Alice Anna Sterling

ALICE ANNA STERLING

Name: Alice Anna May Sterling
Alias: Allie; Lancer Four; Heartless Angel
Age: 19
Birth Date: September 9, 2057
Gender: Female
Race: 1st Generation Factor

City: Aeternus
Faction: Harbinger Union
Occupation: Union Prisoner & Machina pilot
Rank: N/A

[h1]KENJI[/h1][ul][li][a href=""]Alice Anna Sterling[/a] PLAYED BY [u]Rukino Saki[/u], [i]Kakumeiki Valvrave[/i]
[/li][/ul]

NAME: Lancea
CLASS: M-Class
LINK: N/A

Alice Anna is strikingly beautiful. Fair skinned and dark haired, her Union captors often regard her as “far too precious” to be held in a prison. She has a small series of scars that mark her body, from Union interrogation to piloting accidents - even some being classified as “self inflicted”. Standing 5’ 3” tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, Alice Anna is remarkably small when compared to her imprisoned peers. She has jet black hair that goes down the middle of her back, which she occasionally wears in a ponytail (when allowed), and she often times wears it hanging over her shoulder. Her eyes are her most striking feature - being a rare violet hue, with one possessing the ability to change to cyan in color.

The cause of her violet eyes is unknown, but it is speculated to be due to an underlying Eden heritage. The cyan shifting is the most compelling, being a traditional trait of Eden peoples or those who have been exposed to the Shards of Eden. Whether Alice Anna is an Eden or has been exposed to the Shards is currently unknown, as blood work yields no results and no Eden brand has been discovered on her body.

• Series of covered scars, some of which are reported as “self inflicted”.
• Violet colored eyes, of which the cause is unknown.
• Her right eye possesses the ability to change to the Eden inherent cyan color, why exactly is currently unknown.

Alice Anna is very kind and compassionate, not at all what one would expect from a prisoner of war, let alone one forced to fight on the front lines for the Harbinger Union. Where most of her prison peers are hardened soldiers and severe offenders, Alice Anna appears very much the opposite - timid and meek. This is not to say that she is a pushover nor incapable of defending herself, however, as she has proven to be not only strongly assertive, but she has also shown herself to be a deadly asset to the Union thanks to her Engineering background and it’s application to the realm of Machina combat. It is the “ace in her sleeve” as she typically puts it, using the knowledge she has built over the years to leverage her position among the Union’s forces and her worth to them - to a point of almost being pampered in her cell, despite it’s wretched conditions.

Her kindness, as well as her compassion, towards others is best shown in her resolve to disable enemy Machina in combat rather than killing the pilots as most of her allies would. This, again, is only thanks to her meticulous Engineering background and how Alice Anna is able to apply it to the fundamentals of piloting. She often times finds herself in a conflict of interest, sympathizing with both the Harbinger Union and Ebonheart Empire on several key points - the end result being a series of convoluted thoughts that make it hard for the young woman to participate in battle. It is in this aspect that Alice Anna’s compassion towards all walks of life is also her greatest weakness, leaving her vulnerable to her less than like-minded enemies. Despite that weakness, it is also one of her greatest strengths, making her capable of forging and maintaining strong personal relationships - be they strictly platonic or romantic.

There is a side of Alice Anna that, despite her typical friendly demeanor, is highly vindictive. If she were to develop a grudge strong enough, she would go above and beyond to deliver a harsh revenge on the person that did her wrong. This key point is exploited in her the most, with the Union using the death of her grandfather at the hands of the Ebonheart allies, the Vetgeist, to push Alice Anna into piloting for them. Piloting a black version of the Union’s Lancea and showing a bloodthirsty level of ruthlessness towards the Vetgeist Forces, Alice Anna became known as the Heartless Angel among the Empire’s forces. This blind rage, however, is not without it’s drawbacks. Because she does occasionally kill when pushed beyond her resolve, Alice Anna does at times break down, refusing to talk for days or weeks at a time.

• Kind and compassionate to all, regardless of race or Faction alignment (with the exception of the Vetgeist).
• Hates ending the lives of others.
• Has a deep resentment for the Vetgeist Empire and it’s people, to the point of it being a major weakness.

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Ambitions: Alice Anna’s only true ambitions at this time are entirely centered around the current short term goals she has set for herself, as well as one that may or may not ever come to fruition.

• Avenge her grandfather’s death by eliminating the Vetgeist.
• Be free of prison, and go on to live a normal life free of war.
• To be reunited with Issei Nakamura.

