Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Lady Maria

"I am not afraid... I was born to do this."

-Lady Maria

Lady Maria is the commando of the Sisters Of Battle, the sub-faction of the Grey Steel Order. This unit is planned to be voiced by.

History
"Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Dona eis requiem sempiternam."

-Lady Maria about to slay a group of legionnaires.

In 1919 V.C., the Lord Marshall of the Order, Lord Eli Constantine, lay dying, a festering wound from the trenches having wasted a once-impressive figure to a gaunt, hallucinating ruin of a man. As the last rites were administered while he drifted in and out of consciousness, his eyes suddenly snapped open, and he described a prophecy in great detail to the scribes and priests surrounding his deathbed.

In 1948 V.C., the patron saint of the Order, Joan of Arc, would return to Gaiaterra and be reincarnated as a child born in the midst of "Heavenfall". The child's parents would be infidels, but the child would be rescued from them and grow to be one of the pillars to lead the Order. This child was destined, he said, to slay the Anti-Christ that the cult waited for. As the life faded from his eyes, he described that the child would be born of the greatest enemy of the Order, but that their father would not be a warrior.

Over the next few decades, the greatest theological minds of the Order struggled to decrypt the meaning of the Lord Marshall's words. Did the Order have enemies that did not fight? What did "Heavenfall" mean? Why would a Saint be reincarnated, and to infidels of all people? Nevertheless, the Order kept faith that the prophecy would be fulfilled. As 1948 V.C. came, they waited with bated breath for their prophecy to come true. Instead of salvation, however, 1948 V.C. seemed to bring only despair.

Two years prior, in Kalimdor, famed oil baron, multi-millionaire, and philanthropist Muayid Kanasani received terrible news. His brother's plane had been destroyed on a return flight from T'au, where he had been negotiating a business deal for him with an up-and-coming coalition of corporations called the Lumeris Syndicate. The plane's wreckage had been found in Turkey, where it had been determined that the plane had been shot down, and then all survivors of the crash landing were killed. Using every connection he could, Kanasani eventually discovered the Grey Steel Order and their agenda.

The plane was carrying an agent of the Heralds that the Order hunted, and so it had been destroyed to send a message to them. Enraged that anyone would do such a thing, Kanasani called his contact in the Syndicate and hired a massive force of Legionnaires, ordering them to arrest or kill this "Grey Steel Order", resulting in the Second Siege of Hawk's Perch.

In the aftermath of the siege, agents of the Order tracked Kanasani down to his home, breaking in on Christmas day. As Kanasani read his newspaper in his sitting room, a Rogue's arrow struck him down, followed shortly by his wife. As the Rogue and Templar Lord turned to leave, they heard the crying of an infant from within the room. Fearful that she would expose them to the servants, the Rogue turned to silence the child.

As he brought back his knife and whispered a prayer for forgiveness, the Templar Lord saw through the window a shower of meteors streaking across the sky. Remembering the prophecy, the Templar Lord stopped the Rogue and instead bundled the child up and took her with them. The child was christened Maria, Lady of the Order.

Maria's life was one of austerity. The Order rarely had female warriors outside of the Sisters Of Battle, and few in the Order were sure how to treat her. During her early life, she was isolated from all but a few veteran Crusaders inside the Talon, and her instructors were strict. Taking refuge in her faith, Lady Maria hated the Order she grew up in almost as much as she hated the Heralds.

Though the prophecy states she was to lead the Order, she was originally planned to be used as little more than a pawn, a symbol to be paraded about for the morale of the footmen. Finally, in 1988 V.C., Maria began to gather a retinue of sympathetic individuals in the bishopric and then struck out on her own with half of the Order of Temple, which were her sentinels from the very beginning of her training. If the Lord Marshall or any archbishop wanted her help, she told them, they would no longer be able to order her. They would have to ask. Politely.

