[INDENT]COMMAND: Michael Graham Operations Director Mathhew Alvarez Operations Administrator Ingram Kalfox Operations Economist Rebecca “Reb” Marek Operations Commander Jon Ignan [color=darkgray]Command Officer Abigail Kord Command Officer
MEDICAL: Dr. Herbert Bonheur Head of Medicine Dr. James Lofgren Head of NC Analysis Dr. Eikichi Tanaka Cyberneticist Dr. Ilessa Whix Therapist Dr. Taenya Graham Pharmacist
ENGINEERING: Valdislav Kuznetsov Head of Engineering Eadon Graham Engineering Officer Katarina Poux Engineering Officer Elayne Pryde Engineering Officer Ilron Webb Engineering Officer Gwenda Wigleigh Engineering Officer Victor Wigleigh Engineering Officer Phillip Engineering Officer Thomas Engineering Officer
Commander Michael GrahamCommanding Officer & Operations Director
“I don’t believe in children’s fantasies of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, I believe in the absolute principle of order— a concept that promotes excellence, professionalism, integrity, organization, and heart. Order doesn’t allow fantasy, order allows you to be happy with your reality.”
Name Michael A. Graham
Appearance Commander Graham is a man that looks a decade younger than he appears, which is a bit of an oddity in his profession. Standing at six foot even and a rigorously sculpted physique Graham has proven that age is not a factor in the efforts of a professional soldier. Accompanied by dark blue-black hair that is drawn to mid-length and faded brown eyes, Graham despite the intensity he invokes is not abrasive to look at which in the past he had used to his advantage to get the wits on several enemies including rough-edged females of the criminal element. Graham has few preferences for attire— a uniform when it is available, or a loose synthweave jacket and military-fitted clothing for alternative “casual” situations.
Age Forty-Three
Role Operations Director
Personality Claiming to have no place for childish fantasies of morality, Michael Graham serves to believe strictly in the concept of order as in his eyes it is the only answer to life. As a military commander Graham has been called ruthless, strict, abrasive, absolutist, and demanding— all of which are, in part, true to his character. Caring not for how people see him, Graham prescribes to a militarized belief of organization, rigorous expectation, and self-fulfillment through commitment. However, he is not so simply defined as a military drone given he has explored the world with a bit of a wanderlust that harkens back to his days as an aggressive and unruly NC pilot youth. Graham’s nuances and depth will be truly hard to uncover, though, as it seems as he isn’t privy to sharing.
Backstory Michael Aldous Graham was born in the mega-city known as Las Vegas in 2634 within the jurisdiction of the Denver-Vegas Corporation. As an orphaned child, Graham ████████████████████████████ and was enlisted at age of seven years old and was administered to a military camp for training children. This allowed a form of ███████ to recruits to groom them into the ideal soldier. During a mandatory study of a psychological exam it was discovered that Graham was born with the ability to pilot NC’s. He was then sent off to a NC-specialized variant of the camp to which he met many like-minded children of his age and bonded with many of them. Throughout his time at the camp he was discovered to be one of the top three recruits of 2642. The others being ███████ and ███████.
The three would become known as Denver-Vegas’ “Blood Trinity” as they became a force of reckoning. Starting in 2647 at The Skirmish of Andreas Fault. Sent in to deal with Red-Star insurgents that had began to encroach on Denver-Vegas territory beyond their corporate holdings in California, Graham and his comrades were said to “single-handedly” win the skirmish, though records are incomplete as sensor array camera footage has been buried in Denver-Vegas archives. As the dispute between Red-Star and Denver-Vegas continued Graham and his comrades gained prestige as the battles got more destructive and chaotic. By the end of the war the trinity had earned a reputation that would cement itself in legend— a status that would be tested when Graham found himself in a one-on-one skirmish with veteran independent pilot Agatha Smith.
Following the Andreas Dispute War, Graham was thrown back into the thick of it not long after when Denver-Vegas declared war on the Volkov Corporation who had “unfairly” acquired Elysian Dream. Seven long years poured into the war and at the end of it the death of ███████ by the hands of a Volkov pilot by the name of ███████. Unsurprisingly, the death was earth-shaking for both Graham and ███████, who began to see that they weren’t as invulnerable as they were led to believe. Following the death of one trinity member Denver-Vegas found their battles going downhill against Volkov’s tactical advances and eventually they sued for peace. Elysian Dream remained in Volkov hands.
In the time since the Elysian War, Graham found himself earning several promotions such as first officer, field captain, squadron commander, and operations commander. However, for reasons unknown Graham resigned from Denver-Vegas in 2673, opting to work independently. His record suggests operations collaborating with Fairbanks, Paragon, and smaller independents— never sticking around for long. New Anchorage hopes he will stay on permanently.
Tactical Preference & Skills
Veteran Military Commander
Experienced NC Pilot
Adept with Tactical Analysis
Expert Marksman
CQC Expertise
Notes Graham absolutely detests nicknames— he will reprimand those who do not refer to him as commander, sir, or his surname. There has few people who he has tolerated nicknames from in his past and they are no longer part of his life.
Graham has two adult children he knows about, aged 21 and 18. He has employed both of them.
Dr. Herbert BonheurHead of Medicine
“Excellent. It is good that you are not incompetent. Had to throw away the last nurse I had. Forgot to apply the correct stims… very bad.”
Name Herbert H. Bonheur
Appearance TBA
Age Forty-Six
Role Head of Medicine
Personality Bonheur is admittedly rather obtuse given that his way of thinking isn’t exactly easy to understand by others; even fellow doctors. Coupled with a loose, casual demeanor and mannerisms that lead many to believe that the years of caffeine-induced dieting has led him to speak similar that may be a bit too quick for people to generally follow. Some consider Bonheur “insane” whilst others consider him “eccentric” but despite his terrible bedside manner and his abrasively blunt way of dealing with things Bonheur’s methods seems to always work.
Backstory TBA
Tactical Preference & Skills
Best Medicial Pracitioner in Alaska
Skilled Pharmacist
Veteran Surgeon
Notes TBA
Dr. James LofgrenHead of NC Analysis
“With only one minute to spare and you took down an opponent who seemed to have all of the advantages. Fascinating.”
Name James M. Lofgren
Appearance TBA
Age Thirty-One
Role NC Analyst Neurosurgeon
Personality TBA
Backstory TBA
Tactical Preference & Skills
Well-tested NC Analyst
Skilled Neurosurgeon
Skilled Psychologist & Therapist
Notes TBA
Valdislav KuznetsovHead of Engineering
“Quote”
Name Valdislav S. Kuznetsov
Appearance TBA
Age Fifty-Five
Role Senior Engineering Officer Mechanic
Personality TBA
Backstory TBA
Tactical Preference & Skills
Veteran NC Technician
Experienced Electrical Engineer
Notes TBA
Matthew AlvarezOperations Administrator
“Your complaints are unfounded, I assure you that everything is going according to plan. Sit down.”
Name Matthew L. Alvarez
Appearance TBA
Age Twenty-Six
Role Operations Administrator
Personality TBA
Backstory TBA
Tactical Preference & Skills
Eidetic Memory
Veteran Administrative Assistant
Skilled Clerk
Notes TBA
Katarina PouxEngineering Officer
“I just wish there was a way these beautiful machines could be used for good and not evil. There is such opportunity for them to be utilized for good.”
Name Katarina “Kat” Poux
Appearance Katarina is easy on the eyes when she is cleaned up, but due to her constant tweaking of machinery she tends to have a oil and dust-spotted appearance. Her hair is black that is worn long or in a messy ponytail depending on her time management and awareness. Her eyes are a perceptive hazel and her choices of attire are generally engineering jumpsuits and uniforms; rarely does Katarina remember what it was like to wear loose ‘feminine’ type clothing. Katarina is about average height for her ethnicity and age, setting in at around 5’6”.
Age Twenty-Five
Role Junior Engineering Officer
Personality Katarina is upbeat and chirpy despite her “muddy” profession, choosing to be welcoming and optimistic rather than cynical and realistic. Whilst some might consider her an annoyance, her energy and emotions do set a mood amongst the engineering staff that leads to a good morale boost. However, with the shadow of death this disposition can be damaged and inverted; thus revealing a sort of “hot” and “cold” dynamic to her personality. However, Katarina tries very hard to not be downbeat and thinks things forward and not backward; she had done such dwelling on negative emotions when she was younger after all.
