Valentina Romanyszyn

I've done my bit. Let the world tear itself apart. I'm going to leave a beautiful corpse, an open bar tab, and no regrets.

Full Name: Valentina Romanyszyn
Callsign: Wraith
Race: Human
Gender: Genderfluid
Pronouns: They/Them (Will not correct she/her)
Proficiencies: Stealth, Recon, Marksmanship, Close Quarters Combat, Wetwork
Personality: Focused and aloof while working. Outgoing and easygoing when off duty. Blunt no matter their occupational status.

Profession: Contract Killer for Atlas under the guise of being a normal Atlesian Specialist
Semblance: Technoscrutiny
Age: 28
General Capabilities: Equal to the Branwen twins

Technoscrutiny Explained

Valentina has an eye for technology, able to spot weaknesses in mechs, power lines, and energy weapons. If it has a power source and/or signal, no matter how small, they can examine it and discern how to take it offline. The more intricate the tech, the longer they have to examine it to understand it. For those with keen eyes, there is a way to spot if the semblance in use. Valentina's pale white irises turn a deep purple when using their Technoscrutiny.

Bio:
Born in a village located in what was thought to be a hidden area of Sanus, Valentina lived a mundane day to day life tending to fields and caring for livestock. This life lasted until they were sixteenth when their village was raided by a party of bandits lead by a woman that replaced their visage with that of a creature of Grimm.

Despite the odds they managed to live through that attack, and arose from the ashes a sole survivor of a community that once prospered. They had thought their fate was sealed when the monsters that normally kept to the treeline began to circle what remained of their home, but the smoke that filled the air had caught the attention of a group of Atlesian huntsmen nearby. The warriors in white made short work of the first wave of Grimm and carried an injured Valentina away before more could arrive.

Fueled by revenge, the sole survivor enrolled at the academy and became one of the top students. A few professors had pulled them aside to talk about how destructive the motivation they used to progress through their training was, but all those discussions did was teach Valentina how to better conceal it. Keeping it secret was imperative as their enrollment status was threatened.

The effort would turn out to be for naught, as they were pulled out of the Academy during their second year and enrolled in a separate program. Unbeknownst to them, this change was made due to information they had that was important to more than just Atlas. Information that took a great deal of exaplaination to understand the significance, but even those in the know were shocked to find out:

Valentina had lived alongside the Spring Maiden before the raid.

With that in mind, Atlas decided that it was now their job to find them by any means necessary. They poured a lot of funds and experienced professionals into creating what they deemed to be one of the most effective agents on the field.

Valentina was well aware as to what they were being molded into, what they would be used for, and their desire for revenge slowly faded into nothingness. Their life was no longer their own due to forces they could no longer control, and perhaps that was the case for all of Remnant's killers. All of them victims of circumstance, including Raven Branwen on that fateful night.

Biography

Name: Valentina "Wraith" Romanyszyn, Age: 30
Occupation: Assassin
Base of Operations: Dorado, Mexico
Affiliation: (Current changes based on RP Path Chosen/Their fraternal twin half-sister: Sombra), Ukraine Rebel Forces (formerly), Russian Defense Forces (formerly)

"I like fights I can win."

Valentina Romanyszyn knew they'd be a fighter from an early age. They grew up the only child of a single father who was far too busy with his business to take care of a pet, let alone another human being. This meant being watched by many different nannies, several of which Valentina's father had 'relations' with.

Out of fear for his reputation, rather than his child's benefit, Valentina's father hired tutors to home school them and limit how much time the child had outside of the home. Once they turned fourteen, he sent them to a military academy and bribed the institution to not use their real name. There Valentina spent most of their time alone, making few friends due to a life lacking social activity and experience. Early on they had been made a target for bullying, but that was solved by breaking their main bully's ankles. Valentina's father paid the correct price to keep them from being reprimanded.

None of this was what taught Valentina they would have to be a fighter though. Their realization of their genderfluidity was what did that.

