Kestrel

[Code Name] Kestrel [Gender] Female [Combat Experience] 20 Years [Place of Birth] Sargon [Date of Birth] Reported as Unknown [Race] Liberi [Height] 170cm [Infection Status] Confirmed Infected by medical examination

[Physical Strength] Standard [Mobility] Normal [Physical Resilience] Excellent [Tactical Acumen] Normal [Combat Skill] Standard [Originium Arts Assimilation] Standard

Formerly a warrior of a Szubat-Arsalan tribe in Sargon, Kestrel and her siblings were enslaved by the local lord ameer's army. Encountering Rhodes Island personnel during her escape, she was able to return to the mines and rescue the other workers. She later joined Rhodes Island and is currently employed at the Sargonian branch, receiving treatment while participating in field missions.

Imaging tests show the indistinct outlines of internal organs, obscured by abnormal shadows. Originium granules detected in the circulatory system. The subject is confirmed to be infected with Oripathy. [Cell-Originium Assimilation] 3.7% Operator Kestrel shows signs of mild Oripathy infection, but leads a life that is little different from the uninfected. [Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.26u/L Working in dangerous Originium mines without proper protection has had a significant impact on Operator Kestrel's health. Her BOCD is well above normal levels and requires regular monitoring. While we have instructed her to take it easy in her everyday life, it seems unlikely that she would be willing to sit around all day. The best we can do is recommend that she avoids high-risk field missions. The people of her tribe had a custom of painting 'tooth marks' with mineral paint. It remains to be seen whether this has a negative effect on her condition. - Warfarin, Medical Department

Kestrel is a Sargonian warrior who is as straightforward as they come. She began frequenting the training room shortly after arriving at headquarters, confidently walking in like she had always been a regular. Her relationship with the combat experts of Rhodes Island began with a clash of weapons, putting on a show of Sargonian tribal swordplay that the operators in the training room had never seen before. They eagerly invited her to come back for more. Her favorite hangout is the bar; although she has been warned against excessive drinking, she can often be spotted doing so from dusk to dawn at the bar for weeks on end. Ultimately, the Medical Department decided to bring her in by force, but Kestrel refused the 'treatment'; being under the influence only seemed to make her sword strike faster and harder. Treatment finally began when her training room friends arrived and successfully restrained her with great effort, only for everyone to realize that treatment was unnecessary after all: unlike most drunks who deny being drunk, Kestrel was, in fact, unimpaired. If anything, the alcohol had only served to hone her swordsmanship. [Medical Department Audio Log] 'That Kestrel, from Sargon. Can you believe what her tests show?' 'What do you mean?' 'Do you know how much she drinks? Yet it doesn't seem to have any effect on her vitals.' 'Wish I were like that.'

Many Rhodes Island operators have their fair share of scars, which serves as a way to introduce themselves. 'I got this during the Sarkaz Civil War...' 'I got this during Columbia's Great Expansion...' 'I got this when I hit my head on a table when I was three!' 'That doesn't count!' Kestrel was rather reticent about this topic at first, as the trials of her past left no visible marks on her skin. This bothered her, as she saw scars from battle as something to be proud of. As she began to blend in, she realized that her 'tooth marks' serve equally well as a conversation starter. When asked about the meaning of a 'guardian tooth mark', she ended up giving a lecture about the meanings of various marks. 'What would Rhodes Island's tooth mark embody?' 'That depends on what Rhodes Island is about.' 'Let's say... 'future'.' 'My tribe didn't have that kind of mark, but we can invent one.' Kestrel began inventing her first 'tooth mark' after receiving such a request. Shutting herself in her room, she spent two days drawing up the pattern, and hung it up in the cafeteria to the sound of cheering. As the crowd came forward to embrace her, she felt, for the first time, that she had truly been accepted. She still thinks back to the people and events of her past, but no longer finds her lack of scars to be a handicap. Rather, she is happy to share the origins of her 'tooth marks,' and to carry on the tradition of her people in her new home. Medical checks revealed nothing of particular note. We suspect that painting these 'tooth marks' with mineral paints may have something to do with how external trauma leaves no mark on her skin, but no firm conclusions have been reached for now. - Warfarin, Medical Department

Kestrels holds great respect for the tribal chief who brought her up. By tradition, women of the tribe undergo trials to become defenders of hearth and home. The chief was the one who took the homeless Kestrel in and raised her to become a brave warrior. She was a beautiful and kind leader who taught her tribe to turn abandoned ruins into settlements with plenty of water and rich soil. The threat of the Lord Ameer was constantly looming over their heads, though. In order to oppose the Lord Ameer, the chief traveled to numerous other tribes to build alliances, taking Kestrel along with her. In her free time, she discussed with the young Kestrel what kinds of body paint looked best, and gave Kestrel 'tooth marks' symbolizing 'Protection.' Kestrel learned that the chief preferred white for 'tooth marks'. In subsequent years, she used the 'tooth mark' that her mentor gave her, in her favorite color, while fighting a hopeless war against the Lord Ameer's soldiers with the few comrades she had left, until she was the only one left.

A psychological assessment was performed on Operator Kestrel to mitigate potential risks in field missions. We learned through interviews that revenge became her purpose after the destruction of her tribe, but that it came to a stop at some point. According to her, during her stint in the mines, she took in some children who had also been enslaved in the mines. At their request, she agreed to teach them to use a blade in order to take revenge for their families. However, she had underestimated the price of revenge. Witnessing the deaths of those children led her to look back on the purpose she had pursued for so many years, and the results that came of it. No longer obsessed with vengeance, she turned her sights back to the original connotations of 'Protection,' and began to see inciting revenge as an evil. She came to the conclusion that her current life matters more, and that Rhodes Island is her new home that she must protect. As such, she has requested a reassignment to the Sargonian branch to participate in field missions. We must inform the Sargonian office ahead of time to keep an eye on Kestrel's condition in the field, investigate any faction that has a history with her, and require her to regularly return to HQ for psychological evaluation and Oripathy monitoring. Kestrel still has many mysteries, as there are details in her personal history that can no longer be verified, and her own account is sometimes confused or fragmented. It must be emphasized, however, that this is no reason not to put our trust in her. - HR Department Note

The sun is setting. Kestrel stands up from the roof of the office building she had been lying on, pulls out her horn, and blows it towards the setting sun. She had explained to curious operators that the horn symbolized the celebration of victory, or the passing of a peaceful and quiet day. Today's horn is particularly long, because this is her first day at the office as an official operator of Rhodes Island. Kestrel blows it a little longer for the important events in her life. The first time was her very first victory in battle. Their armies charged downhill and routed the Lord Ameer's soldiers. She had volunteered to be the vanguard, and saved the life of her friend with the sword her chief had taught her to wield. That day, she learned what it meant to be a comrade, and she blew her horn longer. The second was when she led the slave revolt through the mine shafts, filled with fog and enemies. She took the rear guard, fighting off pursuers all night, until she saw with her own eyes that the miners had reached safety. That day, she learned that the purpose of the sword was to protect, and she blew her horn longer. This is the third time.