Power: B (S) Speed: B Range: C (S) Persistence: B Precision: B Potential: D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee/Ranged, close-to-mid range, and based upon the Moon and its qualities of changeability, magic, and madness.
Noble Arm Abilities:
La Luna's Miraculous Evasion - Noel's speed and reflexes are enhanced to levels that would surprise even an Arms Master. At the same time, fate itself contrives to partner with that speed and reflexes to make sure that Noel can dodge bullets, and grenades, but not necessarily the resulting explosions. However, he can dodge shrapnel and even the occasional rocket, allowing him to get into melee even when under enemy fire.
La Luna's Veil of Night - Noel can cloak himself in magic that renders him invisible, a perfect example of camouflage, and which cannot be pierced by most forms of mundane and mystic surveillance; it requires a dedicated B+rank power to reveal him (with exceptions below). This Veil, however, loses its potency from 11 AM to 1 PM, when the Sun is at its highest in the sky. Sun-themed Noble Arms, even C or D-ranked ones, can also detect Noel's Veil and remove it.
La Luna's Power of Enchantment - When the Moon is shining in the sky (including when it appears in the daytime), Noel can duplicate a Noble Arm power he has seen, as many times as he had seen that power used. For example, Noel can duplicate a Healing Power 3 times if he's seen it used three times. This power works on all Noble Arms that are not Sun-themed; Noel cannot duplicate Sun-based NA Powers, nor can it duplicate other A-Rank NA abilities.
La Luna's Madness Inducement - When the New Moon has risen in the sky, Noel can raise his scythe and pronounce a curse on an enemy force within sight of his natural eyes (no telescopes or digital enhancement). This curse spreads a plague of madness which causes everyone who is not a B-Rank Arms Master (or an OC/PC) to turn violent and attack their fellows, thinking that they are enemy monsters. The more blood is shed, the more the curse spreads from fellow to fellow, ending only when either the whole enemy army is dead or the New Moon sets.
And yes, this can affect an entire city, while Sun-themed NA Powers can also dispel it.
Misc Abilities: Well-read, a good dancer, knows how to arrange flowers and cook and even sew.
Personality: Noel wants to be a good person at heart, to fight for a cause worth believing in, and also to rescue his country from the clutches of China, which he views as a plague to its citizens. He believes that the divisions between Arms Masters and mundane folk have allowed society and the world to degrade, and is glad that they are on the verge of obsolescence due to 'The Big Three', although he does believe too that the 'Paragons of Science' are courting hubris and also hoarding power which could be used to advance Humanity for themselves...
*Likes: Sweets, Dancing, Romance (both BL and Straight).
*Dislikes: People who are too gloomy (despite his Noble Arm), War Crimes.
Fears: Being captured by the enemy, of course!
Bio: Noel was born to a family catapulted from obscurity in the past few decades when they began manifesting Noble Arms with increasing regularity. A natural prodigy, the boy displayed his Noble Arm at the age of twelve, and proved himself an able fighter against Muslim Terrorists in Mindanao just two years later, which was also when the old divisions were beginning to fade due to the appearance of the 'Big Three'. When the next President-Elect was voted for, then assassinated by his own Vice President-elect (who was also the incumbent president due to a law preventing Presidents in the Philippines from running for a second term but not for the Vice Presidency), Noel helped in the coup which installed the 'Government of National Salvation'.
Nevertheless, despite being a child soldier, Noel had privileges that other children lacked, such as regular psychological counseling money, and access to friends his age. If he was the Philippine Government's 'Guard Dog', he was a well-pampered one, and for all its worth, he genuinely loves his country and its people. He also wants to find a decent boy or girl to settle down with and is glad that his current handlers are accepting of his' being bisexual...
Power: A Speed: C (S) Range: F (S) Persistence: C Precision: B Potential: D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Support/Ranged, Element of Data/Information
Noble Arm Abilities:
Data Conversion - Can convert objects and people touched by the Shield into raw data/information which are then contained in the Noble Arm; the larger the object or person, the longer it takes to convert, although an average human adult can be turned to data in a full second, while an automobile takes five minutes. This power works only through direct contact with the shield and people converted to data are knocked unconscious by said conversion. Not only that, but objects converted to data can be turned back into their material forms by a mental command alone; smaller objects become physical again instantly while larger objects, such as people take time to reappear (same pace as conversion to data).
He can store up to an entire luxury yacht's worth of matter in his shield if given 12 hours, and can theoretically store twice that if given 48 hours of constant concentration, but it is not recommended.
Data Transmission - Myron can 'connect' to a mundane electronic device, such as a radio, telephone, or internet-capable gadget and transfer the data he stores in the shield to said device, allowing objects and people to be transported at high speeds. The drawback to this is that this process is affected by anything that can jam communications IRL, such as electronic jamming, firewalls, antivirus, or just the destruction of the corresponding device before it 'downloads' the data. Living beings (people) who had been converted to data and failed to transfer reappear at the location of Myron's shield, physically damaged depending on the measures taken to stop them. This is also why Myron's Noble Arm has (S) in Range because this can theoretically allow him to exceed the dreaded A-rank by using the IRL internet (still not recommended due to antivirus programs, though).
Misc Abilities: Myron fights like a Normal person most of the time, being adept in guns, unarmed combat, and melee, with his forte being hacking and cyber warfare, also poisons and antidotes. He has, in the past, also been trained to look cute and adorable so that he can treacherously stab, gun down, and poison Arms Masters. This is because he used to be a member of the Disablers, an Anti-Arms Master terrorist organization, and he keeps using many of their techniques despite his new allegiance.
Personality: Myron is resentful of the world, resentful of the system, resentful of factions, and is working for the Philippine Government of National Salvation because they guarantee him his revenge against the members of the Hammer of Masters and Disablers, as well as pay him in cold hard cash plus confiscated haciendas (estates/plantations) from the discredited members of the previous Government. Though he has a side that wishes the best for people, he prefers to bury it with a hedonistic attitude where he appreciates the finer things in life a bit too much. And by that, he is the type to give most of the land he's given to the tenant farmers already farming it but keeping enough to ensure a comfortable life for himself.
*Likes: Coffee, Cash, Sports Cars.
*Dislikes: The Hammer of Masters, Disablers, and being forced to kill children.
Fears: The Former Head of the Hammer of Masters, [Identity is a Spoiler].
Bio: Myron was born to an American Businessman and a Filipino 'bar girl' who sought to marry him for money, but was deceived and thrown away. Raised in poverty and bearing the brunt of his mother's abuse, Myron was sold to the 'Spartan Training Program' overseas in Singapore at the age of six by people who promised that he would come back as an Arms Master. Instead, at the age of 12, he escaped with several other students and joined the Disablers, a group of Anti-Arms Master terrorists who killed Arms Masters through ambush, assassination, and bombings. Myron was thus trained further, taught to lure in Arms Masters into wanting to protect him so that he could literally stab them in the back.
At the age of sixteen, he fought against the Hammer of Masters in Northern Iraq, where their leader had established 'The Malikate', a nation for Arms Masters to rule over Non-Arms Masters, two years of hard fighting followed, where he killed several Arms Masters simply by posing as an enslaved 'Normal Person' and poisoning their water supplies, setting up IEDs and traps, or even - And this haunts him to no end - kidnapping their children, even those who had not manifested a Noble Arm, and using them to lure their Arms Master parents to buildings filled to the brim with explosives.
When he turned eighteen, in the final siege of the Malikate's base on the Syrian-Iraqi border, Myron was captured by the Hammer of Master's 'Malik', [NAME REDACTED], who had him thrown into the dungeons in order to... He refuses to speak of it, only saying that he was busted out by the Malik's second-in-command himself. However, as he trekked back to the Disablers' battle lines, he realized this: The Hammer and the Disablers had become mirror images of each other, fueled by hate. As he realized this, he grew a Noble Arm, realized that he could not go back to the Disablers, and as the world was thrown into chaos by the announcement that three groups had emerged that can give Noble Arms to ordinary people, sought asylum with the UN and returned to the Philippines.
He next emerged four years later, as a mercenary working with the coup plotters who set up the Government of National Salvation when it turned out the President-Elect had been assassinated by the Vice President-Elect, who was also the current President thanks to a loophole in the Philippine Constitution forbidding Presidents from seeking a second term but not the Vice Presidency. During the new Government's takeover, he and another Arms Master, Noel Alonso, led the Storming of Malacañang Palace, where the two put down all resistance and arrested the President and all most adult members of his family, before moving on to arresting the Old Government's supporters in the countryside, where he was granted several hundred hectares of land confiscated from those corrupt oligarchs, most of which he gave to the tenant farmers who farmed them.
Now, he has been sent to aid the newly-formed Task Force Obsidian (composed of most of the PCs) to relieve the Philippines' new allies in the Pacific...
*Current Goal: Hold on to the estates he had been granted by the Government of National Salvation and give them over to their tenant farmers as smallholdings.
Military or Civilian Rank: Special Inspector with powers equivalent to a First Lieutenant.
"Mou~~! It's a shame really. I gave them everything, you know? The keys to the future, to pull themselves from their filthy rut of pollution and stagnation! They had so much potential, could have revolutionized the world and salvaged their reputation... Instead, they would pervert my work? Use it for war and decimation, rather than creation and advancement? Well, if that's how it is... then they should know they deserve every bit of what's coming to them~." Appearance: A tall, shapely woman with a distinctly unnerving air to her, her gaze almost hungrily taking in everything around her. Her emerald-green hair and oddly colored eyes are "natural", and her demeanor gives off the distinct impression of a predator surrounded by prey. Even when affecting a friendly air, she seems like an opportunistic viper, ready to strike. Dresses extremely eccentrically -even salaciously- in a rather combat-impractical green and black cyberpunk dress, almost as if bragging about her A-Rank status visually, despite not doing so verbally. Rain or shine, formal or informal, she seems unbothered by the conditions and boldly flaunts her body as though she were her own magnum opus... a far from incorrect assumption. Her form is inhumanly "perfect", to an uncanny degree that often sets other humans on edge, ironically imperfect in its perfection. The observant may pick out the utter lack of blemishes on her skin, the way she never needs to bathe for cleanliness except as a luxury, the way she takes far fewer meals than needed, and more besides. Height: 5'10" Weight: 147 lbs. Build: Shapely, but strangely toned.
Name: Lei Qingshe (Jormungandr (black ops codename), The Snake - 6th of The Zodiac) Age: 21 (appears 18) (Born 2001, Year of the Snake) Nationality: Chinese (defector)
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: [Ouroboros], a 5 foot tall green and black cyberpunk tower shield with bladed edges and spikes.
Noble Arm Rank: A
Power: B+ (Creations) Speed: B- (Analysis speed) Range: B+ (Creations) Persistence: D+ (Self-Modifications) Precision: A Potential: D
Due to self/NA modifications and the nature of her NA's power itself, Qingshe's original ratings have become subject to... fluctuation. Her original true classification of B has been, in practice, found to vastly undersell her tactical value, both on and off the battlefield.
Noble Arm Characteristics:
Value: Evolution
Element: [Data] ("Lightning")
Growth: Depth
Type: Support
Range: Variable
Modified -using its own powers turned against it- from its original state as a mere dated tower shield into a cyberpunk construct of the future, Ouroboros is far more resilient than the average Noble Arm, its biotech structure making it capable of withstanding ludicrous force and even visually repairing itself if damaged. It can hover independently of its user's grasp, utilizing a magnetic force to orbit the user, often trailing just behind them. It has basic light-bending cloaking, allowing the user to keep it discreetly summoned. However, that cloaking doesn't hold up under combat conditions where it must physically obstruct an attack. Due to its modifications, it provides basic access to its powers even when not summoned at all.
Considered to potentially be the true core of her Noble Arm's power, Qingshe seemingly possesses some manner of "shadow world" formed of green-black biotech "fluid". Accessed through her malleable shadow, she can seemingly drag targets into it or expel them. It seems to be some manner of extradimensional plane, as teleportation experiments have thus-far failed to take others to or from it. Qingshe seems to have full control of what and who can pass through her shadow when and where she desires, but it is closed and impassable by default. She is known to be one of the most capable of The Zodiac at taking live prisoners, along with being able to transport large amounts of equipment and materials with ease. Those that have reported on their experience within the shadow world have only been able to describe a single room with no exits, furnished most often as either a prison or lab, but there was no sign of the other objects she was known to possess at the time. It is conclusively clear then that Qingshe has some level of control over the shape of her shadow world and that it is both larger than expected and able to "sort" targets she drags into it into separate sections of itself.