When Alice Anna Sterling was born, that late summer of 2048, it was apparent that she was destined for something great. Be it a peculiar sense she gave off, or simply the overactive ambitions of her parents, no one really knew. What was for certain, though, was that the girl was far too special to be given a plain name. Because of this, her parent’s settled on two given names for the child: “Alice”, meaning “of nobility” and “Anna”, meaning “grace” or “favor”. Whatever the application, both names held true to how the Sterling family viewed the newest addition to their family - Alice Anna May Sterling.

Childhood, for Alice Anna, was particularly simple. She was good natured and clearly had a very loving heart, making friends easily and rescuing injured animals from time to time. It appeared that, for the most part, she had absolutely no negative connotations towards anyone or anything. Whether it was just how she saw the world, or a child’s natural naivety was hard to tell. Either way, it was refreshing to see someone so young already trying to do so much good in the world. Having a fondness for animals in particular, Alice Anna attempted to be a vegetarian for much of her childhood. Her growing ideology that animals were created alongside mankind to serve as a source of sustenance, however, made retaining this lifestyle neigh-impossible.

As she grew, the young miss Sterling developed an increasingly strong fascination with how things worked. Any opportunity she had, Alice Anna spent picking apart various little things - ranging from old, gear-filled watches to high tech electronics. Nothing would be spared her curiosity (this would extend to Machina once she became old enough, drawn to the advanced technology put into them). It was this interesting choice of hobby that led to her parents deciding to cater her education to the field of engineering. After all, they believed she was destined for greatness - perhaps this was exactly how she would achieve that. Though reluctant to have her future planned for her, Alice Anna eventually accepted her parents’ assistance in gearing her towards an Engineers education, deciding it was only because they wanted her to do what she loved.

Eventually, Alice Anna felt she was missing out on the usual aspects of growing up. Despite being friendly and making many good friends as a result, she realized she had never really taken a chance to be with those people. What kind of friend was she, if she could not partake in friend activities? Negotiating her daily schedule with her mother and father, Alice Anna worked in regular times to go out and do the things she figured normal girls her age would do. Meeting with friends, they’d participate in normal social activities - such as shopping, going to the beach, and the occasional bit of gossip. There was one thing that the then thirteen year old Alice Anna was not properly prepared for, however - boys.



But who? Who could possibly derail the level headed Alice Anna? A fair haired boy, born to an impoverished family nearby. He wasn’t anything particularly special, at least not that was noticeable. He was small, shy. His mother and father didn’t let him out much, not of any wrongdoing. It was because they were worried something might happen to him. He was different than Alice Anna’s other friends. He was an Eden. His father was slated to travel to Jupiter to assist in terraforming the planet for the Ebonheart, while his mother worked at a bakery nearby. Clearly, his father had taken the job to make money for his family. The boy...what was his name? She always had a hard time recalling. Issei... That was it! Issei Nakamura.

Alice Anna and Issei became very good friends over the course of several months, with their parents scheduling small “dates” for the two, usually consisting of sitting around at one of the houses and watching movies with the parents. It wasn’t romantic, by any means, nor did it have to be. They were only kids. She was thirteen, he was fifteen. By most standards, a romantic relationship between two people their age would be particularly strange - especially those who put a specific fuss in their difference in age. Alice Anna always thought this concept was hilarious, considering most parents and their parents before them were years and years apart. The future, however, was a mystery. She never delved more into her relationship with Issei beyond the says they spent together - being friends.

There is, of course, the time what comes when good things must pass. Just before her fifteenth birthday, Alice Anna received word from her parents that they would be moving. Their destination - the Union Colony Cluster, specifically the colony based off the tropical country of Costa Rica. Her parents figured it best to find a change in scenery, given that she had began to slip up in school as she spent more time with Issei. The education program provided by the CR-1 Colony was top-of-the-line, taking students into various college programs at only age fifteen. For the aspiring engineer, it was the perfect place to go in order to get ahead. Still, Alice Anna knew she would miss her friend. The weeks leading up to the move, she dropped most of her school work in order to spend time with her friends, particularly him.

At the time, she was young and stupid, that she could have admitted. Two years her senior, the now seventeen year old Issei had grown into a strikingly handsome young man. Feelings for her friend, ones that were contrary to the platonic relationship she was so desperate to keep between them, began to form (whether it was a physical infatuation, emotiona attachment, or a bit of both was subject to debate). While any other given situation might have been “right place, right time” - for Alice Anna, it was the exact opposite. Aeternus was not the appropriate place for any sort of spark between them to ignite, nor was the timing correct, given her impending move. In an effort to keep her in Issei’s mind, Alice Anna gifted her friend with her necklace. It was old, delicate - given to her by her grandmother shortly before her passing, but it was all she had. The day of the move, Issei accepted the necklace, in return kissing her in front of their families and promising her they would find each other once again.

