Blaze And Frostnova (Arknights)

A brash and hot-headed Victorian Feline and one of Rhodes Island's Elite Ops, Blaze is known among her colleagues for her impressive track record and dedication to the Infected cause. Her accomplishments have motivated some R.I. personnel, while others see her methods as nothing but "brute force" personified. Still, Blaze is a valuable asset for R.I. due to her mastery over Originium Arts manifesting as combustible blood channeled into her weapon, a tactical chainsaw with an optional "extension" (in the form of a pole stick) capable of eviscerating anything in her way.

Blaze's background and family are shrouded with an uneasy past to a point that it is considered a strictly censored, undisclosed national secret that could bring huge havoc. Born Gu Zhuhuang, she is a Yanese by birth whose mother is in fact the former Grand Preceptor of Yan, one of the Three Dukes serving the Emperor of Yan and a well-respected educational reformer who opened up higher education for the populace in 1054. However, in April 1062, the fate of Blaze's family was forever changed when her mother participated in a coup d'état in the imperial capital of Baizao together with Crown Prince Yan Wu and his younger brother to force the bedridden, despotic True Lung be abdicated. The coup did not end well when Yan Wu secretly fled Baizao, forcing the younger brother to take the throne. In order to stabilize the imperial palace, the newly ascended Emperor conducted a violent political purge and silenced opposition factions.

Blaze's family became the sole target during the purge. Being accused for treason, the Grand Preceptor was forced to be scapegoated and committed suicide by hanging herself. The remaining twenty-eight family members were all arrested by the Imperial Guards, many of them either being incarcerated or being sent into exile. However, Blaze was just a newborn infant during the purge, and she was miraculously rescued by Gu Sheng, the Grand Preceptor's talented student who remained loyal to her despite her demise, by switching her with his own daughter amidst the arrest.

The Gu family fled from Yan and became political fugitives in Victoria, and Gu Sheng took up the responsibility to become Blaze's stepfather. Yearning to clear the Grand Preceptor's name, he quietly returned to Yan as a newly appointed mandarin to investigate the truth behind the coup together with the then-Deputy Minister Yu Cheng of the Central Judicial Office. In the end, Blaze never got the chance to meet her stepfather again: Gu Sheng's action triggered the Emperor's rage who sentenced him death penalty; even though he was pardoned by High Minister Ning Shu who sought to bring him out of the empire by disguising him as a nameless Yanese diplomat to Victoria, Gu Shen turned seriously ill and finally committed suicide along his way back home during an envoy trip in 1092. Gu Shen's acquainted colleagues then covered up his suicide by declaring it a diplomatic accident which would prevent Yanese authorities from reaching the Gu family in Victoria.

However, what seemed to be a covered-up suicide case suddenly turned bizarre: Yu Cheng was impeached for an alleged corruption and was put under arrest; a huge fire broke out in the Central Judicial Office's scrollery that destroyed many of its archives, including undisclosed documents regarding the Baizao coup of 1062 and Blaze's family biographies. Since then, Blaze was targeted by the censors of the Central Judicial Office led by Lin Qingyan, a.k.a. Operator "Leizi", who suspected both the diplomatic accident and the demise of their department were all connected, and they put Blaze under strict surveillance although she had no clue regarding the affair. Whatever the case, Blaze began her own solo journey to clear her family's guilt ― whether her mother's and her step-family's ― by taking up her stepfather's legacy even if it means usurping the appearing stability of Great Yan.

Blaze's faithful dedication for the Infected's cause and her joining R.I. began from a fateful event in a Victorian factory she once worked for to earn a living for her only stepmother during her teenage years. She personally witnessed a huge protest over an abusive boss who hoarded Oripathy suppressant for underground scalping while refusing to provide even the simplest medical care to the factory's workers. Not only that, the boss even hired military soldiers to quell the protest and confined the protesters inside an unhygienic quarantine room where many of them fell to their illness. Out of rage for justic, Blaze personally broke into the room to free the protesters and led them capture the storehouse where the suppressant were hoarded, and the incident not only turned Blaze into an Infected, but also altered her destiny. Joining R.I. under Censor Jie Zhen's recommendation, Blaze quickly arose to become one of the most talented members of Ace's squad among the Elite Ops. Her blazing spirit for justice will never die down ― just like her stepfather seeking the truth to prove his master's innocence even if it requires sacrifice.

Born Yelena, FrostNova is one of the well-known Reunion leaders. Her leadership of the famed Yeti Squadron and her frigid ice Originium Arts that could control her surrounding temperature and freeze any target earns her many titles such as the "Yeti Princess" and the "Wintry Death." In order to cast her Arts, she chants her spells in the form of folksongs and channels it through her Caster wand. However, this comes with a heavy price. She suffers from extreme hypothermia that others could get frostbite just by touching her skin, and she has to consume chili candies and strong alcohol such as vodka to maintain her body temperature. Her Arts often comes with a deteriorating health and the worsening of her Oripathy. In order to avoid hurting her Yetis, she has been restraining herself from unleashing her full potential which could easily lead to her death.

FrostNova's childhood is a tragedy. She was born in a poor family who was sentenced to work in a labour camp in the Northern Tundra due to their opposition of the militaristic policies of the Ursus Empire. Her parents and grandmother were forced to work in an inhuman conditions while mining Originium, leading to their Oripathy. In the meantime, the Ursine soldiers overlooking the mine took pleasure on the persecution of those Infected slave-miners; they drew lots for them and then execute them on spot if they pulled a black lot. FrostNova's family could not avoid such fate either; her parents were killed when she was five and her grandmother when she was nine. By the time she reached eleven, it was her turn to be executed alongside other children in the mine. Her fate seemed to be sealed the moment she pulled the black lot.

Just before she was about to be executed by those evil soldiers, a miracle happened onto the poor girl. Her Arts suddenly went rouge for the first time, killing four executioners in the process. While the other soldiers threatened to kill other children, a mysterious band of guerrillas defeated them and rescued the survivors. Their heroes turned out to be Buldrokkas'tee the "Patriot" and his Shieldguard guerrillas. Seeing FrostNova living in misery inside the camp, Patriot decided to raise her up as his beloved adopted daughter. Those children would eventually became members of the Yetis whom she treats as her brothers and sisters.

For the next few years, the matured FrostNova and her Yetis worked together with Patriot's guerrillas to liberate the oppressed Infected from the hands of their imperial overlords. Their brilliant military tactics earned them reputations to both the commoners and the authorities as guardians of the Tundra. Their name would eventually attract Talulah's proto-Reunion Movement. After a somewhat awkward first encounter with an unnecessary duel, the two factions decided to sit down and discuss an alliance between the two. To Talulah, Reunion needs military aid so that they could defend themselves from the soldiers' harassment. She also needs them to accomplish her goal of liberating all the Infected across Terra. The two at first oppose such idea, thinking that it was too impossible. Following her persuasions as well as Ursus targeting them as a threat to the empire, the two eventually agreed her words and incorporated their forces into Reunion. While the two had some minor disagreement about some issues, especially when it came to Patriot's stubborn, conservative mind, the alliance was nonetheless a success.

She was a Reunion leader who joins Rhodes Island after losing a duel against them. FrostNova avoids falling on the battlefield, after Dr.Kal'tsit manages to stabilize her condition that halted the rapid progression of FrostNova's Oripathy. FrostNova is gentle, playful, and kind towards those in Rhodes Island. She's unsure how to get closer with the other Operators, but gets along with them nevertheless. She's grateful for this second chance.