Katina

Age: 25
Sex: Female
Species: Fox
Origin: Unknown, other than Lylatian
Height: 5' 6"
Eye Color: Turquoise
Fur Color: White
Affiliation: Shadow Fox
Current Position: Close combat specialist and assassin
Radio Callsign: Assassin
Special Traits: Master acrobat, supernatural agility, concealed cybernetic assassination blade, knowledge of various poisons and their effects
Attire: Waist length, white hooded cloak, short sleeve white shirt, white pants
Identifying Characteristics: Her right arm, from the shoulder all the way down is cybernetic and is covered in a metal gauntlet. Always seen wearing pure white, some have equated her as appearing angelic because of this.
Weapons: L 26 silent blaster, combat knife, assassination blade (cybernetic)
Vehicles: M 110 Sahlus
Notes of Interest: Katina is based on the protagonist of the game Assassin's Creed and draws many elements from that character, though she has 'evolved' quite differently. She was also based on information about the character over a year before the game was released, and is likely more similar to the earlier incarnations of the character than the final one seen in the game.

History: The most enigmatic member of Shadow Fox, even more so than Crystal, little is known about Katina. Though her friends on the team know the more about her than other people she has met and befriended over time, there are a number of things even they don't know. Why she reveals so little about herself is as much a mystery as anything else about her, though it is likely a combination of factors, from personal security reasons, ie the less her enemies know about her, the less they can do to get at her, internal fear caused by actions in the past she might not be very proud of, and a need to maintain the secrecy of those she's worked with in the past.

What is known about the vixen is that she comes from a clan of assassins, a clan so secretive and elusive that many have equated them to the ancient ninja clans of the medieval era. However, this clan was no group of cold blooded killers who would strike down anyone for a thrill, nor would they sell their services as guns for hire. They were a group who traveled the Lylat System and elsewhere in the galaxy, employing their skills in stealth, concealment, and killing against those in positions of authority who would abuse their powers and fall into decadence and corruption. Anyone who held power, be it administrative power of government, law enforcement authority, military leadership...basically anyone who held any sort of authority and power over other people, people whom they are meant to serve and protect, were the targets of Katina's clan.

They were a group of silent, unknown avengers...assassins who 'balanced out' the forces of corruption that festered in regions of the galaxy. They were the silent blades and bullets who would fight for the people who could not fight for themselves. From emperors to mayors, from generals to sergeants, anyone who dared betray their people would fall to their strikes.

Katina trained and traveled with her clan much of her life, finely honing her skills not only in the art of killing, but in the areas of acrobatics, stealth, speed, and subterfuge. Her mind and body became one, allowing her to react with inhuman speed to anything, from soldiers armed with rifles to knife wielding street thugs. She could move with such grace and agility, many of those who have seen her in combat (and survived, mostly by not directly attacking her) equate her motions as if she were flying rather than moving along the ground. Equally proficient with a pistol, a knife, and her bare hands, she could strike down any attacker, even multiple attackers in mere seconds.

She first met Vasili Ilyushin roughly three years before the Shadow Fox team was formed. They met at the infamous Waffle Shack near the Corneria City Spaceport late one night not long after Katina had eliminated her most recent target, a Cornerian military general who had been working 'behind the scenes' for several years to stage a military coup de tat. Vasili, who sat beside the assassin at the lunch counter of the restaurant started up simple small talk with her, though before too long soldiers of the Cornerian Army looking for the suspect involved in killing the general arrived.

Thinking up a quick ruse, Vasili told Katina to act as if she were heavily intoxicated; since the Waffle Shack was a place frequented by bar patrons after the bars closed down for the night, seeing such intoxicated people there was nothing out of the ordinary. Keeping her head down both to act drunk and conceal her face, Vasili led Katina out of the diner and onto the streets of Corneria City, with none of the soldiers inside being any the wiser.

The duo's luck would run out soon after though, as a much sharper witted Cornerian Army Capitan would encounter them on the street, and asked to see Katina's face, which she had hidden beneath the hood of her waist length cloak. Knowing their cover was seconds from being blown, the duo made a preemptive strike at the captain. The captain was ready though, and managed to hold his own for a while. In the midst of the fight, Katina managed to get behind the captain, and while he was focused on Vasili, she struck him from behind. A long, thin blade materialised from Katina's forearm and found its mark in the captain's neck. He choked only once, then fell to the ground dead. As the captain fell, Vasili stood back and watched as Katina cleaned the blood from her blade, then retracted it back into her cybernetic arm. The vixen then knelt down, and with two fingers she closed the eyes of the fallen captain, such an act being a very distinguishing characteristic of her method of assassination.

From there, the duo headed to the embassy of the New Republic of Zipherium, where they could take refuge for the night. In her travels, Katina had met and befriended several Zipherium people and even worked along side them. With this and the knowledge of the diplomatic immunities that embassies had, they made haste for the embassy. While there, they were able to get a decent meal and sleeping quarters for the night, but the Cornerians weren't done with them yet.

The Cornerian Army barged into the embassy, demanding the Zipheriums turn over the two foxes. The Zipheriums vehemently refused, and in doing so invoked the ire of the Cornerians, who immediately attacked. The Zipheriums responded in kind, and as they and the Cornerians fought, Vasili and Katina slipped away by boarding a Zipherium Navy frigate known as the Maryalis. The Maryalis fled into space and while it made a short hyperspace jump away from Lylat, the Cornerian Navy quickly followed them. On returning to realspace, the Maryalis and the Cornerian Navy quickly engaged in combat.

In an attempt to support his new found Zipherium allies, Vasili inquired of the Maryalis' commander, Captain Dalin, if the ship carried any starfighters. It did not, save for a lone starfighter used mainly for armed reconnaissance. Knowing it would be enough, Vasili and Katina headed for the small hanger of the Maryalis. On arriving, they convinced the mechanic Rolkani to let them take the starfighter, a model known as the Sahlus into combat. The mechanic agreed, and the duo strapped into the fighter, with Vasili at the controls and Katina on the turret gun.

Charging into battle, Vasili immediately headed for the flagship of the Cornerian battle group, the battleship Invincible. Wanting to prove just how poor an idea it was to name a ship that, Vasili destroyed the Invincible's shield generators which allowed the Maryalis to first disable then destroy the Invincible. Vasili then set his crosshairs on the next ship, a battlecruiser. However, the Maryalis, which had been fighting multiple ships by itself was beginning to sustain heavy damage and might not last long enough for Vasili to destroy its shield generators.

The Maryalis didn't need to hold out though, as seconds later several Cerinian ships, two battlecruisers and a battlecarrier among them suddenly dropped out of hyperspace and drove off the Cornerian Navy. With the immediate threat gone, Katina and Vasili returned to the Maryalis, where they and Captain Dalin would meet with Commander Moras, the leader of the Cerinian Fleet. It was during this meeting that Katina and Vasili would forge their friendship and alliance with the Cerinians, and a few years later, this friendship would lead the Shadow Fox team to their first mission, this time bringing Katina to the assistance of the Cerinians.

****
Katina: Team Shadow Fox: Assassin and CQB specialist


All due credit to Ninendo where applicable. Everything else copyright to me and Clockwork
Drawing by Emeraltana