Sydney

Sydney was a Human mostly known for her work as a Marshal  in the Barren-Lands .

## Early Life

Sydney was born in a small town overseen by the Gaiden Corporation. Her parents, Jon and Elaine, both were loyal workers in the corporation. Jon worked as a technician, and Elaine worked as an administrator.

Sydney showed prowess early on, having a knack for shooting and hand-to-hand combat. As she grew into a teenager, she began training to enter Gaiden's Security Forces (GSF).

## Gaiden Security Forces

Immediately upon reaching the required age, Sydney conscripted herself into the GSF.

Starting on standard patrol, she worked her way up to working on security details for high ranking Gaiden officials. Some of these officials grew fond of Sydney, noting both her attention to detail and charming demeanor.

Her quick rise in the ranks and popularity began to be noticed by her superiors in the Security Forces. Feeling threatened that Sydney may pose a threat in the long run, her superiors looked into opportunities to transfer her to another program.

They found that opportunity in the Barren-Lands Marshal program. Gaiden and other corporations were quietly beginning to pull their support of the program, but her supervisors assigned her to the program under the guise of wanting her to revitalize the program. She begrudgingly accepted her new role.

## Liason to the Marshals

Upon arriving in Running-Fridge, Sydney was disgusted with the way the people of the Barren-Lands lived. She immediately met Farzan , the current leader of the Marshals. Despite her initial reluctance, she hit it off well with the seasoned veteran. Farzan acknowledged her orders and his own: She was to be made his second-in-command and liason to the corporation, along with assisting him in strengthening the program. A humble man, he welcomed the help.

Sydney spent her early days as a marshal shadowing Farzan, who took her from town to town as a means of introducing her to all the residents. This helped break down the prejudices she inherited about the people who lived in the Barren-Lands, along with meeting future colleagues along the way.

As time went on, Sydney successfully adjusted to life in the Barren-Lands. As she settled in, Farzan even started casually referring to her as his partner. Aside from occasionally filing reports to her superiors in Ralpur, she slowly began to feel at home in the Barren-Lands.

In her first year on the job she met Muriel, a resident of a town called Little Rock who worked at the local tavern. Attracted to her, Sydney made it a point to find whatever reason she could to visit Little Rock to see Muriel. Overtime, she began a sexual relationship with the barmaid. What began as a strictly carnal arrangement slowly evolved into a deeply intimate and emotional relationship. She would eventually unofficially move in with Muriel, still maintaining her residence in Running Fridge but ultimately living in Little Rock.

After several years of working in the Barren-Lands, Farzan surprised her one day by announcing her contract was up. Seeing her confusion, Farzan went on to explain that the Gaiden Corporation officially pulled their support of the program. Farzan would continue to run the program on his own, saying he would scrap together whatever resources he could to keep it going.

### Return to Ralpur

Sydney contacted her superiors in Ralpur. They confirmed that their involvement with the program had officially ended. When asked why she wasn't informed, her superiors were indifferent and showed no interest. Sydney asked if she should return to Ralpur, and once again her superiors seemed not to care one way or another.

Sydney decided to return to Ralpur. She met with her commanding officers to be debriefed and to be given another assignment. She was told she could resume her duty in Ralpur, but she would be demoted several ranks due to the lack of vacancies. Disappointed, she reluctantly accepted this position due to lack of choices.

She also decided to visit her parents, who she hadn't spoken to in some time. Upon catching up with them, she revealed her relationship with Muriel and her intention to bring Muriel to Ralpur. Her parents were very vocal and aggressive about how they disapproved of their daughter consorting with "Barren-Lands trash." The reunion ended on a sour note as Sydney's parents threatened to disown her if she invited Muriel to live with her.

Unhappy with her new position in the GSF and the thought of being disowned by her parents looming in her head, Sydney decided to return to the Barren-Lands. She sent in a letter of resignation to her superior officer and left immediately.

## Marshal Service

Farzan was surprised but relieved when he discovered Sydney decided to return and continue serving with the marshals. Muriel was also overwhelmed with joy when Sydney said she was staying permanently. The two were immediately married and "officially" moved in together.

Sydney served alongside Farzen for years. It slowly became apparent that the marshals were lacking in resources and manpower. That lead to criminals and gangs feeling emboldened and empowered. The marshals slowly began losing the respect of the people in the Barren-Lands who they swore to assist and protect. It also became increasingly difficult to find new recruits.

After years of continued disrespect and loss of power, Farzan had enough. He rounded up all of the remaining marshals, rallied them together, and led them into the desert outside of Little Rock to confront one of the larger and more notorious gangs: The Fire Hounds .

The marshals surrounded the Fire Hound camp located at Yellow Canyon. They gave the gang two choices: Leave the region immediately or turn themselves over to the people to be held accountable for their crimes. The gang responded with violence, and a battle ensued. Despite being outnumbered, the marshals completely wiped out the gang. The marshals took heavy losses, however, including Farzan himself.

Despite suffering heavy losses, other gangs and citizens took note of the incident, once again earning the marshals respect and prestige. Sydney, hailed as one of the heroes of the battle with the Fire Hounds, took over as the leader of the marshals, much to the delight of the marshals and citizens alike.

This period of renewed respect didn't last long. Desperate to replenish their numbers, Sydney began recruiting anyone she could find. This led to her mistakenly recruiting numbers of former criminals and gang members. These delinquent recruits began abusing their power and sparked a new wave of distrust of the marshals. The good marshals also began questioning Sydney and the organization as a whole.

It was around this time she found Wayne stranded and nearly dead in the middle of the desert. She saved him, gave him a place to stay, and rehabilitated him. Although he was young, she a saw a spark in him that encouraged her to keep fighting and trying to build the marshal progam back to what it used to be.

This distrust of the marshals peeked when Birk  attempted to hold some bad recruits accountable for their actions. In return, they turned on Birk and disfigured his face. Many marshals, including Birk, resigned out of frustration. Sydney, still desperate to keep the group relevant, reluctantly began to execute a number of recruits who exhibited unethical and dangerous behavior. These actions, although intended to show the people Sydney was on their side, sparked more mistrust in the marshals among the people. Raiders and gangs once again became more emboldened by the lack of respect the marshals received. Despite the good intentions of the remaining marshals, it was hard for them to get anything done.

To make matters worse, Muriel fell ill to a mysterious ailment. What started as a small inconvenience evolved into an illness that left her bedridden. Despite multiple doctors visiting her, Muriel eventually passed away from the sickness. This left Sydney devastated and depressed.

Wayne helped Sydney emotionally recover from her loss, pushing her to fight on. It took some time, but she eventually found it in her to continue to fight.

## Death

As Sydney began gaining momentum in rebuilding the marshal program, she was tragically murdered while investigating a series of murders around their communities.