Sonya Blade

 How am I doing with Sonya's character? Too hard, too lax, is there something military I'm not getting right (bearing in mind that NRS tends to play fast and loose with military protocol and history). Please leave only constructive criticism or tips.

Player Information

Name:Robin
Age: 34
Contact details: Plurk: Rschwartz501, Discord: Rschwartz501#6755
Other characters: n/a

( application  )

 Sonya lead him through her door. While she said earlier that it was a garage, it was still military based, so it appeared more like a hangar then a normal garage, with its mix of civilian and various military grade vehicles. In truth, Sonya found her door on accident, having meant to walk down to Charlies as a way to pull away from the numerous duties still required of her. She could've grabbed a bite to eat at the Officer's Club, but that would've still left her open to being bothered by superiors.

Charlies was considered 'neutral territory' as far everyone was concerned. Though the man was retired, he hadn't lost the sense of command that came from knocking recruits into shape-he made it clear that business was to stay out of his bar.

"This way," She motioned him forward and towards her own jeep. "It'll be faster if we drive."

If Sonya rolled her eyes any harder she'd swear they'd roll right out of her head. This whole situation with seeking shelter in the rain via a creep, old, dilapidated house was so cliche she wonder if this wasn't some prank from her Ex. This was made all the more better (or worse) but the company with her. Her only silverlining was that none of the men (least, she was assuming papyrus was male) were her enemies.

Ringing out her jacket (and trying not to shiver in the short sleeved sweater), Sonya tried to access the situation they were in: it was storming outside, bad enough that every other minute, thunder would rumble the house, old and dusty as this place was, it was dry. All they needed to do was set up the fire place in what Sonya could only guess was the sitting room and hopefully they'd be able to wait out the storm.

There was a part of her that also wanted to explore, but even she wasn't so 'genre blind' as to risk splitting up in this place. Even if this was just an empty house, no telling what sort of death traps there might be.  Still, they needed some sort of fuel for burning. All she had was some fluid and a way to start a fire, but nothing that wouldn't burn up instantly.

"Anyone want to come with me to find fuel for the fire?" It wasn't completely a question.

After discussing it with Ben (Cassie and Raiden mun) as well as Masqt (Kotal Kahn and Ermac),  and permission from the mods, I've decided to introduce General Sonya Blade into Milliways.

A few things to note,

This Sonya has never been to Milliways, and the events of the Outworld invasion have come around much more differently than the Sonya of the Original timeline, namely, of her allies, only herself and Johnny have survived. After the Outworld war, the Nether realm (Mortal Kombat's version of Hell) attacked, wishing to take advantage before Earthrealm could strength its armies. During the conflict, Sonya and Johnny had to face their former allies brought back as undead zombies, with Raiden's help, they were able to resurrect several of them, but at the time of Sonya's appearance, the rest are still enslaved by dark magic.

I'm using this line as a 'what-if' for Sonya if she hadn't found Milliways when she did. Surviving  two wars, two battles in Outworld that nearly cost her daughter's life have all taken their toll on Sonya's emotional and mental health. She's divorced from her husband of 20 some years, and while she does love her daughter, anti-fraternization and her own inner guilt have prevented  her from opening up emotionally in front of  her.

As of this thread, General Blade is aware of milliways, but as of yet has not been able  to enter the Bar. If your pup is a close friend or has made an impact on the Sonya from Milliways, General Blade will recognize them as in the case of a dream or de ja vue, but won't know their exact shared history.  Otherwise, all she'll know of milliways is the notes Cassie's given her.

There was a stack of papers on the coffee table that Sonya needed to grade. Since earning a doctorate in pre-modern warfare and becoming a professor, she was pretty prompt about grading and keeping track of grades (something that both annoyed and relieved her students at the same time), but today wasn't one of those days.

Instead, she was sitting out on the deck of her and John's condo, watching people enjoy the late afternoon on Venice beach. Tomorrow would've marked the 23rd Anniversary of the end of the Netherrealm war, and 25 years since she'd been pulled back from that literal hell. A month ago, she and John received an invitation to a memorial service to remember those lost, but she couldn't bring herself to accept, not even after all this time, it was still too painful. Once and awhile Jax called her on advice to deal with the Outworld Civil war, but that was as close as she was willing to broach the subject.

She wasn't sure what was worse: the difficulty of coping with what happened, or the residual anger of dragging Johnny and Cassie with her while she couldn't fight off her own demons. She had the sort of life any woman would kill for, but years of therapy couldn't erase the self doubt of what she'd done to deserve them.

The deck was her favorite place to meditate; the white noise a welcomed distraction. Rumor had it that the current emperor would make an appearance at the memorial service, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. In the first few years of therapy, John was always on tender-hooks when the possibility of a trigger made an appearance, and anything to do with Outworld was certainly one of those. Even if the symptoms were more manageable now, the three of them were still careful. Even when Cassie joined the army, John didn't tell her until it was already official, and the deal done.

She looked at her watch. Those papers weren't going to grade themselves, but that meant going inside, and she wasn't quiet ready for that just yet.

She lead the group through her door, leading to the interior of an adobe structured room,  furnished with several sofas, woven rugs and various shelves, with a fireplace at the far end of the room. Even in the dry heat, the fire was still burning, providing a dull sort of light when the electric light on the ceiling was turned off.

