Emmanuelle L. Winston
Oh, cheer up, whiny boy, it could always be worse!
Emmanuelle Luna Winston, often shortened to Emma, is a senior operator of Serandite Global Security. She is the second-in-command of Charlie team, and its second most experienced member after Maximilian Lasch. She is also its youngest member, being three years younger than Nathan Koster. She previously served a full 5-year contract in the Vestan Ground Defense Force's 271st Mechanized Infantry Regiment and retired at the rank of Corporal after refusing a promotion to Sergeant.
Despite being the youngest member of Charlie team, her seniority in the company and her previous experience have put her in a position of "elder sister" for the team's two most recent recruits, Song Jun and Nathan, who, unlike their leader Maximilian and herself, have not had any previous military experience. This makes for relatively awkward off-duty relationships with them, as they are respectively 17 and 3 years older than her, and often offer her advices on other topics.
Biography
Background
Emma was born on Vesta on April 17th, 358, in the Astrelan countryside. After an average education and childhood, Emma grew tired of the easy lifestyle all Vestans enjoyed, and looked for more exciting opportunities. Unfortunately, her average grades could only offer so much, with most exchange programs and job opportunities abroad requiring much higher grades and education. As a result, after her 18th birthday, Emma decided to join the Vestan Ground Defense Force instead of attempting to pursue a more advanced education. This was not appreciated from neither her parents nor her older brother, but they recognized that sheltering her for her entire life was not an option either.
After the rather unpleasant basic training of the Ground Defense Force, Emma was assigned to the 271st Mechanized Infantry Regiment as a regular infantrywoman, where she would remain for the entire duration of her contract. The 271st MIR itself was stationed on Asteria as part of the 57th Combined Arms Division, which oversaw the defense of the Viridian Lowlands and the planetary capital of New Calypso. This assignment was rather uneventful at first, with Emma slowly rising in the ranks and learning how to drive her squad's Warden IFV as a backup driver and spending much of her free time in the capital's bars and restaurants, until the Asterian Insurrection.
As the main unit defending New Calypso, most of the 57th Combined Arms Division, and by extension, the 271st MIR, sustained heavy casualties in the first weeks of the insurrection. The brutal urban fighting and guerilla tactics used by the Asterian Independence Front made the Vestan forces, relying until now on a multitude of small mobile units, stretched too thin to properly counter-attack. After the fall of New Calypso, some elements of the 271st MIR went into hiding below the city, while the rest retreated into the Lowlands. With limited supplies and frequent attacks, it took several weeks for the surrounding units to regroup and establish a proper perimeter around the city.
Now essentially stuck in siege warfare with the city's defenses, morale in the 271st MIR plummeted for most, but some like Emma remained steadfast and did their best to maintain the status quo. Emma herself became somewhat of a mascot in her company, even if her actual performance on the field was average at best. Some attributed this to her natural luck, as she would often avoid unexpected dangers and find help or resources when in dire need. After reinforcements arrived from Auriga, the 271st MIR took part in the liberation of New Calypso and has remained its defenders ever since. Emma refused a promotion to Sergeant, preferring to stay closer to the people she helped, and retired shortly after celebrating the end of the Insurrection, citing that other people now needed her help. After running a couple of odd jobs in the Lowlands, she eventually joined SGS for a better pay and the opportunity to travel.
Personality
In everyday's life, Emma is cheerful, energetic, enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky and adrenaline-driven. No matter what life throws at her, she'll take it head on and figure something out. This makes her seem reliable and full of confidence to others, even if her solutions often aren't the most impressive and regularly involve punching her way out. Despite having participated in the rather brutal Asterian Insurgency, she shows no signs of PTSD, perhaps only due to lucky circumstances.
When on the field, her behavior changes significantly. While she retains her cheerful demeanor, she becomes much more observant and aware of her surroundings and acts more carefully, though when a plan is set in motion or an unexpected situation arises, she does not hesitate to spring to action, with or without orders. Her military background does make her favor a proper chain of command, but she understands that in small irregular teams such as those of SGS, it is a luxury that may not always be available.