Backstory The daughter of a NC pilot and a weapons engineer, Kat has been surrounded by big machines with complex machinery her entire life. A background that would bring the young girl to study all things mechanical and electrical which led to an astute understanding of mechs and traditional armored vehicles alike. Around the age of thirteen years old the world revealed itself to be much more harsh than she had been led to believe despite her parents professions being blatantly a product of their warlike environment. This tragedy was the death of her mother, Piana, when her independent NC was overwhelmed in combat. The effects of said death would bring her father to alcoholism and retirement from working on new NC weapon schematics and prototypes. Kat would go on following in the footsteps of who her father was before the accident and became an exceptional mechanic and designer in her own right., though she couldn’t seem to escape stigmas about her or her family wherever she went. By the age of twenty, following her instruction as an engineer she found herself in the employ of one of the big corporations: Fairbanks.
Several months ago she quit her position as an aspiring engineer at Fairbanks due to various reasons and found herself in league with New Anchorage.
Tactical Preference & Skills
Skilled NC Technician
Experienced Electrical Engineer
Weapons Designer
Notes TBA
Ingram KalfoxFinancial & Intelligence Agent
“It is so nice to see the youth looking optimistically towards their future— and the more ruthless of us trying to redeem their path in life. It brings hope for our time.”
Name Ingram Kalfox
Appearance TBA
Age 43-56
Role Operations Economist
Personality TBA
Backstory TBA
Tactical Preference & Skills
Comprehensive Knowledge of International NC Pilots
Appearance A life dedicated to training has left Eli with a lean, athletic form. An albino, her skin is chalk-white, her long hair a similar color, and her eyes holding a glassy-blue hue. She has a hard gaze and straight posture, like a soldier constantly at attention. Despite this, she’s prone to wearing civilian clothes when things are quiet. Scarves strike her fancy, and she’ll often wear them high on her neck over her mouth, but she’s also prone to gloves and arm warmers.
Personality Cold and dismissive to anyone that isn’t her superior, compliant and dutiful to all others with an underlying layer of competitiveness beneath everything. A quick, calculating mind and fast reflexes make Eli a good soldier, but little else unfortunately. In her early teenage years, Eli began suffering from severe and sudden panic attacks, often leaving her an unresponsive wreck. Not knowing how such incidents would affect her daughter's future, her mother went to great lengths to keep the affliction a secret from future potential employers. After a handful of years the attacks decreased in both frequency and intensity without professional assistance, which made concealing them much easier.
Tactical Preference/Skills Eli excels in melee combat, preferring swords to firearms and speed to durability. While her specialty is quick execution, she can handle prolonged confrontations, especially against a single opponent.
Background ”Eli”
Eli was eight years old when she learned her name was short for “Elizabeth”. Her mother, the librarian recluse Celina Jackspar, had used it once, the first time she’d cried during her training.
”Get up, Elizabeth. Now. And never cry in front of me again.” And she never did.
The Jackspars might have been lepers for how little they interacted with the world. Confined to a modestly sized library nestled in the corner of what was then “Smith’s Rest”, few ever visited, and fewer were actually aware the spindly, aged woman had a child. With little to their name aside from cases and piles of books, it would not have been unreasonable to assume the family would contribute nothing great to the world.
Celina would not allow such an outcome.
The training began early, and never slackened. Eli learned from a young age what she was, and would be. She did not attend school, she did not socialize with peers, she rarely left the library at all. Her life was dedication, she had to let go of the urges to want, and focus entirely on the future.
”Up.” And she got up.
The Jackspars could afford no firearms, and so forewent practicing them. Instead it was decided that Eli would master the art of melee combat in their absence. Lyosha Voloshyna, a carpenter and one of the family’s only “friends”, happily supplied them with wooden models of various swords, ranging from the typical and familiar, to the foreign and unique.
Eli was made to train with them day in and day out. They would not be weapons held, they would be extensions of her own body, or she would fall short. Countless other prospective pilots had the advantage of proper training, they could afford to be merely “adequate” so long as they rounded out a checklist and passed the neural exam.
”I don’t want you on-par, I want you better. Keep going.” And she would.
Hour after hour Eli practiced, submitting herself to the forms and tests of balance. By the time she was in her middle teens, picking up a sword felt like raising her hand, swinging felt like punching. Her threshold for pain was pushed further each day, and every time she kept her mouth shut, kept her face calm, she would catch the ghost of a smirk flicker over her mother’s face. Moving had become a dance, and she was the prima.
When she was fifteen, a practice sword broke in her hand, splintering midway down the blade. It was old, nothing unexpected, and the shattering caused her no physical harm. All the same Eli froze, wide eyes fixated on the broken blade, and her arm, then the girl collapsed in a fit of agony.
Celina watched, shocked.
”Get up.” But she didn’t. ”Elizabeth, get. Up.” But she couldn’t. It took all of her strength not to cry.
It was her first major incident, and the only one Celina ever saw. It took a few years to realize they weren’t going to stop, and seeking professional psychiatric help would murder Eli’s chances at becoming a pilot, so Celina resolved to handle the situation in her own way.
Eli knew Eli. Celina knew Elizabeth.
”Stop shaking.” And she would.
The final years leading up to application were smooth by Celina’s standards. Her daughter was sharp, fast, resilient, and above all, obedient. She would protect Smith’s Rest, she would protect its people, and she would do so under the instruction of whosoever commanded the forces.
Second to her, of course.
”Don’t disappoint me.” And she wouldn’t.
-Helped defeat Knight and Rook alongside Percy Moore, Madison Cole, John Strange, and Joe Verona -Took on her younger sister, Vera, as an “assistant” -Bonded with the previous commander, Sophia -Suffered a gruesome defeat at the first assault on Smith’s Rest -Shaken by Sophia’s desertion
Text Color: color=6ecff6 Example.
Blur
:Body-Plan: Blur is a humanoid, bipedal NC, designed to move and strike quickly. Its armor is lacking, but a myriad of thrusters allow not only for fast evasive maneuvers, but also for gap-closing on enemies.
:Type/Quality: Blur is designed to be an up-close-and-personal NC, meant to close in on key targets before engaging in a melee assault. In this, Blur excels, and should the enemy be unequipped for close-range combat, they may have trouble. However range is her crux, and while Blur is good at evading enemy fire, should one corner her from far enough away, there is little she can do to get out of the situation. Though Eli would never admit it, Blur works best with, and sometimes even requires a team.
:Equipment: -Sets of thrusters allowing for enhanced mobility and sustained flight. -Flare caches for more difficult evasive maneuvers. -Targeting system designed to track a single enemy and suggest/allocate NC power to close the distance in the quickest/most effective manner. Suggestions are automatic, control/execution is manual.
:Armaments: -Standard-Issue NC Beam Sword -PPB-2.71 “Plasma Sword” (Purchased) -Deployable “Finger-Claws” (New-Anchorage Custom) -Set of demolition charges sized for NC's. The charges are kept as two separate components that are combined individually in their storage to become armed as needed, so as to avoid detonation from trauma to the housing NC.
---
Vera Voloshyna
(Left, Ana Moore. Right, Vera Voloshyna)
Age 13
Appearance Vera’s short, her blonde hair equally so, and her eyes are vibrant, lively green. She’s taken to dressing like Eli in some cases, with scarves and hoodies and the like, and generally has smudges of dirt or oil on her face. One of her front teeth bears a chip to it.
Personality Vera is both easily excitable and hard to bring down. The girl almost always has a smile on her face whether something fun is happening or not, and tends to be more on the gullible side.
Background Vera’s parents were at Smith’s Rest long before she was born. Her mother was a doctor, and as Vera understands it she helped Ms. Jackspar deliver her daughter not long after their arrival, and it wasn’t until more than a decade later that she herself was born. Their families grew close, and Ms. Jackspar took on a completely different, warmer persona around the Voloshynas. When Vera was two, she spent much of her time being babysat by them, when she was five, she had managed to befriend Ms. Jackspar’s daughter, Elizabeth. When she was six, her parents vanished. The family had received threats multiple times over the course of their stay from residents none too fond of the Russian Volkov Security. The Voloshyna’s tried in vain to explain they held no part in the company’s actions, but when at last the threats turned to violence, they had no choice. The letters never addressed their daughter, perhaps because she spent so much time with the Jackspars it was assumed she was just another one of them. Regardless, when Vera’s parents fled they took the opportunity to leave her in the care of their friend, who agreed without complaint or protest. The girl did the rest of her growing up around Elizabeth, and the two grew incredibly close. She did not receive the same harsh training as Elizabeth but Ms. Jackspar did teach her a few tricks to keeping well in the settlement.
