Clara "Crosshair" Agnote (Alternate Timeline)

**Clara Agnote**, also known as "Crosshair" is a semi-retired member of the Snake Tong. She lives in a timeline similar to Crosshair's life in the Tong, but differs as it advances to a future where she lost the rest of her squad, resulting in her travelling the path of cold and ruthless revenge, a path that ended in emptiness after she achieved her vengeance. She would have lived the rest of her days as a weapon until she broke, but her saving and meeting Ada would change her life for the better, showing her what it means to live for someone again. She retired from active duty because of this, but still serves the Shiai-shi as a firearms trainer.

## Background

Clara was born into the Silva lineage of mages, a family that had come to South America during the colonial period. They were astromancers who took many opportunities in this new world including financial ones that led them to obtain great wealth. In the current generation, the Silvas had twins, Clara and her sister Cassia. Clara probably would have grown up studying the family magic and advancing its goals if it weren’t for one thing, she was born as a psychic rather than a magus.

This was discovered when she was about four. While psychics do have power of their own it is almost never related to a specific type of magic and even if it were, Clara would be incapable of passing on a mana lobe as she lacked one herself and would also be incapable of advancing the family magic for the same reason. The Silva family was a very traditional and pragmatic lineage, if Clara would not contribute to the family then there was no reason to waste time and resources raising her. Due to this, she was sold to the Chengshi She or as they are more commonly known: the Shiai-shi, the Snakes, or the Tong.

Like many in her situation or similar ones, the Tong initially intended to essentially process her body for parts. However, a man named Pedro Agnote had an interest in making sure that didn’t happen, having already adopted two children destined to meet that end he also took in Clara. Meeting her new siblings, John and Isa, they tried to welcome her and act like a big bro and sis for her.

Unfortunately, Clara was hardly in the mood for that when they first met. Her own parents had just sold her, the only reason she was alive was that a specific member of the Tong offered to pay even more for her. She had been abandoned by the people she should have been able to trust most on a completely different continent and was in no mood for the meet and greet no matter how friendly they were. For about a week she was completely unresponsive except for the occasional meal that she would eat alone and when she first did respond it was only to snap at them to leave her alone.

Fortunately for all involved, this did not last forever. It took a long time but she did eventually acknowledge that these people are trying to help her and give her a family that she can rely on. Even with this realization, she was a bit hesitant but over time they truly became family such that she would proudly call herself an Agnote and a future member of unit 9’s new generation. That being said she wasn’t entirely sure what she would bring to the team of misfits. Sure, John and Isa weren’t any more suitable to be proper mages than she was but they still had some ability to cast, even aside from that John had his leadership skills and heightened senses while Isa had her exceptional strength that made her a formidable foe with or without magic. Clara, on the other hand, didn’t really stick out much, she couldn’t cast magic at all and while she was competent in her martial arts lessons it wasn’t necessarily enough to keep up with the rest of the future unit.

This changed when Pedro decided they were old enough to start firearm training and brought them to a Snake-owned range/instructor. Despite being completely new to using a gun she hit the target every time, often around the middle. Handguns, rifles, 10 meters, 20 meters, etc. she proved herself a genius with firearms as well as this being the moment they began to suspect her psychic ability. Having found her talent she dedicated herself to training with firearms. When it came time to test her as an enforcer of the Tong she broke records in accuracy, speed, and distance that as of now have only been broken by the present Clara. This exceptional performance earned her the nickname “Crosshair” among her siblings and fellow trainees, a nickname that she began to use as though it were her real name as a way of distancing herself from her past and solidifying her role as a member of unit 9.

When the time came she became the sniper of Unit 9, with the unit specializing in acting as spec op commandos. Her skills continued to hold up even against live targets, proving her worthy of her nickname and reputation. Crosshair herself isn’t sure exactly when or how it started but eventually unit 9 became known as the Bad Batch for being a “bad batch” of mage rejects. Although this was sometimes said in a derogatory way, Crosshair always took it as a title to be proud of. Maybe they are a bad batch of rejects and outcasts but even so, they managed to become a successful unit for a powerful organization.

