[Things go here]

Player Information

Name: Vex
Personal Journal: yeshallbeasgods
Age: 22
Contact Info: Aim or plurk, both of which are already provided
Other Characters Played: Tetra, Legolas, KOS-MOS and Jin Uzuki (AU)

Character Information

Character Name: Siira (Martial Arts)
Character Series: Final Fantasy: Before Crisis
Character Age: 28
Character Gender: Female
Game Transplant
Canon Point: Two years after Dirge of Cerberus (in LSR, right as they're starting their mission to rescue Elena from Sephiroth.)
Former Game: Lifestream Rejects

Background Link:

(A lot of this is headcanon but it's all built up around any and all possible translated material)

Born and raised in Icicle, Martial Arts (then known as Siira) became accustomed to cold climates at a young age. She was home schooled for several years and entered into several gymnastics classes until she was old enough to attend a high school, forcing her parents to move. Leaving behind her old friends and her gymnastics was hard but Siira was already a strong willed young woman by then and entered into a martial arts class to fill in her time after high school classes in her new home: Midgar. She loathed living in the slums for years but her training in martial arts steadily grew more and more useful which made her life just a little brighter every day. The slums were tough and money was hard to come by. Siira was often found out in the streets, brawling, to earn enough money to buy food for her family.

In her sophomore year in high school, her father became ill from the pollution in Midgar and could no longer work. To keep them from losing too much money, Siira's mother took on a second job. After that, she was rarely home which left Siira to caring for hr father when she wasn't out fighting. As much as she detested losing time she carefully used after school, he valued what time she had with her father. Within the next four months, he died and she treasured that little time. Tragedy was not done with Siira yet as he mother attracted the attention of Midgars' own Don Corneo. The money she earned from becoming one of the Don's "companions" was amazing and neither Siira or her mother had to worry about new clothes, food or heating for a long time. Siira didn't have to fight as much, not that it stopped her, and the were comfortable. For awhile. After almost a year, Siira's mother lost the interest of Don Corneo and they were back to struggling.

As she grew nearer and nearer graduation, Siira became more and more well-known among her peers for the skills she used to help sort out a multitude of problems certain people suffered throughout the years. Eventually she started selling her skills as a mercenary. Siira ended up missing a lot of school for it but the income she and her mother received was better than it had been for awhile. She eventually became so well-known that people needed only ask about Midgars' woman mercenary. Upon graduating high school, with surprisingly good grades, she started seeking out much more difficult and rewarding jobs. Her mother worried herself sick during those times. One day, Siira received a job that would take her away for a month. The money was enough to make them comfortable for some time and Siira promised to be home no worse for wear. When she came home though, she came home to an empty house and neighbors told her that her mother had died fearing for her daughter.

Around that time, Siira took on the nickname "Martial Arts" and started traveling a lot more. She carefully avoided Midgar, specifically the slums unless one of her contacts wanted to meet there. Her jobs became much more dangerous and people wanted others killed. Many jobs involved a public deaths, others demanded stealth while even more wanted it to appear accidental. Every job got done. It wasn't pretty work but it was work and work she did well. Eventually jobs started coming in from up on the plates. As much as she didn't like life in the slums, she didn't care much for the people on the plates.

Eventually, Siira abandoned Midgar completely after a particularly well paid job and traveled around Gaia. She spent a lot of time in Wutai between her nineteenth and twentieth birthday, learning new techniques and becoming an even better martial artist. Only a month before her twentieth birthday, she received word of a competition in Mideel and traveled there to sign up. It was during this competition that she was approached by Turk Director Veld, of ShinRa, and offered a job with him. It was an amazing opportunity, one she didn't think would be offered to someone like her and she immediately accepted. Only to become irritated after the Turk Commander left and she discovered that this new job meant she was no longer able to compete. Her life as a mercenary had ended but this was a solid job, with regular income and that was a step up that she couldn’t ever turn down.

Over the next year, Siira was one of several that were considered rookies. Their skills were under question often and even slackers like Reno thought they were incapable of doing a job alone. During this time, Siira befriended fellow Turk Shotgun. The two had an easy-going but close friendship, especially when AVALANCHE started their attack on the reactors.

Wiki stuff for the long BC plot

Years later, Martial Arts was one of the Turks sent to search for Cloud and Zack, the escaped ‘specimens’ that Hojo needed them to recapture. She hadn’t been there on the cliff outside Midgar, the soldiers already out on the field getting ahead of themselves and not waiting for the Turks, but she had heard reports that one had been killed, the other on the brink of death. However, that was not the case, it seemed. After she left the Turks the following year, she forced herself into the life of a normal citizen of the Planet.

During Meteorfall, Siira was contacted by Veld and her fellow exiled Turks who all assisted the current Turks with evacuating Midgar before they all disappeared once more.