The functionality of it is also unknown, but swallowing targets into her shadow also seems to allow Qingshe to rapidly reverse engineer them and the principles behind their creation, her scientific knowledge and talent expanding at a rate that boggles the mind.
In the outside world, Qingshe's primary public usage of her ability is through shaping the green-black biotech "fluid" of her shadow, expanding and shaping it into a multitude of forms limited only by her technical, practical knowledge and personal experimentation. It can take on any material composition she understands in any quantity, shape or size permitted by the size of her shadow. Spears, blades, spiked walls, barriers and other more mundane and utility objects alike, she can shape her shadow any way she likes and never seems to run out of the "fluid" used to create workings. The shadow can be shaped in the blink of an eye, acting at the speed of thought to do her bidding.
Any fluid that becomes separated from the whole either dissipates if it was unshaped or becomes in truth the object it was shaped into, entirely free of Qingshe's domain unless she should swallow it again. Most formless constructs take on a similar green-black cyberpunk look as her shadow, but Qingshe can just as easily form objects with entirely normal appearances. The "fluid" cannot be reverse engineered, as it simply "becomes" in truth what it was shaped into once separated from the whole. The "fluid", both unshaped and not, remains under Qingshe's psychokinetic control until separated from the main mass.
Further, with her "understanding" of targets comes the ability to both repair and "innovate". Beings inside (or partially within) her shadow world can be healed through converting the "fluid" into new mass that then becomes independent of the whole. With the right level of understanding and the right subject, she can perform genetic modification to allow inhuman biological base capabilities or even add cyborg enhancements to those that either cannot be healed otherwise... or desire to become more than human.
As her shadow grows, she can both more rapidly expand it and create larger and more complex objects. Or, at least, this is what she allows others to believe. While it has a grain of truth to it, her shadow can at any time travel speeds in excess of hundreds of feet per second, able to transform vast swathes of land into her personal playground in moments. This is hardly hyperbole, as expanding her shadow is akin to transforming the surface of the world around her into a facsimile of her shadow world. She has a basic awareness of anything in physical contact with her shadow and can hear through its surface and exit her shadow at any location it covers. With sufficient widespread coverage, she can thus act as a makeshift teleporter for herself and others.
While the durability of her constructs depends on the material she transmutes them into, her growing shadow itself is effectively a space-time gap and is thus generally impervious to anything that cannot pierce such things, allowing her to ward large areas against collateral damage.
List of Creations (to be expanded):
Qingshe's personal "battlesuit": A salacious, dress-like affair, its weave far more durable than one might expect, even more-so than Qingshe's modified body, a feat in itself for such... form-fitting material.
Holder.
Qingshe's magnum opus, her own body, heavily genetically, biologically and technologically modified. It is hard to say if she can truly still be called human. Although she would argue that the answer is not just "yes", but that the same would hold true for anyone else that underwent similar or divergent modifications to become what she truly believes is the next step in human evolution, one where humanity takes things into their own hands, rather than any "god".
Qingshe's body is now formed of the same biotech fluid that comprises her shadow world, malleable in unnatural ways and divorced from humanity except by the barest technicalities and most outward appearances. Visually, the primary signs of her transhumanism are now "naturally" green hair and slitted, reptilian eyes that seem to shift between green, yellow, blue and red as her mood shifts. Less obvious is the smooth hairlessness of her body below the neck, devoid of blemishes and "flaws", becoming distinctly unnervingly imperfect in its perfection. Her hair and body retain an almost shine of health even without maintenance.
Beyond the visual level, the changes are far more severe, as Qingshe sought to become a "perfect lifeform" and even today continues to tweak and modify her alterations as improvements present themselves. The extent of these modifications are unknown to either the public or intelligence, but they are confirmed to be drastic.
On the surface, Qingshe's Noble Arm would seem to have unlimited Potential, endlessly spawning new abilities, weapons and utilities, but the terrifying reality is that such is far from the case, not in the conventional sense. No, Qingshe possesses but a single ability of vast breadth, a multifaceted chimera that she has made extensive and creative use of over the years, and her Noble Arm has not given up a single new power since obtaining it. It is an ability that suits her wholly, growing ever stronger that more she learns and experiences, and her Noble Arm has dedicated all of its capacity to this with no room for any other ability.
To explain her ability, we must reach to the conceptual root nature of Noble Arms. Derived from Occult Programming Language as they are, every Noble Arm ultimately has a designated function as a "program" in the grand System that governs reality. A Noble Arm usually accesses a single "skill tree" of sorts, often multiple. Instead of accessing multiple, Qingshe's ability delved deeply into a single tree and shot for the stars.
Qingshe's ability is to have access to and control over an isolated "programming test zone" in the System. Her ability's true nature and element is [Data Manipulation], and all that it does is derived from this. In essence, her ability allows her to peer upon, dissect and manipulate the "code of reality", limited by her personal understanding and only so long as her manipulations occur while they are inside the "test zone", otherwise perceived as her "world of data". This "test zone" exists entirely within the raw data realm that can perhaps be perceived as the "upper planes" of reality. Because of being attuned to this specific form of [Data], Qingshe's ability also makes her Noble Arm one of the rare few that can interact with unstructured Occult Programming Language, enough to make Qingshe a fair hand at it on the side.
Qingshe can draw things into her test zone or expel them freely, converting targets into data or vice-versa. When doing so, she expands a "shadow" across surfaces from her position, which she must maintain physical contact with to keep open. The shadow -it should be noted- is centered on her physical body, not her soul or the Noble Arm itself. Her body is used as a conduit to transfer energy to the portal. Anything that she has created from the ground up can be freely controlled as long as it's not physically separated from the shadow, after which point it becomes entirely independent in theory. As long as it does not, however, she can freely control what she expels and retract it at any time, allowing her to exert some measure of power on reality that pales in comparison to her grasp of her personal data space.
Her shadow's range caps out at 2 kilometers from her position in any direction and can extend to any size and shape within that spherical range as long as the environment provides, able to manifest across nearly any solid surface, including water tension. Because she draws energy from the System itself instead of a personal reservoir, Qingshe doesn't -strictly speaking- have a limit on how much she can create and never seems to run out of mass. The real problem is her stamina, as her body being a conduit to pass energy through her shadow gateway puts incredible and painful strain on her body, enough to paralyze her from the electric currents... Or, so it used to. In her pursuit of transhumanism, she has heavily modified her body to handle this strain and can now casually reach and sustain heights she never could have dreamed of touching as a child. Solving this stamina issue is what largely propelled her to the heights needed be considered A-Rank.
To boil her ability down, it can best be summarized in three parts:
A): She has the ability to access and manipulate an expanding "world of data" that's gateway and unshaped internals take visual form and manifestation as electrified ooze. It grows larger the more "knowledge" it absorbs.
B): She has the ability to draw energy from said "data space", largely in the form of electricity, which uses her body as a conduit to empower her shadow and pass things to or from the data realm.
C): She has borderline omniscient and fine awareness of the data world through which to best manipulate it, and it effectively radically expands her memory capacity in order to store more knowledge and most efficiently access anything she knows.
Tech Wiz: An effective super-genius in many scientific fields (especially biochemistry and genetics) Intrigue: Skilled in deception and navigating social environments. Inhuman Mentality: Has an incredible mental resilience and pain tolerance. Cook: Can cook edible and safe food, despite any rumors to the contrary. Though taste is... debatable. Polylingual: Knows most major languages (English, French, Chinese, Russian, Japanese etc.). Soldier: A former -and current- soldier of sorts, she has undergone standardized martial training. It's nothing she's particularly passionate about, but she's not useless in CQC, and her unconventional methods of fighting tend to even the odds. Despite being a creature of modern lab comforts, she's no slouch in survival skills, and she can handle a gun with... well, not the best of them, certainly. But she won't fall behind. Occult Programming Language V1: Qingshe has long studied the mysterious occult practices that are currently quietly attributed to the advent of Noble Arms after being misused on a worldwide scale during World War 2. This gives her a grasp on the concepts behind Noble Arm functionality. Though, hers is not as strong as the advanced V2 language developed by the Paragons of Science. Still, she is capable of creating comparatively rough "magitech", like restraints that bind, suppresses or otherwise weaken Noble Arms.
A snake in more than one sense of the word, Lei Qingshe is manipulative, sly and proud of her power, yet restrained enough to avoid megalomania. Analytical and introspective, she has a powerful grasp on her own nature and desires, along with the will to see them through at any cost. To the public, she is simultaneously caring to those under her care, often with a strangely motherly bent... while also being horrifyingly ruthless to her enemies, willing to casually commit abject atrocities for the sake of the slightest sliver of progress in her research and victory as a whole. This juxtaposition often makes it difficult to tell where her "lines in the sand" are, assuming she has many at all, and it is further unclear whether she holds any true morals or if she simply puts on airs of civility so as to not be treated as an uncontrollable threat.
Qingshe can oft be described as "married to her work" with both little interest or time to dedicate to other pursuits, a state of affairs she is satisfied with... or so she tells herself. She seems to find no greater joy in anything but advancing her knowledge, ravenously gorging her mind on any biological or technological subject she can grasp. Driven to an admittedly obsessive degree, she is an avid transhumanist, and were her definition of a potential "humanity" not so broadly inclusive, she'd likely be a shoe-in for the interests of the likes of the Paragons of Science. Despite her loose morals, she is never cruel for cruelty's sake and, in fact, despises such things as being "wasteful" of "human resources". Self aware as she is, she acknowledges that her beliefs and attitude are in opposition to the widely held "common sense". As such, she lives by the adage of "faking it till you make it" as a social chameleon, often affecting a playful and mildly seductive air... Genuine or not, despite her disdain for the current "weakness of the flesh" that is "plaguing" humanity, she admires humans as a whole for their will to survive and capacity to evolve mentally... and especially physically.
When she cares to be, she is bold in her opinions and unrepentant in her views. She believes that she is correct and that others will inevitably understand her way of thinking or be outgrown by her, and that is all that she needs to feel validated. She believes that in the face of Noble Arms upending peace and disturbing prosperity, the core concept of humanity must evolve to meet them to once more manifest a world where "all men are created equal". In her mind, once all humans are supernatural beings in their own right, Noble Arms will be mostly obsolete or equalized. In other words, at her core, she seeks to bring humanity peace again... but most would perhaps disagree on the price that is reasonable to pay for that future.
On the whole, Qingshe despises the Big Three. In particular, she blames the Downward Descent for fanning the flames, vices and sins of her home country into a new world war instead of using her technology to escape their pit of stagnation, and she views them and their agents as no better than animals and plagues upon the world that have thrown away their humanity for nothing. At one time, she had seen much in the Paragons of Science to admire; however, after discovering that the advancements and power they offered were a poisoned chalice rather than true, freely given boons to humanity, she grew resentful, viewing it as a betrayal of the glorious image of evolution she had pictured. Even were The Seven Virtues' price for their power tenable, Qingshe would -perhaps ironically- be unnerved by them and their claims, and their proposed ideals for what humanity should be set an ominous pit in her stomach that... something just isn't right.
Likes: Research, progress, small animals, useful things, staying up late, junk food, spicy food.
Dislikes: Stagnation, ignorance, waste (resources, time, etc), obstacles to her studies, getting up early, The Big Three (especially The Downward Descent), excessively sweet or sour food.
Fears: Losing sight of herself. Death.
Enter: Lei Qingshe. Codename: Jormungandr. "A monster in the shape of a human", they call her. Something "beyond". The next step in Arms Master evolution. It certainly doesn't help that she is known to those with an ear to the ground to have been a key figure in the rapid military advancement of China in the past half decade. Her origins and recently acquired lack of firm loyalty to any cause or nation make her intentions suspect, and yet, her power and willingness to -at least ostensibly- use it for good in the present day make her aid impossible to deny, given the stakes.
