Cima Marin[]
"Any Sergal who can't field-strip their rifle by age 12 is growing up the wrong species." - Cima Marin
Full name-- Cima Marin
Race-- Sergal (Northern Subspecies)
Age-- 25
Eyes-- Gray
Hair-- Black
Height-- 6' 3"
Weight-- 192 Lbs.
Innate Element-- Not Applicable; Cima is incapable of magic use.
Preferred weapon(s)-- SHAR Assault Rifle, F1911 Pistol, Combat Knife, SMAW
Focused, with a notoriously no-nonsense outlook, Cima is a veteran soldier from the Sergal Hegemony. A skilled veteran who has been through an enormous number of combats, seemingly disproportionate with her age, Cima has survived multiple military campaigns and engaged in dozens if not hundreds of missions, both at home and abroad. Currently working as a mercenary for Merchants of Menace, a large-scale private military company, she is a skilled tactician and a hardened combat professional. Cima is one of only a handful of Sergals that have started to branch out to the world writ large, leaving their ancestral homeland.
Whilst Cima has found life outside the Hegemony to be, for lack of a better term, chaotic, she has adapted amazingly well given the Hegemony's general lack of anything remotely resembling magic or the sheer volume of races in Miranda alone. While Cima is widely considered standoffish and unfriendly, this is not entirely accurate; years in the military have made Cima form bonds slowly (and generally only in combat), and being betrayed more than a few times has made her extremely slow to trust others. The fact that she has reservations regarding many of the other characters and their factions only adds to this.
All of the above conspires to make Cima is simultaneously respected and disliked by numerous individuals. While virtually none will deny her insight, her skill at arms, or her ability to analyze a given combat situation, Cima has little patience for niceties, little respect for others who she feels can't stand up on their own, and a generally unsympathetic attitude that has won her few friends. She has a particularly bad relationship with members of the UCI; while she respects Neo Arcadia's technological prowess she finds the UCI's action team too unfocused and unmotivated to be considered a real threat, and has no respect whatsoever for Neo Arcadia's combat doctrine (which relies heavily on mechanized units and drones), which she feels takes away from the true costs of war. Cima does, however, get along fairly well with Valerie and Kari, and has a healthy bit of respect for Lulu and Qwynvire despite an extremely rough first meeting - though she finds Lulu fairly naive. She seems to have a fondness for Ivy's willingness to better herself and learn better, and she respects Queen Brooke's ability to get things done, though she sees her as more of a political officer than anything else. Cima likewise gets along well with Jaimas, perhaps seeing the Raxian's propensity to bleed in the trenches with his men an action worthy of respect. She seems to tolerate Prisma, though she seems to not have a terrible fondness for the young reporter. Cima gets along particularly well with Verlaine, and, for reasons uncertain, Kid and Rana. She's gained a grudging acceptance for Heinrik, and seems to have a fondness for Vanessa, mostly for her ability to acquire weapons that "Fell off a truck."
Cima strongly dislikes Violet, Aurelis, most of the Dragon Council, seeing most as below her contempt.
Early Life and Career[]
Cima's childhood was fairly typical as far as Sergals go; like all those born into the Sergal Hegemony, she was conscripted at the age of ten, and served her two-year tour of duty. Like many Sergals, including her parents, she chose to stick with the Hegemony Military thereafter, where she proved both capable and successful. Impressed by her courage and skill, Cima quickly was promoted and became the head of her unit. Marin quickly proved to be a sound strategist, mixing resolute defense with quick counter-attacks. Cima was a natural leader, and proved sturdy under fire and had an innate grasp of tactical command that set her apart from her peers. Cima exuded an intensity that inspired obedience from her fellow squad members, complimenting nicely the discipline of her fellow Sergals. It was not long before her unit saw increasing in the Gold Ring region, where her unit would see considerable action as the Sons of Sailzane would step up attacks in the region..
The Determinant [rewrite pending][]
Routine patrols through what otherwise would have been occupied territory were made terrifying nightmares wherein IEDs, mines, and ambushes by militant groups were a constant occurrence. Despite overpowering military superiority on the part of the Hegemony, the insurgency refused to go quietly, and on multiple occasions commenced surprise attacks that succeeded in causing damage to the Hegemony military and its infrastructure.
