Elaine Maddox

**Elaine Charlotte Maddox** is a freelance mercenary who is a member of the Council Recovery Corps. She previously served in the Alliance and as a CAT6 mercenary, where she earned the nickname "Cheshire Cat".

## Biography

Elaine Maddox was born to Grace Bettendorf and James Maddox in Berlin, Germany. Her parents met through the Systems Alliance; Grace was a nurse taking care of those injured in the Relay 314 Incident. She came across James, who was severely wounded, and helped him get back on his feet. While the treatment was successful, James’ lifespan had been significantly shortened. After his rehabilitation, James stuck around in an attempt to get to know Grace better. In 2158, the two of them got married, and in 2159, had their first child. Two years later, they had another. The older of the two was named Caitlyn Anne Maddox, and the younger was named Elaine Charlotte Maddox.

Elaine’s childhood was okay. Born to a middle-class family, she didn’t experience any financial suffering. Caitlyn doted on Elaine, and so she followed her older sister around everywhere, and the two often got into trouble together. Caitlyn oftentimes got into scuffles with boys and girls from her school, and Elaine was eager to back her sister up. Being several magnitudes smaller than everyone else involved, Elaine learned to fight dirty, slipping between people’s legs, tripping them up, throwing sand in their eyes, etc. While her mother didn’t approve of these fights, her father thought it amusing, and was more than a little proud of how feisty his two daughters were becoming.

As she reached adolescence, Elaine began following her sister around less and becoming more interested in technology. She aspired to join the Systems Alliance like her parents and become an engineer. As such, she poured the majority of her time into achieving that goal. She wanted to make her father proud through her service to humanity. Unfortunately, he never got to see her enlist. When Elaine was sixteen years old, her father’s health failed him. The injuries he’d received at Shanxi had finally caught up with him. In his dying breath, James had told his daughters to be strong and smile for him. Ever since, Elaine has worn a smile on her face in the presence of others. Even so, she could not keep the facade up forever, and often spent time alone, or with her sister, grieving. James Maddox had built up a collection of weapons over the years, and left much of it to his daughters, from which Elaine picked out two short blades and an M-12 Locust.

With her father’s death, Elaine’s dreams to join the Alliance were dampened. She chose to go to college first instead, obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering before enlisting in the Alliance at the age of 22. Elaine’s performance in basic training was largely mediocre: she lacked physical strength and stamina, but made up for it in speed and quick thinking. She passed basic and went on to be an engineer aboard Alliance vessels.

Elaine’s time in the Alliance came to an end when she was 24, because of a singular unfortunate event. During shore leave, Elaine was quietly drinking by herself when a bar fight broke out nearby. The blonde was content to ignore it but the scrap drew ever closer and so she got drawn into it. Being something of an ultra lightweight, Elaine wasn't very coordinated, and very quickly found herself on the losing side of that scuffle. So, she drew her blades and started cutting; she'd have been trampled to death otherwise. Elaine argued that she was defending herself from the rowdy bunch at the bar. The Alliance countered that it was no longer self defense when you sent five people to the emergency room in critical condition. And thus the short woman was ousted from the military with a dishonorable discharge, barely avoiding time in the brig on the account that she actually was defending herself.

Grace and Caitlyn were distraught over Elaine’s predicament. While the two of them had slight differences over whether Elaine used excessive force or not, both believed her to be in the right for doing what she did. Grace offered to let Elaine live with her for a while, but Elaine summarily refused, instead choosing to find a job in the mercenary field. Upon hearing word of the CAT6 mercenaries, Elaine was immediately enthralled. She’d be able to spend time with people who at least used to be members of the Alliance and support them. She’d also be able to put some of her sadistic side to use. Elaine joined their ranks and assisted them in their operations for a year, acquiring a M-358 Talon, and the means to deploy Disruption Drones, as well as a Tactical Cloak. She often went on stealth operations, using her blades to silence enemies without making a sound while the other members of her squad hacked into enemy systems.

As her first year with CAT6 came to a close, Elaine began hearing more and more about the feats of G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N. They’d responded during the Coffee-Shop Massacre, they’d cured the Genophage, and they’d discovered two new alien races! Not only that, but they were fighting to secure hope for the entire galaxy, something the Alliance should be doing. Instead, the Alliance had chosen to sit out the impending war while the Terminus Confederacy went head to head with the Citadel Council. Furthermore, CAT6 was growing stale by the hour. More of the same old shit, with nothing new ever happening. Elaine knew what choice she had to make. One night she decided to slip away and she applied to G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N. immediately.