-Due to an increasingly dangerous home environment, Celina sent her to "assist" Eli on-base. -Survived the assault on Smith's Rest
Appearance: He's a pretty average looking guy. He's about 5 ft 8in, 167 lbs. He has red hair and freckles all over his body, suggesting he's at least a little Irish. At least a little. Even though everything else about him seems warm and inviting, his eyes are a cool gray blue. Some people have told him he looks a little girly, but his stubble shows otherwise. He also has a little bit of a nose on him. Normally, he'd wear a blue jean jacket with a faux fur collar with a dark sandy brown turtleneck underneath, light jeans with dark long-johns underneath, and some worn but sturdy leather-y hiking boots (with socks, of course). He also has a set of more intimidating black steel toed boots, but he doesn't wear those very often. He also has two silver rings on his left hand. One is his wedding ring, the other is his wife's. The glasses shown in the picture are merely for reading. (I just couldn't keep the glasses-wearing Percy to myself tho like look at him)
Personality: (this is more of a guideline than a set of hard and fast rules. People are complex, man.) He's got one or two screws a little bit loose.. He's paranoid, temperamental, overprotective and has a very hard time relaxing. Under all that he's really just scared. He's scared for his daughter and himself. He doesn't want his girl to end up like her mother - dead - or him - an emotional mess that's barely got his shit together. If you can get through the barrier to the guy underneath it, you've got yourself a friend that's gonna have your back 99% of the time.
Backstory:
He was living an average life that was as comfortable as it can be in a wasteland with his mother and father in Smith's Rest.. maybe even a little bit sheltered. After moving out of the house so he can have some time to really figure out who he was as a person, his parents died shortly after because of a disease that was spreading across the settlement. A few years after that, and after a few romps with some other people, he met a lovely woman that was just a year older than him - Laura. Laura was, in his eyes, very pretty, very intelligent, and very much the yin to his yang. They just clicked. They had a child out of wedlock, but they married after their little girl, Ana, was born. A few months later, as they were finally settled into parenthood and Percy thought that maybe everything's alright, Laura was killed in an accident in her workplace. Percy had to tackle parenthood alone. He did awfully at first - Laura was a much better parent than he was at that point in time - but he gradually got better. Ana grew up to be a bright eyed little girl.
He took the job because he was in need of the huge sum of money promised. He thought he could just get in, get out, be over with it.. It'd be easy! He was so, so wrong - he figured that one out after the surgery to get his plug.. That's what he gets for not reading the fine print.
After dealing with a surprise attack on Smith's Rest, he's gotten meaner and a little less forgiving. Then, after the events of the Navy attack, his NC was damaged to the point it locked up, was able to be toppled, and the right side of his body was mangled pretty badly - so badly in fact, on top of breaking his leg, he lost his hand. His face was luckily kept in tact. He's back into what Sophia called the unfair game with much hesitance.. he prays he doesn't lose any more body parts.
Tactical Preference & Skills: > He'd rather stay away from bloodshed if he can, but if he can't, sticking close to the team would be his second choice. He has a very strong desire to protect those around him, even if they're in huge mechas, making him an adequate support. > If he was to do a solo mission and the only person he has to worry about is himself (and he's confident that he'll be fine), he would find no issues with getting his metal hands dirty. Or oily, I guess.
Notes: > He hates getting drunk - not because of what it does to him, but because his hangovers are awful > He has pistol that's been passed down for generations upon generations. It's technically obsolete, but he's very good at using it. > He also has a pocket knife that was a sort of "parting gift" from Sophia (the former commander). > He has a prosthetic hand now. He both hates it and kind of totally loves it. > His sync rate is around 75-90%, depending on his mental state.
Text Color: LightSteelBlue, or b0c4de
Codename: Papa Mike
Appearance:: Looks clunkier and heavier than it really is. Basic metallic black paint with white accents. Has a couple dings here and there, but it's not affecting anything major. Older model modified to meet standards of the present, really.
Body & Type: > Bipedal > Originally designed to be semi-proficient at most tasks. Has been modified to be faster and more powerful than the original.
Equipment: (will be added to/changed as the RP progresses) > Slightly damaged stock neural computer - a bug in the computer is that it calls Percy "Micheal" instead of "Percy." Percy has tried to fix it but is afraid he'll break something else. He's not a coder for fuck's sake. > Above-average thrusters specifically designed for short bursts of speed > Slightly above average generator
Armaments: (will be added to/changed as the RP progresses) > VEKW-01.65 (New-Anchorage Custom - 35 rounds, mid-to-long-range) > PPB-2.71 (New-Anchorage Custom - melee (laser sword), standard white in color) Small Standard Fairbanks-Model missile launcher on the back (3 missile burst, long-range)
random tidbits (will be added to as I think of things) > Before the NC was Percy's, it belonged to a guy named Michael who was actually an assault/support for his squad.. hence the computer calling him "Michael" :P
Ana L. Moore
The redhead is Ana. The ushanka girl is Vera
Age: 8
Appearance: She's just past the average height of girls her age, being 4ft 2in, but she's underweight at 50 lbs. She shares many of her father's physical traits, just softened (especially her nose). She also has his red hair and freckles - her freckles are more in her face, however. Her eyes are a very lovely shade of green. She's usually wearing a pink and white striped sweater that's beaten up from being worn so often, some dark pants that are equally as beat up, and some shoes that are so worn it's probably time for new ones. She has what she would call "a dumb monkey hat with stupid looking gloves that match" that she really would prefer not to wear (she's eight, not FIVE), but her father makes her wear it sometimes when it's colder than usual.
Personality: (this is more of a guideline than a set of hard and fast rules. People are complex, man.) Despite all that's happened, she's still very optimistic and caring. She's got a will made of titanium and she's braver than she realizes she is - even braver than her father, who she feels is the bravest person in the whole world. She's a little bit like her father in the sense that she also has a touch of a temper as well... maybe not a touch.
Backstory: She was born to Laura and Percy. She never knew her mother, because she died when she was little. When the surprise attack in Smith's Rest happened, she was almost taken away for who knows what purpose. Almost. She was saved, but her perceptions of the world changed pretty drastically. She didn't know just how scary the world was till then. She's slowly learning to deal with the nightmares, but she probably won't like confined spaces very much.
Notes: > She stole a box of crayons from the school once. She still has that box of crayons. > She absolutely loves dogs. Puppies are awesome. > She is very much capable of taking care of herself.. for the most part. > She's a bit clumsy - she has a very tiny, almost unnoticeable scar on her nose, between her eyes. she walked into a door frame when she was little. > Birthday is August 7th.
Personality Alexander is embittered and cynical, as well as someone who feels guilt over crimes he committed in his old life, back when he was brainwashed - said crimes involve sending a captured 16-year old pilot to be tortured and enslaved just after his first mission, an action repeated many times in his career as a corporate slave. Even now, he is skeptical of New Anchorage's intentions, as well as its prospects of being a world power; he can see how power can corrupt even the most well-meaning, as well as the odds stacked against the settlement. However, he resents the corporations, especially Red-Star, more, and is willing to work for New Anchorage because it really is a better alternative.
Backstory Alexander Sky's parents were Europeans from Paragon or Volkov who had been captured by Red-Star in inter-corporate struggles, and enslaved (not that they weren't slaves already). Forced to breed in captivity, they concieved Alexander, who, from a young age, was, yes, precociously intelligent, but also obedient, with a submissiveness enhanced through brainwashing that began from a young age (six or so). He was taught that he was an inferior being due to his European origins as well as his parents' prior opposition to Red-Star, and that the only way he can make up for his inferiority is to obey his masters in all things, including piloting an NC one day against the enemies of Red-Star.
One day, he got that chance, being given an NC called the Phoenix, which he customized to his specifications; his first taste of freedom. Piloting it through several missions where he served the Red-Star faithfully, capturing many pilots to share his fate of enslavement, while at the same time...doubt grew in his mind, doubt that he was doing the right thing. Even 'remedial' brainwashing seemed to delay the onset of the doubts only slightly, but as his successes grew, Red-Star decided to use Alexander for as long as possible, then kill him once he was no longer useful and take his mech to give to another. But not even they can count on the speed with which their 'pet' pilot just...snapped.
One day, on one of his last solo missions, a solo mission intended to be a suicide operation, Alexander vanished. His tracking devices just no longer worked, his mech no longer sent in comms, to everyone, the only proof that he wasn't dead were the fact that they never found the mech or his corpse, as well as a message of apology he sent his former Operator, a message that said:
I am sorry, but I realize now, that I cannot be a slave anymore, that freedom and independence, although they carry risks, are sweet for those who would hold on to them. That I no longer want to serve Red-Star and make war for them. I want to fight for myself now, no one else. You have been a kinder person than my other masters, but I want no master now, no one to bind me.
