Ruby M. Earley (USS Denber)

Background:

Ruby was born on a farm in Fountain Minnesota in 1926 to Roy and Catherine Earley. Growing up, Ruby took a keen interest in the outdoors, and would frequently pass the time "camping" in the small patches of trees that dotted the land around the family farm and shooting old soup cans with a BB gun. She led a reasonably normal life for most of her childhood, working on the family farm, attending the local school when she could, and of course taking her personal outings. All this would change in the fall of 1940.

While out on one of her trips in the woods, Ruby came across an eastern gray squirrel. Now this was by no means a notable encounter, the rodent was a very common sight and she'd seen hundreds of them in her lifetime. So she did what she normally did when she encountered a particularly brave critter, she tossed a few scraps of her trail snacks towards it and thought nothing of it. Until later that night, when a suspiciously familiar looking squirrel bounded up to her at her camp. A little strange, but Earley ignored it and carried on, though she did find the squirrel still with her the following morning. This routine carried on for several more days until one morning, Earley awoke with the squirrel nowhere to be found. In its place, she'd found that an extremely bushy tail had appeared on her rear and a second set of ears had sprouted from her head. Confused at first, Ruby went home where the full scope of what had happened to her was explained to her. She was a witch, and that squirrel was now her familiar.

Upon fully grasping this new reality, Earley requested her parents permission to sign up with the Liberion military to make use of her newfound abilities. With their blessing Earley made her way off to the nearest recruiting station, was inducted into the Army and sent to Camp Polk for training. When she'd completed her training, she was assigned to the 32nd Armored Regiment, given an M4 Sherman striker unit and sent to the European front. There she served for some time, fighting through Gallia with the 32nd up until she was selected for the Liberion Army's Zebra program and given one of the new T26E3 heavy strikers for field evaluation and relocated to Baltland.

Personality:

In a word, confident. Confident in her abilities as a witch, confident in her striker, and confident in her squadmates. Some would say overconfident and it's not an entirely inaccurate charge as Earley's faith in herself has given her a tendency to leap before she looks. A tendency which often puts her in sticky situations and has often lead to her taking damage or receiving injuries she really could have avoided.

Appearance:

5'9" and stocky, the result of growing up doing farm labor. Size C bust. Ruby's hair is jet black, kept relatively short and unkempt. Ruby's usual attire consists of a standard Liberion winter tanker's jacket with patches for her division on the shoulder, and a pair of M43 Boots. In the field, Earley tends to eschew the standard Liberion tank helmet, much preferring the infantry's M1 helmet which she keeps a pair of goggles wrapped around. Ruby tends to travel light, and the only other piece of equipment she doesn't store attached to her striker in the field is her M3 Grease Gun, which she keeps slung over her back, ready for use.

Date of Birth: 30 March 1926 (19 as of 1945)

Height: 5'9"

Nationality: Liberion

Affiliation: United States Army, 3rd Armored Division, 32nd Armored Regiment, E Company

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Familiar: Eastern Gray Squirrel

Weaponry: 90 mm M3 Cannon, M3 SMG

Striker: T26E3 Pershing "Eagle 7"

Magical Ability: Ballistic Stabilization

Archetype: Robert M. Earley

Paloa Paladini (TWH-PIXY)

Background:

Paloa Paladini was born in 1930 and grew up deep in the Romagna Alps, so she is no stranger to the cold conditions Baltland may throw at her.

She acquired her magical ability fairly early compared to most witches, at 6 years old, alongside her twin sister, who would go on to become an air witch providing defence for their homeland. Paloa would be given her first opportunity to test a Striker Unit at age 7, when she joined her father in Hispania for the Neuroi campaign taking place there.

Soon after, in late 1938, an incident would happen that changed the Romagnan. During an intense battle, and protecting her father's tankette, Paladini took a grazing shot from a Neuroi beam to her right arm, then a big hit in the chest. The young girl, through the pain, fought back and claimed her first ever Neuroi victory using her Breda M37 and improvised incendiary grenades, an item which would become a regular sight in her arsenal.