To the majority of the public, she is known as The Snake - 6th of The Zodiac, China's most well-known and public group of "superheroes", acting as blatant -if effective- PR for the nation to both its citizens and the world at large. The group, composed of all A-Rank Arms Masters or the equivalent in some manner, handles large-scale disasters and crimes. To those with more access to far more sensitive intelligence, however, they are also known to be a ruthless nigh-unstoppable black-ops hit-squad that do China's dirty work seemingly without qualms. It is also known to such intelligence operatives that Qingshe was heavily and seemingly unashamedly involved in many of the worst of China's concealed biological war-crimes and human experimentation. In fact, she was at the forefront of those advancements, seemingly leading the charge with a frightening zeal.
While she isn't exactly blasting it on the airwaves, there are many -often suppressed- clips from Q&A's, other private or public conversations and classified leaks that clearly demonstrate Qingshe has a zealous belief in advancing and further accelerating the evolution of humanity, even partially agreeing with the ideals of The Paragons of Science and The Seven Virtues on occasion. Her dedication to "progress" is to the point that there are rumors that she was mad enough to test her human experiments on herself... resulting in her becoming something more.
Thus, with her track record of loyalty and unwavering dedication, her abrupt disappearance 11 months ago came as a shock to the public in large. Behind far more secure closed curtains, however, a different worry has sprouted in light of the fact that she has violently defected and gone AWOL from China's grasp. The reasons are unknown, but she did do great damage to their research facilities and classified data on her way out. The only thing left of Qingshe's former lab complex is an unnervingly smooth crater...
Current Goal: Short Term: To acquire more "materials" and further her research... Hmm? Oh yes, and to save the Philippines. Sure, that too. Long term: The human condition is weak... but it could be less weak. To improve humanity... and make the sacrifices worth it.
Military or Civilian Rank: QRS Special Liaison (LNO), R&D Consultant, Medic and Volunteer Arms Master Soldier.
The Gauntlet of Wrath. When active, the Arm's power is devastating. Strikes from the Left Hand have ruined most known mundane structures, cracking dams, rending buildings, and shattering concrete pavement beneath one's feet. Marta has yet to employ the full power of this ability for violence, but battle tanks smashed into pieces and sent flying are a convincing data point. The effects of the Left Hand also strengthen Marta's body considerably, though much less than what is outputted - she can take most Small Arms and Light Weapons to the face and live, but a solid punch from her will still send herself flying from the recoil.
The Right Hand of Mercy:
The Gauntlet of Kindness. When active, Marta can emit an aura that heals all nearby living beings within 33 meters. This effect is indiscriminate - friend and foe are fully healed and restored to vigor. This effect will work on wounds received in the last three minutes and heal any injury short of death.
For the Left Hand is Might, but the Right Hand is Mercy:
Only one Hand can be active at any one time. Switching from one to the other requires roughly 33 seconds of concentration. Each hand has only five charges of its full power - they can be used fifty times each at significantly reduced output. Output cannot be recovered except by resting or, once a day, taking a full hour to pray the Rosary three times.
Misc Abilities:
Oath to Order: As a (Self-Titled) Sister in service to the Lord, Marta has collected not only a fairly solid understanding of theology but a set of abilities suited to humanitarian aid. She's not exactly a UN paramedic, but she can provide first aid, forage for food, aid in disaster relief, and other emergency functions.
I *am* a Holy Woman, I *Will* Beat You Senseless: Marta is trying hard to get the hang of the whole "Turning the other cheek" affair, but at the end of the day, a mean left hook is a mean left hook. Years of Boxing classes don't vanish into thin air, and well, sometimes, the people with guns won't take "no" for an answer.
Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals: Marta got into drums as part of her music classes in school and has since acquired a taste for percussion. She never quite hit the professional scene before taking her vows, but in these violent days, it serves as a more peaceful hobby than punching sandbags to ruin.
Personality:
Likes: Charity, Playing Music, Action Figures, Storms, Clocks
Dislikes: Deliberate Cruelty, Hot Temperatures (Humid or Otherwise), Religious Dogmatism, Amusement Parks
Fears: Losing control of her power, becoming close-minded as she ages, tight spaces
Bio:
Born and raised in Lisbon, the daughter of the Rocha Family had a solidly middle-class upbringing in a family of clerks and accountants. She spent much of her time running to and fro school, much less interested in formal education than her personal interests. A Latchkey kid with a heterodox approach to life, she spent much more time with a gaggle of fellows, pursuing many interests but with few sticking.
Her first passion was percussion, which she took up after a few music classes at school. The intensity of the rhythm and vibration pleased her on a profound level - it reminded her of the ticking of clockwork and the crashing booms of thunder. As her love of music developed, so did her attunement to the spiritual and abstract facets of nature. Repulsed by the dry nature of the family's work and burning desire to contribute something to the world, she moved to a religious institute but bounced off hard from the rigid hierarchies expected of her.
She's very quiet and private about this period of her life, but what is known is that she emerged sometime later as a self-avowed nun of no denomination, wielding the Hands of Might and Mercy. She's been on a veritable crusade against humanitarian crises, famines, natural disasters, civil wars, and refugee crises. Her Arms have healed victims of terrorism from certain death, blown paths through debris in the aftermath of earthquakes, and pulled truckloads of resources for isolated communities.
Current Goal:
The current conflict in SEA with China is extremely dangerous and has already extracted more than its toll in human life and misery. Even if she didn't have Noble Arms, she couldn't allow herself to stand by and do nothing... so she's decided to stick her nose into the ongoing affairs. She'd rather not hurt people if she can avoid it, but she's more than determined to do all she can to bring the war to an end.
Military or Civilian Rank: Sister (Self-Proclaimed)
Muscular, yet lean, Henri is 187 tall and weights 85 kg. On his right shoulder there's a badge depicting Canis Major, symbol of the Laelaps-unit.
Name:Henri Janssens
Age:27
Nationality:Belgian
Noble Arm Name & Appearance:Leonidas
Noble Arm Rank:
Power: B Speed: B Range: D Persistence: C Precision: D Potential: D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Counter, Void, Melee/Short-Range
Noble Arm Abilities:
Leonidasis an Anti-NA weapon. It was born out of Henri's reserved nature and distrust of Arms Masters.
Phalanx Leonidas' passive default power. Any NA attack upon it is blocked. However, it only works on its own surface area. Anything else goes right through, so Henri will have to grouch, if he wants to spare his lower body from an attack larger than Leonidas' surface.
Fighting in Shade By placing Leonidas above his head, Henri forms a bubble of 20 meters in diameter around himself that nullifies NA attacks within. However, it offers no protection from mundane arsenal whatsoever. Indirect NA attack (such as telekinetically thrown rock) also passes through. The protective area of the bubble is also indiscriminate in its nullifying effect, suppressing enemy and ally NA powers alike(though it doesn't unsummon said noble arms, only allowing arms masters to theoretically use their NA as regular weapons, if said NA can be used as a regular weapon, or the Arms Master knows how to use their NA as a regular weapon). As such Henri needs to keep a distance from other Arms Masters, both for the efficiency of allies, and in a case of enemy Arms Master, Henri's own safety. The field activates immediately after Henri puts the shield up and says the Password "Fighting in Shade". The field shuts down when the shield is lowered or Henri no longer has the strength to do so. 30 seconds is the maximum, after which Henri needs a breather. Breathers increase in length the more times Henri uses the power. Henri can put Leonidas up without activating the effect. Misc Abilities: Henri is a trained soldier, skilled in firearms, engineering and survival tactics. These come useful if and when he needs to keep Leonidas dormant.
Personality: As a professional soldier, Henri attempts to not let emotions get in the way. He's not made of stone, however, and can connect with other people, though he's not sure if he should.
For Henri, powers should only be given to the responsible. As such he tends to be distrustful of Arms Masters, particularly the young ones, who for him are likely to misuse it. At the same time, he wishes that the young would be allowed to grow on their own and make their on decisions, something granted to him, but not many others.
Although highly trained and prepared, Henri still feels some nervousness. He is out here to prove the capabilities of the Laelaps-unit, so much is at stake.
Henri doesn't trust either Seven Virtues or Downward Descent, seeing the former as liars and the latter as nutcases.
Likes: Routine, good food
Dislikes: Deceivers, power-seekers
Fears: Loss of close people, Powerlessness
Bio: Henri grew up in the Flanders region of Belgium. Though his home country was relatively peaceful, the chaos of a world with Arms Masters reached there. At a young age, Henri decided to become a soldier, and excelled quite well in the Belgian Defence Force. Something unexpected happened after a year the Big Three appeared. Henri was summoned to Berlin along with other soldiers across the EU to form a special task force to deal with the increasing Arms Master threat: The Laelaps-unit.
Trained to fight Arms Masters and granted Noble Arms by the Paragons of Science (when the soldiers weren't Arms Masters already), the Laelaps-unit was designed to keep the Europe safe and stable. Henri himself received Leonidas, an anti-NA shield born from his distrust of Arms Masters.
The original first mission of the Laelaps-unit was to act covertly in studying the supposed Downward Descent infiltrators among the influential people of Europe, but the Chinese and Russian Crises forced the unit's reveal ahead of schedule. Henri was sent to the Philippines to assist ASEAN forces. This will be his baptism in fire.
Current Goal: Finish the mission in the Philippines
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: Sinagtala(Starlight), a complete dark blade with multiple white spots that is comparable to the stars in a night sky.
Noble Arm Rank: C
Power: C Speed: A Range: C- Persistence: B- Precision: C- Potential: C
Noble Arm Type: Melee Element Space Range: Close to Mid Range
Noble Arm Abilities:
Rip Space- Cristina can create a tear in spacetime by swinging her blade, allowing her to capture anything smaller than the size of a small truck that passed through into a pocket dimension she called the Imaginary Space. Her next swing would release everything she captured. -Cross Space- Cristina can hide inside the tear instead allowing her to temporarily access the Imaginary space for herself and move across it for a maximum amount of 30 seconds. While inside this space she cannot interact with objects in the real world.
Addendum: If someone was partially captured inside the Imaginary Space like having a limb covered, they will automatically be sucked into it.
Night's Edge- Cristina imbues the separation of space into her weapon, granting it unparalleled sharpness that can only be blocked by select Noble Arms. -Night's Edge Burning- Cristina burns her Noble Arm with the flames of Shooting Star allowing it to apply burns in contact.
Blink Space- Cristina can now 'blink' in short distances allowing her to achieve short range teleportation.
OPL Spells
Bind- Cristina releases a rope of energy that attaches on contact from there she can manipulate the size of the rope for her advantage.
Shooting Star- Cristina can fire starlight projectiles from her sword. They have homing properties and explode on contact with force equal to a grenade. -Blinding Star- A variant of the Shooting Star skill where instead of an explosive blast, a flash of blinding light was instead released.
Mirage Space- Cristina's greatest technique which allows her to indiscriminately trap everyone in a 30 meters long dome of the Imaginary Space . While inside Cristina has the ability to fly, fire sword beams and teleport in exchange for taking a huge strain in her body and inability to activate Rip Space due to being already inside the Imaginary Space. This ability can be canceled with overwhelming power, by defeating Amelia or voluntary deactivation.
Misc Abilities:
Swordsmanship- Cristina after the activation of her Noble Arm had sought to master the usage of her weapon, studying and practicing forms she could find until she completed a personal style.
Intrigue- Life as an mercenary had made Cristina naturally observant, allowing her to figure out the intent behind someone's words and determine if she's being swindled.
Pain Tolerance- Cristina's ability to make herself believe that she can endure more damage was far higher than the average. During her time in the facility, she will get her bones broken, muscles torn, body bleeding and tell herself to just 'finish the task'. This served her well when taking blows from other Arms Masters.
Personality: Straight to the point and doesn't mince her words. She will uphold her end of the bargain as long as the other side doesn't screw her over. Has a soft spot for children and silent bloodlust for combat.
*Likes: Night Sky watching, fighting people, children
*Dislikes: Torturers, Liars, beating around the bush
Fears: There was a silent possibility that her reunion with her sister won't be the heartfelt moment she thought it would be.
Bio: An orphan who doesn't know the identity of her parents, a young Cristina has always been aware of the struggles of life but always believes that with help of her wiser, clever older sister Basilia. This belief has persisted even when they are both sold by their orphanage to be trained in an STP program with the hopes of them developing their own Noble Arms.
It was hard, it was grueling and sometimes she wondered if she was in hell but with Basilia’s support she managed to push through the program despite failing to develop a Noble Arm unlike her sister. Things for a while are looking up for the two.