Rumors would appear of Alexander acting as an Independent, attacking Red-Star assets as a mercenary. In time, however, his first true concrete appearance would be at New Anchorage, offering his services as a pilot in exchange for sanctuary...
Tactical Preference & Skills Alexander is a jack-of-all-trades, master of one - assault and melee combat, where he excels in tearing off the weapons of enemy mechs, so as to enable them to be captured. Away from his mech, the young man has picked up an array of skills both combat and non-combat; combat ones include pistols, and carbines; no harder arms, although Alexander is good with the Jian (Chinese Longsword). He is also moderately skilled in unarmed combat (a mix of various martial arts). However, where he truly shines is outside of combat, where he knows History (at least what can be known), Cooking, and playing the Violin.
Notes Alexander has a 90% Sync Ratio.
Alexander is Bisexual, but this will be rarely explored, as this is an Action RP. Nope, Alexander is one of those 'Lovable Sex Maniacs'.
Name: Joe Verona Nicknames: Joe-it-all Role: Artillery/Hacking Text-color: edb25b
Joe is the son of the mechanic Arin Verona, working in Smith's rest, which allowed Joe to get to see a few NCs in his life while his father was working on them. He also picked up a bunch of scientific knowledge regarding engineering from him. An old but still post-cataclysm computer was a gift for his 13th birthday; it only had a commandline interface, although it was possible for it to display and generate images. Especially the lack of a graphical user interface paved the way for Joe to learn much about computing with his remainder of a child's ability to learn complex systems quickly, given sufficient interest. About two years ago the financial situation of the family got really bad, so Arin decided to sell Joe's computer. Unfortunatly without consulting him first. The very same day Joe noticed and snapped, punching his father in the head during the rage which lasted only a few seconds before he regained control. The force of the punch was great enough to break his hand and permanently damage his father's brain. As a result of the damage, Arin's long-term memory is unable to store new memories, although previous memories from before that day remain unaffected.After he was assigned to Smith's Rest's NC squad as punishment(although he usually doesn't mention it), the first thing he did to his NC was intentionally crash it's software to have an easier time reconfiguring it to his liking. As he did not warn or tell the engineers, they were pretty surprised and angry at that move of his. On his first mission, he defeated 'Rook' an enemy NC alongside Percy(a fellow pilot at the time), and also shut down a broken down nuclear reactor while exposing himself to dangerous levels of radiation. No effects of radiation could be found at a medical examination after the mission, but he was advised to avoid radiation as much as possible.
During his second mission, he noticed how much Swarm's weaponry depended on visual at the time, very thick fog could easily throw off the targeting laser, so he purchased a railgun for the Swarm.
After the siege of Smith's Rest, the settlement was renamed to New Anchorage, and after some time Joe was scheduled to go on a mission, which he tried to use to escape from his punishment, but before he could set his plan into motion, the old captain of the team deserted, completely throwing off the entire schedule. Although he hasn't heard from her since, he is still on good terms with the former captain, and if she keeps her promise she made when she left, he will occasionally recieve letters from her.
Once Graham became the commander of the team, they were expected to do combat simulations. However, Joe failed to plug into the simulations, the cause has yet to be determined. Later the same day, while Joe was trying to go after clues why he couldn't connect to the simulation, he stumbled upon the concept of a long range acoustic device, called 'sound-cannon' by some. He proceeded to purchase 200 high-powered speakers and 2 control circuit boards for them, hoping he could maybe recreate one, and if he could, possibly install it on his NC.
Age: 26 Personality: Joe is usually the analytical type, using knowledge to his advantage. It is very hard to anger him, and if he is in a rage it only lasts for seconds, but during those seconds he is capable of anything, except staying calm and analytical.
height: 1.79m normal weight, although closer to underwheight than to overwheight pale as a vampire
Tactical preference/skills:Joe isn't really cut out for combat, mostly because his tendency to overanalize his situation lowers his reaction-time significantly; in some situations 2 seconds pass before he can react. As such he usually prefers to be in safe locations during a battle, being rather involved in communications, tactics or cyber-warfare(taking remote control of an enemy unit and the like). He is not a great tactitian despite his analytical nature though Neural Plug Synchronization: 77% Other things of note: NERD!!!
Code-Name: Swarm
Body-Plan: A general humanoid, although armored and handless. Where the hand would normally be is instead a currently unoccupied weapon or utility slot Type/Quality: It acts as a ranged unit, taking out both grounded and airborn targets, preferably out of their range. Middling-low
To ease targeting and target-prioritizing, the head is equipped if a more powerful radar, which can manually be focussed in any direction to increase its range in that direction a bit.
The Swarm is equipped with 2 guidance systems:
A cruise missile controller for precise strikes with single missles
An IR-laser to aim at whatever a volley of heat-seekers shall target. The laser itself has not enough power to do any damage on its own
The 22 missile launcher have a reload time of 40 seconds and it takes about 4 seconds to fire an entire volley of missiles.
1 Sys: VEKW-01.65 railgun (purchased)
General Description: The Swarm Is a heavier, hunchbacked unit with an extreme focus on long range combat and defensive armaments. It features numerous long-range high mobility missile launchers, and it would have a high-powered plasma cannon in the waist, but that mount is currently unoccupied. As well, the Swarm has an interesting backpack design suited for aerodynamics and in-atmosphere flight speed, effectively meaning that while it's slow as mollasses on the ground, its actually sort of fast in the air. However, if the backpack was hit by a heavier weapon, due to speedy and shoddy construction, it does have a chance to damage the rest of the unit. Thus, the pilot should always point towards the enemy.
Joshua Ray is a twenty-seven year old young man with brown eyes, long black hair in a pony-tail, and a somewhat lanky frame. He stands about six feet tall and weighs approximately 150 pounds. While he is somewhat squishy, he isn't weak in terms of strength. His skin is notably pale for a 'Surface-Dweller' due to his sheltered upbringing, and he carries himself as if he doesn't want to make a scene at most times.
Age
27
Role
Joshua Ray fits into both a 'Heavily-armored heavy weapons specialist' and 'High mobility demolitions' role. Due to this, his NC can fit both.
Personality
Joshua Ray is a kind, optimistic young man with fire and hope in his eyes, possessed by a desire to make the world a better place and wander around. That's what he'd be doing if he had any say in the matter, but a man with an NC has to eat. He dislikes doing extremely 'dirty' operations, yet is just fine being a more cunning or surreptitious sort. He's not one to talk often, but he does appreciate company, as long as they're also of the more silent type.
He's easily noted for his somewhat deadpan, snarky humor and mild self-deprecating tendencies, yet maintaining a fairly friendly demeanor. However, for all of his love of justice and morality, he's a bit of a coward.
Backstory
Joshua Ray grew up in one of the many scattered surface settlements, in a still somewhat irradiated, yet peaceful area in one of outlying Denver-Vegas territories. Living a somewhat sheltered life, he developed a love of reading pre-war and modern stories, documents, and religious writings, not to mention a strong sense of righteousness and morality that stands with him to this day.
When he was of age, he began wandering the world with his own two feet, going from continent to continent by salvaged boat or independent aerial transporters. Doing odd-jobs as needed around the world, he never lost his thirst for justice nor his hope to play a part in creating a better future for all of mankind. One day while working in a medical facility, what appeared to be an error in some minor group or another's "Neural-Combatant Compatibility" detection hardware revealed that he had the necessary mental or psychological asset that gave him the capability to control one.
Calling in favors with friends and extended family, he soon found himself controlling a custom-built lightweight NC known as the Apollo, after an absolutely ancient group or project that apparently resulted in men landing on the moon overhead. While originally built from scrap at a junkyard and using hand-me-down Neural Nets and software, over three years the Apollo turned into the heavily armed and armored beast it is today.
Eventually, however, he accepted all the independent contracts that he was any interested in, and decided to finally fall into a larger group. Going from one corporate army to another, he now waits to see if New Anchorage wants him or not.
Tactical Preference & Skills
Ray is highly adept at high-speed pursuit and maneuvering, managing heavy weapons, and bracing/fidgeting before impact to reduce the lethality of enemy attacks. His best skill, however, is his ability to determine the situation he's in and the safest way out if need be.
Notes
Joshua Ray's favorite pastimes include star-gazing, reading ancient and modern documents and stories, and finally contemplating with others about the universe and humanity's place.
Not to mention video games.
Text Color
ff4c4c
Apollo 'Heavy'
AppearanceThe red Apollo 'Heavy' is a somewhat bulky heavily armored unit with many reaction control verniers and weapon mountings. While a thicker example of an NC, it is still a fairly sleek and well-rounded unit, armor able to render most non-specialist weapons fairly useless.