The room was by no means empty of people either. Sonya introduced them, choosing to ignore the strange looks her allies gave her. "Everyone, this is Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, my commanding officer, Major Jackson Briggs, and Nightwolf. Guys, these are the friends I told you could help us. The men with us don't speak English except through the headsets you see them wearing.." She reached into the box she had with her and pulled out several more, handing one to Jax, Liu Kang and Nightwolf so they could be understood, explaining their purpose. In the event they were split up, she wanted the others to be able to direct them as well. 

They were minutes to an invasion and she didn't want to waste time with introductions. Jax atleast seemed to understand: he knew better than anyone how difficult it was for her to trust someone as an ally, so she hoped he understood how serious this was.

Nightwolf set the headset in place and nodded. He was seated by the fire, a quiver of arrows by his feet. At first glance, they appeared normal, but Sonya noticed earlier that whenever the light shone on them from a certain angle, they emitted a greenish sort of glow. "Have you explained to them what we're fighting against?" The shaman addressed Sonya, but seemed to speak to her other allies as well: she answered in the positive, before he set a map on the table and invited the others to sit around it.

"The gods have shown me where the Kahn has placed his fortress. " He pointed to an area on the map, connected it to where they were a tthe present time. "Under normal circumstances, it would take days to travel by car, but without knowing it, the Emperor's invasion has given us a tool as well. The same sorcery that's created the portals in the first place, we can use to transport us to the city where he's set up his fortress."

Sonya frowned, an expression shared by her commanding officer.  As far as they were both aware, creating portals took a lot of energy, and if one of them, especially the one who was the closest they had to a sorcerer, was too drained to go on, that would leave them one man short: on the other hand, they didn't have much of a choice either.

The Shaman continued, explaining the rest of the plan a second time, before motioning that it was time to go. "The land we're standing on is sacred to my people, and thus far we've been protected by Kahn's sorcery. That protection leaves as soon as we step over its boundries."

Jax continued from there, clicking his headset to make sure the others understood. "Everyone take what weapons you can handle,  along with essential food and water. Once we've reached the outer territory, keep your eyes open, and if it doesn't look human, shoot..or aim to kill." The second part was aimed to some of the warriors with axes and swords. "Let's go."

The talk of the Outer territory would become obvious as soon as they reached it. Whereas the land around Nightwolf's home had sounds of life, and the sky a usual blue color and cloudy, it seemed that they passed through a fogged barrier, that the sounds of birds had gone, and the sky itself an erie yellow, not sunset but..dead, as though the very life were being drained from the realm. Being that they were in the country, there were few people around to begin with, but in the distance, Sonya could see smoke..and she knew the sound of screaming when she heard it, far off as they were.

Sonya pushed the sick feeling back down, steeling her expression before making sure the others were following her and headed forward. They had a job to do: emotions could wait until later.

A quick look through the door and Sonya led the two of them outside. Stopping immediately, she looked down at herself, letting out a relieved breath with she found herself back in her BDUS:

"Thank fucking god, I'm back to normal." late summer was still fairly warm in North Carolina, and the army tunic was never fun to wear in summer at all, but at this point she could hardly bring herself to care.

Fort Brag itself was full of men and woman in various states of military and civilian clothing. Parked around were a few cars and jeeps, with most of the buildings made from red brick.  Another time and she would've liked to give Ragnar a proper tour, recalling from Athelstan how he enjoyed exploring: now wasn't the time..

"This way..'" Her norse was on the level of a small child, but it would serve for awhile.

She lead him towards a building some feet away. Ragnar's clothing and braid drawing attention, but thankfully most of the other officers and enlisted seemed to have other destinations in mind. To say nothing that they all knew Sonya as an officer that didn't mess around: a enlisted greeted her with a salute, which she returned with a nod, but that was the most they dealt with.
 

For the AU plot, Sonya's going through as if hers and Raiden's ending from the Alternative 2011 storyline actually happened.

At the end of the Outworld invasion, nearly all of Sonya's friends and loved ones are killed in the resulting war. The pain and loss is such that she retires from the Army to try and cope with her grief, wanting nothing more to deal with Outworld. In this timeline, Sonya looses her father at a very young age, but at this point, she finds herself visited by his ghost, who urges her to fight on: even with the Emperor killed, his armies still linger and Sonya is one of the few to fight them off. She essentially turns into a sort of vigilante, hunting down Outworld warriors and earning money by selling parts for science and participating in underground cage matches.

Sonya being able to see her father's ghost is a result of her receiving a part of the thunder god's soul, divided into four parts and sent to four warriors. Given her status as one of the few remaining Earth warriors, it only makes sense that Sonya's one of his chosen. Having a fragment of Raiden's soul allows her to see/communicate with earth bound souls/ghosts that want to make themselves known, such as her father,  while also giving her increased speed and strength, and more control to manipulate her chi.

Sonya's still haunted by what's happened in her past, and while having her dad around helps, she still suffers from nightmares, outbursts, and moments of depersonalization. Urged by her father, she's seeing help, but it's sporadic and only on a 'must needs' basis. She still visits Johnny on occasion, but she's not settled into finding a steady place to live. At some point, she wants to get her life back, but not in the near future.

Her father's ghost will remain with her in milliways. For the most part, he won't be visible to anyone, but those extra sensitive will feel that there's someone else besides her while those with the ability to see/talk with the dead will be able to see a wispy figure of a 20/30ish year old man in an old fashioned military fatigues. He won't otherwise make his presence known except by a cold feeling around her, and making objects move if he feels to make a point.