Despite the world making great strides toward equality- and achieving it in some places -several pockets of Russia was still behind. Especially places where older generations were still concentrated. Valentina could tell they were already a nuisance to their father by just existing, and they decided that revealing how they felt inside would only make things worse. They hoped that once they got away from their father they'd be able to be more open, but their first opportunity to do so was in the military academy and they quickly decided it was best to stay silent.

A little after Valentina graduated from the academy, Ukraine- which had been annexed by Russia before the First Omnic Crisis -made an attempt at revolution. They revealed that their Omnium had been reactivated shortly after the victory over the Omnics and used it to begin a rebel army. Seeing it as a path away from their father and a country who was dominated by close minded people, Valentina fled to Ukraine and joined the rebellion. There they got their start in covert missions consisting of several attempted assassinations and recon. It was also where they finally made friends, and developed social skills between and on missions.

The rebellion didn't last long, and Valentina along with several others were captured. Unbeknownst to the now assassin, their father had begun trying to reach for political power and proving to be a threat to those with a direct connection to the ones who captured the rebels. Due to this, Valentina was offered a second chance at life as long as they lended their skills to Russia and allowed themself to be used as a political talking point to show how unfit their father was to hold a seat.

Not ready to die, they agreed and they were used to defame their father. As soon as the public moved on to something else, their name and image were wiped from records and they were given a place in the Russian Defense Force as a sniper/assassin.

A fork in the road

Lead to believe that they were an only child and their mother had passed away while giving birth to them, the sniper never gave the idea of having siblings much thought. Being a loner, and different from others simply due to their gender identity, they never felt any real connection to others until Ukraine's failed rebellion. Even in the Russian Defense Force they felt alone due to only being part of it as a deal to save their life. This lead them to give up on the idea of feeling truly connected with someone, and they spent most time on leave drinking alone at whatever bar was closest.

Despite giving up on the idea of connection, it was still something their body craved. All those nights drinking lead to several one-night stands with people Valentina didn't quite care to learn anything about. The fact they were mimicking something their father did wasn't lost on them, and only contributed to their drinking.

Their outlook on life as well as their bad habits didn't change or even have a chance of changing until Valentina met Sombra.

After Talon infiltrated Volskaya Industries, Zarya was tasked with tracking down Sombra. Valentina was ordered to join her and the pair- with the assistance of an Omnic -were able to track her to Dorado, Mexico. There Sombra revealed Katya Volskaya's secret, and a familial tie to Valentina. Desperate for this connection to be true, Valentina turned on Zarya and helped Sombra escape.

They narrowly avoided the explosion of the warehouse they were in, and the sniper fully expected to feel the barrel of an uzi pressed to the back of their head once they were clear. That didn't happen though. Instead the pair collapsed into each other's arms with tears in their eyes.

With their sister's help, Valentina truly fell off the grid, spending as much time with Sombra as possible.

(This is where the fork in the road is for RP, reader. Valentina from here could join Overwatch, or could simply be Sombra's bodyguard.

If Valentina is in Overwatch they will help in any way possible, but if Sombra is directly present at whatever Talon OP Overwatch is responding to, they will not attack Sombra and will make moves to protect her. They won't attack other Overwatch agents to protect their sister, but they'll definitely make things difficult.

If Valentina is Sombra's bodyguard, then they might join Talon to help fulfill their goal of keeping her safe. If they don't join Talon then they'd simply hang nearby in whatever country/state/province Sombra is in. In their spare time they're a contract killer.)

Name: Under The Influence
Weapon Type: Energy Sniper Rifle
Capabilities: Can be alternated between anti-vehicle and anti-infinity modes. The mode selected dictates the rate of energy consumption.

Name: Common Sense
Weapon Type: Dual Swords
Capabilities: Blades can siphon elemental energy from slotted Dust crystals as well as transition between tangible and intangible states.

(Only in RWBY AU, just standard blades outside of it)

Name: Smart Pistol
Weapon Type: Low Capacity Handgun
Capabilities: Can fire low damage ammunition with experimental homing technology.