Although the unit was successful enough with just the current 4 members they did occasionally find someone else who needed a place to belong. Such was the case with Claire Bellerose who had been kidnapped and whose family had decided that a “failure” like her wasn’t worth saving. Instead the Bad Batch just happened to be after the same group that had kidnapped her. Crosshair herself wasn’t present to meet Claire, being the sniper she was taking the role of lookout outside the building. Initially Crosshair was distant to the new addition to the team but did eventually see her as another sister.

From then on things went mostly as normal until one day a mission went wrong. They were sent to assassinate the Hegemon of Solisia island and they did but killing him immediately set off security measures. In the end Pedro had to act as a diversion while Crosshair and the rest of the Batch reluctantly left without their father. Not willing to completely abandon him, unit 9 did come back for his body and he was given a funeral in which he received commemoration from Fenghuang herself. Shortly after the funeral Claire admitted that the event had shaken her and that she had already been having doubts about the type of work they were doing. Contrary to Claire’s expectation, Crosshair and the rest of the batch were all understanding of this and were willing to help her get out by faking her death in the next mission.

So the unit was reduced to only three members. The unit was able to begin filling up again however as they once again rescued a magus who had been betrayed by the ones they trusted. During a mission in Europe the Batch came across one Monika Bergmann who had just had an assassination attempted on her by the organization that she had dedicated herself to until this moment. Crosshair was still a little more affected by the deaths and departures in the unit than she was willing to let on so when John, now codenamed “cap” and the new leader of the unit, offered to recruit Monika she made a snarky comment about how they were “taking in the strays now”. Cap pointed out to her that unit 9 is basically a squad of strays anyway and Crosshair didn’t care to make anymore fuss.

Their new 5th member came in the form of Jonathan Holme. An orphan whose orphanage was being run by a splinter group from the Martyrdom that was using its charges as experimentation on cybernetics with the intention of using them as weapons in the future. For all its zealotry even the Martyrdom doesn’t approve of child harm and had put a bounty on the group that unit 9 was sent to collect, afterwards Johnathan insisted on joining unit 9. Finally there was Elaine.

One day the Bad Batch received a mission for the Tong itself rather than a client. The Shiai-shi doesn’t appreciate it when other mercenaries try to get in on their turf and had received word about one such group known as the Moths. Unit 9 was to eliminate and/or drive off the group for taking jobs in snake territory without permission. When they arrived the group was oddly enough already running at them and one was injured. They didn’t question it too much and just fought off the healthy members. Crosshair was about to execute the injured one when she heard the group curse that one as a traitor. Hearing this the batch took her in for questioning where they learned that she was the one who had told them where the Moths would be. When Crosshair first heard this she was a bit pissed off even if it did help them but it quickly came to light that this wasn’t a true betrayal. Rather Elaine was pretty much the only thing keeping the Moths from killing each other and intended to give their hate a new target while also removing their leader so that they would disband and separate rather than killing each other. This culminated in Elaine admitting she was interested in how well unit 9 seemed to work together compared to the Moths and that she would like to join.

With Unit 9 completed, Crosshair had continued to work as the sniper of the Bad Batch. She didn’t have many ambitions of her own. Only wishing to remain beside the family she chose and to continue to be useful to their unit. Together they fought against rogue mages, saved the team from a business scheme in Chikabori, and ended cults. Through all of this they watched each other’s backs and were there to support each other when it was needed.

This dynamic was eventually disrupted however. John, who had taken over as leader after Pedro’s death, was never fated to live a life as long as other people. He had an essence that had helped in some ways as a mercenary but it also meant his lifespan was practically half that of a normal man. So in their thirties, the Batch said their goodbyes to their leader. A sad but expected time.

Unfortunately, while the Bad Batch had been ready to say their goodbyes to their leader they were not so ready to replace him. They all had their own problems as candidates for the next leader of unit 9, for Crosshair’s part she was far too untrusting and anti-social for the role. They tried to go on a couple more jobs after his death with no clear leader. At first, the jobs were challenging but doable and it seemed the Batch would be able to scrape by as always.