That was until one day, when the members of the Downward Descent suddenly attacked the facility, killing everyone in their path. Man, woman and children every single one of them was slain while some fled to the scene. Cristina was one of those who escaped from the attack while Basilia bought her time to escape.
Cristina ran until her legs gave out and she herself passed out. When she woke up, she learned that the facility was burned to ashes and she is one of the few survivors. She also learned their treatment of their students was actually illegal to the point of being considered torture.
When everything sank in and Cristina made a promise to herself under that night sky.
She knew her sister was alive and that she would find her. That was when Sinagtala appeared in her hands as if it was a silent gift.
From that moment forward she works as a freelancer for people, doing escort missions, espionage tasks and even extracting kidnapped children. That was until she received an offer from someone.
Items:
OPL Suppression Collar/Cuff: A device that inhibits the wearer's access to the ability to manipulate Occult Programming Language, no matter what form that may take. In a "mundane" person or raw OPL practitioner, a single restraint is sufficient to either stop them from casting OPL entirely, no matter their tools or to stop them from manifesting a new Noble Arm, should they have the potential.
> On an Arms Master, the devices do have an energy limit. They can completely suppress a Noble Arm with a Power of D or lower from even being manifested. C-Rank Power can manifest the Noble Arm but can't use its powers beyond that. B-Rank Power is only greatly weakened to 50%. And A-Rank Power at worst may be suppressed to 75% percent with a single restraint. With a total of three such devices applied, it's possible for a C-Rank Power NA to be prevented from manifesting entirely, a B-Rank Power to be suppressed to no access to its abilities, and an A-Rank to 40% of their overall strength.
> The restraint device itself is generally immune to supernatural tampering. Noble Arm powers and the weapon itself are usually incapable of damaging or removing a device, no matter how creatively interpreted the power is. The device is a black hole of OPL nullification. The only way to remove it is through physical, mundane interaction. The device also suppresses a Noble Arm from conveniently manifesting any new powers that could act as adaptations to either increase its rank or that could otherwise be specifically designed to enable escape. This nullification isn't, however, truly absolute, provided the energy is too much to quell.
OPL Bracelet- A bracelet adorned with a black gemstone. Used as a focus for OPL spells.
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: Stang A simple rigid staff that has a bright blue glow which produces a faint light, Nil can move Stang via telekinesis.
Noble Arm Rank: C rank
Power B Speed C Range A Persistence C Precision C Potential D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: glowy hitty thing, Kinetic Projectile, Telekinesis, Short/Medium Range
Noble Arm Abilities:
Conjured Staffs, Stang can be create copies that are indistinguishable from the original, Nil can also control them just like the original and create more copies from said copies, maintaining a few copies has little affect on stamina but maintaining a huge amount has a much larger toll.
Telekinesis, Nil can control Stang and its copies telekinetically when doing so the staff has effectively 100 times of its original weight, which is around 1kg. Telekinetic movements are usually not particularly fast unless Nil launches the NA as a projectile in which case it can go up to 1000m/s and get ~10kms away and has equivalent power to a tank round, unfortunately unlike a tank Nil cannot shoot accurately at that range and has an effective range of 300m on a human sized target without taking impact shock into consideration.
Enhancement, Nil can boost her durability to be able to resist 1-2 additional blows or bullets but it also makes her especially resistant to shockwaves, when using this ability Nil glows blue, especially the hair, eyes and tearducts.
The target used was human sized, 200 rounds were shot for each range apart from the 270meters range where 50 rounds were shot.
Percentage of direct hits only takes into accounts hits that directly hit the target dismissing possible damage dealt through other means.
Percentage of lethal hits takes into account any shot that produced lethal damage either by a direct hit or as the effect of impact shockwave.
Misc Abilities: Nil can fluently speak Danish but can barely speak other languages such as English, Thai and Filipino. Nil can also eat many inedible materials without seemingly suffering from it, such as wrappers and paper.
Personality: Nil usually doesn't speak much but she can be direct and blunt, she usually seeks to be around people but doesn't do much when in company.
*Likes: food, people, smashing stuff
*Dislikes: too much noise, long conversations, being alone for long stretches of time
Fears: Drowning (she can swim but she panics when in deep water)
Description: Nil joined Thailand's military in 13th of May 2015, the day prior meeting with military personnel in Pattaya and being documented as an Arms Master for the first time. Nil has been unable to answer most questions about her past to the point where her age and nationality can only be assumed, the most commonly agreed theory is that she is from Denmark, as danish is the only language she can speak fluently, and that information about her was lost in the 2009 ransomware attack to the Danish government's databases where many citizen's personal data was erased. Nil displays some lack of understanding of human interactions and common knowledge, she has been a slow learner with things like learning a new language, monetary value and proper eating, despite this Nil seeks to be around other people and is uncomfortable when left alone for a long period of time. Medical scans have shown that Nil is human and the lines on her body are likely related to her Noble Arm and not some biological condition, this is exemplified when she uses her Noble Arm and the lines on her body begin to emit a stronger glow. In the last few years Nil has supported various field operations and displayed a level of obedience and calmness during tense situations, since the start of the ASEAN war she has been active in Vietnam and Thailand and joined the ASEAN joint military, she only recently arrived in the Philippines, arriving in Lingayen shortly after the fighting began.
*Current Goal: Being alive, eating
Military or Civilian Rank: Sergeant of the Thai Military and jointed ASEAN military
His noble Arms, when summoned, raises his base Physical power to Peak Human level while basically negating pain, and it raises exponentially the more danger he’s in(Dangerous for Ernesto). Unfortunately for Ernesto, the more he’s boosted, the harder it is for him to boost again,as while the boost increases exponentially, so does the required danger-ness of a situation. meaning that while there’s no hard cap, there’s a soft cap that’s very difficult to piece without getting straight up vaporized.
TLDR: He gets more powerful as he’s in danger. Has a soft cap
(Disclaimer: Adrenal Surge is technically always active, what i’m talking about below are Thresholds that can be used to more easily keep track of it. Also, if this seems too strong, remember that Ernesto has little defense against exotic effects,and that the Thresholds account for his regen too,so somrthing fatal for another NA master, might not be the same for him.Finally, a surprise or alpha strike can still neutralize him, as Assalto Implacabile needs a short time to reach the Thresholds, and Ernesto himself needs to know he's in a dangerous situation. )
Ernesto, when his NA is summoned start at Peak human physical level, and rapidly power up as he’s in danger
When he’s in danger of getting seriously Hurt, Adrenal Surge brings him straight into Slight Superhuman ranges, at Captain america level
When He’s in Danger of actually dying, he once again gets boosted to Superhuman level. Small arms and most medium caliber weaponry isn’t effective anymore, small explosive yields are easily survivable, he can trash non-armored vehicles and run at 75 Km/h
However, after getting to this point, Further boosting becomes increasingly harder
Being in a situation that gets him seriously hurt no longer boosts him, and to get to High Superhuman levels, he needs to be in a situation where he risks death even with the previous two boosts.
The Rewards thought, are worth it.
At High superhuman levels, Personnel weaponry can be outright Ignored,Tank shells can be easily survived, he can Throw tanks, and run at 150 Km/h. Perhaps even more important, this is the level where Ernesto can actually activate his Warform,boosting him even higher, and making further boosting easier.
If Ernesto uses his Warform,or somehow find himself in a situation where death is all but certain(while at High Superhuman levels), he reach Supernatural level.
At the Supernatural level, Conventional weaponry short of ICBM's can be ignored, and he gains a slight resistance to esoteric effects(an example would be NA created fire hurting him less or a space tear ripping him slightly less in half). His strenght reaches a level where he could theoretically rip a building off his foundations if phisics allowed it, and he can now can run close to 350 Km/h.
This is where Assalto Implacabile softcap hits,and it is virtually impossible to get to the next power threshold without Warform.
If, he somehow find himself in such a situation without instantly getting vaporized, or if it's assured to be fatally wounded while in Warform, he goes to the One Man Army level.
At the One Man Army level, anything short of a nuke can be survived without much problems and his esoteric resistance noticeably dulls other NA powers against himself. His strenght is such that the world around him is like soft clay, able to be destroyed or moulded as he wish. When he runs, he's able to break the sound barrier, with a maximum speed close to 800 Km/h.
There's technically one last Threshold, but it is basically impossible to reach IC, and even then, the power it would confer to him wouldn't be enough to contend against whatever or whoever made him reach it. If it ever come up it will probably be in a Noble Sacrifice or Last Stand scenario.
Rapid Regeneration:
Fortunately for Ernesto, His reckless way of fighting(and training) is supported by his Noble Arm. Any wounds he takes visibly heals, and it takes him a couple Hours(Tops) to fully heal. Unfortunately for him, this power doesn’t make him immortal.
Firstly, Lethal enough wounds would still kill him. He might be able to heal a bullet wound to the head, but if he gets exploded into oblivion…well, no such luck.
Secondly, his regeneration can be hampered. He can’t heal as well with something stuck in him, for one. If a bullet gets lodged in him, he can heal all around it, but the bullet itself won’t be pushed out, and so he remains wounded.(Ernesto still grumbles about all the time he loses picking out bullets from himself).
TLDR: Very fast Regen, Can’t push debris out of himself. Can still die.
Wounds visibly heals and Ernesto need a Couple Hours Tops to get back into shape
Small wounds(first degree burns, small gashes or punctures) take seconds.
Things like bullet holes, concussions, or second degree burns would take a couple minutes tops.
Third degree burns, spread organ damage and small amputation would take thirty minutes, give or take ten minutes based on how severe the damage is.
Fourth degree burns, brain damage(as long as it’s mostly intact and there isn’t something lodged in there, it can heal, if far slower than any other body part) and severe amputation(Limb or Torsal, NOT beheading) would take one to two hours based on how spread out is the damage.
As for bones.. Well, bone bruises or closed bone fractures are a relative non-issue, since they heal in second or minute respectively, and the Pain Deadening means that Ernesto can keep going mostly as if they didn’t happen. For Compound Fractures though, Ernesto either has to shove the Bone back into himself, or remove it so that it can basically regrowth, Which can be compared to a Major Amputation, and would take at least an Hour to get himself up and running.
Ernesto is covered in full-body armor,and his hands merge with his NA, turning into gigantic Claws, able to easily rip man or armor apart. Additionally, he grows to 3 meters in Height, and gains a couple hundred kilos in weight. In his Warform, he’s able to withstand most everything that can be thrown at him, his base Physical abilities Heighten to Fully Supernatural levels, and the soft cap for Adrenaline Surge “reset” while still keeping all the benefits, making further boosting far easier.
One downside of the Warform is that it has a built-in Limiter. To activate it, his Adrenal Surge must already be close if not at the Soft Cap. Ernesto jokingly calls this his “Second Phase”. Cool/Corny One-liner when transforming included.
Misc Abilities: Fluent in Italian and English,can cook really good Italian cuisine and is skilled in unarmed fighting(thought any master that has seen his style calls it “crude and savage,but effective”),Either Terrifies or Delights childrens with his mere presence
Personality: While he enjoys a good fight, Ernesto is still a good man at heart that’s trying to better the world. He knows he’s not the smartest or trick-iest(but he’s definitely the Densest, his words),and he takes all the jabs against him good-naturedly.
Has a hatred for the Downward Spiral, especially after their recruitment attempt that made him question himself.
At the end of it all, Ernesto is a simple Man. All he wants is to be helpful, and have fun while making a difference.
Likes: Honesty, Food, Adrenaline Rushes
Dislikes: Injustice, Dishonesty, Monotony
Fears: Becoming a Monster, Failing those that rely on him
Ernesto was born in Southern Italy, and grew up in a close-knit community that teached him to care for others and to always stay strong. As he got older, he’d gotten into the local fight club scene, quickly becoming one of the best fighters around. Everything changed though, in his last match. He was fighting against a E-ranked Noble Arms that had the ability to enchant himself for quick bursts of power.
As the Arm Master landed a particularly winding blow that should have rightfully finished the match, Ernesto own Noble Arm awoke, restoring him fully, and giving him the edge he needed to win. He didn’t have time to celebrate his victory because he was quickly accosted by a woman. She felt…wrong to Ernesto, but something drew him to her.
She told him of the Downward Descent, of how with his power he could do whatever he wanted, to whoever he wanted. Her tempting words were immediately rejected, but they were still able to implant a kernel of Doubt in Ernesto, who wondered if he could end up like that.