After the incident, she would be out of commission for the rest of the Hispania campaign, recovering just in time for the Second Neuroi War. She would participate in the North Africa campaign for a few years before being sent to cold Baltland and the 11th Joint Combat Command, the whole time using an odd striker; the L3 Lf Lanciafiamme. She gained a fascination with fire ever since her victory in Hispania, and vowed to use the fire in her heart and her weapons to defeat the Neuroi and keep the world safe.

Personality

Paladini is a pure and innocent young girl most of the time. She is easily embarrassed when her short height and cute face is mentioned, often needing to excuse herself from the room so she does not cry in front of her comrades. Other times out of combat she is easily entertained with the radio or just having a chat with whoever doesn't try and tease her. She enjoys camping out and telling stories by a fire on a cold night.

In combat though, and speaking of fire... Paladini has been known by many since North Africa as "Pyrodini". The girl's fascination with fire hits a peak when she encounters an enemy. She gets extremely excited at the thought of using her weapon in anger, torching entire front lines if she's given the opportunity. As the battle ends and the enemy has been dealt with, the pyro becomes immediately embarrassed of her actions, and does her best to put out whatever flames are remaining.

Age: 15 (1945)

Race: White

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Brown (and floofy af)

Striker: CV/33, L3 Lf Lanciafiamme

Weapon: Breda M37 (dual wield) / Lanciafiamme Spalleggiato Modello 35 / Improvised incendiary grenades

Rank: Captain

Familiar: Fox

Power: Strength, being adorable

Archetype: Paolo Paladini

Lisel Bauer (Leopard 1A5)

Background:

Born in Künzelsau on the 16th of February of 1927, a small town in southern Karlsland, Lisel was born into a quiet family who were quite religious. Growing up, Lisel would develop a strong faith belief as she dreamed of being able to travel and see the world. When she discovered her familiar in early July of 1923, Lisel decided to volunteer to join the Karlsland Army as an opportunity to see more of Karlsland. However, she was turned down when her paperwork got lost while being approved. Before she could apply again, the Neuroi invaded Karlsland and Lisel along with her family were evacuated during Operation Bifrost. During the evacuation, Lisel watched as Karlsland panzer crews and witches time and again form a rearguard action to buy time for the evacuation. When safely in Britannia, Lisel applied to be a witch once again partly to help provide for her family and was easily accepted by the Karlsland Army who needed as many witches as they could. Training at a Karlsland base in Britannia, Lisel completed basic training and was soon deployed to the Eastern Front in Orussia.

On the Eastern Front, Lisel was assigned a Panzer II Striker Unit and deployed as part of Operation Barbarossa. On the 16th of November in 1941, Lisel was injured when a Neuroi heavy tank shot at her and the explosion blew Lisel back and knocked her unconscious and destroyed her Striker Unit. After recovering, Lisel was deployed and had two more Striker knocked out in fierce combat. In August of 1942, Lisel would have an experience she would never forget. Deployed to advance into a small town, Neuroi artillery forced her unit to scatter into a graveyard. The Neuroi blasted the ground and churned up the dead as Lisel and her comrades had to force there way through it. Having an Neuroi artillery shell disable her left Striker Unit, Lisel was forced to run the rest of the way through the graveyard on foot and never forgot the sight of all the corpses that had been churned up. It is noted among her comrades that afterwards, Lisel was always careful to steer clear of graveyards wherever possible. In December of that year, Lisel’s unit was ambushed and Lisel was wounded once more and sent away to heal up and recuperate.