Name: Data Knife
Weapon Type: Knife
Capabilities: Can be used to hack into different devices as well as take care of problems the old fashioned way.

(In Overwatch AU this is the product of a collaborative project with their twin half-sister Sombra.

RWBY Solos:

Wraiths

“Many wonder why I chose Wraith as my callsign. I thought the reason would be obvious” - Valentina “Wraith” Romanyszyn

Everyone believes they’re in control. Their decisions, their destiny, their fate. They don’t have to say it, it’s just an unspoken agreement. An agreement predicated on a lie. No one is truly in control, other forces pull the strings and everyone does a dance they believe they choreographed. Who or what are those forces they may wonder. A simple question with a simple answer.

They’re wraiths.

They cling to their puppets like shadows, and the clinging isn’t where the similarities stop. Like shadows, their appearance mimics that of their owner, and when the angle is just right there can be more than one present. Unlike their pitch black counterparts though, wraiths are most visible when times are their darkest. They crawl out from the inky black depths of one's soul, their eyes wide and their fangs bared. They whisper into the owner’s ear, their voices identical and indiscernible from that of one’s conscience.

Sometimes the wraith is from the past, a relic from a time long since passed that’s not ready to be forgotten. A relic that is still looked to for advice because once it had imparted a wise truth. Other times the wraith is from the present, a carbon copy of the one it is controlling because this one has grown from its mistakes. Learned from the times it pulled a string too taught and received an outcome that wasn’t desired.

Valentina was aware of these creatures, they had seen them many times throughout their life. The first time they had seen them was when they were born, two grinning apparitions waiting for their newest vessel to enter the world. It was a memory that came and went, sometimes mistaken for a simple nightmare when they were younger.

The second time they witnessed these specters was when they were surrounded by smoke. A time when all five of their senses were being violated. Silhouettes of bandits marched across their vision; screams of the dying assaulted their hearing; the smell of homes burning advanced on their nose; blood from a tongue trapped between their teeth conquered their taste buds; and any semblance of safety retreated when their parents were torn away from their grasp.

The wraiths were there, witnesses to it all, but none were as prevalent as the two that stood behind the woman with the Grimm mask. The spectre from the past was consoling the one from the present, explaining that this was the way things must be. It was a natural cycle. That they had only gotten this far because these necessary measures had been taken many times before, and if things were different then there would be no need for this.

But the fact of the matter was that things weren’t different, and the wraith from the present gave one last look to the one of the past. The relic nodded solemnly, as if the burden on their shoulders was one they wished they could carry alone. But when the present used its blade to deliver a decree that had been passed down several generations, the past’s expressions contorted into a smile that was wicked.

Both times Valentina had witnessed these apparitions through tears, leading them to believe that there were only two. That changed when they went to Atlas.

It was in Atlas that the sole survivor of that attack heard their true calling and they never put the phone down. They were being conscripted to join a group of specialists, a group that flew the Atlesian banner albeit not publicly. No, that would be problematic. But the leader was definitely part of Atlas, at least, that’s what they said.

Now Valentina was laying on a cliffside, a pale white iris peering through the scope of a sniper rifle that those with top secret clearance thought was still in early development. It wasn’t until the moment the head of their target was centered in their crosshairs that they saw it: the third wraith. It was standing right next to him, leaning on its scythe as its two bright eyes pierced the darkness the cowl of its cloak provided. Valentina tried to swing the rifle’s scope in its direction, but the sniper’s arms refused to move, too busy fulfilling the command they were given less than a second ago.

They felt their finger pull the trigger and a loud report filled the valley.

The scythe brought down the target before the bullet could, and the projectile tore off the top of wraith’s cloak revealing its identity. It was the wraith of many faces; the wraith that never put the phone down once it was called; the wraith that knew the future. Many had grown to call it the Reaper, but in that moment Valentina knew who it truly was. It was the one who had torched their village when they were a child, the one that had called them so many years ago, the one that flew the Atlesian banner all this time, and today it was the one who had pulled the trigger.