The woman, as if knowing what she did, left him without much fanfare, telling him that They would know when he’d change his mind.
After calling the authorities and explaining the incident, Ernesto was brought to a recruiter who,after explaining what happened, asked him if he wanted to help the world against people like the Downward descend.
A quick boot camp later, to understand his NA powers and instill some discipline in him, he was quickly shipped off to ASEAN, as an asset against the CPLA
Current Goal: Make a difference, and have fun on the way.
Military or Civilian Rank: Soldato/Private first class
“Why am I here? I can understand the question, and now I can answer. I am not the strongest, the fastest, extremely persuasive or even that clever. So, I put my soul at the edge of my blade, and my resolve into my craft. My dedication against the ones called ‘prodigies’. I need not hope to prevail.” Appearance: A lanky man with a tense air to him, his eyes wandering unless in conversation or actively focusing on something. His hair was black before, but his Noble Arm’s toll caused him extreme stress in the past, to a point where his hair began graying. His hands are unusually big, and covered with rough calluses as a result of constant training with his NA. Height: 6’3” Weight: 190 lbs Build: Fit and lanky
Name: Nico Makri
Age: 24
Nationality: Greek
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: Helios Rod, an ornate golden and white saber.
Noble Arm Rank: B
Power: B-A (S) (Sun Stoked) Speed: C-B (S) (Sun Stoked) Range: E-D+ (Wildfire Dance) Persistence: D-C (S) (Sunsetter) Precision: C-B (Sunsetter) Potential: C
Helios Rod slowly grows and changes as Nico practices with and understands how to use the sword. However, this growth is held back by a combination of Nico’s lack of experience and Helios Rod’s volatile nature.
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Support/Melee, Sun and Fire, close-to-mid-range
Noble Arm Abilities:
Burning Edge: Nico can coat his sword’s edge in flames, making the sword akin to a plasma cutter, melting through most mundane metals with ease. When the edge makes contact with Moon- or Dark-themed NAs, Helios Rod flares up in an attempt to burn away the darkness. Nico isn’t immune to this ability, so if Helios Rod touches him, it will burn. (Sun Stoke makes the edge burn white hot, turning almost anything mundane touched into ashes)
Inner Sun: Helios Rod gives Nico slight pyrokinesis, granting his unarmed strikes an explosive effect. The force of the explosion is equal to double the force of the original attack. Nico has to worry about the recoil from these strikes, as too many consecutive blows can cause damage to his joints. (Sunsetter delays the explosive force for a few moments, giving the strikes an element of surprise and mitigating the recoil of the strikes.)
Sun Stoke: As day approaches, Nico’s speed and power are increased a rank higher than his usual, trading defense and subtlety for raw, overwhelming power. Helios Rod burns brighter and responds faster, and Nico’s reflexes and strength rise to match. This makes him seem like a living comet, rushing through the battlefield to get into close range combat. However, this isn’t without costs. The more Nico uses his enhanced power, the more he heats up, running the risk of hyperthermia as a battle drags on.
Radiant Burst: A wave of light extends in a 20 foot radius centered on Nico, accelerating the healing process of himself and any allies in the AoE, closing up most moderate injuries (ie. slashes, burns, and small caliber gunshots). It also blinds any enemies caught within the radius, similar to a flash grenade. This ability shifts targets depending on who Nico considers an ally or enemy at the time, so even those fighting beside Nico may be blinded if he doesn’t trust them.
Wildfire Dance: During the hours of 11AM to 1PM, Nico’s strikes release waves of fire. These strikes can hit targets up to 100 feet away with the force of a missile. These attacks pass through allies harmlessly, following the rules set by Radiant Burst.
Sunsetter: As night approaches, Helios Rod’s abilities alter. It increases Nico’s persistence and precision by a rank, giving his strikes more finesse in trade for less raw power. This gives him immunity to his own flames and boosts his regeneration to a level where most superficial wounds heal instantly (ie. scrapes and glancing blows). Sunsetter also hones Nico’s mind, making his senses 4 times more acute than the average person.
Vanishing Step: Nico disappearing from one point for an instant and reappearing in a different point. This is a result of him using Helios Rod to mark a location, Nico maneuvering the opponent into having that spot outside their field of view, and returning to it in order to launch a surprise attack. He must stay within 30 feet of the mark, otherwise it dissipates.
Godspeed Dance: During the hours of 12AM to 2AM, Nico’s precision reaches a point that rivals even well trained Noble Arms Masters. He can act and react to the world around him in mere milliseconds without stumbling or pausing to reposition. However, this godlike precision is costly. It severely wears down on his stamina, so he prefers using it in short bursts, making rapid movements and evasive action.
Misc Abilities:
Alertness: Nico barely needs sleep, being able to get a good night’s rest in 3-4 hours. He’s constantly assessing the environment, taking note of strange objects and people alike.
Multilingual: Nico knows English and French, along with his native Greek. He learned French and English as electives in school and kept studying until he was able to hold conversation with tourists and the like.
Compass: Nico’s internal compass is better than the average citizen. He can ignore the sun’s glare and the darkness of night to find his way back to wherever he slept before.
Unyielding Resolve: Whether a passive ability of Helios Rod, Nico's years of training, or a combination of the two, he has a frankly absurd level of mental fortitude, in no small part thanks to his humble mindset. It has reached a point to where even mind- and body-controlling Noble Arms have some difficulty affecting him, with Helios Rod having the potential to render them less effective.
Personality: As a newbie to the war business, Nico attempts to not let his doubts get in the way, burying them under a veil of pride. He's not arrogant and enjoys connecting with other people, wanting to learn more about the lives of those outside of Athens. For Nico, powers are something given to those who earn it. As such he tends to take training very seriously, being annoyed at lazy Arms Masters, particularly the strong ones, who for him are choosing to waste the strength they were given. At the same time, he wishes that the weak be allowed to grow on their own and walk newer paths, a gift granted to him that he wishes to help spread to everyone. Nico is out here to prove his resolve to the world, his pride is at stake. As for the Big Three, Nico tolerates Seven Virtues, thinking of them as a bunch of pricks with the right idea and bad execution, but sees Downward Descent as psychos and nihilists, viewing their ideals as complete insanity.
*Likes: Spicy food, sour drinks, cheese, parties, all nighters
Bio: Nico always had a fascination with knights and heroes of legends, having grown up in a country where some of the most famous myths came from. He was born in Athens at exactly high noon, a good omen. His family ran a small hotel near Athens Airport, so there was always some new person to meet, and a new story to hear. His mother and father encouraged his curiosity as a kid, letting him help around the hotel and talk to the guests. Once Nico left for university, he kept a hotel key with him as a memento.
Helios Rod appeared a month or so after Nico graduated from uni, at exactly high noon. Awakening his Noble Arm led him to take up swordplay just in case something ever happened. As he got better with the sword and his form improved, he realized that wanting to help people didn’t mean much if there weren’t many people in need of help. In lieu of the Greek Debt Crisis, he became a freelance mercenary for some form of steady income. Working with ASEAN gave Nico a chance to put his abilities to the test, to forge his will in fire.
*Current Goal: Protect those behind and beside him, and give others a chance to walk their path.
Military or Civilian Rank: Freelance Mercenary Nico’s Theme
“I’ve been called a ghost, a specter with a gun. A loyal soldier, a good friend. And yet, I’m killing people for a paycheck, and that sort of cuts past any kind of goodwill I garner. But I’m fine with that. It’s just the way it is.” Appearance: A fit woman with an otherworldly air to her, her expression almost always at a deadpan. Her hair is a soft periwinkle, tied into a low ponytail with long bangs framing her face. Even it doesn’t seem like she is focused, somehow her azure eyes find anyone who looks her way, meeting them with a haunting gaze. Most of the time, she wears a simple white shirt with a turquoise shawl, as a way to stand out in a crowd without drawing too much attention to herself. Even then, she seems to almost lack any presence until she looks someone’s way, seeming to just appear where she wants, when she wants. Height: 5'7" Weight: 135 lbs. Build: Toned with softer features.
Name: Aoi Mikoto Age: 20 Nationality: Japanese
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: Perfect Accomplice, a pair of violet armored gauntlets, with a grey gem inlayed on the back of each.
Noble Arm Rank: B
Power: C Speed: B Range: D (S) (Reaper’s Unsigned Cache) Persistence: B Precision: C Potential: B
While her power is only marginally above the norm, the extremely fatal nature of her Noble Arm has made its rank a strange one to properly categorize. On the surface, Perfect Accomplice is little more than a pair of durable, if somewhat ornate, gauntlets. However, its true strength lies not in its use as a weapon, but rather, in its ability to turn almost anything into a lethal weapon, including Aoi.
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Mid range, death, support type.
Reaper’s Unsigned Cache: Aoi’s most prominent use of her Noble Arm is in its ability to increase the lethality of any object, weapon or not, in her hands. Any damage that a weapon affected by her ability deals takes longer to heal than typical, making even minor injuries more severe in the long term. However, in the case of Arms Masters, its ability becomes far more malevolent, eating away at their enhanced regeneration. Any attempts to heal or regenerate a wound Aoi causes take much longer than the norm, with more effort only slowing the process down even further.
Accelerated Decay: By touching and concentrating on a specific object, Aoi can slowly kill its shape, causing it to lose its durability, and crumble after some time. The time depends on several factors, such as size, complexity, density, material composition and other variables. This ability works at its best while Aoi is relatively still and focused, with any breaks in her concentration halting her progress, but not restarting it entirely.
Animals, including humans are largely immune to this kind of decay, due to their extreme complexity and the various systems at work within them. Atomic and invisible objects are also immune, as Aoi needs to know the scope of what she’s destroying before she can start the process.
Death Count - Evasion: For 24 minutes a day, Aoi can “kill” her presence in its entirety. While she can hear the sounds around her, her own movements, actions and voice are simply nonexistent to any outside observer. So long as she isn’t touching anyone, Aoi becomes completely undetectable by hearing, smell, Noble Arm enhanced perception or artificial detection. Her presence is erased to the point where others would simply overlook her unless staring directly at her. This effect extends to any object Aoi is in physical contact with, for as long as it remains in contact with her.
Critically, Aoi is not invisible, sight being the only sure method of perceiving her while her presence is dead, and being touched immediately “revives” her presence. Aoi can be perceived as soon as she is touched, potentially giving away her location. She can stagger the minutes she has in short moments, but any use under one minute still counts as 1 minute. Any Noble Arms with perception based abilities of a higher caliber can detect her with little trouble, even in this state.
Misc Abilities:
Ghostly Presence: By virtue of being light on her feet and having a general lack of flashiness, her presence in an area is severely diminished at nearly all times. As a result, she has the habit of walking into places unannounced, only drawing attention to herself when needed.
Multilingual: Aoi fluently speaks English, Mandarin, and Filipino, as well as her native Japanese. She took Mandarin as a second language in school, and learned English and Filipino through her time in training as a soldier.
Specialist Soldier: A trained scout, she has undergone standard martial arts training, infiltration training, and small arms training. While moderately skilled in combat, her main focus in skill is finding and removing other Arms Masters. Although, Aoi’s zeal in facing Arms Masters borders closer to obsessive than well versed.
Pseudo-Precognition: Aoi has inhuman awareness, even compared to other Arms Masters, and unseen in mundane soldiers. In combination with her general attentiveness, she can predict the movements of people around her by reading their habits and acting in response to said predictions rather than the present moment, making it look as if she can see into the future.
Personality: Aoi Mikoto has problems. She’s standoffish, doesn’t enjoy company, and has little respect for anyone. She entirely rejects the notion of anything being fair in the world, except for the fact that everyone is treated unfairly in one way or another. Even her Noble Arm reflects her rather jaded attitude towards the world, picking and choosing what to destroy, and to what degree. And while Aoi may initially come off as someone with an uncaring attitude, not helped by a relatively passive expression in public and on camp. However, those who become acquainted with her learn that, while she may be a little blasé during most situations, she drops the act in good company, showing a more expressive side of herself.
She is rather self assured, and while she tries her best to hide it, she holds grudges when her skills are questioned or underestimated. On the battlefield, Aoi becomes someone without any sort of pity. Despite her outward calm and deadpan attitude, a quiet rage lives inside of her. While not a temperamental person, she lacks sympathy for anyone she considers an enemy or a threat. Aoi gave up on the idea that people are equal in any sense long ago. In her cynical view of humanity, as long as two people exist, both will find a way to make the other feel inferior in some way. As a result, she deliberately tries to test everyone she comes across with something approaching the proper level of empathy, to protect the kind and ignore the boastful and self righteous.
