Emma Sówka

Emma Sówka was a rifleman and fireteam leader that fought during the closing months of the . Barely surviving the , she arrived on Earth via civilian passenger ship being used as a makeshift evacuation ferry. With her future and life crumbled to pieces, she rushed to the nearest UNSC recruiting center, faking her age through use of deception, luck, and darkly embellished outside intervention, Emma would become one of the youngest civilians to join the military, being only fifteen at the time of her enlistment.
As the only child and daughter of two former Project ORION operators, Emma was subjected to a number of inconspicuous medications during infancy allegedly lending to her physiology being augmented and enhanced in a similar vein to her parents, albeit not as advanced. This prescribed Emma with a number of biological, physical, and neurological enhancements granting her the ability to achieve and perform at a higher level than average humans.
Beginning in early 2556, a series of events unfolded, leaving Emma questioning her own mind and sense of reality. Transferred to the UNSC Theseus and temporarily loaned to ONI's Special Investigations Division, Emma would be set on a path of uncovering a decades long conspiracy unraveling the histories of not only herself and her family, but also the disgraced legacy of which her blood is directly linked. The unravelling of this conspiracy would trigger the rebirth of ancient bloodlines, and a war fought on the outer fringes of the human Frontier that left Emma alone and scarred. Shattered from stopping the Siscandite threat at the cost of her body and mind, Emma's exploits—whether her own or not—during the Morta War had granted her the Sangheili name Lohkar by the Valhn Legion Anwe 'Gripur.
In the aftermath of Morta, she fled the chaos of the galaxy, quietly settling on the far flung world of Furthest Point.
__TOC__
==Career Service Vitae==
{| class="h4unsc" style="padding:0px; border-radius: 0 0.5em 0 0.5em;"		
;Emma Sówka 
;Sergeant
NAME: Sówka, Emma
SERVICE NUMBER: 24332-70111-ES
----
UNIT: 7th Battalion, 97th Infantry Regiment, 47th Airborne Division<<Records Disparity Detected!>>
ROLE: Pathfinder
ENLISTMENT DATE: September 13, 2552
LOCATION: UNSC Theseus 
STATUS: ACTIVE
----
GENDER: Female
BIRTHPLACE: Reach
BIRTH DATE: December 2, 2534<<Records Disparity Detected!>>
BLOOD TYPE: O NEG
HEIGHT: 181 centimeters
WEIGHT: 72 kilograms
;Assessment
Formerly a civilian refugee with firsthand experience of the Fall of Reach, ⁠Sergeant Emma Sówka has been molded into one of the finest members of the UNSC Defense Forces. An expert marksman and pathfinder of the 47th Airborne Division, Sówka has led her pathfinder team in combating the rise in insurgent and splinter group activity that has been steadily growing in the Frontier.
>input:// ONI SEC3 Beta-5 OGM Directive
>://verifying credentials. . .
>://access granted.
Sówka is the product of two former ORION personnel classified SAFEWIND and TOEZICHT whose loyalties have since been called into⁠ question. Subject 1.1-ES managed to slip through our detection after her birth only momentarily, and all medications and inquiries have already been made and carried out during her childhood.
Attempts to eliminate the subject during the Earth Defense Campaign have all failed, any further attempts to eliminate her have been put on hold indefinitely until the need arises. In the event that classified materials relating to ORION are discovered, OGM Directive Order PITFALL will be enacted via the neural kill switch implanted into her neural interface, and all evidence must be destroyed regardless of the subject's awareness of the project.
Beta-5 will maintain surveillance of Subject 1.1-ES at all times. 
<<Further file addendum purged by ██████████ ███████, please seek Beta-5 ONISID clearance for details.>>
;Service History
[See UNSC Service Record Archives for details.]
;Comments
*Psychiatric evaluation records before the Battle of Earth indicate that Sówka was suffering from severe clinical depression and her sense of self-preservation has been broken during her tour in the Iberian Campaign. Records following the battle and her recovery in the hospital suggest that these feelings have either lessened or no longer exist. Examinations continue.
*Sówka possesses a remarkably enhanced physique with recognizable similarities to UNSC augmented special forces personnel. Any attempts to examine this further have been blocked. Medical records detailing her biological parents either no longer exist or have been classified by top-level personnel.