Body & Type The Apollo is a heavily armed and armored bipedal type, with additional jets compared to most other heavy NC's, giving it a decent amount of maneuverability for its weight class. Although, it's still not particularly quick in a straight line. The NC itself stands at a mighty 26 meters, towering over medium weights and lightweights, although just a bit on the short side for fellow heavies.
Equipment & Armaments The Apollo 'Heavy' is very well armed, with weapons and equipment including:
One right-handed custom-built heavy particle rifle, firing deadly globs of hydrogen based plasma. It has a very high rate of fire for a weapon of its class and individual shot-strength, and has additional heatsinks compared to your standard plasma weapon. Due to these qualities, it's a very good suppression and anti-NC weapon, although its long range abilities are moot, and it can only reasonably fire when the NC is maneuvering slower. Made out of a combination of Paragon, Volkov, and Magen parts.
Six 1 meter diameter missile racks on the back 'wings', these can take many types of warheads and missile bodies, although Ray usually loads them with long-range anti-armor missiles.
1 Heavy siege-shield, fitted with heat-resistant coating and sharpened to the point it can be used similar to a 'Pile-bunker' gauntlet. Fitted on the left arm with a gauntlet, leaving the hand free.
1 left-handed kinetic sniper rifle with a belt-feed. Based using Denver-Vegas parts, this rifle has a very long operational range and can easily damage most NC's and slow, armored targets like bunkers or naval ships.
2 hip-mounted Thermal Cleavers, each with a pointed tip, allowing them to slash and stab with equal ability. They are generally folded up like a butterfly knife on each hip, unless in use. One is as long as the NC's arm, and the other is about half as long, similar to a Katana and Wakizashi pair, although the blades are straight and less fancy.
The Apollo is also equipped with an array of chaff-launchers, fitted with four charges of a special type of chaff that interferes with infrared and RADAR targeted weapons, while also reducing the capability of laser or particle arms.
Finally, all of the units' ammunition is stored on a large backpack right beneath the units' thruster 'wings', with two feeds connecting to the Apollo's plasma caster and sniper-rifle, pumping hydrogen and sending large caliber bullets respectively. Fuel is stored inside tanks within the Apollo's legs and the sides of the chest.
Unique Feature In an emergency, the heavy armor plating, extraneous thrusters and power-routing cables powering them can be ejected by the heavy clamps and occasional electromagnets that hold them in place. This results in the Apollo 'Heavy' effectively turning into the Apollo 'Light', with changed features below.
Apollo 'Light'
Appearance The Apollo Light is a thinly armored NC that is in all actuality just the frame for a much larger one, yet able to act independently. Standing two meters lower than its original form, the Apollo-Light is still taller then most average NC's, yet less so. The Apollo Heavy's shield divides in two at the middle, and combines with the now armorless wing-portion to form two large 'binders' on the backside. The motions of these in flight can severely enhance the rotational and maneuverability based capabilities of the NC.
Body & Type The Apollo-Light is nearly armorless in comparison to the Heavy form, but the power generator, now having to feed a smaller amount of turbojets maneuvering a lighter NC, can overdrive the aforementioned for even more speed. Of course, the now 'needlessly heavy' systems installed do weigh it down to the point it's not as fast as it could be if optimized.
Equipment & Armaments Much less heavily armed compared to the Apollo 'Heavy', the inner frame of which is only armed with its sniper rifle and plasma-caster, but its ammunition backpack is still in place, alongside its shield, although technically. Of course, with the armorless wings being able to move, they can still assist in defense. Theoretically, if need be, the connection ports powering the other weapons can send electrical arcs through the air like a tesla-coil, but Ray never tried that before in mild fear.
Notes Compared to the 'Heavy form', the 'Light' Apollo is much more worthy as a scout or any other position that requires stealth, with a boxier and thinner design. If needed, it could be outfitted with RADAR-absorbent coating and act as reconnaissance unit.
Name: Penelope 'Penny' Maverick Appearance: Age: 23 Role: Sharpshooter/Sniper Personality: Penny is a spunky and inquisitive type who is endlessly curious about people and events and is know to ask a lot of (somtimes too many) questions. She is also fiercely savvy at public relations especially when it comes to corporate types.
Backstory: Daniel Maverick, Penny's grandfather was one of the settlers who helped build Smith's Rest as he was stationed in Alaska during the time. Because of this, Penny's Father Jacques always made sure his daughter was very aware and proud of the Maverick name as he felt Smith's rest was a part of the families history. But Penny grew up curious about the world outside of Smith's Rest and became a journalist at age 17 using her media work to travel the world and to learn more about the current world situation following the Elysian war. After making a healthy profit selling high interest stories to the news divisions of corporation owned websites she used all of the money to buy a salvaged NC and formal pilot training as she felt that this was the next step to learning more about the world. She didn't have to think twice when learning about Graham's recruitment and signed up instantly.
Tactical Preference & Skills: Penny chose an NC which would allow her to take more time to fire her shots and not get caught in the chaos of the melee as her reflexes arent particularly fast. So sniping came fairly easy to her, but she was cautious enough to train in the use of the Gatling gun for mid range combat to keep enemies off of her who try to close the distance. She typically likes to fly to high vantage points and fire high damage shots at unsuspecting enemies from a distance.
Notes: She has an addiction to energy drinks that she would never admit to.
Text Color: color=fff200 or Yellow
THE VANGUARD SAINT
Codename: 'The VanGuard Saint' Interceptor-2638 Model MkII Appearance : Body & Type: Bipedal Flyer-Type Equipment & Armaments :
Right Hand: High Power Dual Purpose 'Avenger-Longshot' Rifle (Doubles as High Power Sniper and a Flamethrower for closer range)
Left Hand: 'Chewing' High Velocity Gatling Gun with single use heat laser.
Left Shoulder: Standard EMP Launcher (For disrupting enemy units.)
Body: Heavy Armor Plating and Powerful Jet Pack Flight System No real Melee capabilities, and slow PvP reflexes.
Jingo stands at 6'6", straddling the the border between tall and freakishly tall, he has a long arm and legs (his left arm missing just under the elbow), with wide sloping shoulders. His body is enmeshed in a layer of muscle, he's not a beast but he is lean and the lines and creases of his muscles are well defined. He has fair skin, crisscrossed with scars small and large a like, notably his tattered left ear and his missing left cheek, leaving his teeth and gums exposed to the air. Jingo has a fairly angular head, with a straight jaw and a thin imperial nose, he has shallow seek bones and a tall forehead with worry lines permanently furrowed into them. His eyes are set pleasantly apart, wide and full with large irises; the right eye is grey and has a very dark, defined pupil, the left one is a dull, watery blue. He has a thick shag of hair on top of his head, the color of hay and almost as course, the hair on his scalp is thicker then the hair on the sides of his head, but not by much; he has the remnants of a rough beard running down his right cheek (hiding the on set of wrinkles) and forming a goatee around his lips, though stopping on the left side because of the skin missing from his face.
When not in combat, Jingo wears an off white sleeveless shirt, now a light grey after years of wearing; on his legs he wears a pair of loose, green cargo pants, speckled with spots of paint and general dirt; on his feet he wears leather sandals and atop his head he wears a red cap. On the stump of his left arm he wears a prosthetic arm, made of yellowed plastic with a small, hook shaped set of pincers at the bottom, he controls the pincers easily enough due to a cable attached to a surviving tendon; on the left side of his torso, front and back, a black sheet of rubber is stretched over his ribs and is held in with medical staples, this is to protect exposed muscle and ribs and he can not take it off. When in combat, he wears the same cargo pants and shirt but a pair of of boots instead of sandals, with thick woolen thermals underneath everything as it gets very cold in the cockpit of his NC. He wears a tarnished pair of dog tags around his neck, with words stamped into it in a long dead language called Anglish.
Personality: Warm and chirpy, Jingo is an overly loud individual with very few layers to him, he enjoys good company and is good to the company he keeps, loving to joke, play around and generally cause good mannered mayhem. He is fond of bantering and often enjoy's having conversations with people, though being oblivious as to whether they want him around or not. He is not very perceptive, finding it hard to read people though tone of voice or body expression, this makes him overly trusting to people who he thinks are good; and overtly naive. Though he seems positive all the time, he is prone to frustration and heated bouts of cursing at people, having the capability to be a very angry person - though much preferring to keep his cool.
