Maria Lezpeta

**Character Articles**

Maria "Wind Maiden" Lezpeta in a relaxed stance with her shotgun and "Blood-Raker"

## Character

### **Language(s)**

* Low Gothic
* Sezhran

### **Affiliation**

Inquisition: Ordo XenosSezhran Redemptors

## Biographical Data

### **Relatives**

Mother, Father, and 3 Brothers on Sezhra Prima

## Physical Description

### **Weight**

150 lbs.

Maria Lezpeta is a scout colonel in the service of Inquisitor Gregorious Cynhard of the Ordo Xenos. She serves as a scout vanguard where she puts her Sezhran pattern assault bike to exceptional use, especially utilizing the speed boost to get close for her chainsword and shotgun. She is formally of the Sezhran Redemptors, and puts the tribal raiding tactics of the regiment to good use to as she crashes in for shock and awe combat.

## History

### Early Childhood

Maria was born on Sezhra Prima in the mountain city of Lamero, youngest compared to her brothers. Within the city, life was always in training and carnage. Younger ones like her hunted while the older kids learned how to fight in melee and how to ride a bike. Society on Sezhra Prima was focused solely on the principle of combat and bloodshed for the holy Emperor. She showed early proficiency with moving faster than the other kids and being a better shot with a weapon. As she got older, she was moved to combat training, where she learned to put her natural taller stature to her best advantage, grappling and crushing sparring partners whilst pelting them with fast and heavy fists. It was bike riding where she found her calling, opting to skip teaching days to go ride out on her father's bike whenever she could. When she turned 18 years of age, tragedy had struck in the family, tragedy for a Sezhran that is. Her father had been struck with shrapnel when on deployment and while surviving, he was forced to be grounded from his bike and take position from a Rough Rider major to Armory master, forced to watch over and keep armory inventory. She was chosen to inherit his bike as her brothers had already gotten their own and taken arms in the service to the Redemptors. Following in the battle lust, she too volunteered for service in the Sezhran Redemptors.

### Service to the Redemptors

Maria joined the Redemptors as soon as she turned 18 years of age, taking up a position in a rough rider squad. There she thrived as a forward scout, taking heads as she moves. When she achieved the rank of sergeant, she found herself stationed on a mining world alongside the Ashstriders for pacification. Going for a drink in a bar, she stumbled upon a handsome Ashstrider sitting alone at a table. Grinning like a mad woman, she plopped down next to him with a large bottle of alcohol and bet that if she drank it all within half a minute, he and her would go for a bike ride. The Ashstrider agreed and watched in disbelief as she drank the full bottle within 20 seconds, grabbed his arm and dragged him out to her bike. This man was named Jeriko Hyke, and the two soon became very close friends. She was 28 when she was promoted to Colonel for her charge headlong into a rival squad of Wild Host and emerged from the scuffle with most of her squad alive and her clothes soaked to the core with blood. The charge earned her another set of scars as well, and a new name for her chainsword she so loved. She named it "Blood-raker" for the wide bloody arcs it cut during the battle, each swing trailed with a bloody arc. She had decided against naming her shotgun, as while its reports cried out as did the dying Wild Host members, she preferred to draw her melee weapons and cleave forth.

### The Inquisition

When Maria turned 30, her battalion was assigned to Jeriko's regiment for a persecution of T'au sympathizers. As she was training for the upcoming battle, she barely missed seeing the very large Inquisitor Gregorious arrive. Not caring that his appearance was there or not, she began the best training run she had done yet. She revved forward, slightly bosting with the boost button on her bike, she smashed the bike into the defenses, flipping over to land on a dummy with her chainsword already stabbed into the face of the dummy. She immediately sprang up from the chest of the dummy and rammed her chainsword through and up to cleave the next dummy, rolling to the next and sever its legs and head in two strikes. Running up to Jeriko, she drops the chainsword and quickly stuns him with a palm before tackling him and moving off him into a head lock. As she holds the headlock, she pulls out a pocket pistol, puts it to the side of his head, shouts "BANG" as she lets go and runs into the finish line. Panting, she sees Gregorious had been watching, specifically at the time counter. She looks over and feels her heart skip a beat, she had done the course in 20 seconds. She stands tall and stretches and continues about her day, before going back to sleep in her billet. As she woke the next day, she found an inquisitional summons, and arrived at the Inquisitor's billet along with Jeriko. Apparently he was impressed with their training and wished to have her as a scout retinue member and Jeriko as an anti-armor gunner. Empowered with pride, she immediately accepted the position although she was sad that she was to leave the Sezhrans. Giving a last goodbye, she left with the Inquisitor and have served him faithfully and with her full ability for 7 years. Now she and the Inquisitor have learned to be on more casual terms due to her teaching him of Sezhran culture and laxity when speaking and acting, allowing her that refreshing sense of unity.