Returning to action in late 1943, Lisel would continue to serve as General Mansetin lead his forces along the Batlic coast towards Karlsland. During this, time, Lisel would have another three Strikers destroyed in combat. Others began to take notice of how many times Lisel had been shot at and were amazed at how she kept coming back. For Lisel herself, she began to think of herself as quite unlucky as constantly being knocked out over and over was wearing away at her. She had tried to find ways to try to improve her luck but nothing seemed to help. To try to help herself feel better, Lisel decided to rediscover her passion for travel as she began the hobby of collecting dirt from every nation she helped liberate and began to collet a small collection of memorabilia. In 1945, Lisel led a successful attack before she was injured again for the eight time. Finally, in April of 1945, Lisel was assigned to guard a recently liberated village. However, the Neuroi launched a surprise attack and while retreating Lisel was accidentally shot at by a Hetzer that set her Striker on fire. Barely escaping, Lisel would suffer some burns on her legs and palms of her hands as she bailed out of her ninth Striker Unit. Lisel was sent to the rear to help recover and given some leave as she has been using the time to help her recover as she finally has some time to explore a bit while not having to worry too much about her bad luck in combat.

Age: 18 (as of 1945)

Nationality: Karlsland

Rank: Leutenant

Striker Unit: Panzer IV H

Weapon: 7.5 cm KwK 40 Witch Combat Cannon or MP 40

Magical Ability: Deflection Shooting

Eva (Klassenhero)

Background:

Where exactly Eva was born is unknown, as are her Parents. She came up with her Name by herself. Eva used to live on he streets of the cities in the Ruhrgebiet, working Factory jobs since she turned 6.

There she was also often cared for by other Factoryworkers who pitied her. Those became her Family, for which she cares very strongly.

Due to these poor conditions she never dreamed of anything more then a full crate of Fanta all to herself.

The harsh conditions made her a reliable and physically strong person, but she also had to see others

without jobs suffer a worse fate on the streets.

She was found to be a Witch when she saved a couple of workers from being crushed by a crane using a magic shield.

After that she was enlisted into a training academy. Baltland is her first Assignment fresh out of training.

Her fighting style is focussed on ambushing the enemy in long distance engagements, utilizing her heavy hitting 8.8cm cannon.

Her shields are rather weak and she mostly relies on her optical Camouflage ability, which turns her almost invisible.

Mobility of her striker is also lackluster, but the model is easy and fast to repair.

Personality:

While she seems happy most of the time, this can flip into the opposite rather quickly. Due to a trauma from her harsh childhood , she can fall into a stream of sadness at times,

especially when one of her squadmates gets hurt. In the most extreme cases this can lead to her seizing all action and going into a panic attack.

To counter this she tries to stay happy all of the time and gets very happy over the smallest and often insignificant things.

Date of Birth: 1930(15 as of 1945)

Nationality: Karlsland

Army group: Panzerjäger-Alarmkompanie Eberswalde

Rank: First Lieutenant

Familiar: Lynx

Weapons: 8.8cm PaK 43/L71; Gewehr 43

Striker: Ardelt Waffenträger

Magical Ability: Optical Camouflage

Hair: Brown and short

Eyes: Green

Clothing: Sumpftarn Smock, M43 Feldmütze

Archetype: Günter Ardelt

Rachelle H. Decker (NAUTILUS)

Background:

Rachelle was born on 22 October, 1926 in Barberton, Ohio to Jonathan Decker and his wife, Marieanne Decker. Present in the household was an older brother, Bobby, who was two years older than her. The Decker Family made their home on one of the many farms in the area, growing various vegetables- most notably corn. While Marieanne stayed at home, cooking and cleaning, Jonathan tended to the fields of the crops with the occasional help from Bobby and Rachelle.

Her school life would start off rough, though for pretty normal reasons. Her parents wanted the best and, because of this, she would be enrolled into a large school in the next town over. On top of that, some of the local boys would take to bullying her. They would call her ‘half pint’ and knock her books out of her hands on a regular basis. Though this upset Rachelle, she never really did anything about it. She would just hunch her shoulders and shrug it off. Afterall, she tended to be quiet anyways. All in all, Rachelle never had an interesting life.