Background:
Jingo was born in a settlement quite far from Smith's Rest, it was called Falcon Reach, a semi subterranean community built into the side of a white limestone cliff, using the natural tunnels and caves as dwelling. Falcon Reach overlooked a massive salt bed, the dried remains of what was once a sea sprawled out all along it, dotted with the rusting husks of stranded boats and ships. His mother was a miner, along with most of the town, she was a small, asthmatic, eighteen year old girl; his father was a Falconer, one of Falcon Reach's elite. They met by sheer coincidence, when one of his Falcon's flew down the mines and his mother brought it back up, soon afterwards they got married, it didn't take long for the pair to fall in love and they quickly got married upon finding that she was pregnant. Seven months later, out popped a pair of twins, Jingo and his sister Lisa, both pursued different paths, Lisa became a Falconer like her father and Jingo became a miner like his mother. He rose to heights as a miner, showing skills in using heavy machinery; he was eventually promoted to pilot a mining NC, he was good at it too.
One day he was minding his own business, carving away a rock face in his NC, it was a normal day just like any other, too bad it didn't pan out as usual. High above him, blasting was taking place, this was normal, the stones were meant to fall in to the tunnel as opposed to out and down the cliff side but it did. A large boulder fell from the blasting site, launched outwards by the blast just far enough for it to path with Jingo, he saw it fall, he made a move but he was too slow. The left side of the NC was crushed by the immense weight of the falling lump of stone, sending it rag dolling into the floor; inside, Jingo was screaming in agony, the left side of his craft having collapsed inwards and crushing him against his seat. The boulder was lifted off after fifteen minutes, by this pint he had passed out from the pain and lack of oxygen, they had to cut him out as the hatch had been crumpled shut by the force of the falling rock. His injuries were far beyond the healing capabilities of the doctor's of Falcon Reach, so they loaded him into a helicopter and flew him to the nearest place with good medical facilities.
At the time, the best place on the surface to get treatment in Falcon Reach's area was Smith's Rest. Unlike the now it was a thriving town and where there was a thriving town, there were doctors that were more then happy to make a buck off of sick people. Jingo was in hospital for weeks, his arm was completely ruined, that had to come off; the pieces of the left side of his skull had to be reassembled and held in place with pins and all the skin on the left of his torso had to be removed to rebuild his ribs. Throughout this, the doctor's were charging outrageous prices for their services and before long, his father had sold everything he had to pay the up keep. Eventually the family had to give Jingo to the doctor, as a kind of indentured servant, he worked under the doctor as a lackey, sweeping the floors and carrying boxes. After a few years of this, the doctor left, Smith's Rest was in decline and no one could pay for his services, so he took his accumulated wealth and moved into an underground metropolis. However the doctor wasn't completely horrible to Jingo, for years of free work he left Jingo an old auto-shop in the corner of town. He stayed in Smith's rest, not having enough money to get back to Falcon Reach, eventually he integrated, dropping his thick sea accent and getting use to the cold winters.
Sometime after his first missions with the corps Jingo received a letter from home, his father had passed away and there was a dispute over what he had left for Jingo. The doctor who had patched him up was a claimant for the sum that was left behind, arguing that because he did not technically release Jingo from his servitude the money belonged to him. A lengthy legal battle took place, something that surprised Jingo because court hearings over things like inheritance were rarely heard of. A few months had passed and the hearings grew more and more heated, legally Falcon Reach did permit slavery (though no one owned slaves anymore) making the doctor the rightful claimant, however most people preferred Jingo and saw the law as a formality. The whole case eventually ended with doctor being pushed off of the side of the cliff by a gang of ruffians, something Jingo didn't openly condone but was glad about on the inside. His inheritance secured, he retuned to New Anchorage despite the pleadings of his family to stay, citing that he felt his work there still wasn't done.
Tactical Preferences/Skills:
Jingo prefers either to not get into the fight at all or get all in, he tends to act as a scout, going ahead and relaying information back to the team on what he's found out. His preference is to fight against infantry, medium armor if he really has to but will go out of his way to not face off against anything heavy. He moves fast and tries to make himself hard to hit, taking shots if and when he can but never standing still to do so, preferring to fight just within the range of his guns when it comes to other armor or right in if he is dealing with infantry.
Body-Plan/Description: When stood in it's standby stance, The Wessex stands at around Fifteen and a Quarter meters (Fifty feet) high, with the main body suspended by two pneumatic driven legs, Eleven and a Half meters above the ground (Thirty-Seven and a Half feet). As mentioned prior, Wessex is bipedal, though not standing upright the way a human would but appearing to have more of a crouched stance that is common of older model NCs. The main body is made of a Tungsten Steel, with the thickest segment being the front of the command pod at Fifty millimeters (Two inches), followed by the flanks at Twenty-Five millimeters (One inch), and thinest part being the top at Twelve and a Half millimeters (Half an inch), excellent against small arms, anti-material rifles and small explosives but susceptible to artillery, shoulder fired rockets, prolonged heavy machine-gun fire and high explosives. On either side of the main pod, there is a duel, anti-aircraft Fifteen millimeter cannon arrangement, acting as the arms of the NC, they are just lovely against light/medium armor, personnel and aircraft.
Type/Quality: Compared to other NC's, the Wessex is a rather discreet, quiet machine, that doesn't attract much attention to itself, it has a very long range due to it's light construction and a top running speed of Sixty miles per hour, with an optimum cruising speed of Thirty. Due to the powerful piston arrangements in the legs, the Wessex has the ability to jump Fifteen meters (Fifty feet) and land safely, due to it's radial shock absorbers and independent tread pads. These things taken into account, it makes an excellent scouting platform and light support unit. The Wessex is old but reliable, like most old things, it won't ever fail Jingo but it still has some things that are rather annoying, like how the coolant housing is open to the cockpit and makes the space freezing cold, or how it is very difficult to shoot whilst running.
Equipment: - Rhythmic Emission Detector: An onboard system that casts a kind of ultrasonic bubble a large area around The Wessex, the computer detects fluctuations and disturbances in the bubble and displays them on the layered display. This allows the Wessex to detect distant heart beats and engines, using a database to interpret the vibrations and narrow down what they could be, filtering out things like animals, wind and running water. - High Gain Band Scanner: A radio signal scanner that goes through all available bands and pin points any readable ones, though it does this with relative ease, it doesn't have any means of interpreting the data, leaving the pilot to do so by giving him the list of readable signals. It doesn't read cyphers or decrypts enigmas, that is left for the pilot to do, it can only be used when the NC is not in combat as it requires the unlatching of sensitive transmission equipments. - Albin-Coxwell HD Film Auto-Cam: A high definition camera with a sixty times optical zoom, the images are stored on highly flammable reels of films stored in the cockpit, the gathered intelligence can be transmitted to other NCs but an antenna has to be raised and can only be raised when not in combat. - 2x Albin-Coxwell Flying Camsmitter: Fired from a hatch on the top of the NC, it is a rocket propelled cylinder with a camera in it, gathering aerial, birds eye view images of the land below, the transmitter has a ten mile range but the images aren't as high definition as the Auto-Cam's. The image is viewed as a constant stream by The Wessex and then stored on a magnetic tape wheel, only one stream of images can be stored per wheel. - Track Suppressing Technology: Units in built in the feet of the Wessex to depend the sound of walking and reduce track size to a minimum, using a constant stream of air to disrupt the soil scatter and make sure that large depressions aren't formed as a result of foot print; also reduces the noise of walking significantly. Cannot be used when running due to power consumption issues.
Armaments: - 2x Dual 15mm Anti-Aircraft Cannons - A grenade launcher that can be mounted in place of one of the Anti-Aircraft Cannons
Notes: Many of the parts are a bit old technologically and can easily be out preformed, but he chose them for reliability and low maintenance, which are both important when going on long excursions. Things like the Thermionic Spark Engine (Doesn't produce enough energy to power to remain at peak ability at all times but will last indefinitely and with little maintenance) or the B-55 Series Neural Bridge (Very sparse programming, meaning most things have to be done out of the link), relatively old pieces of techs but not prone to failing or glitching.
Name: Jan van Gent Appearance:Jan stands at 1.65 meters tall. He has fair skin, dark-blonde hair styled shortly and combed to the side. He has little standards concerning the clothes he wears, usually wearing whatever he managed to get on the cheap from a clothes vendor. The only criterium to him is that something needs to be functional. It doesn't need to be pretty or graceful, it just needs to work. Age: 27 Role: Flanking/ counter-CQC Personality :A rash and boorish man by nature. Jan is a spirited individual with a somewhat cruel streak to his actions. He doesn't particularly mind if other people are served by his actions, but is ultimately mostly in it for himself. Despite this though, he places great value on loyalty and mutual respect, even if it is for the slightly pragmatic reason that a long-time partner is the best partner. Backstory: A storied and grizzled independent. Jan van Gent was never part of the big five, instead operating with all sorts of factions all over the world as a mercenary contractor. He has probably fought with and against every major player on the current global stage, switching allegiances in quieter periods when hsi current employer's funds dried up, though always taking care not to antagonize anyone enough to draw the wrong sort of attention.
