Long form:
And with a well choreographed tear, Queen Catherine announced the dissolution of Britain. Perhaps it was her inner Glaswegian, but Imogen Gemma Wallace wasn't troubled by this. (More likely it was because she was 12 at the time). After all, she was in America, and who gave a rat's ass about all that stuff in Europe?
Well, about that...
Her father, Major Wallace, was a foreign liason officer at Lewis-Mcchord. With both Britain and Her Majesty's Royal Air Service gone, his whole family was in peril. Holding worthless official passports and facing deportation into the anarchy of Europe, he filed for stateside asylum. It was a long shot in these less than generous times, but it was better than facing the populist masses and their street justice. After a year in family detention, his references at the military base proved decisive.
Of course, that wasn't the end of their problems. There wasn't a lot of demand for mid-career non-aviators on the job market, especially a foreign one. He eventually found a middling job in an Amazon warehouse.
This process was even worse for poor little Imogen. While not rich by West Coast standards, governments keep their servants comfortable (though more to save face than reward loyalty.). The transition from suburbia and private school to family detention was a hard one. The eventual move to the housing projects was only a minor improvement. Her background made her an easy mark for her newfound peers, and she faced constant abuse. Her father wished he could do more for her, but at 80 hours a week at the warehouse, he simply couldn't.
At sixteen, her grades were solid enough to defer early graduation, and she continued her studies. Her father was overjoyed by her academic success, but the rest of the neighborhood resented her only further. How could their taxes fund a higher education billet for some uppity refugee? She was also in full bloom of puberty by now, and other forms of harassment were now relentless.
...and along came Ramon. He was older, but was well dressed and had a nice car. But most importantly, he could get her out of the projects. Yeah, he might have something to do with the Syndicate, but Ramon was good to her. He was her first.
With her father away at work, he never found out about their relationship. Major Wallace may not have been a man of the streets, but surely he would've seen where this was going. Imogen even went through great efforts at home to conceal a "Ramon's Girl" tattoo he "gifted" her. She knew it was a bit much, but they were in love.
Then came the turn. Ramon had "friends". "Girl, if you really loved me..."
No one talks about what happened next. Not the Syndicate, not even Imogen. But it's generally agreed things didn't go as planned. Within months "Schoolgirl" was on a hit crew on the streets of Sea-Tac.
For the next two years, she began her double-life: honor student by day, gangland assassin by night. As a plus, the Syndicate handled all the harassment against her. Major Wallace was proud when his daughter graduated from high school and immediately had a white collar job offer. Yeah, he'd miss her in Portland, but he had to let his little girl go some day.
Over the last several years, the Schoolgirl took over a previously unremarkable Syndicate crew in Portland, and turned them into the most discreet yet deadly crew on the West Coast. Making appearances as a graphic designer for a Syndicate shell company, she's ostensibly an upstanding tax-paying member of society too. Yeah, all the punk plaid is abit edgy for the office, but you know how those creative types are, right?
Now in her twenties, "Tartan" is a master of clandestine tradecraft. From her corner office, she commands a crew of discreet covert operators. Looking for flawlessly executed blackmail, black bagging, cat burglary, corporate/industrial sabotage, or a discreet "disappearance" in Portland? You need to talk to Tartan. She trusts her "Misfits" to carry out her bidding by day, as she browses their real-time status reports on her smartphone. Her crew lives in fear of receiving a dreaded "snowflake" message from her during the day. (If you hear from her during the day, you probably fucked up.) At night, she meets with her crew in a series of Syndicate-affiliated nightclubs, only having to get her hands dirty once in a blue moon.
Not quite the upcoming punk she once was, Tartan is now officially a "made woman" in the Syndicate. Despite being only 25, she sells herself as older for leadership purposes. Of course, bits and pieces of her backstory are known among the Syndicate, and she's rapidly becoming something of a role model and mentor for young female recruits. She's so business-like now, you'd never think she has a Scottish flag tramp stamp back there. Tartan is proud of her status in the Syndicate, but secretly misses the danger of her days back on the streets as The Schoolgirl.
Her father, Major Wallace, is still alive, but is getting up there in age. He can't pull the hours at Amazon that he used to. His health is waning and Tartan regularly sends money back to Sea-Tac to care for him. She makes the commute to see him nearly every major holiday.
But wait, whatever happened to Ramon? Supposedly his 300M careened off Highway One into the Pacific a few months back. Guess he should've gotten the self-driving model.
Squad Name: Tartan Misfits
Race Makeup: Earthbound
Commander Name: Imogen Gemma Wallace (AKA, Schoolgirl or Tartan.)
Commander Details: A 25-year old Scottish born woman. Attractive and fiendishly intelligent. Began work with the Syndicate in her teens, under the moniker Schoolgirl. Now actively dislikes hearing this diminutive from peers, but tolerates it from superiors. Has re-established herself as "Tartan" in Portland. Her crew is female focused, and often wear Tartan plaid gang colors. Supposedly this dates back to when she had to go straight from school to a gang hit, and didn't have time to change out of her school uniform. Presently, Tartan Misfits are becoming leading covert action squad on the West Coast. Tartan has matured much over the years, and as grown more of her spymaster role. From her Syndicate-front job, she electronically commands her Misfits during the day. At night, she gets her real work done. Cares greatly for her elderly father, Major Wallace, in Sea-Tac. Reportedly has a large Scottish flag tattoo on her lower back.