To say Aoi dislikes the Big Three is rather apt. She views the Downward Descent and their agents as a blight for causing World War III, the Paragons of Science and their work as them stroking their own egos and lining their pockets rather than anything benevolent, and the Seven Virtues as charlatans and hypocrites, claiming to be ascended humans yet still falling into the same category as any mundane cult. But, for the Zodiac, it goes beyond dislike and becomes rage, for every soldier and civilian they’ve killed, every atrocity they’ve committed, for every life that has been made worse by their very existence. Death won’t be enough, but it’s a starting point…
Likes: Fuzzy animals, meditation, solving puzzles, tea, pies of nearly all sorts.
Dislikes: People looking at her too long, wasted time and actions, getting up late, The Zodiac.
Fears: Going blind, being unable to leave a room, not being able to make connections
Born and raised in Kyoto, Aoi had a reputation for being a ghost even as a child. In her youth, she had a habit of simply leaving a room when she was bored. It was harmless until she walked out of a classroom and didn’t come back until the end of the day. And kept doing it intermittently for a month, until the principal saw her walking out of the school. As a child, her parents learned that she had an unusual knack for analysis and learning. So, she rarely studied, simply relying on her memory of the material she was taught. But, despite her skill, she was only ever an average student, with marginally above average grades. Aoi never planned to stand out, never wanted to be seen as someone special. Whether it can be called wasted potential is another matter entirely.
For most intents and purposes, Aoi Mikoto is rather unremarkable. But her lack of presence makes her excel as a scout, and her ability to learn made her notable in some ways. But, even compared to other Arms Masters, something about her makes her seem…inhuman. What few recordings of her there are alongside her fellow officers show her eyes always looking right at the camera, even with it in motion. As a result of her keeping quiet about most of her abilities, there are conflicting details about what her Noble Arm is capable of on the public level.
On a rather dreary day, Aoi was accosted by a thug while she was taking a shortcut through an alleyway. She pulled out a small knife, and they manifested a Noble Arm in response. Out of desperation, she tried to defend herself, knowing the pocket knife wouldn’t be enough…
But it was. Her soul responded to her wish to not be helpless against those with the power of Noble Arms, and granted her the pain of gauntlets that she would later christen as Perfect Accomplice. That dreary day marked her awakening as an Arms Master, and slowly changed the course of her life.
Aoi will never say that she regrets the path that led to being a soldier. Still, there are things that haunt her. A retrieval mission led her to one of Ai Chen’s abandoned prison camps, and the sights she saw lit a fire in her. To see potential innocent casualties, and even some of her people in the condition that they were in was sickening. Most of the pity she held for the opposite side was gone after that, as anyone who allied themselves with that was not worthy of the weight on her conscience.
Most of her life has been spent as some kind of other, whether because of her truancy or the unsettling air about her, only made more apparent after her Noble Arm awakened. But she accepts and embraces this otherness, using her position as a way to embrace her identity. Witnessing the camps of the Rooster motivated Aoi to become more than a nameless ghost, and Ai Chen’s death proved that there was a path she could follow. So the watchful spirit moves to a new haunt, waiting for the chance to get revenge and find peace.
Current Goal: To find some satisfaction in life, and in a connection worth the trouble.
Military or Civilian Rank: Ranger certified Scout and TFO volunteer
Noble Arm Name & Appearance:Archie's Lever; appears as a variety of old, battered hand tools, but its "natural" form is a weathered and pitted iron prybar.
Noble Arm Rank: D Power: E (S) Speed: E (S) Range: F (S) Persistence: B (S) Precision: D (S) Potential: D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee/Ranged, close-to-mid range, depending on form. Archie's Lever is serviceable as a weapon, but its real power lies in its use as a near-universal multitool.
Noble Arm Abilities:
Multi-Tool: Berto can use Archie's Lever as pretty much any small hand tool whose form and function he understands.
Field Surgery: When Archie's Lever is used to provide first aid, it can temporarily allow a wounded character to function with the injured body parts and allow total (or near-total) healing within 24 hours. The extent of the long-term recovery depends on how effectively Berto can dress the wound.
Kintsugi: Any physical object that Berto repairs with Archie's Lever-- including people and animals he offers first aid-- is more resilient than it was before it was damage. This effect is only temporary when applied to living beings.
Misc Abilities: Berto has picked up a lot of odd skills from his years on the fringes of society. Notably, he possesses a solid, if unpolished, grasp of the Occult Programming Language.
Personality: There's something a little unnerving, perhaps a little unnatural, about Berto's easygoing demeanor; his kindness and patience are seemingly endless, but anyone who spends time with him gets the impression that he's constantly doing everything in his power to keep from screaming. Berto loves using the powers of Archie's Lever to help people in little ways even more than trying to change the world.
*Likes: Solving problems, wandering in the city, homecooked meals.
Bio: Robert-- probably not his real name-- was enrolled by his parents in an illegal Spartan Training Program in his early teens. The program was particularly brutal, but more effective than most; nevertheless, Robert was an abject failure and by the time the program was shut down, his psyche was believed to be irreparably broken. With his parents in prison, Robert was made a ward of the state until he was eighteen years old, and spent the next couple of decades bouncing in and out of homeless shelters, jails, and hospitals.
A few years ago, Robert discovered Archie's Lever while in "therapeutic isolation". Unconsciously and unintentionally, he used it to fix his mind, a feat that appears to be beyond his current powers. A few months after that, he was declared competent to stand trial, convicted of a laundry list of petty misdemeanors, and sentenced to time served. A few months after that, he disappeared without a trace, and the first sightings of a "Robert Williams" using a Noble Arm to repair bombed-out houses and set broken bones were reported.
*Current Goal: Identify the problem. Understand the problem. Fix the problem.
Military or Civilian Rank: Is in the country illegally on an expired tourist visa.
Age: 22 Gender: Female Sexuality: Bisexual, as far as she is able to tell. Height: 165 cm Weight: 63 kg
Nationality: Half-English, half-unknown
Noble Arm Name & Appearance:
‘Charter’ (naval officer’s spyglass)
Noble Arm Rank:
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Support-Ranged/Space/Long-range
Noble Arm Abilities: Leaguespanner: Wielding Charter allows Callie to realign the fabric of the universe to join one space to another, effectively creating a two-way portal in any shape that she desires. She may only create one such connection at a time and may only do so between places that she is able to see. Seemingly as an inherent safeguard, this portal cannot form inside or otherwise ‘cut’ sentient beings or other Noble Arms, though it can do so for non-sentient life and non-living things. Whenever she does so, Callie must fix both ends of the portal in space in relation to another object; she frequently uses the ground, the Earth as a whole or some part or all of her body for this purpose, though she cannot use any part of another sentient being or Noble Arm. Creating a connection takes a small amount of energy and time that both scale with the portal’s size and the distance that it bridges; the amount of energy continuously consumed from Callie until she releases it also increases with the portal’s area (see hider).
Where Callie’s stamina is represented as 500 of an arbitrary unit…
Portal Creation Time (seconds) = Portal Area^2 (square metres) x Distance Bridged (km) Stamina Cost upon Portal Creation = Portal Area^2 (square metres) x Distance Bridged (km) + Distance Bridged (km) x 0.1 + 10 Stamina Cost while Portal remains (per second) = Portal Area^2 (square metres) + 1
While Callie can push herself beyond this limit, she risks unconsciousness or death by doing so.
Sight Unbounded: Charter is far more capable than a spyglass of its apparent age or, indeed, any spyglass at all has any right to be: it has the ability to project Callie’s vision, allowing her to bypass non-solid objects. Solid objects inhibit the projection of her vision in this way, while liquids slow the projection depending on its density rather than it being instantaneous. Commander’s Aim: While looking through Charter and wielding a projectile weapon or in contact with a person who is, Callie can will the spyglass to direct her gaze to the point where the projectile, as the weapon is currently aimed, will land. When she does so, she gains an instinctive sense of this point. Guidance: Whether a precognitive subpower of Charter itself, a quirk of her hyperactive mind or a combination of both, Callie often finds herself drawn to details that are or will be important for herself and/or her allies when looking through Charter, even if she doesn’t know how they are or will be important yet. This helps Callie both when she is scouting or infiltrating a location or when she’s picking out a target in the chaos of a fight.
Misc. Abilities: Determined Adaptability: Callie’s open-mindedness and sheer drive allow her to take on problems and learn new skills more capably than most, throwing sufficient energy and ingenuity at difficulties and mental blocks that others would give up on solving. Trained Operative: With some Arms-tailored military training under her belt, Callie has had the chance to experiment with her Arm in battlefield conditions. As such, she is thoroughly familiar with her Arm’s basic capabilities and has even come up with a few unconventional ‘tricks’ with them, as well as appreciating the basics of tactics and operational warfare. She has also been given a more rapid coaching in the art of covert operations, allowing her to hold her own in a number of tight spots even without her Arm.
Personality: Callie is characterised by drive above all else; she launches herself towards her own and others’ success and even when ‘relaxing’ is constantly looking to find growth in everything she does. Unlike many of this archetype, however, she doesn’t naturally chafe against authority to any great extent, only that with which she disagrees for other reasons; she instead demands that she be accomplishing something in every waking moment, set by others or, if they do not, by herself. This makes her an invaluable asset to any team – focused, unfailingly energetic and downright inspiring, a champion for her allies and a constant harrier against their enemies – but can also come across as brashness, insensitivity and arrogance. She is, needless to say, a little polarising.
Likes: Achieving goals (especially by creatively efficient means), feeling capable, learning, helping others, using her Noble Arm, dogs and cats, Ribena
Dislikes: Helplessness (especially not being able to help others), duplicity among friends and teammates, indecisiveness, overbearing nationalism, excessive reliance on others
Fears: Being powerless, causing harm to those she cares about, becoming an emotionless killer
Callie Lidmann was born in the UK and lived there for four years or so. That she knows. In truth, her mother has always been cagey about the first few years of her life and, indeed, about Callie’s father, who Callie herself only knows by scattered half-memories. She didn’t especially care, to start with; her mum, Mary, has always been as good a parent as possible to her, as has her aunt Sandra, with whom the two live.
Good intentions or no, Mary’s actions rendered Callie somewhat poorly formed at first. The two only settled down with Sandra six or seven years after arriving in the USA; before then the two lived hand-to-mouth and constantly on the move. Mary took jobs and found schooling for Callie wherever she could but always became more and more alert, cautious, nervous over the months they stayed in a single place and then swept the two away again, as if running from something. By the time they came to live with Sandra, the damage had been done; Callie, despite a natural keenness of mind and a relative affability that let her just about coast through schoolwork and friendships, was behind on more or less every academic metric and had a lack of motivation to match. If, after all, her teachers and schoolmates changed so regularly, any effort she put into making a good impression or form connections would just go to waste. Why make the effort?
That changed a few months after Callie’s thirteenth birthday. Taking a stroll past a lake just outside the town that had – surprisingly to her – been her home for a good length of time now, her ear caught an odd series of sounds accompanied by what resembled an alarmed voice in the distance. Turning to look, she saw a woman thrashing at the water, small rowboat upturned and floating away over the rippling surface. In that instant, Callie reached out to help – and found that there was nothing she could do. For the first time, she fully regretted her indifference; she regretted not having had the presence of mind when walking here before to memorise where any of the lifebuoys were, dotted around the lakeside; she regretted having let learning to swim go by the wayside somewhere in her various relocations; she regretted being sufficiently apathetic as to not bring a phone with her or, indeed, to know what this lake in particular was called so she could guide an emergency responder to it; and she regretted not paying attention to the assembly given by a lifeguard on one day in one particular school whose name she couldn’t remember, that she might have properly known what to do in the first place.
For the first time in her life, Callie wished she might have done things differently.
She wished she could do something now.
And, from within her, something answered.
A brilliant flash of light in her palm, materialising into solid form. Moments later, a pulse in the air beside her; shimmering, marine light on the grass, followed by a deluge that knocked her off her feet and dropped one sopping wet ex-drownee onto the ground beside her. She had tried – and the world had made clear to her that that would make an impact.
