Lara Minhelm

Sergeant Lara Minhelm, formerly of the Mordian Iron Guard, is one of the earliest members of the Ragged Edges.

History
Lara Minhelm was born on Mordian, a notoriously bleak and crime-ridden Hive World known for its disciplined soldier battalions. She was a rowdy and disrespectful youth, working as a mercenary, but very much aware of the emptiness of her life. This led to her selling most of her possessions to take part in a game of Lord of the Spire, which she won - providing her with what she needed to apply to the Mordian Iron Guard.

She was a late application and initially was turned down, but a choice insult to the administrator, Sergeant Garven, led to the latter declaring Minhelm to be a "personal project." Garven trained Minhelm heavily, in both firing drills and overall combat, imposing upon her the ideal of the uniform. Each time they trained, Garven would ask Minhelm what the uniform represented, and each time, Minhelm would give the wrong answer.

Nonetheless, Minhelm quickly graduated as a member of the Iron Guard, and took part in a number of battles with Garven, who returned to active duty to see her pupil in action. It was not long into their career, though, that Garven perished, leaving Minhelm alone again. Not long after, she would take her distinctive facial tattoos.

Minhelm would eventually reach the rank of Sergeant, but not long after, most of her squad was wiped out, with the exception of her and Mik Branz, placing them both among the Ragged Edges. Her experience and rank placed her in a somewhat commanding position among the newly-formed unit, where she would work with distinction.

On one mission, Wesk Calliban unearthed a badly-injured soldier; the Vostroyan Temple Guard Zoya Yaroslava. Yaroslava was revived by Ohmi Wierzbowski, becoming more machine than human. Nonetheless, Minhelm found herself attracted to Yaroslava, and so approached her under the hopes of a relationship. Yaroslava accepted with good cheer, and the two are now a long-standing couple.

Minhelm was instrumental in the Trydusian Incident. She was beamed to Boone's location remotely, and served as a bodyguard for most of its run. Her intimidating nature, pragmatism, and ability as a combatant let her acquit herself well in the battle, serving as both an advisor and a bodyguard to the psyker. She briefly suffered a heart attack from the psyker Waldrip Gestalt, but was revived by Nel Torokvei.

Personality
Minhelm in battle is an extremely typical Mordian - disciplined, honorable, stern, and showing little tolerance for delay or shortcomings. She often displays the viciousness typical of a former mercenary, but tempers it with the training of the only Imperial Guard division to still use infantry squares. Beneath that, and outside of battle, though, Minhelm loosens up considerably - though this is not something she likes to show off.

Though she has little fondness for her homeland, Minhelm is extremely proud of her heritage as a Mordian, and maintains a friendly rivalry with the two Praetorian members as a result. She is an open lesbian, and something of a pervert, considering herself a connoisseur of what she calls "deshabille" - pictures of women in partial undress - and having a particular fetish for large or mechanically-augmented women. This made her relationship with Yaroslava something of a dream.

Minhelm is something of a jack of all trades, being a ferocious physical combatant, an excellent sharpshooter with her laspistol, iron-willed enough to shrug off injury, and reasonably skilled with tactics and stealth. She is also fairly intimidating, which she usually uses to stir other soldiers to action.

Zoya Yaroslava
Minhelm has a steady romantic relationship with Yaroslava. The Vostroyan finds her to be adorable, referring to her as "solnishko", while Minhelm enjoys the company of a woman who resembles a force of nature in combat and is willing to speak her mind. In combat, Minhelm tends to keep her mind on the job, while Yaroslava tends to be affectionate, while out of combat, Minhelm tends to - albeit often subtly - take the lead.

Conrad Raege
Minhelm idolizes Conrad Raege to some degree; being obsessed with the soldier ideal leaves her with strong opinions on a person who so embodies it. Raege reminds her a good deal of Garven, furthering her interest. That said, she does occasionally grumble about Conrad's lack of discipline in combat - in particular, her dreadful aim.

Sergeant Garven
Minhelm truly does idolize her former commander and mentor. Their relationship began as rocky, with Garven seeing Minhelm as a thug trying to hide her heritage, and Minhelm seeing Garven as a buttoned-down incompetent. Before long, though, they grew close, with Minhelm exulting in Garven's praise while Garven silently appreciated her apprentice. By the time of Garven's death, Minhelm truly missed her.

Wesk Calliban
As part of an initiative to encourage the troops to remain together, Raege ordered the troop's Praetorian and Mordian members to room together, making Lara and Wesk into roommates. The two share a friendly animosity, thanks to Lara's sternness and Wesk's jubilation rarely mixing well, but they enjoy each other's company nonetheless, often holding mock debates over the virtues of Mordians and Praetorians.

Mik Branz
Though Branz and Minhelm were only together for a single mission before joining the Edges, it was pivotal enough that the two became friendly fairly quickly. Their shared experiences as Mordians helped them in this, and they often hung out together until Branz's death.