Personal History

       The 172nd Infantry Regiment was formed in the northeastern region of Vespuccia, with the vast majority of its troops hailing from the local area. Consequently, Cynthia, coming from the far south, was something of a rarity; she frequently became a topic of conversation and good-natured teasing. Whenever the talk turned to hometowns, the spotlight would naturally fall on her, forcing her to explain time and again that people back home didn't duel over trivial matters, the towns weren't teeming with ragged vagrants, and she certainly didn't fry eggs on sun-baked shovels.

       As a native of a warm, subtropical peninsula, Cynthia viewed life in the North through a romanticized lens; everything there held a certain allure for her, especially snow, a staple of the fairy tales she grew up with. She arrived in the North just in time for a heavy snowfall, and as luck would have it, her squad was assigned snow-clearing duty; the harsh reality of the task dealt a rude awakening to the naive southerner. Yet, despite having many of her fantasies shattered, Cynthia still found joy in the northern winter. It wasn't quite the romantic idyll she had imagined, but it held a unique charm all its own.

       Cynthia was initially assigned to the 172nd Infantry Brigade as a medic, a role that didn't quite align with her expectations, as medics (especially female ones) were barred from parachute training. Consequently, skydiving remained the one unfulfilled item on her "Top Ten Things to Do in the North" bucket list. Whether by fortune or fate, her unit suffered heavy casualties during its first major engagement; Cynthia’s ferocious bravery, dragging wounded soldiers back under heavy fire and fighting with every ounce of strength, even resorting to using her fingernails and teeth, left a profound impression on everyone. She earned the admiration of her superiors, finally achieving her goal of becoming a scout and securing special permission to take the parachute course. Rumor has it that her commander granted this exception to make amends for having teased her earlier, specifically, for tricking her into believing that utility poles tasted sweet. The only downside was that everyone’s stereotype of the "Peninsula natives" had reverted to square one.

       Following the dissolution of the Union, large-scale conventional warfare was deemed a thing of the past; the very purpose of mountain troops was widely questioned, and rumors even circulated that the unit was on the verge of disbandment. Just then, command decided to dispatch a small group of volunteers, drawn from the 172nd Infantry Regiment, a unit specialized in cold-weather and mountain warfare, to an alien world. Initially, many signed up, driven by hopes of promotion, a transfer, an honorable discharge, or deployment allowances. However, upon hearing that the notorious "Peninsula Hardcase" Cynthia had also volunteered, they promptly withdrew. A baseless rumor had begun to spread through the regiment: "Cynthia is hunting down anyone vying for a spot on the deployment roster to challenge them to a duel, a fight to the death."