponry. She is known to be equipped with an assault rifle/PDW with a paired materia slot (XM8/the Shinra equivalent of an MP7: 2460 fps, 950 rounds/minute; punches through 1.6mm titanium with 20 layers of kevlar at 656.2ft, range 5574ft), and at least a sidearm (equivalent of a Mk.23 Mod 0) at all times.

Bladed and Melee Weaponry

Rather than favouring a single, heavy buster sword, Caliah is known to use several lighter weapons to suit her purposes.

Bladed Chain Whip (I chose this because obviously, people love using swords.)

Caliah's weapon of choice in many encounters is the chain, either a bladed chain whip or a kusarigama, made of composite, non-metal links that do not conduct electricity. Consisting of a long, slim chain with a weight that can be sent hurtling at an opponent and a slightly curving blade on the other end, this unique and highly effective weapon can easily entangle and disarm fighters who usually favour swords and polearms while Caliah uses the blade to deliver debilitating cuts to exposed limbs and tendons. A SOLDIER's strength and speed are distinct advantages in using the bladed chain to dispose of opponents, and it offers versatility in long-range and close-quarters combat. Like her sword it bears paired materia slots.

Shinken

In contrast to the traditional buster swords that most SOLDIERs wield, Caliah's slightly curved, single-edged sword is noticeably smaller, with a slimmer blade and a paired slot for materia. Her sword-style is quick, brutal and effective, utilising her speed in aggressive counterattacks, neutralising her opponents' attacks even before their own maneuvers are completed. She relies on no set combination moves, deeming it lethal to follow a fixed style. In her line of work she relies more on firearms and her kusarigama than her sword, however, and often does not draw her sword unless absolutely necessary.

Jump

A combination of the inhuman strength and precision control granted by mako enhancement allowed Caliah to hone this ability, which proves particularly useful in an urban environment. Within the confines of a city, traversing the cramped alleyways often meant that one would have to lose a target or be caught unawares by an enemy. She can control her leap to take her onto the roofs of most houses, or vary her jumps over urban terrain, making use of walls, protrusions, ladders, balconies and fire escapes to travel swiftly over a given area. A useful skill with myriad applications in battle, even in making a quick getaway.

Materia

While Caliah's resistance against magic is markedly higher than the average SOLDIER, her ability to fully use materia has also suffered, making it difficult or impossible for her to utilise certain higher-level, concentrated materia, or even to gain the benefits of some support materia. This is not to say that her abilities in wielding or usage of materia are nonexistent, and as such, she retains a few that she found handy in her years in the service, mostly of the type to enhance her existing fighting skills and round out her defense. She currently has the following:

Sense (Probably, common sense :P)
One of the earliest spells that Caliah made use of frequently, it's allowed her to discern her enemies' weaknesses and target their vulnerabilities.

Heal: Poisona
Cures poison status effects.

Elemental
Allows linked elemental magic to enhance a given weapon or armour and add that type of elemental damage to a weapon.

Ice: Ice
A simple Ice spell.

Seal: Sleep
A fairly effective and straightforward Materia that puts victims to sleep.

Barrier: Barrier
A common protective spell that adds to defense against physical attacks.

(I chose these materia since we're allowed only 4-6 spells as fighters, and Sleep -> Silence, Barrier -> Mbarrier + Cal's natural magic resistance will be death for mages :X And of course she's Imperial Power/Shinra, so we get the materia monopoly. Getting a Fire materia to round out her arsenal should be easy...exploit the fire/ice vulns every esper and mage seems to have in the game with elemental gun and blade attacks o.O)

Zack is so hot in AC ._. *trundles off to look for Zack ficcage*