| By Wingstrike | Part of the A New Frontier continuity. |
| "It seems us ex-military types always end up sticking together." |
| — Michiko chatting with Kaien about joining Yin Shi |
Michiko is the second-in-command of the Yin Shi mercenary group.
History[]
In her youth Michiko was somewhat of a delinquent, running with several small street gangs in the Fire Nation Capital. She rarely spoke to her parents, having little respect for them as she felt they didn't give her the freedom she ultimately wanted. With no-one to rely on but herself, Michiko made her own fortune with various gangs in the city, often impressing them with her knack for picking safe locks and hotwiring stolen cars. Inevitably though, the gang would find themselves relieved of most of their money as Michiko had made a quick getaway before long, preferring to look out for herself rather than maintain allegiances to gangs. Despite her technical prowess and natural athleticism, Michiko was eventually caught by Fire Nation police officers and offered a choice in light of her talents; either be served with a jail sentence or serve out her punishment by enlisting with the Fire Nation Army.
While in the Army, Michiko's rebellious spirit was somewhat tempered by a brutal army drill instructor, instilling a sense of self-discipline. With an improved focus, Michiko was convinced to turn her attention to her career in the Army, becoming an army combat engineer, eventually reaching the rank of Chief Warrant Officer after five years. Shortly afterwards she retired, having served out her original sentence and having earned the respect of several of her superiors, but ultimately felt that she didn't have the patriotic spirit to continue serving.
Now free to pursue her own interests, Michiko became a freelance security specialist for a few years, assisting parties in testing and upgrading their security. Her tendency for efficient work and complete client confidentiality gave her a large clientèle who were not hesitant to pay her more than enough for her services. Eventually she met Ming He, who had been contracted as a private security guard to protect a company headquarters in Republic City, which had been experiencing a number of break-ins. The two quickly became good friends while working together, Ming He saw Michiko's talent for leadership and strategy, and invited her to become a founding member of Yin Shi, feeling that her skills were wasted while working solo.
Michiko was placed as second-in-command of Yin Shi, but functions as the group's acting commander due to Ming He's dislike at being tied to a desk and unable to head into the field. She manages daily operations of the group and most of the regular mission deployments but will personally join missions if she has to.
Personality[]
Michiko prefers to think before acting in practically any situation, taking time to assess what she knows and think of likely outcomes. She dislikes using combat herself as a first resort, but is not above others carrying out more unsavoury tasks for her. While Michiko may not use violence as an initial strategy, she is quite capable of holding her own in a fight, using her intelligence to fashion and wield unorthodox, yet effective, weapons.
Michiko is well suited to oversight positions, such as strategising and leading groups, but she is quick to clash with individuals who challenge her authority. Frequently she relies on her ability to charm and manipulate to either pacify the threat, or turn the majority against them. Additionally, Michiko is a bit strict and expects the attention and respect of others, unafraid to dole out punches to deal with insubordination. While she acts and behaves with military elegance, Michiko dislikes outside interference and insists on using whatever resources at her disposal to produce maximum efficiency, even if her methods are legally dubious. As a force of habit from her military training she almost always refers to Ming He as "Captain", a habit much of the rest picked up as well, despite Yin Shi lacking any formal rank system.
She acts and moves with a certain grace and style, taking the time to speak eloquently or observe situations, Michiko normally behaves with an intrinsic elegance. Unfortunately most of the time she appears as an unfeeling commander with little regard for others, she actually cares a lot for people who have shown her loyalty and trust. When planning out large operations, she actively attempts to minimise allied casualties as a priority. Michiko takes particular pride in victory or completing a job, showing the most expression then of any time. It is difficult to tell if Michiko completely lacks a sense of humour, or has one sharper than her colleagues, as she has the tendency to make certain situational comments completely matter-of-factly seemingly without realising if they're jokes. She is also often the target of playful teasing from Ming He, often being made fun of for being so serious so often.
Despite her cold exterior, Michiko holds a quiet soft spot for young children and women in difficult circumstances, donating some of the money to orphanages and charities in the city that help them. She even goes as far as patrolling the areas around them to make sure they're safe, but can't work up the nerve to visit the shelters herself.
Appearance[]
Standing at a little below average height with slightly light tan skin, despite her line of work as a mercenary Michiko is often dressed in a somewhat formal nature with her jet black hair tied into a tight twist to keep it out of her face. She maintains an athletic figure since her military days, though isn't quite as well-built as Ming He.
Her outfit consists of a distinguishing dark blue tailcoat with gold trim and a purple lining. Underneath she usually wears a white shirt and waistcoat with form-fitting black trousers, along with a pair of well-maintained boots. In addition to its elegant design, much of Michiko's outfit is purposefully modified to conceal various weapons, reducing the odds of attracting attention.
In the event of facing heavier combat, Michiko can make use of a lightweight suit of armour, though the suit is generally built to be less bulky and moves more quietly.
Abilities[]
Combat skills[]
As a nonbender Michiko relies on technique and weapons to fight, being far more comfortable with the plethora of gadgets she's worked on to fight. The majority of her combat style revolves around a pair of armoured combat gauntlets, heavily modified versions of the Electrified glove. Like the originals, each gauntlet is capable of delivering an electrical shock through the palm or handheld weapons, but are visually more discrete in appearance and can be fitted with small gas-powered needle launchers to subdue targets at short distances.
Like others in the Fire Nation Army, Michiko is trained in swordsmanship and wields a straight-bladed short sword for its relatively straightforward technique and ease of maintenance. More recently however, she became more comfortable with wielding a pair of metal tonfa instead, finding the weapons easier to use in more creative ways. Both of these can be charged with the gauntlet to conduct an electric shock to stun opponents in combat.
Most of the time Michiko prefers to fight her battles from a distance using a range of projectiles fired from her crossbow, alongside numerous traps strategically planted around the area throughout. Her signature weapon is the Variable Crossbow, a custom-made collapsible compound crossbow capable of switching between a folded and fully extended form depending on the distance of the shot and how many hands she needs free. In an ideal situation, Michiko's strategy is to effectively win the fight by providing the opponent with no real way to win in the first place.
Other skills[]
In addition to her military training, Michiko's skills lie in her technical and organisational abilities, having largely designed all of her own equipment to better suit her own style. However, her ability to almost effortlessly weave through the bureaucracy of running a mercenary company is arguably her most valuable asset to the group, and is often found at the headquarters overseeing the Yin Shi's operations and finances.
She is highly proficient in various technical skills and can easily understand and use mechanical and electric systems to her advantage, ranging from picking locks and hotwiring vehicles to fashioning elaborate electrical and explosive weapons. The true extent of Michiko's arsenal remains somewhat unknown, as much of her attire is capable of being turned into a concealed weapon in some form.
Though not completely perfect, Michiko has demonstrated a particularly good memory, especially for people, and has often been able to sketch a fair likeness of someone after a brief glance.
Trivia[]
- Michiko's appearance is largely modelled on Emily Kaldwin from Dishonored 2. The game's mechanical designs also helped inspired the idea of her unorthodox and concealed weapons.
- During her first few appearances Michiko was considerably more to-the-point and humourless, this slowly became adapted into an "accidental deadpan" style of making jokes without being aware of it.
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