Name: Alexandria "Alex" or "Xan" DeCroix
Species: Human
Sex: Female
Appearance: Alex stands at nearly five feet ten inches. She has an athletic shape with a smaller waist and wider shoulders. Her arm length allows her wrists to rest just below her waistline. Her torso is long and defined while her legs are similarly toned and long. Her face is heart shaped with a sharp chin and jawline. She is tanned, as she has spent a lot of time groundside. Her eyes are hazel and her black hair has been closely cropped with the sides shaved close.
Age: 28
Class: Combat Vanguard
Military Occupation: 1st Lieutenant, N7 graduate, Vanguard from the 103rd Marine Division.
Background:
Alex was born in New Canton, a frontier colony in the Terminus Systems, was born to Michael and Katarina DeCroix. She, like all biotic humans, was exposed to element zero while in the womb. Her parents, her father a simple miner and mother a homemaker, preferred a quiet life. As such, they feared her biotic inclinations due to the unpredictable nature of the powers; despite that, they still loved their daughter, even if they barely understood what was happening to her.
As she grew up, Alex showed little control over her biotics, and was ostracized for it. It was these powers that broke up her family, as her father couldn't find work and blamed his wife for birthing Alex. He soon left on a transport to Earth, and left them to fend for themselves. Her mother, despondent but determined to provide a decent life for her child, urged her child to throw her anger into her schoolwork.
To spite the deadbeat and the other colonists, Alex followed her mother's advice. Before her thirteenth birthday, Alex's mother sent her to the Academy of New Canton, a specialized school for gifted students, so she could learn more about her biotics. For five years, she studied physics, linguistics and alien languages alongside her biotics. During this time, she became more socialized and managed to develop a rather assertive and competitive personality.
After years of developing her biotic powers, she graduated from ANC and enrolled into a college on Earth. Alex applied to, interviewed for, and then joined the Officer's Training Corps for the Alliance. Upon graduation, she started her service years right away as a Second Lieutenant Marine.
Her first year was spent on patrol in the back ass of nowhere. Days were spent lounging around while the nights were spent doing nothing. That is how deserted the listening post was. Alex was no better, as her rigid habits had relaxed while in college. When Batarian Raiders attacked the post, she and her squad were caught off guard. Half of the patrol of nearly six squads were killed in the first wave, but her CO, Captain Kent Hargitey managed to position the remainder of his men into fairly defensible spots. The post's XO, an old college friend of Alex's, disagreed and argued that they'd be overran or starved out. It didn't matter though, as a sniper took out the XO within a few seconds of the argument. Splashed with the blood of her best friend, Alex went murderous. With her L-2 implants, Alex was a raging storm of biotics. She moved constantly, a whirling dervish of rage and anguish. Her squadmates supported their Vanguard, with a few managing to set up enemies for detonation or just outright killing them if Alex didn't. Once the battle was over, Alex stood in the middle of a mess of bodies, a few Soldier classed Marines stood on her flanks with an Engineer a few meters away with a sniper rifle. Hours later, a relief team was sent to evacuate and resupply the listening post. Alex and the team were given a commendation for holding the listening post, though she never forgave herself from vacating her position as XO.
Alex continued on doing similar posts: guard duty, front line fighting against pockets of pirates, and spent a good six months in a joint task force with an asari commando squad. In her fourth year, the newly promoted First Lieutenant was given a chance to train in the Interplanetary Combatives Training Academy. The young Marine jumped at the chance, and spent 3 years training (first in Rio de Janeiro, then at various planetary combat zones involving Geth or Collectors, and a few space stations). The day she received her N7 commendation, the Reapers conquered Earth. She was sent to Tyr in the Asgard System to assist in protecting the mines and other facilities. They were being beaten back, but a second detachment of Marines were sent to bolster her own in good time. After they did, a long battle commenced, and the humans had to retreat. The loss stung badly, as she had to watch a lot of good people die...then had to kill them again as Husks.
She grudgingly respects the Reapers and their tactics. Their grotesque visages disgusts and their uncaring, mindless need for destruction and death horrifies her whenever she has to fight them; but she has learned how to use that to bolster her own strength and resolve to live. Her new assignment is to Nevos as a part of the 103rd Marine Division.
Personality:
She is a loyal young woman that funnels her despair into action. The N7 program has reinforced that a clear mind will heighten the chance of her getting out of sticky situations alive. However controlled though, she is very aggressive on and off the battlefield, and will channel that energy into almost any constructive avenue she can think of. This leads to a common misconception that she is very diligent with her paperwork (which she hates...the only thing she hates more than paperwork is boredom, though). She is very protective of her issued M-7 Lancer, and is constantly servicing and cleaning it. She isn't bothered by her rank/age relation, as she understood her rank would be suspended until she either failed or graduated from the N7 program. However, she suffers from phantom pains from her time as an L-2, as well as night terrors from her time on Tyr. She is still adjusting to her L5n implants.
She is very wary of Salarians and Geth, but doesn't mind Krogan and Asari. She has not met a quarian but she respects the Turians a great deal. It is debatable that she chose to train with the M-8 Avenger (and later the M-7 Lancer) in respect to the Turians: the weapon's predecessor was strong and powerful enough to face and defeat the greatest military in the galaxy at the time. What higher honor was there due to a weapon?
Equipment:
Armor:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/N7_Armor?file=ME3_N7_Armor.png
Helmet:
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/File:ME3_mnemonic_visor.png
Omni-Tool: Logic Arrest Tool
Bio-Amp: Prodigy
Weapons:
M-7 Lancer: Stability Dampener, Magazine Upgrade
M-8 Avenger (If Lancer is unavailable for some reason and an Avenger is near)
Powers:
Biotic Charge
Reave
Fitness
Nova
Warp
Talents:
Assault Rifle
Assault Mastery
First Aid
Tactical Armor
Other:
-Food Consumption to her activity level, Alex can consume up to 5500 kcal worth of food if she fights.
-Assault Rifle: Alex has trained with assault rifles since she first entered college. She continues to use the Lancer or Avenger rather than conventional Vanguard weaponry.
-Music Lover: She loves a variety of music, and is often listening to it on her omni-tool.
-Video Game Enthusiast: Most of her non-dedicated memory in her omni-tool is taken up by video games. Her most recent download: An MMO.
-Workout Enthusiast: Alex enjoys sparring in a training area or being in the gun/biotic range.
