Isa Reichert

"If I die today, I drag you to hell with me!"

Once a skilled Yuktobanian test pilot for the Earth Federation Alliance, now a traitor to her country, Isa Reichert is a strong-willed and determined woman who lets little stand in her way. On one hand, she can be explosively short-tempered; on the other, very casual and mellow. Isa's a fighter through and through, with an incurable lust for battle. She isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. In most cases, she looks forward to it. She has a taste for gambling and drinking, living the stereotypical free-wheeling life of a mercenary pilot when she's "dirtside." These tendencies often translate to a thrill-seeking, risk-taking attitude, stemmed from confidence in her own skills. Her competetive nature usually means she doesn't stop until she or her opponents are at their limits — or their machinery wrecked.

Background Information
Raisa Marskaya was destined for greater things than simply standing in the rank-and-file. The daughter of a brilliant Yuktobanian test pilot and a defecting Belkan soldier, she displayed an interest in the military from an early age. She enrolled in the military programs of the Earth Federation Alliance at a young age, quickly showing an aptitude for piloting.

In time she became a test pilot, handling all manner of prototypes for the EFA's advanced machinery test programs. Her knack lay mostly with taking control of machines and making them perform to their utmost — Raisa was a brilliant test pilot, blessed with quick reflexes and the ability to think on her feet in battles both mock and real.

She also participated in the One Year War, earning for herself accolades for her performance, though she was shot down and lost an eye in the conflict. This never seemed to affect Raisa's piloting skill, and she pulled through on sheer willpower alone, still able to fly after that without issue by instrumentation – and instinct. If anything, it only helped her reputation as a tough-as-nails pilot devoted to her homeland and her fellow soldiers.

A few years after the One Year War, Raisa and a small contingent of mixed Yuktobanian and Soviet pilots were sent to recover a prototype unit that had crashed over the Siberian wastes. She was sent in the M-0209 "Skytalon," a next-generation jet fighter designed to counter the firepower of larger mecha. Infighting broke out among the squadron, though, with Soviets turning on Yuktobanians, and Raisa was forced to silence the traitors. During the battle, the prototype was destroyed.

Despite her actions and her loyalty to her country, the Soviets ultimately blamed the destruction of the prototype on Raisa. Her records were destroyed, her good name dragged through the mud, and she herself was in the crosshairs of a very unhappy Soviet military branch. Left with few other options, Raisa took the Skytalon and fled her homeland.

Raisa changed her name, becoming Isa Reichert, a mercenary pilot who would fly for the highest bidder and take almost any job. Embittered by what she felt was a betrayal by her superiors, she joined the Orb Union, eager to help tear down what she began to see as an inefficient government, and let the people start over. When the Orb Union was no more, Isa turned towards the Trailers, at the time more interested in hiding from the Yuktobanian government than anything else, and it's as a mercenary that she now flies.

Personality Traits
Isa's personality is fundamentally irreverent and laid-back. She has a mellow outlook on the world; rather than plan every detail, she prefers to react to life as it happens. Her dealings with people tend to be irreverent, with no real stock put into rank or authority. She either likes people, or she doesn't.

In spite of this, Isa can occasionally be volatile in temperment. She takes her skills quite seriously, particularly as a pilot, and can be very competitive and defensive of them — it isn't unheard of for her to threaten violence on somebody she thinks is insulting her skills. This explosive temper serves her well in battle, and often serves to guide her past fear or hesitation.

Combat is where she truly shines. Isa's two loves are fighting and flying, and she's most in her element when the two are combined. Her violent streak is put to great effect while she's in the cockpit, and she enjoys nothing more than to push hard and find out where her limits lie — and to expand them. She's most alive when she's in the middle of an all-or-nothing battle. Flying in combat brings her calm and focus that nothing on the ground gives her (unless it should involve many, many shots of vodka). When she chases down an enemy craft, she can hone herself into razor-sharp focus. At that time, Isa lives in the moment — nothing else matters but her and her quarry.

When she's the victor, Isa can be surprisingly quiet about it. As a loser, she can be fairly gracious. She'll survive, and more than the temporary frustration of losing, that is ultimately what matters to her — she believes strongly in the philosophy of living to fight another day.

To Isa, flying in and of itself is the thing that keeps her alive, both literally and figuratively. Literally speaking, her work for the Orb Union puts food on the table. Figurative speaking, though, it's the one thing that keeps her relatively sane and functional. It's a release, for her. Flying is a chance to give something her all and leave no room for thinking about anything else, doing anything else, or worrying about anything else; and she love every moment of it. The adrenaline rush can overcome anything negative, to her.

Despite her "loose cannon" tendencies, Isa does have a few things that she won't budge on. She may be a wild woman in battle, but she does have her ethics. She refuses to attack civilians. That's one thing she simply won't change her mind about — she'll go out of her way to leave alone anything with civilian IFF tags or frequencies. It may be easy to dupe her that way, though she's not stupid. If a ship starts opening fire on her, she'll defend herself. Most of the time, she'll also let damaged ships or units escape, and tries to restrain herself from being completely unmerciful. Well, as long as they don't piss her off, anyway.

As far as her past is concerned, Isa's driving goal is revenge. Her anger over her betrayal isn't overpowering, but it's always there, a constant simmering below the surface. She knows how to use and focus that anger, though, and it fuels her when she needs a little something to keep going. In many cases it keeps her from being afraid of odds that should rightfully be stacked against her — there are a lot of Yuktobanian pilots that would like to collect the informal bounty on her head, but that doesn't scare her.

Talents & Abilities

 * Aeronautics: With full military training, Isa has a thorough education in the physics of flight. The bulk of this education consists of practical knowledge – mostly, knowing everything she needs to know to make her aircraft do what she needs it to do.


 * Alcohol Tolerance: Coming from a society where alcohol consumption is considered a vital part of social interaction, it comes as no surprise that Isa's alcohol tolerance is through the roof for somebody her size. She has a particular fondness for vodka, and she can usually tell the quality of what she's drinking.


 * Applied Mathematics: Isa sports a thorough education in applied mathematics. Mostly, this pertains to her knowledge in aeronautics, but sometimes it comes in handy for other things.


 * Bilingual: Isa is fluent in Russian and... well, a little less fluent in English. Occasionally she may make her English skills out to be poorer than they really are, if she thinks it may be to her advantage somehow.


 * Brawling: Though she boasts no specific training in unarmed combat, Isa does have a talent for participating in the stereotypical bar brawl. She doesn't necessarily fight gracefully, but she does know how to fight dirty. Fighting with a switchblade is her preferred method.


 * Piloting: Isa's specialty as a pilot lies in jet fighters and experimental aircraft. Though she has a much more difficult time piloting super robots, Isa has a knack for things with traditional jet-like configurations – this knack saw her employed as a test pilot for the Yuktobanian military, where she handled all sorts of strange aircraft.


 * Small Firearms: Isa has some training as a soldier, and she knows how to use small firearms. This tends to be more of an "ace in the hole" kind of technique, considering her injury; most people would think her completely unable to aim conventional firearms.