24
Female
Arsenal Walker Pilot/Second Lieutenant
Standing at about a meter seventy, though rarely reaches that as a result of less than ideal posture. Her build is slight enough to be somewhat obscured under her pilot’s uniform, moderately toned from an active lifestyle rather than any specific focus on form. Her features are angled, though smooth enough to prevent a sharp, gaunt look to them. Inky eyes peer out from her russet complexion, with dark freckles spreading out across her nose and cheeks. A mess of thick chin-length hair frames her face, stark white and silvery
A thin, pale scar traces down from her hairline to just above her left eye, and a similar scar runs along the underside of her forearm on the same side.
Laconic, though more quiet as a result of being more content to listen and watch than any sort of shy or antisocial tendencies. Quite the opposite, she prefers the company of others and tends to get antsy if left up to her own devices for too long. Enjoys testing herself, something which translates into a mild streak of competitiveness from time to time. Avid stargazer, prefers nighttime on Earth.
Intelligent and adaptive, great when thinking on her feet and works well under pressure; all traits which warranted her selection as a Walker pilot. As long as something’s got engines and a throttle, she can get it flying. While mechs the size of buildings aren’t exactly her forte, she’s catching on quick. Trained in combat
L7-S pistol. Federation Navy standard sidearm. Designed for use in zero-g and low gravity environments, works perfectly well in standard atmo at 1 g. Pilot’s kit and survival gear. A few extra personal tools.
Nova was born in the Lunar city of Tycho, one of the larger settlements on the Moon which had grown around a Federation naval base established in the location. Initially little more than a drydock and R&D facility, by the time her parents had arrived it was a thriving city in its own right, with a permanent population of nearly a million. Her father was an officer in the Navy, and her mother an engineer. Both extremely dedicated to their work, up to, and even after, her birth. This lead to a somewhat distant relationship with her folks from a young age, which they viewed as necessity rather than a disservice, and her early life was spent around all but strangers. Not that she minded all too much at that point, being fiercely independent.
Her father had retired from the service in her early teens, fostering a love of anything and everything that flew that she had inherited from both her parents. A combination of hard work for exemplary marks and a few strings pulled by her father got her accepted to the military academy a year early. She graduated with a degree in aerospace design, following in her still-absent mother’s footsteps, and was nearly completed training to be a navy pilot, specializing in deep space combat fighters, the same kind being developed at the military installation right in her home city. Her combination of qualifications on building and flying spacecraft landed her a position as a test pilot on the R&D department there, where she spent four years designing and flying the next generation of combat craft.
It was, of course, no surprise that she lept at the chance to pilot one of the Federation’s flagship pieces of technology. While her time in the cockpit of an Arsenal Walker, both real and simulated, was limited, the Raptor offered her a new challenge. She was only recently brought into the program, and transferred to the Earth-side city of Horizon, which has its own unique challenges for the Lunar-native.
Having lived nearly her entire life in the artificial and microgravity environments offworld, she can tend to be a bit clumsy on Earth. Has more experience flying in a vacuum than atmosphere, and the lack of freedom of motion leads to her alternating between piloting too cautiously, or forgetting and nearly ripping wings off of things.
FAW-022
Carinae
Sleek, lithe, and very much the mechanical incarnate of the birds of prey the class of Arsenal Walkers were named after. In walker mode the Carinae has the same form as other Raptors, though the exterior plating has been slightly altered. The armor is comprised of flat plates that give it a faceted appearance. This, in addition to the saw-tooth pattern which some of the plates terminate to, greatly reduces the sensor signature of the vehicle, while still maintaining a comparable level of protection, however this comes at the cost of increased weight. The cranial unit has also been modified, the front end tapering to a trapezoidal end with a single blue sensor directly front. A secondary sensor sits above the first, further back. The while in its bipedal form the Raptor’s wings run in two pairs along its back, flanked by rows of thrusters, the engine ports inlaid with the surface of the paneling.
The craft has a broader, flatter silhouette than most Raptors while in fighter mode, with larger wing and control surfaces facilitating better maneuverability at dogfighting speeds, though at the expense of maximum achievable velocity.
The Arsenal Walker is an unpainted matte gray, with the blocky lettering and printed codes still visible from assembly.
Twin barrel 60 mm caseless autocannon, equivalent to a mech-sized rifle. Fires high velocity, low-caliber tungsten carbide rounds that are specialized in armor piercing via a detachable belt feed mechanism. In mech form this takes the shape of a compact bullpup rifle, the feed and ammo store located in the same arm. In jet mode it runs the bottom length of the fuselage, partially covered by body paneling, barrels located to the right of centerline.
Two 20 mm gatling guns, firing HE rounds for use in antipersonnel and point defense roles. They’re mounted on either side of the mech’s cranial unit in walker form, and just behind the canopy when in flight.
Able to carry up to eight long range air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles in covered munitions bays on the lower left and right of the hull, though the bays can fit nearly twice as many if smaller, short range missiles are used. Heavier missiles can be mounted to the underside of the wings, though this dramatically decreases the craft’s stealth capabilities and speed, in addition to preventing transformation to Walker mode until the warheads are fired.
A pared-down version of a Warrior’s standard heat blade is the Carinae’s only melee weapon.
As with all Raptors, it is lightly armored compared to most Arsenal Walkers, and has to rely on speed and agility to avoid damage. This, on top of its pilot’s relatively unfamiliarity to piloting anything with more than 0 legs can make life difficult for the mech and its pilot.
Nova Marcus
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