Crisis
More of the Same
The year is 2021. Technology has jumped through the roof, with fusion power eliminating a good deal of scarcity, leading to the development of the world. Advanced medicine eliminated the most deadly of diseases, and science acted as a temporary savior. However, with more technology only came more war. New weapons of death emerged in the form of humanoid mechas, universally referred to as "Gears." The two current superpowers, the Western Alliance and the Eastern Confederation now find themselves locked in a cold war that will decide the fate of the world...
Ideologies, scarcity, and religion have long been prime inciters of war. However, the cause of war this time around came from a delayed sense of self-destruction. In the year 2012, mysterious black shapes sighted by a scout probe near Jupiter. They appeared to be spacecraft of some sort, and they destroyed the probe by unknown means after its final video feed was sent to NASA. This, of course, caused a massive panic. And panic led to war.
Doubt, combined with a sense of self preservation, caused the superpowers to collide. Both sides feared that, if they simply united, one would backstab the other when all was said and done, leaving them with an undesirable tyrant reigning over the new world. Thusly, both decided unanimously to fight in a war years in the making, over aliens who may not exist, mistrust, and clashing ideals.
Gears
History : Gears were first created in Britain as a combination of infantry and tanks, a walker that could outmaneuver conventional vehicles in any terrain. Standing about a vertical tank and a half tall, the original "Knights" possessed clumsy bidepal designs and wielded large, heavy machine guns and hammers. Ridiculed by most military tacticians, they proved their worth in the Battle for Berlin in 2014. Since then, the Western Alliance forces used them for victory after victory until they hit Russia, in which the Eastern Confederation countered with their own "Dragon," a similiar Chinese design.
Since their successes, Gears have been constantly developed and upgraded. The dream of the humanoid weapon was finally realized, and they became better and better, from adaptable battlefield parts and weaponry, to bold new systems.
The Gear itself has its parts divided into a few categories.
Body : All of the important machinery is located in the body, along with the cockpit that takes up half of its area. The Gear runs off of a streamlined fusion engine, powered by portable fusion cells. Pilots often carry spares in storage compartments located on the back.
Arms : The arms are the workhorses of the Gear, used to carry and switch weapons, as well as imitate an infantry soldier. Created with mechanical joints and gears to closely resemble a human arm, they usually accomplish good familiarity.
Legs : There are a few different leg types. The basic, classic Gear legs are just like human legs, used for running and jumping. They give a lot of maneuverability and stability in jungle and mountainous domains.
Sliders, skatelike peripherals, can be added to the legs for added mobility, highly increasing urban effectiveness. Hovering legs are currently in development, which will be able to give the Gear the ability to hover over most obstacles at the cost of maneuverability.
Interface : The cockpit contains all of the controls needed to manipulate the Gear, including movement levers, hatch control, visual monitor, and a radar map that detects the heat signatures of hostiles and friendlies alike. Also included is a fingerprint scanner to avoid Gearjacking.
A powerful new experimental system is the NIS, Neural Integration System. This system directly connects the pilot's consciousness into the Gear's CPU, allowing total and full control over the Gear as if it were the pilot's own body. It increases the maneuverability and lethality by incredible levels.
Weapons : Gears often use larger versions of staple infantry weapons, including rifles and rocket launchers. Some Gear pilots also favor using the giant hammers of the Knights for close quarters combat.
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Units
Western Alliance
Knight : The original Knight, 7 years old, still sees some use in National Defense. Not very popular any more due to its clumsy movement and ineffective handling of weaponry. Usually large, black colored humanoid frames with a distinct torso shield. Largest humanoid Gear still in use.
Knight II :
The backbone of the Alliance's Gear force, the Knight II is a very reliable mobile infantry unit. Sporting a spiffy humanoid design, colored a dark black and wielding a detachable shield over its torso and boasting speed, toughness, and firepower, the Knight II is a coveted Gear.