With that, the Aeternus chapter of Alice Anna’s life came to a close, and the Colony Cluster chapter began. Adjustment at first was difficult, with Alice Anna slipping into a slight depression that lasted what seemed like months, albeit only a few weeks. As she traversed the colony more and more, she became her old self. No longer was Alice Anna mopey and a drag to be around, but the bubbly and cheerful girl so many people had grown to love. She started her Engineering courses just after turning fifteen, quickly excelling thanks to her hobbyist habits. New friends were easy to come by, giving her the nickname “Allie” as to not need to constantly repeat both her first names. She honestly loved it, taking to the name so much she began signing schoolwork with it. As more and more information regarding Machina became available, Allie was among the first of the class to apply what she was learning to the fundamentals of piloting.

As tensions between the Harbinger Union and Ebonheart intensified, more and more of Allie’s classmates expressed their desire to join the Union forces in an effort to fight for their home. They condemned the actions of Vernier Ebonheart and Apollos of the Eden, a key point that Allie herself completely disagreed with her classmates on. As she saw it, Vernier and Apollos were trying to prevent the Jewels of Eden from falling into the wrong hands, specifically the hands of Union President James Cullen. Her opinion, outspoken at that, was subject to much scrutiny. Time and time again, Allie was challenged to defend what she believed in, by both her teachers and her friends. As the days turned to weeks, and the weeks to months, Allie Sterling found herself alone. Just like it had been after they moved, she was alone, with only fond memories to comfort her.

She entered what she recalls as the darkest period of her life so far. With no one to comfort her, Allie turned to external means of relieving the pain she emotional turmoil she was forced to endure alone. Self inflicting wounds became the norm, though she was exceptional at keeping any scarring hidden. There were times when she would receive letters from Issei, however her parents’ attempts to keep the letters from getting to her only made matters worse. Eventually, Allie decided she would move to be with her mother’s parents on UK-1, not far from CR-1. It would be a nice change of scenery for Allie, and she could finally be away from her parents and free to just...live. Deciding it best not to make them aware, Allie notified her school of her intent to study abroad, and immediately left her home. No one really knew, and as far as she was concerned that was just fine.

Just as she had figured, the move to UK-1 did more good than she could possibly imagine. Allie was making friends, had an Associates Degree in the field of Engineering, and absolutely adored life with her grandparents. They were kind, of similar mind to Allie, and didn’t fuss over the little things. Allowing her to go her own way allowed her to flourish, and they understood it. Her grandfather, a veteran of the Middle Eastern War, filled the seventeen year old Allie’s mind with vivid stories of war. It only fueled her opposition of the fighting, especially in seeing how pained he was during some of the tales. The more she thought on it, the more it seemed hypocritical for the Eden to come to them, intent on helping mankind, to turn around and try to eliminate such a large portion of human life. There was only one way, Allie thought, she could get into the heads of others with her ideals surrounding the impending war - protests.

Rounding up a crowd of like-minded individuals, Allie took to the streets in opposition of the fighting that was already beginning - calling out the Union’s top brass for their outright hypocrisy and disregard for the lives of their people. Greed should not be a motivation, especially when the object being fought over was sure to be weaponized. Though peaceful at first, one of Allie’s protests eventually grew out of control. Her directions went unheard, and violence ensued. Police units entered the fray, beating down the protesters. In an effort to stop the fighting, Allie surrendered herself to the authorities, and was subsequently imprisoned. The charges against her were relatively vague at first, ranging from disturbing the peace to weird things like loitering. President Cullen, however, had something entirely different in mind.

Barely eighteen years old, Alice Anna Sterling was publicly charged and sentenced as a terrorist and enemy of the Union. The charges, fabricated from the very beginning, included multiple counts related to terrorism. The exact time of her incarceration, Allie is never able to recall, but she knew it amounted to her spending the rest of her life in Aeternus’s high security prison. Before being taken away, via an obvious publicity stunt on Cullen’s part, Allie was allowed to spend one more weekend with her grandparents before being taken to Turris Prison. While her grandmother appeared disconnected by all that was happening, it was her grandfather that comforted Allie the most. “We’ll find some way to fix this, I promise you that” he would say to her over the course of the weekend. It was comforting, more than she imagined words were capable of. When the day finally came, Allie entered the prison transport worry free.

She knew she was going to be okay.