Equipment
Personal Equipment
Betty: Unlike most people, Emma's personal vehicle is a high-speed motorbike that she often rides around New Calypso and the surrounding countryside, sometimes taking some odd jobs for the locals in doing so. Few have ridden "Betty" with her, and even fewer would like to repeat the experience.
Regularly used equipment
VC CASPR: As the standard issue weapon of SGS, Emma is well versed in the use and capabilities of this smart rifle. This caseless weapon might seem like an expensive gadget in the hands of young recruits like Nathan, but in the hands of a professional like Emma, it is a deadly tool suitable for a wide variety of situations. Unlike her teammates, she frequently carries several different types of ammunition to respond accordingly and, if possible, non-lethally, to the threats she encounters. These include training paint, hollow points, armor piercing and in rare occasion, self-fragmenting ammunition.
Tactical AR goggles: Issued in conjunction with the VC CASPR, these AR goggle are interfaced with the weapon to provide real-time ballistic data such as the current aiming point, the target's ID, the weapon's remaining ammunition, and much more. They are also used to display other user-related information such as heartbeat, mission objectives and maps.
Abilities
Emma had developed through the years the ability to take decisions quickly when in combat, though she is far from a master tactician herself. Still, working in conjunction with her leader Maximilian, she forms the backbone of Charlie team.
Through her military career and her own personal adventures, Emma has often resorted to hand-to-hand combat to solve her problems. While she isn't an excellent fighter, she can handle the regular bar brawls on her own.
To her dismay, Emma is Charlie team's only member who does not frighten children, and often has to deal with them on their various missions. Her cheerful demeanor and numerous stories to tell always manage to calm and entertain the young.
Relationships
Frédéric Winston
Emma frequently keeps in touch with her older brother, and by extension her parents. They often ask her to return to Vesta, and their pleas often fall on deaf ears. Still, their relationship has significantly improved after she left the military, and she often sends them pictures of her life as a private military contractor, when it isn't in breach of any contract. Despite Emma having stable finances ever since joining SGS, her overprotective family often sends her care packages and gifts, mostly made of food that she devours shortly after receiving them.
Maximilian Lasch
As a fellow soldier, Emma has a lot of respect towards Charlie team's leader. With both of them having served in mechanized infantry units, they work particularly well together. As they both served in the 57th Combined Arms Division, and despite never meeting at that time, they share a sense of complicity and camaraderie that Nathan and Song often find mysterious at times, missing some private jokes and obscure references. Despite this, it remains obvious that their relationship is that of a brother and sister in arms, with the ex-sergeant likely having some history with the team's handler.
Song Jun
Emma has been training Song for roughly a year along with Lasch, but since the arrival of Nathan, Song's training is mainly done by Lasch while she takes care of their newest recruit. Still, Emma's kindness and forgiving training has left a positive mark on Song, with who she has developed a cordial relationship outside of work, but not much more. His expertise in high-tech software and hardware has been a great addition to the team and often intrigues Emma, who, despite his best efforts, often struggles to comprehend his explanations.
Nathan Koster
Emma's first impression of Nathan wasn't great, especially after reading his file. The ex-convict, even if it was only a month, had the reputation of always getting into trouble. Still, after getting to know him, she relaxed and started to trust him more openly. Ever since his arrival, Emma has been training him regularly to bring him up to specs with the rest of the team, with suboptimal results. While his instincts and reflexes are decent, his poor marksmanship is often the topic of jokes from her. Nonetheless, his adaptability and street knowledge have proven useful on several occasions.
Quotes
- "Let me do it! Let me shoot him in the face! C'mon, it'll be easy! Twenty seconds, tops! Then we ditch him in a trench and nobody would know!"
- "I like the enthusiasm, rookie, but you're a terrible shot, I'll take care of it."
- "You know, as much as you think I do, I don't particularly enjoy shooting people. It's just... I like to give a hand to people in need, and it turns out it's often about shooting bad guys, that's all."
Trivia
- Emma is a terrible cook and often eats ready meals or takeouts.
- She is a reckless driver and has almost had her license revoked twice.
- Due to her lack of experience, Emma easily gets flustered when talking about romance.
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