*While recovering from the wounds she sustained at Seville, Sówka turned down an offer to join the newly created Spartan Operations. She is only one of a few dozen military personnel to turn down such an offer. Had she accepted, she would have been inducted into the second class of the SPARTAN-IV Program.
*Pathfinder Sówka currently stands as one of the UNSC's most invaluable non-augmented personnel. Attempts to recruit her into special mission units are ongoing.
Addendum 07/57-A: As of 07/2557, Spartan Operations have listed Sergeant Sówka as a Tier One Recruitment subject.
</center>
==Armory Locker==
Throughout her journeys, Emma accumulated a number of distinct artifacts and equipment holding varying degrees of meaning to her or those around her.
*"Lullaby": A personally customized featuring a hybridized and . Additional modifications include a heavy barrel, and extended magazines and a suppressor that are used on a mission-by-mission basis. On longer duration missions, Lullaby is Emma's primary weapon of choice in the field. The name for the rifle is not of Emma's choosing but rather that of her teammates, noticing that on some occasions combatting Brute targets, Emma will quietly hum a particlar Reavian lullaby. The name "Emma's Lullaby" and "Brute's Lullaby" is used interchangeably as well. 
*"Zeke": A heavily modified VK78 CQBR carbine fitted with a , 40-round magazine, and flashlight/IR-laser combination mount. Despite most VK78 CQBR models, Emma opted to remove the foregrip and stock, replacing it the base model VK78 stock instead. Emma got a hold of this particular model after combatting terrorists during the 2554 Martian Olympics. The name derives from the word "Zeke" being etched into the magwell, which Emma believe was its previous owner. 
*: Emma's primary sidearm while serving on the Theseus, it features a built-in suppressor. Despite her fondness for the M6C, the Sidekick has slowly but surely grown on her.
*Brute's Tooth: Emma's total disdain for the Jiralhanae species is no secret, and the necklace she wears holding a single tooth of the Chieftain she had killed during her deployment on Alluvion serves as a remind those around her of what she is capable of. But to Emma herself, the necklace serves to remind her of her past and the paths that forged her into the woman she is now. 
==Biography==
===Early Life===
===Battle of Earth===
===Post-War Service===
===Theseus=== 
====The Benefactor====
March, 2556
As the sun rose over Mars signifying the new year, 2556 would become the catalyst that would send her tumbling down a winding rabbit hole. A perilous journey to answers she had always asked. About herself, her future, her name. But most of all, her parents. At first, there was nothing particularly out of place from Emma's daily life. But as the days turned into months, the pattern began to take shape. Strange figures appearing on base that she had never recognized before. Being followed home at the same times, following the same routes. Unfamiliar vehicles parked outside her apartment. Emma was no stranger to home invasions, but these incidents felt more directed. By March, she slept with her sidearm. 
The days would pass by, and end the same. Two figures standing outside her apartment, an unmarked vehicle next to them. Watching her. Sleepless nights and loss of appetite left her in a sea of paranoia. Wondering what their next move would be. After locking herself in her own home for three days, Emma decided the only way to find out was to confront the figures watching her. Taking her sidearm with her, she exited her apartment and crossed the street where the two men stood silently. 
Expecting a shootout, or something worse, she was more surprised to see them welcoming her. Residing inside the unmarked vehicle would be a man, referring to himself simply as "Benefactor". Within that vehicle would give rise to a number of startling revelations for Emma. All that was asked in return by her, was to seek out and destroy a space station known as Detention Center Harrow
====Emma's Lullaby====
April 2556
Throughout Emma's journey to Mazovia, she was afflicted by an onslaught of nightmares in her quarters aboard the Theseus. These nightmares provided her with vivid depictions of the future and incomprehensible revelations. One such nightmare manifested a woman with an infant child. The woman sung a lullaby to the infant, a tune that Emma was strangely familiar with. When trying to move closer to the figures, the mother and infant were engulfed in a massive explosion, violently throwing Emma back and waking her to be heavily sweating. Believing them to be nothing more than just nightmares, she began to quietly doubt herself upon seeing the first glimpses of Mazovia, her family homeworld. 