At age 10, life would change for the small farm girl. It had started to snow and school let out early that day. Rachelle’s bus was about 4 miles away from her stop when the front tires of the bus lost traction and the large yellow vehicle slid off the road. Due to the speed- or lack thereof- no one was hurt, but the rest of the journey would have to be continued on foot. The snow was cold and she would prove unprepared. She had a coat but it didn’t quite help due to how ragged it was when pulled out of storage. Rachelle tried to distract herself and ignore the cold but she wouldn’t have to for long. A low whimper could barely be heard by the girl and she would follow it. Several feet off the road laid a brown, white and black dog who was covered in snow; it seemed pretty young, too. It was a stray beagle with nowhere to go. Feeling bad for the beagle, she picked the poor animal up and tucked it in her coat. Petting it and talking to it, she carried on home. After this event, she would soon find herself to have witch powers.

War in Europe broke out after the appearance of a mysterious new enemy that emerged one fateful year. It decimated Karlsland and crippled neighbouring countries. Militaries from around the world rallied together, enlisting both men and witches alike. Rachelle would be no different. Bobby, as well as her, found themselves brought into this nasty war that only brought death and destruction. While Bobby found himself in the Navy, Rachelle ended up in the Liberion Army. Boot camp and the following training, she would be thrown into the 3rd Armored Division’s 54th Field Artillery Battalion on a M7 Priest Striker. Unlike most ground witches, these witches were intended to stay further back and fire from a far- much like a sniper. Armoured and Infantry alike came to respect witches like Rachelle, her Foresight becoming quite handy. Being able to see several seconds into the future, Rachelle could determine where the neuroi would be and help protect those on the ground.

Personality: Rachelle is quiet, even shy at times. She cares about others, though doesn’t know how to show it. She does have her ugly side, however, where she seems like she could tear you to shreds… though this is mostly in her mind. It’s seen as more cute if anything.

Age: 16 (1942)

Height: 4’11”

Nation: United States of Liberion

Affiliation: Liberion Army; 3rd Armored Division, 54th Field Artillery Battalion, Alpha Battery

Rank: Private First Class

Familiar: Beagle

Weaponry: M2A1 105mm Howitzer / M1911

Striker: M7 Priest

Magical Ability: Foresight

Lydia G. Pool (Nautilus)

Background:

Lydia was born 23 July, 1922 on a farm in Odem, Texas. With a brother and a sister, and a demanding few seasons supplying the town with food, life wasn’t very slow. It had become mundane, however. Lydia would end up attending High School in Taft, Texas which is about the time she grew tired of farm life. One day, after school, Lydia would come home to a ruckus. Her brother, John, was chasing something around. Running over, intrigued, she would discover a brown and white rabbit. Considering John was carrying the family rifle, she saved it and it would become her familiar. Towards the end of High School, she would take up amateur boxing. After graduating, she would be drafted into the Liberion Army and end up in the 3rd Armored Division.

The next few years would prove hard for the witch, being practically on the frontline with the 32nd Regiment. She would lose two strikers and earn several kills.Though some have noted her music has slowly started to fade, she fights on. Lydia uses a combination of her boxing skills and what tools she’s learned from the Army to keep fighting. Due to this fact, as well as proving to care for the men she served with, she was dubbed “War Mommy” by those in the 32nd.

Personality:

Lydia has two sides to her. On the battlefield, she is cold, calm and collected. Despite being in the thickest of action, she keeps her nerves battened down. Her other side rears its head when not in combat. Though Lydia sounds grizzled at times, she can joke and be an all around mood. Overall, though, she tends to seem tired. This tends to be the fear and shock keeping her up at night sometimes. The memories can be haunting at times and it doesn’t help that she's starting to lose her magic. This is speculated to be the reason why she was moved to be a logistics officer.

Age: 20 (1942)

Height: 5’8”

Nation: United States of Liberion

Affiliation: Liberion Army; 3rd Armored Division, 32nd Regiment

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Familiar: Eastern Cottontail

Weaponry: M1 76mm, M1A1 Thompson

Striker: M4A1(76)w

Magical Ability: Hawkeye

Elke Litztke (Rynn)

Background:

Born in March, 1920 to wealthy aristocrats in Schwerin, Karlsland, Elke’s early life can only be described as privileged. Her parents had both lived through the nightmare that was the first neuroi war and were determined to make their daughter’s life as good as it could be so she could live as they could not. Much to the dismay of the adventurous Elke, this also meant a quite sheltered life away from the poverty and hardships that was common in Karlsland at the time.

