Gunnhild the Horse

Gunnhild the Horse is the heir to a reasonably well-known media dynasty, and a cadet training at the G.U.N Powered Trooper training facility to the south of Westopolis with the intent of becoming a powered armored paratrooper. A rather impulsive lady that joined G.U.N. on the suggestion of her twin brother, the young Fjord horse has proven herself to be reliable enough to prosper in the academy.

Appearance

Somewhat stout and clearly toned from her training, Gunnhild is often regarded by others around as being somewhat exotic due to her unusual appearance for a resident of the United Federation, as the Fjord horse "breed" is more common in colder ares.

Fairly typical in coloration for a Fjord horse, Gunnhild is a pale chestnut color over the vast majority of her body, with her exposed skin showing up as a light tan, while a dark stripe of chestnut fur runs from her neck to her tailbone along her spine. Similarly, her hair has been stylized into a mohawk with the natural two-toned colors clearly on display, with a central stripe of brown corresponding with the chestnut stripe down her back, while the sides are marked out in creamy blonde. It has been commented that it is rare for Gunnhild to lack a smile or an excited look in her green eyes when there's any chance for action.

Attire

Despite her appearances out of the Academy being few and far between, and her on-site appearance being in the standard fatigues of all G.U.N. fatigues, Gunnhild has a taste for simplistic clothing. When off duty, Gunnhild typically wears a grey and white checked hooded jacket and blue jeans with a plain black set of sneakers; though she maintains a fairly extensive collection of activewear as well for her adrenaline-junkie habits.

Armor

As with most Paratrooper cadets, Gunnhild has been assigned a Soldier-type Battle Armor. While this is atypical for recruits overall; this is simply because the powered armor optimized for cadets is unable to be upgraded with the standard internal upgrades for aerial combat use.

As an exoskeletal powered armor, Gunnhild's armor assists her strength, speed and durability fairly extensively with the well-shaped body panelling. The faceplate of the helmet is a roughly 50/50 split between visor and armored sections, with the recruit standard being a faintly mirrored silver visor inset into the night camouflage pattern of mottled greys and black. The backplate and boots are both styled differently to normal, in order to incorporate a thrust vectoring array into the suit for aerial use - while not quite capable of making the soldiers fly without assistance, these can assist the paratroopers in deployment and repositioning. While these quiet jets are fairly reliable, there is also a compact emergency parachute built in to the backplate as well, just in case.

As a cadet, Gunnhild's armor lacks any personalized markings or rank symbols, simply instead displaying the crest of the academy and of G.U.N itself.

History

Youth

A member of a rather wealthy media bloodline within the United Federation, Gunnhild and her twin brother Ragnar were both well loved and doted upon by their parents and grandparents. This meant lots of gifts and attention, but as the older twin, Gunnhild found herself attracting more attention. Combining that with her outgoing and impulsive nature, and as they grew older it spelled trouble for Ragnar, as his twin was clearly the favored heir, and something about that made his blood boil.

Adventures to the Academy

Around the time they turned thirteen, each of the twins had starkly different personalities. Where Ragnar was bookish, quiet and brooding, Gunnhild was outgoing, sporty and charismatic, often crossing over into loud. Sure enough, it was not hard for her twin to start giving the rather excitable young horse ideas. First, there was the skiing trip, where he pushed her to go for the hardest slopes and biggest tricks. Then came the snorkeling, where he tried to encourage her to dive deeper to see more beautiful sights. He encouraged all of her pranks and stunts, especially the ones that were highly risky, nothing he'd ever attempt himself. He always claimed it was because she was braver and stronger than him; and Gunnhild lapped up the praise and compliments, always feeling her twin had her best interests at heart.

Then, when she turned sixteen, Ragnar pulled some strings to get her a skydiving lesson from a less-than-reputable school, claiming it was for an upcoming news piece about the joys of skydiving. Of course she had no reason not to trust her beloved twin, she signed on. Sure enough, there was rather stupid risks involved - the plane and spare parachute were both in poor condition, and the jump instructor seemed intoxicated, but not only was her jump successful; it was a hook and a high that Gunnhild had never felt. She craved more and more. She tried bungee jumping, at Ragnar's suggestion, but nothing had the same level of high. She needed the rush of true freefall; the jolt of the parachute opening... she was completely addicted.

Shortly after her seventeenth birthday, Ragnar handed her a pamphlet talking about the military paratrooper corps, and it was almost like he could see her excitement grow in an instant. Despite the rest of her family being fairly reserved at the idea of their eldest child signing her life away for an adrenaline high, Gunnhild held fast and signed up.

Abilities

A rather well-known adrenaline junkie, Gunnhild is a fairly experienced skydiver and bungee jumper, while also having experience with high-speed driving and more. However, she has always had a taste for skydiving, unusually for an equine Mobian, which in turn led her to signing up as a Powered Paratrooper cadet. Since beginning her training, she has become almost addicted to using the thrust vectoring system in her armor while falling, the rush of no-chute dropping giving her a new high.

As a horse, Gunnhild has incredible strength in her legs, and that has carried over into her close-quarters training. While she carries the same general-issue utility-combat knife as most powered paratroopers with some vague ability to use it in combat, Gunnhild has really emphasized her abilities in the mixed martial art most G.U.N. soldiers get trained in. Combined with the extra muscular strength of her powered armor, Gunnhild's kicks are terrifyingly strong. Due to this, she has added in a wide variety of low kicks, floor sweeps as well as roundhouse kicks into that fighting style, reducing her upper body strikes in response.

While her armor has not been modified for venting purposes, Gunnhild also has some basic degree of training in the manipulation of plants. In her case, while she can induce growth in plant life around her, Gunnhild is mostly known for synthesizing powdered pollens and spores capable of forcing a person to sleep. This skill is one she has not been known for utilizing.

As a cadet, Gunnhild has been trained to shoot many forms of firearms, with her current kit including an assault rifle and pistol. However, due to her lack of actual field combat (or a spot in one of the ten divisions), she has not really shown any aptitude towards this.

Like all powered troopers, Gunnhild has a weakness to Fire and Electrical elemental attacks, as well as Magnetic techniques. She also has some degree of risk involved in confronting those skilled in manipulating Wind, though this is really only in play while she is dropping.

Personality

A total adrenaline junkie, Gunnhild has no real concept of "risk" in actions. If she feels like doing something will be fun, she will do it, no matter how much people tell her otherwise. This adrenaline addiction has led to quite a few close calls with her powered armor, as well as quite a few medical visits when the risks don't always pay off. Indeed, Gunnhild cares very little for her family's money and fame, mostly using it to help with getting more time in the skies or another adrenaline hit. She dresses plainly and acts in ways that attempt to trick people into forgetting that she is one of the rich and famous.

Gunnhild is also fairly naive, tied mostly to her lack of self-preservation instinct. As such, while a lot of the things her brother has recommended to her have been dangerous and potentially life-threatening, Gunnhild believes that he is motivated by her best interests; an attempt to find her the greatest highs.

Relationships

Friends

Allies

Rivals

Enemies