How far could she go?
From that point on, Callie’s every action was infused with energy. Between the story being picked up by the local newspaper, the touch of renown that she gained in the community as a result and her generally more pleasant demeanour, she started to make some proper friends (and, of course, some enemies among those whose carefully constructed cliques were disrupted); astute enough to realise that a lot of these relationships were superficial but sufficiently determined and free-thinking enough to decide to forge them into actual bonds, Callie began building a network that not only further propelled her emotional rise but also brought those others with her towards fulfilment, her joyful and determined demeanour infectious. Simultaneously, realising that the key to her future and her growth laid in her new Noble Arm, she began practising with it on her own and doing research and joining several Arms fora online to start investigating its powers.
Eventually that research led her to the US’ Arms Master Cadets programme, in which Callie saw an opportunity to finally use her newfound power for good. Mary saw something else; Callie would often catch sight of her mother watching her out of the corner of her eyes, wringing her hands, muttering, every tic and negative signal of body language multiplied a thousand-fold. Sandra’s stabilising influence helped; Callie, on the other hand, could not decide whether her presence was causing her mother more pain than she would by leaving, even as her past, so long unquestioned, began to bubble in the back of her mind. With her new impetus driving her on, however, doing nothing simply wasn’t an option and, though she had picked up in school, it was clear that academics would be a path of far, far greater resistance given her track record. Her aunt in her corner and covering for her mother’s concerns, Callie eventually signed up for the programme, packed her bags and made her way onwards.
From there, everything accelerated. Entirely separate from the regular JROTC programme, auxiliary to a normal education, the AMC’s work is simply to take young Arms Masters and turn them into soldiers – to explore and actualise the martial potential of each cadet and especially their Arm’s powers and then integrate them as seamlessly as possible into their armed forces, all while securing their loyalty. For Callie, it achieved one of those three very effectively! With experienced Arms Masters and experts in their study helping her and dedicated testing facilities and events to experiment within at her full potential and full of sharpness and conviction, she became a skilled, diligent and distinguished warrior. Once again, her energy was infectious and she quickly made close friends amongst the other young Arms Masters on the programme (not so hard – being the person to near-instantly evacuate you to your team’s medic in a training exercise tends to endear you to them).
As for the other two… As she went on through the programme, Callie began to realise that she was being pushed in a certain direction: that of special and covert operations, reconnaissance, assassination. On a purely strategic and tactical level, she could understand that – information gathering, rapid movement and precision striking power were her Arm’s specialities – but she also wasn’t naïve. Even the brief period of research she’d done before she entered the AMC had told her what the country she and her mother had come to was capable of; while she’d put that to the back of her mind at the time it increasingly weighed on her thoughts as she approached the end of her training, something only reinforced by the patriotic tendencies of her fellows and their superiors.
The war in South-East Asia offered a way out. While the US has so far refused to commit to a full military response to Chinese aggression, for fear of escalation to unrestricted conflict between their Arms Masters with a level of accompanying global devastation unseen since WW2, they were willing to send materiel, military advisors and training and, off the table, covert military support. As a capable fighter who had not yet seen action and so was not identifiable by the enemy, Callie was in an ideal position to take advantage – and she knew it, seizing what she felt was an opportunity to use her training and skills to do something fairly unambiguously good. And so, after intensive training in Filipino and in the Philippines’ culture and geography and picking up some new skills over a period of six months, Caroline Lidmann, officially an unaffiliated Arms Master volunteering with the Philippine Army from abroad, headed for her new posting.
Current Goal: Support the Philippine resistance to Chinese invasion without revealing her true role.
Military or Civilian Rank: As a participant in covert operations, Callie has technically been transferred out of the US Armed Forces to become likely the youngest member of the CIA’s Special Operations Group, though the rapid development of the ASEAN War and the lack of need for much of the usual process (parachute training, for instance, was considered basically irrelevant for her) has left some holes in her preparation for the latter.
"Working with you guys is going to be such a drag" Appearance: A fit male in his early 20s he has blond dyed hair with dyed tips along with piercing blue eyes he wears a hakama and gives of the vibe of an arrogant prince he guides attention to him with movement of body language and other movements his gaze is always looking down on other as to say you're not worthy of my time. Name: Koichi Suta Height: 5'10 Age: 24 Nationality: Japanese
Noble Arm and appearance: Echo's Whisper A pair of black iron boots
Noble Arm rank: C(S)
Power: D(S) Speed: C Range: F Persistence: B Precision: C Potential: F
Noble Arm type, Element, and Range: Small range, speed, attack type
Max Echo: Koichi's most prominent use of his ability. This ability allowed Koichi's speed to constantly increase so long as he's moving a simple finger wag can count as moving the faster he moves the more speed he gains. The downside though is the air friction if Koichi moves too fast for his ability to bolster his defense he can get hurt.
Echo's defense: The secondary ability of Koichi's noble arm is to bolster his defense when his first ability is being used this ability helps with dealing with the damage that comes from air friction Koichi is trying to make it useable during daily life but so far no success
Misc Abilities:
Hand-To-Hand combat mastery: Koichi is a master of Hand-to-hand combat he's on the level of a master capable of holding his own even when others completely outnumber him
Stealthy presence: Koichi's presence can be stealthy when he wants it to be a simple quiet footstep there a quick step there and his presence can disappear his presence can easily be detected by those trained or by others with perception based noble arms.
Personality: Koichi is arrogant and extremely blunt he doesn't care about others feeling and displays narcissistic tendencies. He thinks he's the best of the best and won't hesitate to say it. He's extremely petty and can hold grudges for a long time but those grudges can easily be resolved if one treats him well.
But under all that is just a scared person he's scared that one day he'll eventually lose his humanity that one day he'll stop identifying as human and become something so much worse. In that regard, he holds a distaste for all three factions even the paragon of science.
Koichi holds on to the belief that he is human and nothing more. He's not some god he's not something that needs to be worshipped and he's not something lower than animals he's just human. Koichi values his humanity more than anything else in the world after all if he's not human what is he?
Likes:Icecream, being praised by others acknowledging his skills Dislikes: being insulted, the big three, his humanity being tested Fears: Losing his humanity, looking back at the past, the big three
Koichi was born somewhere in the poorer regions of Tokyo his family barely made ends meet but in order for Koichi to live a happy life they sacrificed everything for him. Their lives and dreams all so Koichi could grow up to follow his life dreams. In that regard, Koichi barely saw his parents if hey weren't working straining their relationship but there was one thing they told him that stuck.
They told him he was special destined to do more than sit in the slums. That stuck to Koichi and made him feel that he was chosen and that he would leave the slums soon enough to find his own path in life. Everything after that was Koichi trying to drag himself out of the pit called poorness.
And eventually, that chance would come when his noble arm manifested. He had taken a job a dangerous one at that and he was completely unprepared for the danger. He was supposed to deliver something to another gang but before long a fight had broken out. His motorcycle was destroyed and he started to run.
There was no way he could die here he was special after all. He was going to accomplish great things he couldn't die in an alleyway but he couldn't escape. There were noble arms users on the enemy gang side and before long they were gaining on him then he awakened. His desire for speed awakened his noble arm before long he turned back and fought.
He sent the gangsters packing he was far too fast for them to keep up with. Realizing his newly gotten power he left the slums and became a freelancer he would user his powers until he ascended in the world after all he was chosen. His only fear however was losing that little humanity he had left.
Current goal: Become someone important in the world Military or civilian rank: Freelancer
Imitation of Ame-no-Nuboko - A ceremonial spear that Crown Prince Shinyahito has named after the ancient jeweled spear used by the creator deities Izanagi and Izanami from Japanese Mythology to create the Japanese Archipelago.
Noble Arm Rank:
Power: C (S) Speed: A Range: E (S) Persistence: C Precision: A Potential: D
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee, Void, Close-Range.
Noble Arm Abilities:
Mū Shoku Zenchishiki (Void That Consumes Knowledge) - When the Crown Prince touches a single object, person, or location with the speartip (not necessarily stabbing) of his Noble Arm, he sees, and can sort through without going insane, the memories and experiences of the target. Note however that sorting through does not make him able to understand everything he finds out right away. When used on himself, he can also see possible timelines and worlds where he and his sister and certain individuals in this setting do not exist at all; many of those worlds do not have Noble Arms.
That last ability is fairly useless in battle and information gathering but helps boost his self-esteem by giving him glimpses of worlds where things are much worse than they are right now. It is speculated that he can eventually refine this ability to show futures where just one specific person did not exist or died in the very next second, but that is conjecture.
Munakatanashi / Yarubekikata (Unmaking and Remaking) - The Crown Prince can stab himself with his weapon and unmake himself, dissolving his body into nothingness and making all memories, monuments, pictures, and written + computerized records of himself vanish (this can be resisted with the right Noble Arm). However, unmaking is not the same as death, and the Crown Prince can will himself to rematerialize anywhere in the world that he knows from pictures or personally visited; restoring people's memories and all monuments, pictures, and written + computerized records of his existence. This process also heals any injuries and wounds he has.
Misc Abilities:
Etiquette and Ceremony - Crown Prince Shinyahito Yamato lived a regimented life, filled with ceremonies and rituals, which he studied with genuine interest.
Literature Enthusiaist - The Crown Prince is a fan of stories of all kinds, especially Light Novels, even the ones so badly written that he feels the need to mock them in private. He has a love-hate relationship with Isekai fiction while also writing poetry and drafting a novel in his spare time which he plans to publish under a false name.
Martial Arts Training (Polearms) - With great reluctance, the Crown Prince has learned to use his spear as a practical weapon, even though he prefers using it as an analytical tool.
Political Backing - His sister wants the Succession Laws changed so she can inherit should he die; he's not blind to the implications. If she succeeds, it would be at his sufferance and not just because of her efforts, and so he keeps contacts and allies in Japan's Imperial Diet, just in case.
Personality: The Crown Prince would rather not ascend to the throne of Emperor of Japan; he would prefer to just study, read, write, and maybe play video games if he can hide it from the public. However, he does not want the throne to pass to another branch of the Family or his younger sister, Fuyuko Yamato, whom he views as 'too militaristic', to get the throne and perhaps push an agenda that would further shred Japan's slightly pacifist constitution, or bring back old-style imperialists who look back on Japan's days as a colonial power with nostalgia. At the same time, he doesn't hate his sister; he knows her views might be different than she seems to indicate. So who knows, maybe he'll give her the chance she needs...
*Likes: Books. Anime and Manga. Videogames. Gunpla.
Bio: Born one day after his cousin Prince Hishahito of Akishino (an IRL figure) to Naruhito of Japan, the birth of Shinyahito raised shockwaves throughout the Imperial Family. Raised with immense expectations, Shinyahito faced the barely-hidden resentment of his sister, born one year after him, and his nation's continued population decline and political malaise.
As he grew up, he realized that he did not want to be Emperor, but had to hide it, even from himself. His Noble Arm grew not when he was subjected to trauma or a 'trigger event', but when he realized that as much as he just wanted to hide from the world and become a hikkikomori (yes, embarrassing), not only was that not on the table, but he cared too much to allow other people to take the Throne and pursue outlandish agendas that involved bringing back Japan's darker past.
When he unlocked the Imitation of Ame-no-Nuboko, he was pushed into competition with his younger sister, whose ambitions and militaristic attitude were obvious for all to see, but managed to keep things civil, maybe even cordial, between them. When China began its war of aggression against ASEAN after the Philippine Government of National Salvation displaced the previous leadership, Shinyahito journeyed to the Philippines as well, avoiding his father's displeasure by stabbing himself with his spear, unmaking himself, then remaking himself in the regions surrounding Baguio City, hoping to find refuge in the Japanese emigré community near Kennon Road.
The Danggal Clan found him, and as they were still pretending to be loyal to the PGNS, they gave him a hospitable welcome, using up stockpiled food and luxury goods to throw a banquet for him, not noticing that he found that wasteful in wartime. Gradually, he realized that they were planning to betray the PGNS if bribed enough, and also hand him over to China if the price was right. So he unmade himself yet again and remade himself in the Philippine Military Academy building, which was under siege by traitorous forces led by the Danggal Clan.
A metaphorical baptism of fire followed, and now he is fighting in a campaign he does not want, but knows he must see through...