Smaller than its predecessor and the Dragon, the Knight II stands at about 14 feet. It works off of a streamlined fusion engine, with a large enough back-mounted storage container to keep up to three extra cells. Slider modules are often added for urban ops to increase mobility.
The primary weapon of the Knight II is the M20 Assault Rifle, a burst fire, self-loading rifle that fires armor piercing rounds, exemplifying the Knight II's versatility against vehicles and other Gears. Its machine gun-like design contains a clip storage bay underneath its loading mechanism, able to store five clips for fast reloading. All in all, a powerful weapon.
The secondary weapon of the Knight II is the Warhammer. First proving its use against Confederate tanks in Berlin, the Warhammer has kept its position as the reliable armor-crushing weapon. It crushes Gears and tanks alike, and can be held in one hand to allow for shield usage.
Eagle : Developed in America, the Eagle is slightly larger than an average Gear. Built with verniers and given lighter armor than Knight II's, the Eagle is used for quick strike missions against Confederation bases. Black with a tint of orange, usually decorated with endless graffiti by their pilots.
Eastern Confederacy
Dragon II : The improved Dragon, notable by the dragon's head motif on its chest, is the workhorse of the Confederacy's army. Fast, strong, and reliable.
The Dragon II is the Confederacies staple Gear. Standing at 17ft, the gear is humanoid despite being call the Dragon. The standard for this gear is very high since it is the main one sent to battle the Alliances 3 types of gears; each with their own useful qualities. The dragon has a short, thin, but sturdy head; it features drawing inspiration from a serpent. The head gathers information, and can be best described as the pilots portal to the out side world. The head send visuals, as well as radar; depending on the Interface your using the all of this information will be viewed on your screen or in first person if you are testing out the prototype. The body is broad, where the arms and head connect, but narrow as they reach the legs. The Body holds the fusion engine, which is surprisingly energy efficient; but has a limited capacity of holding up too only 2 extra reserve cores. Unlike other cores the gut of the machine sits in front of the pilot. Making the chest where the dragon motif is located. Fortunately this area is heavily armored as well as the back where the pilot is nested; this adds some wait, but makes it easier to protect. The legs are thin and could be described as muscular if alive; but alas they are not. The legs are built for speed, with light armor. This makes its highly maneuverable, but gives it an astonishing weak spot; a well aimed attack could easily throw the gear off balance and if lucky cripple it. But that’s where the arms some in. Standard for each gear is a high powered rifle; this can be coupled with the cores energy supply for an extra kick. If used right it can cause major damage, but if use irresponsible can overload and burn out, or take out the mechs main shooting arm. Its secondary weapon is a sub machine gun, mostly used to hold down enemies rather than actually destroy or subdue. If used right it can help successfully complete withdraws, along with intimidate the enemy with its high rate of fire. Interface and such is standard, and is easy to modify, though not many of any besides the commanders and captains have tried out the NIS. (Designed by Raze)
In this current stage of the war, the Western Alliance, consisting of North America, Western Europe and Japan, has suffered grievous defeats at the hand of the Eastern Confederacy, consisting of China, Russia, and India. Confederate forces have overrun Japan and are using the islands as a forward base to strike the United States. The first target is the city of San Fransisco, where the story begins.
Rules
1. No Godmodding
2. No controlling another's character without permission
3. Substantial posts
4. You can die
5. Lots of explosions
6. No laser swords. WaugH!
Character Sheet
Name:
Age :
Side : (Alliance or Confederacy?)
Appearance :
Personality :
Biography :
Gear: (Put information about your personal Gear here. If you're military, you're likely going to have a standard military grade Gear. Or perhaps you're a normal fellow who just happened to stumble upon a special gear...That kinda stuff.)
Gear Design
I'm opening up unit design to the players as well. If you have an idea for a Gear you'd like to share, please post a description. If it's good, I'll put it up on the units list and you can use it. Voila!
Now, let's get goin'!