Mazovia was a smoldering ruin. Choked by blackened debris hanging high in the atmosphere, with lightning rippling through the clouds as radioactive storms circled around the planet in isolated storm cells. High levels of radioactivity were detected in scattered regions around the surface of the colony, notably in locations around Toruń province. The city of Toruń was gone, destroyed by a massive atomic blast. The spaceport and military airbase were also destroyed, and the forest that bordered the city and dominated the province was dead, blackened husks of what used to be trees. 
Simulations and estimations detailed the destruction of Toruń province by indicating that three separate detonations occurred, one in the city, and two in the forest itself. The largest of these three blasts was estimated to be two megatons. 
With no communications or intel of any kind, the crew of the Theseus reached an impasse. Eventually a decision was made among the commanding officers of the task force. Emma and her K-Team, along with several other detachments would deploy to Toruń province to investigate and perform a standard search and rescue operation for any Mazovians still living in the area. Equipped with specialized hazardous operations gear, Emma's descent into madness was only just beginning. 
====Upon Frozen Shores====
Touching down on the surface, K-Team explored the ruins of Toruń detecting present radioactivity in the city. The planet's atmosphere had been polluted by a nuclear winter leaving much of the northern hemisphere frozen and barren. Thick layers of radioactive snow blanketed the ruins of the city and the surrounding area. Within the city itself measurements up to 730 millisieverts were found, were detectable levels reaching as high as 8,000 millisieverts in the forest. Fortunately, the efforts of the Theseus would not be in vain, as a continued human presence remained on the planet. While other elements moved to secure these settlements and reintegrate them back into human society, Emma and K-Team were tasked with venturing deeper into the city towards the destroyed Kampus Scientifica, pending the arrival of reinforcements and CBRN crews. 
From the outside, the main Kampus Scientifica complex resembled a fruit that had its skin peeled back. A deep blue glow radiated from within, and reached high into the sky above. Oddly, radiation levels emanating from the university were the lowest in the entire region, reading only as high as a chest x-ray. K-Team entered the Kampus, and descended into the depths below. When reaching Sublevel Four, K-Team were engaged by nimble, quadrupedal . The confusion and shock of these never before seen creatures made K-Team assume they were Covenant in origin, and in response, Emma sent Private Baker back to the surface to warn the Theseus and its ground forces about a possible Covenant presence remaining on the planet. 
Fighting their way deeper into the sublevels, they discovered the decomposed bodies of staff wearing uniforms belonging to ONI, in what was supposed to be a civilian research facility. While it was not uncommon for ONI to embed itself within civilian research foundations, the sheer number of bodies once belonging to ONI made it clear that there was more to their mission than they were told. 
Entering Sublevel Five, they were once again engaged by a large number of what they began to describe as "bobcats". These mechanical "crawlers" were equipped with devastating weaponry, as striking a corpse with its energy weapon dissolved it into a puddle of pure biomass. Knowing that getting hit by even one of those things was a death sentence, the team moved slowly through the level until coming across a locked and heavily armored door. 
Initially planning to blow the door open with high explosives, the corridor they stood in lit up into a bright purple color. Emma and her team were greeted by an AI, going by the name Eidolon.
Eidolon opened the door for them, explaining the events along the way that led to Mazovia being in its current state. Beyond the armored door, was a top secret ONI research facility dedicated to the breakthrough of extending the lifespans of artificial intelligence. Eidolon claimed to be the successful and only surviving product of such a project, offering to assist K-Team in their efforts and fully willing to cooperate with military officials. 
Emma's encounter with Eidolon led to the shocking revelation of her father, Noah Sówka. His name, his life, his actions, and his fate. After spending a lifetime searching for answers, some horrors were best left buried. A lesson Emma would later learn with great sacrifice to body and mind. 
Retrieving their objective and marking the rest of the base for pacification, Emma and K-Team made their way to the elevator that connected them to the surface. To their dismay, the elevator was inoperable, and thus their only means of leaving was cut off. Cornered, another swarm of "crawlers" attacked them. Determined to keep Eidolon from leaving the facility, the crawlers became more aggressive, and more precise. Corporal Lovell Singh was struck in the chest by a crawler's weapon, disintegrating him in front of Emma. The process was slow and painful, and when her other squadmate Private Preston Baker attempted to assist, the same dissolving effect spread to him through touch, destroying his hand completely before the residue evaporated as it traveled up his forearm. 