This changed on one of their missions. The enemy lured them into a trap and separated them. Crosshair had overwatch on the situation and tried to guide them out but she wasn’t used to this role. Because of that their enemies were able to surround Isa with extreme numbers. Crosshair desperately provided firing support and they took down many together, but in the end Isa was swarmed and overwhelmed before reinforcements could reach her. Suddenly in under a year the Agnotes had gone from three to only Clara herself.

Unit 9 took a break from deployment after that but it didn’t help much. Their dynamic as a team had been disrupted even further, losing their leader and frontline in short succession. Over the next few years unit 9 was reduced one by one. Grim shot by an enemy sniper Crosshair had failed to notice, Mirror was hit by an explosion too powerful even for her barriers, Courier was forced to push his bike to the limit and then was crushed by a stronger foe. Of course the ranks of unit 9 were refilled as time went on but they weren’t her unit 9. Crosshair was surrounded by new recruits and others that she had no bond with.

So shortly after the funeral of her final friend, Crosshair transferred from unit 9 to solo operation. As before she had no ambitions, no hobbies, no ideals, and now nothing to live or strive for except for one thing: vengeance. It wasn't justice by most standards, unit 9 were killers and mercenaries themselves, this was always a risk of the job. In fact, half of these targets were defending themselves against Unit 9. Crosshair didn’t care, her family had been taken from the world and she wasn't going to let the ones who did it remain.

Crosshair began to get more proactive and insistent about which jobs she got. Every job she took had the goal of gaining more information on or subverting the power base of those on her list of targets. When there was no such job to be taken she would just draw from her considerable savings to fund her own missions. One by one she found and eliminated the people she found responsible for the death of her siblings. Those targets who kept track of the Snakes realized what was happening and that someone was coming for them.

The hunt became more difficult as her targets became more aware of her goal. Security increased, targets became more elusive, sometimes she’d lose a body part but she never stopped coming after them. Whatever it took she just kept going, like the reaper she visited death upon those on her list without fail. She single-mindedly weakened and pursued the subjects of her vengeance for over five years, giving her attention to nothing else.

Finally, she had killed them all. Every single person responsible for killing her siblings was now also dead. It brought her nothing but she hadn’t expected it to. As Crosshair looked at the corpse of her final target she contemplated how there was truly nothing left to live for now. She considered turning her gun on herself, maybe she’d meet her siblings again in the next life. She almost did but at the last second, she decided that it would be a poor way to honor her siblings. If she were in their position she would want them to keep living after all.

So Crosshair continued on, just doing whatever she was told to. She became more of a weapon to be pointed and fired than a human being with thoughts and interests. She would take any mission assigned to her and despite her decision not to shoot herself directly she certainly engaged in suicidal tactics more than once. Nothing mattered to her anymore, not even whether she lived or died.

Fortunately, she would not remain in this state forever. It wasn’t because of the efforts of her fellow snakes, although some of them certainly did try to help her at least for a while. No, the salvation and restoration of her humanity came about almost entirely by coincidence. It was a normal mission, not that different from usual. Some rogue mage was making trouble near Snake territory and they needed to eliminate them. The job went well but as she was moving in to confirm her kill she found something of note. A human being, a child to be specific.

Crosshair quickly realized this child wasn’t an heir of her target or anything like that. They were just some random sleeper child who the magus would have used as a sacrifice in a few days if Crosshair hadn’t killed the mage first. So after learning she’s named Ada, Crosshair asked her where her home was, figuring that she could just arrange for her to be sent back home. However Ada revealed she was an orphan, there was no family or home for her to go back to. Crosshair was irritated by this and almost just left but the scene before her reminded her of memories that had become blurred since her family had died. Of how she was discarded by her parents, of the care Pedro gave to her, of how Cap always reminded her they help people when they can. So instead she ended up offering Ada a nice place to stay, intending to bring her to the orphanage that Cards had set up.

The kid was suspicious at first but she really didn’t have anywhere else to go so she accepted the offer. After all this woman had saved her, she couldn’t be all bad. So she came along as Crosshair brought her back to where she was temporarily staying while waiting for her flight. Some complications led to her being unable to fly back immediately so they spent some time in that temporary house with Crosshair having to figure out how to babysit some kid.