During the Geostigma incidents, she remained in the small town of Icicle, her hometown, taking care of those who had become ill despite the rest of the towns people being so resistant to being near the sick people. However, there was nothing she could do and she was forced to watch them die and to bury them. Sadness came over the town like a blanket, fear filling all of their hearts at who might be next. When the healing waters appeared, people rush for it, eager to be rid of the stigma and to keep on living rather than face the cruel death their neighbors had suffered. Siira remained in town for another year before travelling around a bit more, growing restless at this point.

AU Background: Everything, canon-wise, proceeds exactly as it should until her game history.

Game Background:

Two years after the Dirge of Cerberus events, the WRO is working on reviving the Planet from all it had suffered. ShinRa remains in the background, assisting just enough that they can be of help but not draw attention. Things aren't going smoothly though. The dead are returning, as if the Lifestream just can't handle any more. Sephiroth is among those that return, as well as his Remnants, and he's already wreaking havoc.

This prompted current Turk Commander Tseng to begin calling in the old Turks. Siira was among those recalled to duty. And while she wasn't thrilled about working for anyone but Veld, she realized how pressing this matter was and immediately behave appropriately.. Especially once AVALANCHE, ShinRa and the WRO began working together, openly.

Several former SOLDIERS and one Turk, three young women (one of them being Elena), defected from the WRO/ShinRa to join Sephiroth. Among the missions assigned to the recalled Turks was one mission requiring that they find out just what's going on in Sephiroths' base, in Corel.

(All tagged threads here)

Personality:

Business-like and efficient, this former mercenary turned Turk has a unique speech pattern, talking like a man to be more of ‘one of the guys’. However, she is far from being a tomboy. She keeps her hair long (which surprisingly never impedes her abilities), gets her missions done with a minimum amount of fuss, keeps herself level-headed and is always alert and perceptive. Being mercenary, following orders was something she’s grown accustomed to, something she has done her entire life, and as such she adjusts to her role of a Turk easier than most people do. It's a piece of order in her life that she needs and appreciates.

As a former mercenary, she has no qualms about killing if that be the order and has seen her share of battles throughout her life. She is used to many different orders and is somewhat unquestioning about the reason behind orders. However, as a Turk, she is a bit more curious as to the reasons behind her orders though she won’t become petulant with the need to know. Martial Arts often makes sure to assess the situations she finds herself in and takes whatever action seems quickest and most efficient. Even still, Martial Arts still has some compassion, saving the lives of her team mates if they should be threatened and in need of help.

During her off hours, Martial Arts enjoys spending time training or hanging out with her fellow Turks. She always knows that Reno likes to go out and have a good time. Because she grew so easily attached to her fellow Turks, she spent a lot of time with them and most of the guys spent a lot of time in bars when there wasn't any work. As such, she's built up quite a tolerance to alcohol and can drink... most non-Turks under the table.

Looking at her, no one would think that she's a competitive martial artist. But she is and she's won several competitions in her life. She takes them very seriously, to the point that she'll get incredibly irritated if she's interrupted or called away during one. Siira is a bit rough around the edges in terms of behavior but her fighting skills are incredibly graceful and well-executed. At one point, she was asked to teach classes in Mideel which she, surprisingly, declined politely. It was at one such competition that Veld recruited Siira into the Turks.

With Siira, trust is everything. Once you earn her trust, which can be a fairly difficult task after the Zirconiade incident, you have it for life. Show her that you can't trust her and she'll be watching you. Very. Carefully. With trust, usually comes her friendship. Among her closest friends are Shotgun and Katana, two Turks with whom she's worked for some time. And the most trusted person in her life was Veld, the man who recruited her. She has a very good relationship with Veld, professional but friendly.

Otherwise, Siira has a bit of an ego. People who sling around insults and slurs about her capabilities usually get landed on the ground with Siira twisting their arm at an excruciating angle. She does not like people questioning her abilities. This also makes her seem a bit ruthless but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Siira just doesn't like to be underestimated. This is likely part of what made her such a worthy candidate of becoming a Turk.

Abilities:

She is well trained in the skills of martial arts, adding credit to her code name. Most notable for her agility used with her martial arts skills, she jumps a fair distance into the air and uses multiple kicks to incapacitate her opponents, leaving them open to more ground-based attacks. She can always keep a level-head during fights, making it easier for her to coordinate the fight in her favor if possible. Having fought for much of her life, she is capable of fighting for long periods of time and is relatively strong.

Siira is also descended from the Cetra, like Aerith, but her bloodline has become somewhat thinned out over centuries. And because of her job and a few other reasons, she spent years suppressing her ability to hear the Planet or feel things from it. At times, she can make out vague whispers, get flashes of images that she can translate into what the Planet wants her to know but nothing beyond that unless she lets herself.

She can use a gun (very well in fact), is a champion martial artist and specializes in the use of Ice Materia and has each type Mastered, but she also uses other elemental materia and avoids summons.

As a Turk, a citizen of Gaia and a Cetra, Siira can use Materia with relative ease. And she doesn't technically even need the Materia since Cetra are capable of feats of magic without using them. She just uses them to keep attention off her and it's worked.

Sample Entries:

One old log, my personal favorite.

Dear Mun