Lady Maria was a gifted and fearless fighter, and probably one of the best duelists to have ever lived. Her skill with a blade is almost unmatched; she can weave a pattern of destruction across the battlefield, protected by a fine suit of Talon Steel, her movement enhanced with clockwork joints. Those fortunate enough to have seen her in battle and survived have noted her uncanny resemblance to an avenging angel, with shining halo and silver wings. Despite her archaic way of fighting, she is one of the deadliest people on the planet, and she has proven time and time again that she will let nothing stand in her way.

Trivia

 * Lady Maria's full plate armour is actually "full plate". A nod to Lady Maria distates armour worn by female characters baring part such as midriffs and because such armour wouldn't thematically fit with the straight-laced and conservative Grey Steel Order (aside from the Sisters Repentia).

Guardians of the Tacitus

 * Tanya Adams (Aquila)
 * Lee Ferguson
 * Marian Hawke
 * Colonel Burton
 * Muradin Bronzebeard (Alliance)
 * Naestra and Arahan
 * Trevelyan and Wotjek
 * Emily Gunther
 * Ghost Stalker (ADI)
 * Frank Fullerton
 * Nick "Havoc" Parker
 * Alisa "Valkyrie" Reinford
 * Eustace (Protectorate)
 * Alarialle The Radiant
 * Motoko Kusanagi
 * Yuriko Omega
 * Frank Jaeger (Andora)
 * Amiri
 * Lindsay
 * Rinoa Heartilly
 * Charlotta Fenia (Empire)
 * Black Lotus
 * Elsword and Rene Erindel
 * Elesis
 * Shinja (Community)
 * Nika
 * Kenji
 * Alette

Destroyers of Balthazar

 * Aranea Highwind and Chitzkoi (Voshkod)
 * Natasha Bikov
 * Yunru
 * Alisaie Leveilleur
 * Kronya (Brotherhood)
 * Adam Smasher
 * Shamir Nevrand
 * Valeera Sanguinar
 * Maiev Shadowsong (MLA)
 * Almeida
 * Elisande
 * Narmaya
 * Thrall (Horde)
 * Vol'jin
 * Rexxar
 * Garona Halforcen
 * Yuri Prime (Collective)
 * Malekith
 * Libra
 * Sylvanas Prime
 * Pirena (Encantadia)
 * Amihan
 * Alena
 * Danaya
 * Prodigy (Scrin)
 * Exterminator
 * Mastermind
 * Seducer

Neutrals

 * Thorgrim Grudgebearer (Coalition)
 * Apollo Diomedes
 * Giacomo Giamba
 * Captain Titus
 * Valkia the Bloody (Heralds)
 * Sigvald The Magnificent
 * Ahzek Ahriman
 * Morghur The Shadowgave
 * Lady Maria (Order)
 * Castellan Crowe
 * Ezio Auditore da Firenze
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Courier Six (Survivors)
 * Dixie
 * Umagon
 * Artyom
 * Minerva (Syndicate)
 * Kais
 * Ikit Claw
 * Shadowsun
 * Malver (Conglomerate)
 * Farsight
 * Isara Gunther
 * Flayn/Cethleann

DLC

 * ... (Federation)
 * ... (Corona)
 * ... (Party)
 * ... (Skynet)
 * ... (Dominion)
 * ... (Elemental)
 * ... (Autocracy)
 * ... (League)
 * ... (Legion)
 * ... (Swarm)
 * ... (Pirates)
 * ... (Elona)
 * ... (Ascalia)
 * ... (Confederation)
 * ... (Kingdom)
 * ... (Goo)
 * ... (Community)
 * ... (Security)
 * ... (Imperium)
 * ... (Dynasty)
 * ... (Warlords)
 * ... (Cult)
 * ... (Raiders)
 * ... (Theocracy)
 * ... (ASA)
 * ... (Insurgents)
 * ... (Bastion)
 * ... (Guardians)
 * ... (Hierarchy)
 * ... (Sundered)
 * ... (Ecumene)
 * ... (Concordat)
 * ... (Contingent)
 * ... (Rangers)
 * ... (Eden)
 * ... (InGen)
 * ... (Hallows)
 * ... (Commnune)
 * ... (Encantadia)