The next morning she was heading out to get some food since they’d be staying a little while but as she left the house she noticed some people in the area acting strangely. People she hadn’t seen before either, granted she hadn’t been in this area for long but even so she could not recognize a single person on the street. She soon realized why things felt off when one of them suddenly reached into and pulled a silenced gun out of their jacket. She reacted quickly and shot them before they could even line up their shot. However, she still had to deal with the rest. Thanks to the surprise they were able to get a shot on her and another that destroyed her phone but she did defeat them. Crosshair had an idea of who these people were but still inspected the bodies. Sure enough they bore symbols and uniforms from groups that she had screwed over, attacked, or otherwise antagonized on her quest for revenge. Now it seemed the past had caught up to her as these were groups willing to work together to get revenge on her for her own bloody path of revenge.

She was going to tell Ada to run on her own but she noticed that one of the women in the group had pictures on their phone. Pictures of Crosshair helping out Ada, pictures that could easily have been sent to someone else. As far as she knew they could very well settle for targeting the kid instead by association with her. Neither of them would be safe until they could get back to snake territory. After hiding the bodies as best she could on a time limit, she quickly went back into the house and told Ada to pack up anything she wanted to take because they were out of there ASAP. Getting on a flight would be a no-go, easy to track and she would be spending a significant amount of time just waiting around in a terminal. So while Ada was getting ready she bought a car for them to travel in instead.

As soon as Ada had anything she needed Crosshair took her outside, making sure not to bring her by any of the places she hastily hid bodies in while they went to the car she had bought. So they drove out of the city, managing to avoid any more pursuit for the moment. Ada was confused as to why they weren’t taking the airplane anymore. Crosshair couldn’t really explain the whole situation to her which would practically be her whole life story so she just told her that people like that mage were after them and they needed to be unpredictable. She took it surprisingly in stride, perhaps having faith that Crosshair would be able to handle anything that came their way.

Although Crosshair herself didn't have so much confidence in her ability to escape being hunted she was able to get by ok. They were hunted down by organized crime groups, slighted mage families, and more. At one point Crosshair had to just narrowly get them out of the car before a bomb went off in it, at another they had their hotel room broken into. As they went the kid kept starting conversations, asking questions, etc. something that annoyed Crosshair at first but she eventually started responding and even starting up topics herself. They survived long enough for her to get the two of them to a city that had a small amount of Snake presence.

Crosshair led Ada through the city and after making certain they aren't being followed she led her to the local Snake den. After explaining the situation, why she didn't catch her flight, and why there is a child with her, she made contact with the snakes to request an extraction to snake territory. Her request was answered by Unit 5 thanks to the high mobility granted by their aerial vehicle but even they would take some time to make a trip across countries. All the while Crosshair’s enemies were still closing in and they'd find this den sooner or later. So an extraction point was arranged for them to meet at.

The end of this journey was coming soon but Crosshair was feeling uncertain on her ability to safely get both herself and Ada all the way to the extraction point. Sure she could probably do it but if she messed up it wouldn't just be her going down. So she spoke with some of the agents there and came to an arrangement: Ada would be escorted by a different snake agent to the extraction point while Crosshair would take a different route from them to meet up at the extraction. The unspoken part of this agreement being that Crosshair would purposely draw more attention to herself, taking some heat off of Ada.

She was about to go get Ada ready for departure but found that she had left on her own. Frustrated and worried by this foolish act she chased after Ada, eventually finding her alone on the outskirts of town. Here Crosshair learned that Ada happened to know Tagalog and overheard the entire conversation between Crosshair and the other agent. Crosshair tried to explain the logic of this move but Ada wasn't having it, revealing that everyone she's met has died or ran out on her until Crosshair who had gone through all this trouble to help her. She didn't want the same thing to happen to her. Crosshair, perhaps still feeling that frustration and worry, snapped back that they're practically strangers and that this was the best choice for Ada anyway.