A recent stint as a volkov subcontractor saw Jan assigned to New Anchorage. Political machinations above his control then saw volkvov retract their support, with jan's contract being terminated in the fallout. Jan simply shrugged and renegotiated a direct contract with New Anchorage's commander. Just another day on the job. Tactical Preference & Skills: Jan has great proficiency and experience at spotting and exploiting oppurtunities in a tactical situation. He has very good aim with all equipped weapons even at high speeds. He can concentrate on whatever his current target is without anything feasibly breaking his stride, though he is suspectible to a sort of tactical tunnel vision as well. Notes: Jan returns from the previous thread. Text Color: None due to player bias/laziness
NC Codename: Goldenspur Appearance: The goldenspur is a grizzled mercenary machine, much like its pilot. Its frame is painted a muted black with gold details. While standing upright, its silhoutte is very visible due to its signature custom-built shoulder plates, somewhat resembling the skeletal wings of the winged hussar cavalry of old. These shoulder plates are folded over the NC's backside when in standby, but stretch to their full impressive length when shoulder weapons are deployed. Body & Type: A medium-class tank body. Original manufacturer is difficult to determine due to the amount of disparate custom parts mixed and matched to create the NC. Armor plating has been stripped and replaced with ligther variants on all sides save for the front to allow for greater manouverability. The NC has the unusual ability to fold downwards into a threaded tank-vehicle designed for speed and getaways. Equipment & Armaments: Goldenspur's main armament is a high-power plasma lance designed to punch through heavy armor and inflict catastrphic damage on internal systems. It requires a long pre-charge time and consumes most of the reactor's energy output when fired, also requiring a cooldown period afterwards.
The goldenspur has two standard grade gimballed autoguns mounted on its shoulders. Energy consumption on them is low, and the caliber is sufficient to deal with most non-NC targets as well as posing a threat to NCs with lighter armor.
In terms of defensive measures, the goldenspur has a standardized ECM array to deal with fire and forget missiles, a radar dampening coating on its armor, and a set of smoke launchers to disrupt visual contact. The smoke has a peculiar chemical composition that disperses lasers fired through it.
Tahlia is a mixture of nationalities thanks to the invasion of the Asian continent into the Australian region during the Third World War. Her eyes are slim and direct with a dark brown iris, a trait familiar to the people from the far east; while her hair and face resembles a more Australian/European look with the light, sandy brown braided locks and pale white skin. With an average height of about 5" 8' she tends to blend into the crowd, only appearing out of place when appearing around others not from Australia.
Most of Tahlia's clothes will consist of long, heavy jeans with a set of checked converse style shoes. She has a hooded jacket that is coloured in a deep reddish brown with various design markings on it that have no particular meaning except for the large black star that positioned on the back itself (She can't help that the best piece of clothing she was ever given for cold climates was issued out by Red Star themselves). Underneath this jacket she has a simple white tee-shirt and around her left wrist she has a variety of bands and beaded bracelets that she, herself, spent time making while sitting on watch.
AGE
Twenty Seven years old
ROLE
Long Range Heavy Artillery
PERSONALITY
Tahlia likes to think that she is a helpful protector of others, but sometimes her outback Australian tact can come across otherwise, leaving people to think that she is a bit abrupt and a little bit of a straight shooter at times. Being originally from a town located in the middle of 'fucken woop-woop' she tends to like the peace and quiet of the outback landscape, allowing her time to tactically plan her moves and enjoy the scenery around her. She is also a bit of a drinker, bit of a smoker, and a bit of a swearer; a definite trait of your typical outback Australian.
BACKSTORY
Tahlia grew up in the Australian outback region of Broken Hill. The old mining town back in it's day was a gold mine (metaphorically speaking) for the Australian country with it's raw ore mines and offered most of it's wealth to the world. During WWIII however the town was invaded from the north by Asia and thus began the split of Australia into different continental regions. The new owners of the region went crazy over it's hidden wealth, mining as much as possible to eventually help fund and form the Red Star Corporation.
Tahlia was a daughter of a renown Red Star design engineer, growing up and entering the corporation to eventually become an NC Pilot. Using her position and skills she eventually was awarded the menacing machine known as AFW-Mk.8, designed in inspiration of the Australian Funnel Web Spider. From there she stood guard over the town within her death machine, glaring out to the flat horizons and taking out any targets with it's highly powered artillery cannon, known as Armageddon's Rain.
Eventually things started to change when supplies and funding began to dry up. Red Star wasn't using the town's resources any more and rather than support it's locals, they pulled the plug, letting the colony eventually collapse in on itself to form a simple Ghost Town. Tahlia was one of the last residents to leave. She wanted to protect everyone for as long as possible but when it came apparent that all she was protecting were old heritage buildings then she made the choice to move on.
Many years passed, many battles fought, many countries visited, and Tahlia had started to grow weary of her ventures. She began to see how much of the world was run by these corporations until she somehow ended up in the frozen wasteland of New Anchorage, previously known as Smith's Rest. She doesn't really know what it was that drew her to this unknown location. It could have been the man that said his adopted daughter had fought for them for a period of time, it might have been the stories of a group of people fighting back. Whatever the case was she walked up to the front door with her now damaged and severely in need of repair NC, just to ask one simple question.
"Does anyone here need someone to help protect them?"
TACTICAL PREFERENCE & SKILLS
Tahlia is analytical, cautious, and an observer by her very nature. Years of standing over the town and picking off targets from over 10 kilometres away allowed her to learn very early on that if you avoid combat at all cost, you will either eliminate your target or drive them away to go hassle someone else. This trait is both her strong point and her weakness as she will break her position if she happens to be flanked by another attacker. Since other NCs in her Broken Hill Team were allocated the job of close quarter combat, she never learnt how to deal with those sort of situations.
NOTES
Tahlia has a 97% Sync Ratio in her AFW-Mk.8 due to how she usually enters it in relatively quiet and empty environments.
... However only a 39% in the borrowed Mad-e while the AFW-Mk.8 is being repaired
She has a tattoo of the southern cross on her wrist, a mark in order to show that she views herself as more Australian than Asian.
On her she carries small hand held PDA that is synced up to her NC. This allows her to make system changes without being in the NC itself.
Tahlia owns a gasmask which she used to protect herself from the occasional irradiated dustorms that would sweep across the Australian Outback.
Most of the NC is covered in a brown and gunmetal grey colour with a half scratched off Star design from the Red Star Corporation. It is trimmed with red highlights and covered in a variety of battle wounds and damaged auxiliaries. The interior is a sleek design with keys and warning labels written in a mixture of Japanese and English, along with a screen that acts like a FPV (First Person View) visor to the outside world.
BODY & TYPE
The AFW-Mk8 is unique, specially crafted NC that takes it's design inspirations from the Australian Funnel Web Spider. This spider is both highly aggressive and potent with a venom toxicity strong enough to kill a human within 15 minutes. The AFW-Mk.8 prides it's design on the fact that it can beat this time when faced against another NC.
Whilst inactive and during both air and ground transit the NC is usually positioned in a standard bipedal design. It is only during heavy combat that it will lower itself into it's Artillery Mode by lurching down and convert it's arms into a secondary set of legs. The back mounted cannon will then realign and transform itself on top of the torso in order to complete it's artillery setup. This aspect of the AFW-Mk.8 means that it is highly qualified for long range, heavy artillery combat as it's stability is greatly increased tenfold when compared to many of the standard Bipedal NCs in the battlefield.
The AFW-Mk.8 is a highly governed synapse machine due to unusual setup and will often mean that the user within will almost appear completely still while concentrating on their duties. Their eyes however are still free to look around the room within in order to retain all the reliant information, but breaking concentration with anything aside from minor movements will result in a slower processing time.
EQUIPMENT & ARMAMENTS
Main weapon:Meteor Ordinance Cannon (M.O.C.) - Damaged
This torso mounted weapon is the AFW-Mk.8's primary weapon of choice. The specially built quad barrel is carefully designed so that each set of shells that is fired from the NC will land in a square format of approximately 100m from corner to corner when at a firing range of 10km. The shells are a mixture of both a cluster bomb design and thermite, meaning that if the shells themselves didn't destroy the target the following fire would cause some severe problems. Reloading is quite slow so care must be taken when choosing a target and firing.