Update: With the Danggal Clan surrendering and returning to the Philippine Government of National Salvation's fold, Crown Prince Shinyahito has chosen to stay in the Philippines to keep track of his sister, who is still wandering ASEAN territory fighting People's Liberation Army forces.
*Current Goal: Survive. Find his path in life.
Military or Civilian Rank: Kōtaishi (Crown Prince, Japanese word)
Appearance: Tall and slender, toned arms and chest; thick beard and mustache and bushy eyebrows; ear-length dark hair. Portrait TBD. 5'10", 187 lbs.
Name: Sastro Sewojo, AKA "Sam"
Age: 31
Nationality: Indonesian
Noble Arm Name & Appearance:The Batavian Special: A single action revolver of late nineteenth century manufacture, in immaculately pristine condition.
Noble Arm Rank: Power: D Speed: C Range: F Persistence: B Precision: B Potential: A
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: The item serves a support and a ranged function. The support function is achieved with skin-to-skin contact between the user and the person being affected. As a ranged weapon, the pistol has an effective range of a normal pistol of that manufacture, around 55 yards.
Noble Arm Abilities:
Endocrine Optimisation: When the weapon first appeared in his possession, Sam underwent a very uncomfortable growth spurt, growing 7 inches and increasing muscle mass while losing body fat. Essentially, the Arm had forced the dweeby and physically unfit late-twenty-something to undergo a second puberty and develop the physique and stature commensurate with using the weapon. After this initial hurdle, the weapon has continued to regulate his brain and body chemistry, enforcing a more heightened wakefulness and a more deepened sleep, suppressing his appetite between regular meals, and keeping him pretty close to emotional equilibrium.
Endocrine Manipulation: When making skin-to-skin contact with another person, the Arm allows Sam to effect a change in their body chemistry to some particular end: releasing endorphins to dull pain; eliminating lactic acid to alleviate muscle fatigue; spiking testosterone to temporarily boost strength and aggressiveness; flooding a person with sleep or stress hormones to throw them off their game (a powerful and discreet tool, since discussions often begin with a handshake, giving him his chance.)
Factory Reset: The pistol always remains clean and fully loaded after a round is discharged. Powder burns and staining can occur on the surfaces shot, but the gun itself remains as it was. It never needs to be reloaded or maintained.
Misc Abilities: What are your other talents? - Marksmanship; knife-throwing - Multilingual (Indonesian, English, Japanese, Filipino) - Negotiation skills - Radio operation - Land navigation
Personality: WIP Harsh with himself, patient with others. Well-spoken and "likable"; likes to quote American movies and break tension with humor when he can do tastefully. Not very political, he'll tend to try to diplomatically redirect the conversation when something contentious comes up. He likes to adopt some western fashions without compromising an Indonesian identity; in casual occasions he might be wearing American-stye heeled cowboy boots and a vest while at the same time wearing a Peci and smoking that distinctively Indonesian artifact: the Kretek. While he does support the ASEAN move to check Chinese aggression, he is not a hawk, and would like to see the fighting stop as quickly as possible. Needs to get over himself; tlet go of his suppressed shame for wasting his youth and the feeling that he doesn't deserve the second chance he got from the Noble Arm that he didn't earn.
Likes: Kreteks, Cowboy/Buddy Cop movies, Lizard
Dislikes:Sweets, media that reminds him of his "Otaku" phase, Snakes
Fears: Reverting back into a "loser"; Being exposed as a fraud (no specific reason, just a looming sense of inadequacy); harm coming to his parents or siblings.
Bio:
- Sastro Sewojo was born in 1991, the middle child of seven, to a comfortable middle class family in Aceh. His parents were pretty normal people; his dad is a manager for a natural gas extraction company. However, he was a little too coddled, and never made very much of himself throughout his young adult life. Staying at home, he never attended college and only worked intermittently, although opportunities for study and a do-nothing job were both made available by his parents. When not collecting toys or comic books, he did tinker with radios and practice English and Japanese. He received his Noble Arm via inheritance three years ago, when an inexperienced Arms Master who possessed it previously took a bullet between the eyes from separatists. Sam was out walking in the woods when this happened out of his line of sight, and the weapon passed to him in a brilliant flash.
- Described above in Abilities, Sam underwent a bodily and psychological metamorphosis, and became someone actually useful for fighting. He threw away a lot of his old manchild junk, and pivoted hard towards "manly" hobbies as best as he knew how. As a volunteer, he has assisted non-powered army patrols in-country with his buffing ability and radio knowledge. His first mission outside of Indonesia, and the one before joining task force Obsidian, was a bounty-hunting job in the Philippines, catching an Arms Master who fled on bail.
Current Goal: To make his parents pleased. This is sort of a moot point; his mother loved him unconditionally before he got the noble arm, and his father is just pleased to see him finally having grown up and gotten a life. Not to mention, they can't exactly know all the details about his classified work with Task Force Obsidian. But, driven but a deep-seated guilt over his being a lazy burden on them in his twenties pushes him to continually try to bite off more than he can chew.
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: Argentarch, a ceremonial white jade dagger carved into the likeness of a chimera with the body of a feathered tiger with wings
Noble Arm Rank: B
Power: B Speed: A Range: C Persistence: D Precision: B Potential: B
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee, shapeshifting, close- to mid-range
Noble Arm Abilities: Argentarch enhances speed and strength, allowing for superhuman reflexes and resilience.
Chimeramorphy allows for flight regardless of somatic injuries to wings and the ability to demonstrate “nature red in tooth and claw,” but the chimeramorph cannot vocalize nor does it enhance Len’s human senses.
Pinions (penna-minions) are formed when the tigerdove chimeramorph sheds feathers, acting as simple and weak drones that appear like loosely clumped heaps of white feathers or even torn-up plastic bags. The further Len bids them to go, the less responsive and more unsophisticated they become. At the maximum range of 200m, he can only have the pinions sluggishly travel into closer proximity to him where they can carry out more sophisticated maneuvers like obscuring things in a blizzard of pinions or transporting small objects.
Misc Abilities: Ambidexterity, bilingualism
Personality: Len is about as naïve as one would expect from a young man raised in Oklahoma, and also prefers to view events with a measure of amusement. Simultaneously, Len takes satisfaction in playing the straight man—although this is often undermined by his default expressionlessness that can come off as sarcasm. While he doesn’t take light deviations from loyalty among those he spends his time with badly, Len prides himself in his own loyalty towards others. Stemming from his upbringing, this young man will almost universally be considered excessively stingy. While not a strict adherent, Len believes that he should be deliberate as often as possible, somewhat related to his mannerisms where speed is both measured but appears relaxed.
At times, he can be decisive—or impulsive, depending on your perspective—but in general, Len tends to be cautious, especially when decisions carry responsibility he is uncomfortable with. His reluctance to direct positions of leadership often leads Len to align himself under a superior—providing his creativity or insight when he believes it is pertinent but primarily exhibiting diligence in the execution of instructions. Confiding in Len has never been a problem in the past, either, as he lacks loose lips or an easily cowed nature susceptible to peer pressure.
*Likes:
*Dislikes:
Fears: His goal is to become historically significant—symbolic immortality—but fears that in his quest he may weaken his moral code. A problem with this is his lack of a well-defined moral code, leading him to agonize over the accidental and intentional “toeing of lines” mentally. He has other typical fears—fear of disappointing those who love or trust him and fear of powerlessness in all its forms. Combat always consists of an element of uncertainty, but Len’s civilian background leaves him quite poor at judging risk, tending towards overestimating danger and acting with more unwillingness than what might be rational.
Bio: Len Vuong was born in 2000 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma to a working-class family who named him after Leonardo DiCaprio. Len is of Chinese and Vietnamese descent, which influenced his decision to serve as a foreign volunteer under ASEAN, alongside his desire to “make something” of himself. While Len personally feels connected to his family, he is somewhat of an outcast because of his choice to leave the country and serve overseas.
Before the manifestation of Argentarch, his Noble Arm, Len had been trained and then served in non-combatant roles within foreign volunteer units for over two years, during which he had refined his Mexican-flavored Spanish from his youth with Filipino elements. As of November 2022, the Arms Master has been transferred out of the support positions.
*Current Goal: Len aims to become a person worth being proud of, defending his people and making a name for himself.
Misc Abilities: A skilled pilot who has gone through basic training as a soldier, and a cook, and has a degree in History.
Personality: Polite, kind, and generous, even to his bitterest enemies, Mykhailo has been shaken by the events of 2022, but tries to take the high road and not give himself over to hatred. Instead, he resents how his lack of a Noble Arm meant that he could not even be of help to his own country, Ukraine, especially as his piloting skills were not enough to make a difference in the war without experience. However, he knows that strengthening his personality and development would give him a Noble Arm that can solve the problems he has, thus allowing him to gain the power he needs to save both the Philippines and Ukraine and those whom he loves.
*Likes: Contentment (rarely found nowadays), Astronomy, Flying.
*Dislikes: Russia, China, and his negative feelings.
Fears: Falling into the hands of the enemy.
Bio: Mykhailo's Father was one of the Philippines' richest media executives, his mother was a Ukrainian volunteer worker who helped run a homeless shelter. They married; he was happy, not wondering about his mother's roots - He loved the Philippines, and Ukraine to him was a distant name. Then, as he grew up, he realized he liked both boys and girls and it wounded his heart that he was something so shameful, so aberrant, so different, and he would be targeted by hatred if people found out. It became worse when he moved back to Ukraine for a few years to attend a moderately prestigious flight school where he could train as a pilot.
His wingman was also his first love; a Ukrainian boy named Artem who had an interest in astronomy, and even got Mykhailo interested in the subject. The stars, the moon, and the sky, were interesting, and so was Artem; he was such a kind and generous person and Mykhailo wanted to be with him forever.
When he turned 18; he went back to the Philippines to visit his father, just in time for China and Russia to hold 'parallel special military operations' in both Southeast Asia and Ukraine - Artem died in the first volleys of the Russian invasion; to this day, Mykhailo believes that the latter was targeted for being gay.
The young man tried to muster the anger and hate required for revenge, but could not do so; he was too kind for that, even to people who hated him for what he was. Instead, all he could feel was utter sadness... And Artem's smile, that smile when they spent time together under the stars. So he did something immensely difficult, something he found hard to justify even to himself - He let go of his desire to hate and instead chose to try and stop the Russians and Chinese so that more people do not have to be hurt.
He felt a seed of something stir within him; the very beginnings of something that if treasured and nurtured, could grant him what he needed most - The power to save his people.
And so Mykhailo joined the Philippine Air Force, hoping to strengthen himself and potentially gain a Noble Arm. Then he'd make sure that more people like Artem do not have to die.
*Current Goal: Save ASEAN, then Ukraine.
Military or Civilian Rank: Airman
*Optional
Noble Arm Name & Appearance:
La Astronomica - The Longsword on his picture above.
Noble Arm Rank:
Power: A Speed: C Range: A Persistence: C Precision: C (S) Potential: E
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee/Sky/Long-Range
Noble Arm Abilities:
An Artificial Sky - When Mykhailo conjures up his Noble Arm, the sky above or around him is covered over with a starry nightscape or sunny sky, regardless of the actual time of day or night, light pollution from city lights, or artificial darkness from smog or storms. This zone slowly expands to cover an area the size of an entire city (New York's Metropolitan Area, to be exact), and Mykhailo can then choose to show specific images of constellations, stellar or planetary alignments, or solar equinoxes or even show the moon and sun at the same time. This does not change the existing weather, which continues as normal despite the changes to the sky.
It does, however, affect Noble Arms with an Astronomical Theme (Sun, Moon, Stars, Space, Eclipses, and Comets), boosting or debuffing them by one rank, as well as duplicating specific conditions for specific Arms' activation (like for example, the Sun and Moon needing to be up at the same time).
Astrological Omens - Under the projection of the sky that comes from his Noble Arm, luck and probability are affected in some small way, making his allies more fortunate while cursing his enemies with increased accidents and unfortunate events. This can, assuming competent allies, shift the tide of the battlefield to favor the side that should normally lose.
Heavenfall - Mykhailo, with a single command, can cause meteors to rain down from his artificial sky onto a foe; said meteors are, well, meteors and cause damage on par with high explosive artillery rounds. However, the damage they cause is purely physical, and thus attacks that render the user intangible or put them in another dimension or otherwise circumvent physical damage can work to make them immune or resistant to this power.
Height: 5'10"