This remark seemed to sting for Ada who thought there was someone she could finally rely on. She went back with Crosshair but was very dejected the whole way. On the way back though Crosshair had time to reflect, seeing how Ada reacted to the news made Crosshair feel like she really was abandoning the girl. This situation was something Crosshair could sympathize with on multiple levels. By the time they got back to base, Crosshair let the other snakes know that she'd be taking Ada the whole way after all, much to Ada's delight.

They continued traveling on, taking inconspicuous methods of transportation so as to avoid detection. As they went they continued to talk with each other and even started playing some traveling games. Perhaps because Crosshair had been whittling down their numbers the whole way here, they didn’t face any more attacks for quite a while. Still, Crosshair didn’t lower her guard at all and sure enough, at the final stop to their destination they were attacked in a final last-ditch attempt on her life.

Crosshair couldn’t take this many people on her own, especially when they had the initiative, and had to engage in a fighting retreat. Ada having to drive despite being a bit young for it while Crosshair fought from the back of the truck. They made it about three quarters of the way before one of their pursuers shot out the wheels of the truck forcing them to stop.

The enemy was rapidly closing in on them. Out of options and starting to run out of ammo too, Crosshair told Ada to run while she held the line. It was unfortunate that she too would die on this kid but she felt it wasn’t such a bad way to go. Probably the kind of thing some if not all of her siblings would do, she thought. Fortune was on her side that day though. Before the enemy could get much further though, everyone heard the sound of incoming aircraft. Realizing what that meant, Crosshair allowed herself to relax for the first time in weeks as aerial firepower drove back the enemy. She and Ada quickly made their way onto unit 5’s vehicle before the enemy could regroup and made their way for Snake territory.

On the way back to snake territory Crosshair engaged in banter with unit 5 in a way she hadn’t done for years, something they picked up on but wisely chose not to comment on. She still wasn’t wisecracking or responding quite as enthusiastically as she used to with unit 9 but it was better than the machine-like state she had entered in the time between. When they finally arrived back in Snake territory, unit 5 offered to bring the kid to Cards’ orphanage while she went through debriefing. Crosshair thought it over for a moment before asking Ada if she would like to live with her. She expected to be rejected, they hadn’t known each other for long, she was harsh to her in the beginning, and on top of all that she had spent the majority of her life as a hired killer. So it came as a surprise to her when Ada said yes.

Once she got over her surprise at actually being told yes, Clara happily affirmed their decision. She went to get debriefed and after that she submitted her resignation from field duty immediately. That was unexpected by many of the Snakes handling such requests but they accepted it, knowing that she would probably regress to her previous state over time if made to keep working in the field. In fact some of them had been talking about making her quit earlier but correctly figured she’d just waste away on her own without any missions.

So Clara left behind her life as a mercenary. However, she had blown a lot of her savings on resources and favors in her pursuit of revenge so she still remained with the Snakes as an instructor rather than a field agent. She has spent the past few years taking care of Ada, now as her mother and legal guardian. Though she has faced much hardship and bloodshed in her life, it seems she has finally reached a happy ending.

## Personality

Clara’s intense trust issues from the past have somewhat subsided over time. Maturing and having positive experiences with her allies has helped her to trust people more readily. However, while she’s not nearly as rude or dismissive of strangers as she used to be, she can still take a bit of time to open up. Now because of a fear of loss, ingrained in her by the loss of her entire family. She is slow to get close to people because she can only “lose” them once she “has” them.

With her schedule suddenly a lot freer than it used to be, Clara has finally been able to pick up on some hobbies to pass the time. At first, she still didn’t really see the need for a hobby but quickly realized that yes, she gets bored without missions and with Ada going to school. She decided to pick up on practical things like gardening and woodworking that allow her to create things she can use or enjoy. She especially found herself to enjoy woodworking and spends a lot of time making sure that she gets all the details just right.

In recent years, Clara has stopped calling herself “Crosshair”. A way of symbolically leaving her past for good. Crosshair was the elite sniper with more kills than most military snipers will ever get, a mercenary who simply did her job as requested. Now Clara can focus on being a mother and a teacher, even if what she teaches is still mercenary work. On top of that she did find it odd thinking about her kid calling her “Crosshair” over a casual breakfast.