With no cover and quickly running out of options, Emma threw a fragmentation grenade at the swarm and a secondary smoke grenade to obscure their view. Just as the smoke grenade coughed and began to fill the corridor, the elevator behind them turned back on and opened. The remaining three rushed inside and she mashed the button to send them to the surface. But as they ascended, it felt as though it was taking longer than it should. Checking her mission timer, Emma noticed that between entering the elevator and their ascent, which could have only been fifteen minutes, her clock read that three and a half hours had passed in the elevator alone. 
With the loss of Corporal Singh, and Private Baker incapacitated, Emma's eyesight became a blur. The first of several hallucinations began.
====Harrow Station==== 
====Nowhere to Run====
====Unknowable Horrors====
====Flashbacks====
====Noumenod====
====Decomposition====
====Recomposition==== 
====Thelema====
===Morta War===
==Personality and Abilities==
What could once be seen as an energetic and carefree child full of spirit—has been ruthlessly molded into a hollowed-out shell of her former self. Driven only by callousness and her own disregard for her life has by some measure consequently conditioned her into an unfeeling and immovable agent of war. Like many others of her age, this up and coming generation of humanity may be the wildest of all, a generation scarred by the most perilous era in human history, a generation that fought tooth and nail for their own survival.
Though she had seemingly been abandoned by her parents, Emma had inherited a great many traits from her mother, more so than her father. She had her mother's brash independence and confidence, becoming a rebellious child before the age of ten. Emma had been aware to some extent of her gifted abilities and intellect by the age of twelve, intentionally scoring lower on tests in school in an attempt to not isolate herself from her classmates.
Athletic, deft, and ambidextrous, Emma took a keen interest in sports and gymnastics at a young age, regularly performing in and excelling at extracurricular activities. And though she had no intention of becoming her school's top sports star, she would be remiss if she didn't enjoy the esteem granted to her. Her athletic abilities greatly lent themselves to her service in the Army, taking advantage of her uncanny speed and reflexes and solidifying her role as an expert marksman and pointman.
Much of her innocence and psyche would be swept away come August 2552. The sudden and swift Covenant strike on her home had left a lasting impression. Damaging her so deeply that once she had become a refugee on Earth her character had been utterly replaced with one goal—death by any means. But when she could not end her life herself, she joined the military with the prospect that she'd be lucky enough to die a quick death at the hands of the alien onslaught.
With her mind being so fixated on this one desire it would ultimately prove to be her saving grace in the end. Her stone heart would begin to crack during her experiences shared with her comrades during the Iberian Campaign. Fighting side by side with men and women willing to give their lives for her and others had shown her a world worth saving. The bond that grew between them had brought back her humanity, but it would take many more years to fully heal.
Because of the trauma she suffered on Reach, Emma developed a severe hatred for Jiralhanae. This intense hatred has likely contributed to her being one of the rare examples of a non-augmented human besting a Brute Chieftain in single combat. This intense feeling did not diminish after the end of the war, and likely never will.
===Nicknames and Other===
*"Ghost of Reach" - A moniker that she shares with many servicemen and women native to Reach. To Emma, it is a name that she is not particularly fond of, as it stands as a constant reminder of the horrors she faced during the Fall. In the Post-War, the Ghosts have earned quite a lot of notoriety and fear among hostile Covenant splinter factions in the Joint Occupation Zone, wholly due to a large number of these Ghosts having gone on to join UNSC special forces groups and the infamous SPARTAN-IV Program.
*"M" - A nickname cordially given to her by her squadmate Hannibal Nardin and used by the rest of her squad following the Battle of Zaragoza. Prior to his death, Corporal Nardin was the one who helped her the most in regaining a part of her humanity.