Elaine Maddox' tenure with GUARDIAN was tumultuous. She started off on the GSV Muramasa, helping to rediscover the existence of the Rachni alongside Jorgal Cirn, and going on to deploy during the Second Skyllian Blitz. It was there she found herself in legal trouble yet again, being implicated in a war crime whilst defending a bridge. For that, she was sentenced to prison for ten years. Almost as soon as she'd arrived, GUARDIAN suffered a massive blow, and lost control of Tartarus Station. Elaine managed to make her exodus in the midst of GUARDIAN'S short downfall, but the organization bounced back almost immediately, and thusly the blonde laid low for apprehension at being detained again. Not even her family heard from her, and unbeknownst to her, there was a bit of an issue with an impostor nearly trapping an entire squad on Tartarus, which eventually backfired, and inadvertently placed Elaine back in good enough standing with the galactic community to return to the public.

Hearing of the ongoing battle with the Reapers, Elaine just *knew* she had to be a part of it. So, the little terror signed up to help GUARDIAN one last time. She was part of the joint-ops team that entered the Omega-4 Relay and shut the Reapers down for good. Afterwards she was instrumental in ensuring Kamprad didn't put Vivi on ice, and generally made herself useful around the Osiris crash site.

After the rescue and GUARDIAN'S dissolution, Elaine once again took to freelance work, hacking, killing, and generally making a nuisance of herself for the highest bidder. When the CRC was announced, the blonde scoffed at the idea; it was another GUARDIAN, just with a different name. Sure, it did good things, but one way or another they'd find a way to stick her in the brig yet again. Then she heard about the liaison program. Where one doesn't have to be an official member to still work for the association. That was… something Elaine could maybe work with. It presented less inherent risk of premature imprisonment, at the very least. And so the Cheshire Cat thought she'd give it all a good try, and see where that got her. For the occasion (And for other things) the blonde commissioned an upgrade to her armor, and traded her Locust for an M-13 Raptor. She acquired a few new tricks and gadgets too, for future endeavors. Now she would be more deadly than ever, and she planned to put that to good use.

## Personality

To say that Elaine is something of a terror would be an understatement. She generally presents the persona of hating every other living being in the galaxy. Very few receive mercy from her vicious tongue; she'll cuss out literally anyone, no matter their rank. Even people she likes cannot escape her sailor's mouth. Everyone ubiquitously experiences some level of rudeness from Elaine. It's just that with some people the rudeness is lessened by affection. Those people are few and far in between, unfortunately.

While she presents this side of herself, Elaine is a stunningly caring person. She just will never admit it. She'll give you hell for being poor and begging her for money, then give you a hundred credits and complain that she "had to do it". That being said, most don't get close enough to her to see that side, and thusly most are annoyed by her presence. Elaine happens to be something of an introvert, which she hates, and thusly she forces herself to act out. She's gotten quite good at putting on a show for others, and not even her family can really detect it. Elaine has a habit of always, no matter the situation or her mood, smiling. It both masks her emotions and unsettles others, which pleases Elaine greatly.

It should be noted that Elaine is a sucker for three things: machines, killing instruments, and cats. Ever since she was young, the blonde has loved technology and taking it apart, only to make new things. Her father instilled an appreciation for weapons that has only continued to grow since his passing. As for cats; after earning the name "Cheshire Cat" as a mercenary, they grew on her. She's never owned one, but she dreams of one day acquiring such a pet.

## Physical Description

Elaine is short, standing at a measly 5’2”. She has a well rounded figure; not terribly skinny or chubby, and a very pale complexion. Her hair is long and blonde, and she often puts it up in a ponytail to one side when she’s working. She lets it down in casual settings. Elaine’s eyes are an icy blue color.

In her home and other places of comfort, Elaine most often wears a black crop top and olive cargo shorts. Depending on what she’s doing, she might be seen wearing gloves with the index and middle fingers missing, but regardless they’re always on her person somewhere. If you catch her at an important occasion you'll find Elaine in a straight white tux. Her combat armor is the standard CAT6 Specialist armor frame, but it's been upgraded to be lighter and capable of draining a system of power to overcharge the shields and overclock the other functions of the armor.

### Armament

* M-358 Talon
* M-13 Raptor

### Abilities

* Oculus Drone
* Tactical Cloak
* Energy Drain
* Submission Net
* Invasion