## Appearance

Maria is seen drabbed in a black flak jacket, with a very rough appearance and texture as the winds of surely worn it down. Her shirt is a dark blue tank top which reveals her muscular tattooed arms. The tattoos are of geometric designs, wrapping as a sleeve around her arms. Her left hand has cloth wrapping around it to keep it safe from wind shearing, leaving her right bare to wield her chainsword without risk of the cloth getting in the way. Her waist has a bandolier for her shotgun shells, along with a sling on her chest. She wears long black pants with brown cloth wrapping along her left thigh. On her left knee is a steel spiked plate strapped to it, and there are leather pouches on the sides of her knees as too. On her feet are light leather boots, black and ruddy but reliable as she says. Her ankle wrappings match the thigh cloths in their brown and worn look. in total, her clothes all look worn and old yet she isn't bothered by this. On her back is an old rutsack that she had since her time in the Redemptors, the standard backpack of the regiment. As for her actual appearance, she stands straight and tall with a muscular body from constant training. She bears scaring all over her arms and ribs, proudly displayed by her. Her black hair matches her clothes, and she has sharp features that stand out from her more rugged appearance.

## Personality

Maria is described as rowdy at the best of times. She can be very belligerent as are most from her planet, preferring to drink and fist fight rather than keep to herself. She has a tendency to be quite vulgar, although she is mostly kind with her belligerence. She views unity between people essential for survival, a view she held over from her planet. Maria has an odd quirk where she makes friends fast, despite her more unruly characteristics aside from her belligerence and vulgarity. She has a battle-lust that is very apparent when speaking with her, as most of her people share that intrinsic need for raid and battle. There is also the intrinsic thought that if they are not raiding or having fun, then they should be preparing for battle. As such, she can be found often exercising to keep herself ready for carnage. When none of this is happening, she is either inebriating herself thrice over or flirting with any wayward soul that should find themselves unlucky enough nearby, who usually so happens to be her best friend from the Ashstriders.

## Abilities and Traits

Maria doesn't have any supernatural or even special abilities, she is just a normal human. As for normal abilities and traits, Maria is an excellent brawler and grappler. She fights fast, hitting hard and not relenting for a second. When she grapples, she usually goes for moves that restrict them as much as possible to continue crushing them with her strength. Outside of combat, Maria is a fantastic biker, and even a good driver of other vehicles. She has a small amount of experience piloting a Valkyrie, so she can rise for the opportunity if need be. In close range, Maria excels as her shotgun can core out any poor soul who finds themselves close to her. As for using "Blood-raker", this is what makes her feared. Her savagery and skill are hard to match for other mortals, mostly the former however.

## Equipment

* **Sezhran pattern Assault bike**
* **Refractor power field**

### Armour

* **Standard issue Flak jacet**
* **Light leg armor\***

### Used Weapons

* **Carnius pattern shotgun**
* **Chainsword "Blood-Raker"**

### Munitions

* **Standard shotgun rounds**
* **Incendiary shotgun rounds**
* **Explosive shotgun rounds**

## Relations

### Friends/Allies

* Inquisitor Gregorious
* Colonel Jeriko Hyke
* Ordo Xenos
* Imperium of Man
* Sezhran Redemptors

### Rivals/Enemies

* Wild Host
* Xenos
* Chaos

## Quotes

### By:

"*As long as one breaths, moves, or pisses, then it is a disgrace! RUN THEM DOWN AND MAKE 'EM BLEED!*"
—Maria on the hunt for T'au sympathizers.
### About:

"*She is a disgusting woman, with the mouth of a peasant and the smell of one. How she is placed in the ranks of the Inquisition, much less of honorable Gregorious is a conundrum, and a plague.*"
—Dissenting Ordo Xenos inquisitor.