Cora Harper (MR)

"When your biotics are honed into huntress-grade weapons… people can be weird about it."

- Cora Harper

Lieutenant Cora Harper is a very powerful biotic and formerly an officer in the Systems Alliance military. She is the second-in-command on the human Pathfinder team and is the operations specialist in charge of ground missions.

Once a superior officer to Alec Ryder's son Scott, she struggled with having to follow orders from her once-subordinate peer after his abrupt ascension to the position of Pathfinder ― a rank once warranted for her. Although initially frustrated with being unable to get any answers for the unfortunate events in her life, Cora nevertheless continued to perform her duties under Scott's command.

Early life
"I was still living on my parents' cargo freighter when my biotics manifested. Untrained biotic power on a starship means... accidents. But we couldn't afford a tutor. The Alliance had implants, the training, everything. Old history now."

- Cora Harper, about her early life

Not much is known about Cora Harper's early life, other than she was raised in poverty on an independent cargo freighter. Upon reaching eighteen years of age, Cora joined the Systems Alliance to train her powerful biotic talents. However, she claims her superiors saw her talents as a liability which were supported by test scores showing her abilities spiking at abnormally high levels.

At some point, Cora was transferred via the Citadel Council’s Valkyrie Program (a subset of their interspecies military integration plan) and placed with the asari commando unit Talein’s Daughters. Though the activities of asari huntresses are typically sealed for 5,000 years, Cora freely shared her experiences on the record: peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, and hunting fugitives.

Andromeda Initiative
"I came to Andromda because of biotics like this, thinking like an asari huntress―I never had a place. Best I could be was a useful freak."

- Cora Harper, about why she joined the Andromeda Initiative

She soon caught the attention of Alec Ryder and was eventually recruited into the Andromeda Initiative, becoming head of operations aboard Ark Hyperion and Ryder's second-in-command, effectively ending her career with the Talein's Daughters. She, along with 20,000 humans, were placed in cryogenic stasis.

Waking Up in a New Galaxy
More than 634 years later, Cora was released from her cryopod upon the Hyperion ' s arrival in the Andromeda galaxy's Heleus cluster. While en route to colonize humanity's assigned world Habitat 7, however, the crew unexpectedly ran into problems when the Ark collided with and scraped against an unknown energy cloud containing black, metallic tendrils. Cryopods were damaged, gravity was temporarily disabled, and the Hyperion was left stranded―any long-range communications with the Nexus and other Arks were lost and the ship was running low on its reserve power supply. After tending to Alec's son Scott and daughter Sara, Cora accompanied Scott to the bridge. Now in a precarious position, the Pathfinder team was tasked with inspecting Habitat 7.

Disaster on Habitat 7
During the reconnaissance mission, however, the Pathfinder team made first contact with a hostile alien species: the kett. After a long skirmish, the team arrived at a technological structure of unknown origins to disable its systems disrupting the planet's climate with undirected energy stemming from the cloud that also hit the Hyperion. With lethal levels of lightning striking the planet, Cora used her biotics to protect Dr. Carlyle and Hayes from one potentially devastating bolt. After which she was able to join with Liam Kosta and Scott in locating Alec.

Personality and traits
"The Initiative was meant to be different. Will be different, if this mission succeeds. So I'm seeing it through."

- Cora Harper

Professional and loyal, Cora knows the rules well enough to bend them if necessary, lending huntress tactics and her biotic strength to the Pathfinder's mission.

Appearance
Cora stood at 5 feet 8 inches tall, has light brown eyes, light skin and short, pale-blonde hair with an undercut hairstyle―the right side being shaved while the other was more longer, parted and had a more open bang on her left. She wears makeup such as urban bliss lip gloss and purple eye shadow. Her off-duty outfits includes the standard Andromeda Initiative attire consisting of a white and blue long-sleeved shirt and white pants along with a charcoal-grey comm bracelet on her left wrist.

Skills and abilities
Combining her training in the Systems Alliance with years of experience as an asari commando, Cora’s huntress and biotic capability made her a candidate for Alec Ryder’s second-in-command and if warranted, his successor as Pathfinder―making her a formidable presence on the battlefield. Powerful biotics send her charging forward to rip through enemy lines, while Cora's tactical knowledge kept her squadmates organized and their shields replenished.

Video Games

 * Mass Effect: Andromeda (First appearance)

Mass Effect: Andromeda

 * "To be brief―I'm a biotic, the team's operations specialist in charge of ground missions and I spent the last four years serving alongside asari commandos."
 * (to Scott Ryder) "None of you Ryders ever think small, do you?"
 * (about Alec Ryder) "He was more a mentor than a friend. Prickly old bastard, but I respected that. People treat geniuses like they're made of cut glass. I didn't care how smart he was. I think he liked someone not caring."
 * (about the Talein's Daughters) "Janae and I were 'the youngsters.' Tethys was our old lady sniper. Kalia patched us up, and Valenza prayed between firefights. Our CO, Nisira, led us all over the Athena Nebula and beyond. A huntress's work is never done."
 * "I had my fun on shore leave. Nothing serious, though. Asari huntresses… figure things out, but I was there for soldiering not romance."
 * (about her attempt at gardening) "Can't tell if they have enough water. Or too much. I grew up on a little cargo freighter. Only saw gardens in vids. But I always loved them. I… daydreamed about planting a big rose garden when we got here. Still imagine it sometimes. Roses in Heleus."
 * "Who doesn't want to belong? Especially somewhere like the Initiative."
 * (to Scott) "Everything we've faced, and you're still such a sweetheart."

Trivia

 * She is voiced by Jules de Jongh.
 * Cora shares the same surname with the Illusive Man, founder and leader of Cerberus, however there is currently no information regarding whether or not the two are related or the names are, in fact, simply a coincidence.
 * Her hobbies include gardening and watering plants.