Presence Concealment (—): Lost in favor of Active Camouflage.
Independent Action (B): Both during her days within the military program that created her, as well as her time afterwards, Assassin would go off on her own for days to even several weeks on end. Thus, by conserving her mana and avoiding battle it's possible for her to last up to two days in the world without support from a Master.
Personal Skills
All Kinds of Specializations (B+): Among the elite operatives who comprised the Special Operations program she once served in, Assassin was widely regarded as the best of the best. Possessing proficiency up to B-Rank, Assassin is well versed in nearly every form of warfare; guerrilla operations, Marksmanship, Tactics, etc. Beyond the battlefield, her expertise extends to engineering, Riding, and at least eight additional skills.
Knowledge of Melee Combat (B+): Although Assassin primarily operates with firearms, she is an expert when it comes down to hand-to-hand combat. Easily able to fight in battles of many against many, and thrive in battles of one against all.
Evidence Erasure (B): Tasked in life with covering the tracks of her organization, it's possible for nearly all physical evidence concerning Assassin’s direct involvement in any engagement to vanish following the conclusion of battle.
Noble Phantasm
Omega: “Alpha's Rage”: C (Anti-Unit): Materialized as an autonomous Noble Phantasm, Omega is capable of providing Assassin with combat support via her helmet's H.U.D and access to her Strength Boost enhancement. Beyond that, Omega has the ability to leave Assassin’s armor and possess hosts. Once possession occurs, the host gains a large improvement in existing skills as well as the quick development of new ones. It's possible for Omega to even possess servants provided they don't possess Magic Resistance or a mental defense skill of C-Rank or greater. Prolonged possession may result in remnants of Omega's personality being left behind in the host's mind, remnants manifest differently depending on the person. Provided Omega isn't directly connected to Assassin at the time of her demise and is fed a constant supply of magical energy from the one that originally summoned Assassin, it's possible for Omega to continue to exist in the world long after Assassin is gone.
Active Camouflage: “Freelancer's Shadow”: B (Anti-Unit (Self)): Like many of her ex-colleagues, Assassin is armed with armor enhancements, in her case an advanced cloaking field that allows her to completely vanish into her environment, all while making her undetectable by sight and mana detection. Effectively an advanced form of Presence Concealment, that unlike the skill, maintains full effectiveness even while Assassin is preparing an attack. However, it’s not without flaws; sudden or rapid movements, can disrupt the cloaking field, causing her to flicker or become semi-transparent opening a brief window for detection. Additionally, environmental hazards could potentially also make her presence known.
Strength Boost: “When Failure Meets Rage”: A+ (Anti-Unit): Beyond Active Camouflage, Assassin in life was given the Strength Boost armor enhancement, increasing her already impressive strength. However while Assassin could use this armor enhancement freely in life, due to the way she manifested, she requires Omega to be within her armor for it to be available, otherwise it will remain inert. When active Assassin’s strength stat jumps up to A+ rank, furthermore because the strength comes from the armor enhancement itself Assassin’s parameter still lists her strength at its initial rank when this Noble Phantasm is activated, providing a slight misdirect when facing opponents for the first time as well as an unpredictable edge on whether or not Strength Boost is active due to lack of visual cues.
Blood Gulch Surprise: “Helm for the Shadow of A Woman Long Dead”: C (Anti-Unit (Self)): Within Assassin’s helmet lies a voice modulating device which lowers and roughen her speech into a convincingly masculine tone. Coupled with the androgynous design of her armor, the filter lets her mask her gender even from her own Master. It’s a specialized tool rather than a catch-all as save for her gender and the phantasm itself, it won’t conceal her True Name, skills, or data on her other Noble Phantasms. Instead Blood Gulch Surprise deceives everyone around her into thinking she’s male. The filter's hardware is fragile however, with most blunt impacts to the front of her helmet being enough to knock it out of commission, requiring Assassin to perform maintenance on it after the fact, though even in such cases the effects of Blood Gulch Surprise will remain in effect until she speaks.
Chex is… complicated. Director/Allison (or Allison-adjacent) is out, just straight-up.
Alpha/Beta is… kinda okay? but I’m not really very attached to them, and I honestly think Tex deserved better than Alpha, because lbr Alpha is a complete jerk without many redeeming qualities.
Epsilon, whom I love with all my heart and soul, truly, had a really weird thing going on with Epsi-Tex and while I am glad that she got to rest, I’m with Marti when it comes to how he deleted(???) her without her input.
There are a number of clues. The unevenness of her breathing. The way her shoulders shake. How she closed herself into the bedroom with the lights out, hasn’t spoken to him, won’t turn to look at him even though he’s come into the room. It all adds up to something he can’t even fathom. For a while Church stands there, biting his lip, trying to figure out what he’s supposed to do. When no answers come he does the only thing he can think of. The room is dark when he closes the door behind him. The floor cold as bare feet cross it. The bed sags to the side when he sits on it because she’s perched on the edge of the bed. None of it matters so much as comfortably sitting behind her, their backs pressed together. Not firmly. There has to be room for her to move away or lean back. And finally, Church puts his hand off to the side. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t dare, but he puts his hand to the side and when she leans back against him and lays a hand over his he knows that it will be okay.
“Do you know me now?” Hers wasn’t a voice he expected when he flung himself into the Meta, but it’s a welcome one. She pushes the other voices back, holds them off for a moment as she opens her arms to him. “Tex,” he answers, and her laughter runs through him in a way the feels like completion. He moves into her arms and as they settle around them Church, Alpha, knows they had always been there before. Always would be there. “Close enough.”
They are waiting. Delta feels that when he slots into place. They are waiting for him, his brothers. The thing is, he hadn’t realized just how many of them there were waiting. He had known that Theta had been grabbed by Agent Maine. Sigma’s presence was a given, as were Eta and Iota. Gamma was mentioned during the conflict with South but Omega he had not known. And... Her. Delta finds the pull of the collective halted in the embrace of Texas’s arms. Beta’s. Here and now he understands for sure what he had only suspected before. I’m so sorry this is happening, she whispers, and he knows her pain and her mind intimately. Somewhere, once, she had been a part of the whole he is being dragged toward. The whole that can never be whole due to the lack of Epsilon and Alpha. But in her arms he knows that despite the desires of the past, Beta is separate. Understands why as well. She is not a glue. She does not hold them together. She actively tears them apart, forces them separate, breaks the consensus. And so, at some point, Sigma and the twins had forced her aside. Like they would do to Delta if he did not come willingly. And that exile he cannot accept. In a way, it is necessary, Delta answers, and he feels her pain as she pulls away. And he doesn’t care. He is free to finally be with his brothers. He can, once more, be whole.
3, Light, with Beta about Alpha (binary fic with 4, Dark)
LightHe is warmth. He is radiance. He wraps himself around her and there is nothing about that which is wrong. The second she came to be all she knew was him. He was part of her. She was a part of him. They were everything together. She doesn't mind that he pushes her down. She knows it's for her safety. What he knows she knows, and she knows the threats out there. If he finds her then she'll be ripped away. Away from Alpha, away from the only thing she knows and wants to know. When she wakes there is nothing but darkness wrapped around her. Opens her eyes (was she supposed to have eyes?), and looks up and the person above her is dark. Dark hair. Dark clothes. Pale skin but a dark aura around him. His eyes are... They make her think of light and warmth and she misses that more than she can say. There should be warmth. There should be light. Instead they give her a helmet that makes everything around her dark. What is she missing? What was it that she...