The first month was, in all honesty, the worst for Allie. The tests done on her were wretched, and her treatment for those first few months was terrible. The physicians of Turris were particularly drawn to Allie because of a medical condition she wasn’t quite aware of. Her eyes, violet as they were, were something special. Different than the usual violet eyes seen these days due to some underlying Eden genetics, Allie’s were completely natural - but at the same time not. Most peculiar still, Allie’s eyes appeared to take on heterochromic properties from time to time, with one of them shifting to the Eden specific cyan color. Blood work and frequent testing yielded no results as to why Allie was the way that she was. Maybe, just maybe, her parents were right. Maybe there was something special about her, something that transcended the norm.

Being different isn’t always good, though. As time progressed, the abuse Allie received at the hands of some of the guards intensified. Interrogations became more violent, leaving her with scarring on her back, as well as her arms and legs. As terrible as it ever became, Allie was comforted by the fact that what little morality the guards had prevented them from more severe forms of assault. She endured, holding on to the promise from her grandfather that everything would be okay, as well as Issei’s promise that the two of them would find one another again someday. Little did Alice Anna know, however, that her life was soon to take a dark and treacherous turn. Things were never going to be the same again.

Keeping to her studies, Alice Anna caught the eye of the prison warden. An old man, he expressed his interest in her meticulous studies, as well as his desire to establish a team of elite pilots within Turris under the direction of a private contractor. Allie was a prime candidate, exhibiting skills that went beyond simple piloting. She understood how things worked, and more importantly, how Machina worked. She had the potential to, by all means, serve as the perfect secret weapon of the Union. Reluctant at first, Allie was eventually persuaded into joining the group, called Jormungandr. A small team, the unit was armed with black and gold themed Union Machina, with Allie taking to the Lancea model the most. Jormungandr, serving as a black ops unit, proved to be successful within it’s first few missions.

In return for her cooperation, Alice Anna received many luxuries that the other prison inmates were not able to enjoy. Despite keeping a horribly conditioned cell, she was allowed visitation rights - which allowed her to see her grandparents. She was able to keep herself clean, and although she was in poor physical condition, managed to keep herself all around healthy. The warden and his contact had even managed to expedite her sentence. Instead of spending the rest of her life in jail, Allie would be free in only five. It was the happiest she had been in years, and honestly the happiest she was going to be. There was only one thing that could make things better than they were - being able to see Issei again. Of course, no one had heard from him in years. Last she heard, his mother had passed away and his father was gone. Issei Nakamura was a leaf in the wind.

The day of the Gauntlet Tragedy marked Allie’s turn from being a quiet and timid girl to one of the Union’s fiercest pilots. With the blame for the attack formally aimed at the Vetgeist forces, and by extension the Ebonheart Empire, it seemed there was actually someone at fault. But so much more than that was what Alice Anna lost in the tragedy - her grandfather. Her best friend, and the closest thing she had to a real dad, the elder Sterling was killed in the initial attack after traveling to spectate the tournament. Her grandmother survived, however she would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Alice Anna’s drive became one of vengeance, at times ignoring her original resolve to not kill in the midst of combat and outright slaughtering her enemies. Just as it had been as a child for the gadgets she would find and tear apart, the Empire would not be spared her wrath.

Over the few skirmishes to ensue following the Gauntlet Tragedy, Alice Anna became known as the Heartless Angel, while her black and gold Lancea became known as Ebonbane. Though holding no formal rank and not serving as the team captain, there are times she is looked to as the group’s leader due to her level headed demeanor and natural finesse in combat. It’s a small title she does everything possible to keep from getting to her head. Hand-to-hand combat training became a normality for Alice Anna, with her spending hours upon hours in her cell training in case a mission ever took her out of her Machina. She was prepared for anything, and everything. Alice Anna Sterling was no longer just some girl - she was one of the Harbinger Union’s most deadly assets, and she intended to remain as such for as long as she could in order to eradicate the Vetgeist Empire once and for all.

Despite all of this, there still appears to be a part of Allie that yearns for things to be as they once were. She often thinks back to those days when she was young, when she was with Issei. She thinks back to her time on CR-1, as well as her eventual decision to run away to UK-1. Her grandfather, her grandmother, even her parents. Time and time again, Allie’s thoughts are flooded by what the past was, and what things could have been had she made different choices. In an effort not to lose herself to the chaos, she started a daily tradition of recounting the two most important promises ever made to her. Each night, before turning in for the night, Allie looks out to the stars and repeats the same lines.

“We’ll find some way to fix this, I promise you that” and, possibly the most comforting of all in the current times, “Someday, we will find each other - and nothing will ever separate us again.”

But until the day comes that those promises are fulfilled, Allie must remain as she is. A prisoner, a secret weapon. One of the Union’s elite - the Heartless Angel of Jormungandr.

WANTED: More members to serve as pilots for the Jormungandr Unit.