*"Lohkar - Translated from Sangheili, it means "killer of the Self", an old name and title referring to an ancient Sangheili legendary hero. In the days of early Sangheili proto-religion, the hero known as Lohkar was betrayed by the god Junjle, stealing the essence of his body and recreating a new one. Known as Junhkar, slave and servant to Junjle, fought Lohkar to the death for the region named after him. Though the hero Lohkar was victorious, his mind and body were irreparably broken. And the cost of banishing Junhkar and Junjle, was the sacrifice of his entire family, and the State of Lohkar sinking beneath the waves of Csurdon Sea. This name is bestowed upon those who have gone through extreme lengths to reshape their lives, and to regain their honor from past sins. Those for Emma, this title was reminiscent of the literal legend in relation to her actions during the Morta War.
==Career==
===Promotions===
 Rank 	 Rank  	 Date of Rank 
 	Sergeant 	2555
 	Corporal 	January 1, 2554
 	Private First Class	March 3, 2553
 	Private 	November 20, 2552
 	Private 	September 22, 2552
==Relationships==
===Family===
*Monika Sówka - Emma's primary caregiver and legal guardian, Monika was her sole parental figure for the first fifteen years of her life. Monika treated Emma as if she were her own daughter, ensuring she received the best possible life under their circumstances. Living on Reach was comfortable, yet modest. During the Fall of Reach, witnessing the death of Monika shook Emma deeply, transforming a once optimistic young girl into an emotionally cold and cynical woman. Years later, Emma received a cache of images, videos, and records containing the biographies and histories of her close family members. While the entire cache provided an invaluable level of preservation of her family history, the records containing the life of her aunt were the ones Emma would cherish the most. 
*Noah Sówka - Emma's absent and mysterious father, Noah spent most of his life on the run or being used to tie up the loose ends that were his former comrades. His absence was a strong source of motivation for Emma to seek out her parentage. It would not be until the incursion on the Harrow Facility that Emma would learn a great deal about him, mostly at the detriment of her own health. Emma's interaction with a radiant door unknowingly created a link to her father, painfully intersecting their personalities and memories. 
*Ashley Coeman - 
===K-Team===
*Preston Baker - Described as the backbone of the team, Preston was a close quarters specialist and explosives expert. The moral center for the team, Preston often found himself at odds with Emma due to her tendency to lash out against aliens whether hostile or not; and with Lovel Singh's rash decision making and overconfidence. He is the closest thing to a friend Emma has, and is responsible for saving her life more times than she can count on one hand. Following an outburst during their deployment on Alluvion, he gave Emma a fang from a dead Jiralhanae. The tooth was turned into a necklace and carried a strong sentimental value to her, a reminder of the past she had endured and a symbol of what she had a responsibility to protect; her second family, K-Team. While they had been part of a team only a little over two years, both Emma and Preston formed a strong bond with each other, the reescalation of conflict across human space had drawn them together. Being the team's moral center also meant that Preston had an uncanny ability to knock down people's barriers. He had gotten closer to Emma than anyone ever had, breaking past her cynicism and pulling out the light that had been buried deep in her. Preston had exhibited a level of care she had not felt in years, and one of the few people that weren't intimidated by Emma's cold exterior. By the time of the 2555 Martian Olympiad, both of them had developed an unspoken attraction to one another. This attraction would later culminate later in the year aboard the UNSC hospital ship Argus while recovering from the aftermath of the Obel Stadium bombings. They had begun a secretive intimate relationship, carrying untold risks and consequences for the future. 
*Lovel Singh - 
*Amar Coombs - 
===SPARTANS===
*Sandra-G107 - Emma's interactions with the Spartan are limited, though Spartan Sandra and Team Spatha were responsible for saving Emma's life during the Battle of Earth. 
===UNSC Personnel===
===Artificial Intelligence===
*Ashan - 
*Noumenon - 
*Éimhear/Eidolon
===Rebels and Outlaws===
===Other Humans===
*Siscand -
===Aliens===
==Gallery==
==See Also==
===Related Pages===
*Noah Sówka
*Ashley Coeman
*Monika Sówka
*Bartosz Sówka
*Otto Hall
*Harrow Facility	
===Appearances===
*Halo: Safewind (2538, mentioned)
*The Last Patrol (2554, first appearance)
*Emma's Lullaby (2556)
*Halo: Theseus (2556)
*Halo: Wegia Morta (2558)
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</div>
Category:Commonwealth Human Characters
Category:Spartan 1.1
Category:UNSC Army Personnel
Category:Humans
Category:Females