Cima's unit was one of countless which were on the front lines in these difficult times, and it resulted in numerous hard - and painful - lessons for a young Sergal on the front lines. Constant paranoia, suspicion, and fear permeated the climate - a natural occurrence when at any point on a patrol, your unit could suffer casualties from snipers, ambushes, or booby traps. This brutal environment was a harsh teacher, forcing Cima to adapt to new tactics involving urban combat and to counter insurgent units operating from locations of heavy cover. Cima lost many of her unit to this, each time having to train new unfortunates that wound up shipped to her force group. The entire affair wore on Cima heavily, making her much more hesitant to form lasting friendships, since there was always that possibility that anyone she picked up would not last past their first patrol.
Darkest Before Dawn[]
The insurgency came to a head six years ago, wherein a particularly large and heavily-armed and equipped strike force, having obtained weapons and assistance through blackmarket and militant groups, rushed northward and began a massive series of attacks into northern territory. The sheer ferocity of the attacks, as well as the level of the equipment the Southerners had, caught the Hegemony by surprise, and the North wound up losing a fair bit of territory to the dustbacks in this relentless onslaught.
Cima's unit was one of the only ones currently stationed at a major munitions plant that was at the edge of Southerner territory. Knowing the importance of the facility itself, Cima's unit prepared to defend it at all costs, using everything and everyone they had on hand. Despite feverish attacks from the Southerners, Cima's unit held the facility throughout a constant siege that lasted for a day. As night fell, it became increasingly obvious to Cima's unit that reinforcements weren't coming. Ammunition and supplies were running low, the exhausted defenders having used over a quarter of the base's stockpiles of ammunition and explosives in simply holding back the tide. At this point, they hit upon a desperate plan; they could not continue the fight with their current numbers. They settled on a desperate gambit, appearing to retreat and surrender the facility, only to detonate the plant's munitions stockpile in a cataclysmic explosion that wiped out the entire unit the south had brought in to claim the facility. Left isolated by the South's offensive, Cima's unit fought their way back towards Hegemony territory in a gruelingly long march from which only Cima herself and one member of her squad - a newcomer - survived. Cima earned a promotion for her ingenuity, and the majority of her unit was commended posthumously, but it was little solace to Cima, who had lost a lot of good people to the Southerners' attack.
Determined to claim some measure of vengeance for the squad members she had lost, Cima hooked up with Hegemony troops prepping for the counter-attack and led a unit of troops to systemically clear out the territory that had been seized by the rebels. In the end, the Hegemony was successful and had pushed the Southerners back behind the border and to their own territory, and in the process, learned that they had help, of sorts, from a militant group operating on Fontraile - specifically, Tal's. Said group had headhunted some of the best personnel the South had, in exchange for numerous shipments of weapons and gear. Whilst the Hegemony was successful in picking off the few remaining facilities the militant group had in their territory, they had arrived much too late and the trail had gone cold.
Trivia:[]
- Cima has the highest number of vehicle kills in the RP, post-reboot, of any character. Drew White is a close second.
- Cima is the one who trained Ivianna, prior to the Rygard Phantom incident. The effects on Cima's career are mixed; several in the Hegemony and M.O.M. credit Cima as being the only reason that the incident wasn't infinitely worse, and many have praised Ivianna's dedication and skill, post-incident. Others have openly called Cima's training Ivy a mistake, and openly criticized her for it, much to the Sergal's annoyance. Cima's own feelings on the matter are unknown.
- Cima has the highest number of kills against her own squadmates in the RP; during an encounter with a Magic Mirror, Cima encountered a bunch of magically-created Hyperion duplicates. Valerie and Cima had a running contest to see who could kill the most; Cima won with 43 to Val's 35.
- Cima is widely considered one of the best and most accurate in the group at reaction shots without targetting assistance of some sort; whilst Luvenia is a superior sniper and Gilda arguably a better shot with a DMR, Cima has proven she can reliably line-up and fire off a shot more accurately than either when reaction time is a factor.
- According to Rhodes, Cima hates canned pears.