Because of this, Elke spent most of her time living out the adventures found on the many bookshelves of her home and had grown accustomed to escaping the house to see the world that existed outside the confines of her home. Though she was punished harshly when caught outside alone, she persisted, becoming quite independent as she grew older.

Despite all parents' troubles to raise her as a protected child, they could have done nothing in the face of the second neuroi invasion. Paralyzed by the fear that they had to once again face what they had barely survived the first time, Elke’s parents were driven to madness and would be lost when they refused to evacuate. Despite the loss of her parents, the 19 year old Elke was determined to continue to escape to the west. She was among a lucky few who would travel under the protection of Karlsland army units. It was during this time that she would become a witch and the Karlsland military authorities would ask that she use her new powers to help fight the neuroi, despite her late awakening, to which she agreed. She was put in a set of Panzer MkIII legs, quickly trained, and sent to the front as soon as possible to aid in delaying actions as the populace retreated. After her discovering her night witch-like abilities the decision to transfer her to the luftwaffe was quickly reversed after discovering her deathly fear of heights.

Elke quickly proved to be ace material and after a magic capability test in 1943, was given the chance to operate Panzer MkVI “Tiger” legs, but only if she agreed to take a command position for a new unit to be assembled for a future Baltland campaign. She agreed, and was moved to Achnacarry Castle in Britannia to assume command of the new unit. By 1944, she is an old witch, coming in at nearly 24 years old by the time the Baltland campaign begins. Though her abilities are little more than a mere shadow of their former self, the immense amounts of raw magic power that remain within her allow her to continue the fight in even the most demanding of strikers, the Mk VII, Tiger II legs.

Personality:

On the battlefield Elke is a witch who oscillates between being very forward thinking and prepared to being extremely reckless and daring. She tends to extensively plan any offensive maneuver, making up several contingencies and gathering as much up to date intel as possible and has been known to call off plans--much to her superiors dismay--if she can’t get the intelligence reports she requests out of fear of sending her subordinates into unsearched areas. However, her adventurous spirit tends to take over on the battlefield and if her unit sees great success she tends to break from her plans and create new ones as the situation changes to her favour. This has led to many great victories on her part… as well as many great communication fiascos between herself and other units as they frantically try to adjust to her new plans.

Off the frontline, she is strangely laid back most of the time. One would assume that a witch with combat experience akin to hers would be uptight and demanding, but that is not the case with Elke. She’s certainly tough on her troops, but she understands that they, especially the newer ones, have their limits. And that’s not to mention the stress of juggling the myriad of personalities under her. Like most other witches near her age, she suffers from magic fatigue, especially if she’s gone through a particularly taxing battle. Typically enjoys a good drink, an occasional smoke, and callous jokes to ease the pains of 5 years of war.

Appearance:

Elke is a witch with a presence unlike any other. She stands at 5’11” with an athletic build, D bust, and no curves whatsoever. Her hair is on the straight and shorter side, being slightly longer than shoulder height. Elke can usually be found wearing a Karlsland issue camouflage pattern that matches the season, though she has shown a preference for splinter camo, finding the grey dominant camouflage to be a suitable match for the rocky alpine forests of Baltland. She also wears her Karlsland tanker’s headset with a pair of binoculars and map case slung around her neck. She has a single pouch on her left side that carries extra magazines for her StG-44.

Age: 24 (1944)

Race: White

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 165lbs

Eyes: Light Grey

Hair: Silver

Striker: Tiger II H

Weapon: 8.8cm KhK43 L/71 / MG-34, StG-44

Rank: Oberscharführer

Familiar: Bengal Tiger

Power: Detection

Archetype: Eric Litzke