Although it is pretty standard for children of Snake agents to become Snakes themselves, Clara has no intention of training Ada to become one. As much as she loves her father, that is one decision she’ll have to disagree with. She wants to live a full life with Ada and for Ada to have the same with her own friends and maybe one day her own family. The Agnotes could have had that if they weren’t mercenaries. Not to say she regrets her time as a Snake, after all it let her meet the rest of Unit 9 and of course Ada herself. Because of this, although she taught Ada how to defend herself, she has not taught her how to be a killer.

In her role as a teacher, Clara pushes her students pretty hard. Not just for the heck of it or because she doesn’t care about them but rather because she does care about these future Snake agents. They’ll eventually go on missions just like she and her own team once did, and it is important that their skills do not fail them or their teammates. Every miss is another chance for the enemy to hit you themselves and every hit is an enemy weakened or neutralized. She has some pride in the fact that no one has ever beat her firearm test record but if one of her students ever did then she would feel a different kind of pride as a teacher.

Clara sees a lot of herself in Ada which may have been part of the reason they bonded. They were both separated from their parents in one way or another and both were left completely alone at some point in their lives. Clara does consider Ada to be a better person than herself though. Ada was able to put her trust into Clara right away even after her own experience with abandonment and living as a street urchin. Ada has occasionally asked for training but unlike Clara who just went along with her squad and did it for money, Ada wants to be able to do what Clara did for her. On a less serious note, the two also have a similar sense of humor and have been engaging in battles of sarcasm ever since they first met.

## Abilities

### Equipment

#### Prosthetic Arms

A pair of arms that Clara had commissioned to replace her original arms. She lost use of her original arms after being caught in the edge of an explosion. The arms she commissioned to take their place were meant to be weapons and tools rather than to fit in as normal arms, as this event happened while she was still on her quest for vengeance, so they are blatantly prosthetics. The strength granted by these arms is incredible, about eight times that of her natural arms. Each arm also has an additional concealed weapon. On her left arm it is a flamethrower, on her right arm it is a magic bullet shooter for when she doesn’t have a gun. On top of that the arms are very durable and can be used as a shield to a certain extent. While she still hasn’t gotten them replaced with a more life-like model, she can cover them easily enough with long sleeves and gloves when needed.

#### Prosthetic Eye

A replacement for her original left eye which she lost in a knife fight. It has the same modifications that she made to her eyes earlier in her career, allowing her to zoom in and keep track of targets that are moving way faster than she is capable of. This one also has thermal imaging and can keep track of specific people even in huge crowds. Finally, it can link with her prosthetic arms, giving her nearly perfect hand-eye-coordination

#### Sniper Rifle

Although she does not often use it anymore, Clara still has her old sniper rifle from her mercenary days. The gun has been heavily modified and customized but the base of the rifle is an Accuracy International AS50. Thanks to the modifications from Grim it has a scope that is far more accurate and can focus on targets at further ranges than the standard issue, a shotgun has been installed under the main barrel for close-quarters encounters, a flash hiding spell keeps the position of the gun hidden when firing, and a lightening spell makes the gun even easier to transport than the normal lightweight frame. The gun has many signs of its long decades of use but has also clearlly been well maintained.

### Marksmanship

Clara has always had an intuition for shooting even without her psychic ability. Something about it just clicked for her from the very first time she picked up a gun and her skill has only grown since then. Clara, or rather her former identity of Crosshair, has become a legendary figure amongst underground gunmen. She has made shots that any other sniper would not even attempt with skill alone and yet skill alone is often all she had.

### Sharpshooter

Clara was born with a psychic ability known as “Sharpshooter”. Even without her great amount of skill as a shooter, this psychic ability would allow her to land most of her shots where she meant to. Combined with her skill at shooting she can make shots that most snipers wouldn’t even consider in their dreams. While she mostly uses this ability for sniping it can also be used with any other form of ranged attack such as throwing her knife or shooting a handgun. Once she’s using a ranged weapon, Clara simply feels the best way to use it to hit her target.