Arms:Dual Gatling Gun - One Seized
During Bipedal mode, these fist mounted Gatling guns can be used to easily take out any smaller targets that are within it's range. When the NC converts to Artillery Mode the guns are unfortunately folded up into the NC's arms, meaning that it sacrifices this armament in order to equip it's Meteor Ordinance Cannon.
Shoulders:Twin MIRV Launchers - Damaged (Only a few ports can fire)
Upon the AFW Mk.8's shoulders are a set of twin pods, each with 25 individual ports that contain a collection of Radar Guided MIRV missile. These fast firing missiles can be used in quick succession for any medium range targets, but have the unfortunate trait of overshooting their targets when fired too close. The MIRV Launchers can be used in either Bipedal or Quad mode.
Trakdar:Long Range Scanner and Surveillance Bot - Regular System errors
Trakdar is a speciality scanner that utilises a 3D mapping technology in order to give a detailed view of the environment around the NC. This map is additionally enhanced by a drone bot that can be launched from the AFW-Mk.8 in order to give details on areas that can't be fully scanned by the NC itself. Each target that is discovered is painted with a marking which allows proper calculations to be make for the Meteor Ordinance Cannon.
M A D - e
O N L O A N
CODENAME
Mad-e
APPEARANCE
The Mad-e is still heavily damaged from its last fight seeing as it took a blast to it's warhead launcher, but thanks to some patch work it's still somewhat usable.
BODY & TYPE
The Mad-e is a 50 tonne humanoid mech with a set of attachment ports on the back that can be fitted with a quad set of VTOL engines (As seen on this image). Mad-e is, for the most part, a mid-range assault NC. It's main role is to clear out as much of the enemy forces it can while staying out of the way of the short range attackers.
It has heavy armour plating that helps protect the unit but this mostly a collection of metal plating that has been found around the colony and welded to the NC. Due to this fact many of the sheets that cover important componentry have weak points, cracks and ingrained rust that cannot be seen easily until the unit is out on the battlefield and in the thick of it. Adding to that, and thanks mostly to Madison's recklessness, the Mad-e's weapons will occasionally overheat and jam, leaving her vulnerable to counter attacks. This isn't helped from the incidents in it's last battle where it now has an internal motherboard error and some damaged weaponry.
EQUIPMENT & ARMAMENTS
VTOL Engines:
A quad set of VTOL engines that allow long distance flight and when overcharged, will allow a quick back dodge.
Smoke Launcher:
An attatchment that will disperse a cloud of roughly 100m diameter around the NC.
Enhansed Visuals:
A night vision and IR camera to help assist during smoky and dark situations.
Radar Sensors:
The targeting system uses line of sight to locate and identify the enemy. Madi then has to select each target and aim at them manually in order to take them down. (This also means that she will have to rely on her comrades for spotting any ambush attacks)
Warhead Launcher:
The main cannon on the shoulder can fire mortar warheads that explode mid air and rain down with individual grenades. The reload time on this cannon isn't very quick and the NC only has the storage for a few warheads.
Right Arm:
Equipped with a stationary rotary gatling gun.
Left Arm:
Equipped with slug cannon that will fire heavier rounds. It is a much slower weapon but packs a lot of punch.
M A D I S O N C O L E
APPEARANCE
Madison is a young woman in her early 20's with a distinct taste for heavy, hard wear clothes; usually with a choice of factory work boots, a thick jacket with a woollen interior and military style cargo pants. She has vibrant pink hair which is coloured as her natural hair is a crisp blonde that she dislikes, while her overall skin tone and texture gives her the innocent look of a younger teenager. Whenever she walks she likes to let her feet hit the floor with a heavy thud, giving an impression that she is simply bigger than what her small size indicates.
Ever since the Volkov job she has been in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and during that time had to have some immediate, life threatening operations performed in order to save her life. Some of the damage she endured included a searing blast to her left eye where the iris and cornea were damaged, thus requiring an artificial insert; and a deep wound in her right arm that got infected in the bone. This wound in particular needed an immediate amputation and was in turn replaced with a bionic limb.
AGE
Twenty Three years old
ROLE
When evaluated for mental stability, Assault
PERSONALITY
Madison was once described in one simple, four letter word... Loud.
The young girl has a vibrant personality with a matching taste for music. Most of the time when she is in her NC the sounds of a hard hitting bassline can be heard. This music isn't just for show as it helps to regulate her thoughts in order to allow her to sync up with the machine. This wild attitude of hers comes as a serious double edge sword since she lives off pure adrenaline. Madison has been known to run her ammo supplies completely dry, take on NCs far stronger than what she is trained for, and will even risk her own life in order to make a final blow.
However being loud doesn't mean that she is open. She will rarely talk about her past, and with the events of late, has been more closed off than usual. She is now at the point where others are concerned about her being too quiet, wondering if she still has the willpower to get back into an NC.
BACKSTORY
Madison was born in a small community but was left abandoned when her entire settlement was wiped out by a raiding force. She was only a little girl at the time and was discovered by a small group from the colony of Smith's Rest as she wandered the empty wasteland, sad and alone. They decided to take her back and placed her under the care of an engineer known as Duncan Brown. There she grew up for the next two decades, learning how to operate and use the different types of machinery that Duncan worked on.
Through his guidance she became very knowledge about the NCs, learning the different ways to repair and operate them. It was only a matter of time before she ended up fighting for the cause along with the others at the now named New Anchorage. With this team she performed well, taking on other NCs and mercenaries alike until a terrible accident during a Volkov mission.
Madison's NC was struck with a blow that sent a huge electrical charge into the poor girl's mind. The effect was a sudden burst of adrenaline and rage that she was unable to control. Her body was fuelling the machine, the machine was fuelling her body, and the eventual outcome was a suicidal attack that broke through every fail-safe the Mad-e had to offer, even allowing the illegal launch of a warhead at point blank through a barrel that was damaged.
Madison woke up in pain as her NC was airlifted by Blur back to base where she had to cut out of the wreckage. For the following months she was placed in an induced coma and heavily operated on so that they could save her life. Duncan, her childhood carer stayed for as long as he could by her side, but as time went on he felt more and more as if it was his fault and that staying around for much longer would hurt the relationship that he had with Madison. He eventually made the hard decision to leave the settlement in order to move on.
TACTICAL PREFERENCE & SKILLS
Madison was once a heavy NC pilot, but it was believed that the original choice of machine was simply incorrect. Her fast pace and quick reflect movement is what even allowed her to get a monstrous heavy NC up close and personal with another heavy NC, leaving specialist to wonder how far she would be able to perform if a new lighter, more nimble NC was made available for her.
Aside from her battlefield tactics, she is a skilled mechanic and knows how to make various changes to an NC. After all... she did grow up with a man who rebuilt her original NC from a pile of scrap.
NOTES
She likes to collect cute trinkets, plushies, and other small items.
Madison occasionally has flashbacks to her parents death, which happened on her birthday. Her loud personality stems from that where she believes that the only time you should be quiet is when you are dead.
Standing at 5'10 Yeshua isn't measly in stature. His thin and lanky frame is often covered by two layers of clothes. You'd be hard pressed to find him not wearing a coat or jacket, even if it was rather warm. Only military regulation makes him seem to fit in.
Age:
16
Role:
Midline
Personality:
Yeshua is far from outgoing in his nature. He is not quiet and quite parsimonious with his beliefs, almost to the point beyond reason. He values and observes a much bigger picture than some people realise, often letting him feel detached or pity those who he spends time with. He is quick to judge and often feels no guilt, but takes a keen responsibility for other people's problems, that can lead him to be viewed as either extremely polite or extremely irresponsible. The boy has many opinions which he isn't afraid of sharing, and if Yeshua feels he has been treated unjustly, will not stand for it. He is poisonously sarcastic, too.
Yeshua is a strange boy. His glare has a certain eager bloodthirstiness about it, a burning ambition mixed with the frightening frigidness of a killer. He is a master of the mind, able to pick up nuances and small movements as fast as a camera. His mind is stock-full with knowledge, and while seeking wisdom, he has little to offer. Darwinian morality isn't exactly his slice of cake, he does stem much of his philosophy from nature, which interests him almost as much as the nuances of people. His timid obsession with the obscure and childlike flinching from contact, coupled with his lack of empathy to the needy, hides a frail, frightened boy who never, no matter what he could do, live up to his own expectations.
Backstory:
Yeshua (born Joshua) was the child of Otto Horowitz, a mildly famous biologist working in the most prestigious parts of the most rich sections of Paragorn-controlled Germany. His mother was never mentioned to him and without someone to care for him in the home, he often spent his time alone or on the wild webs of the internet. The nanny that cared for him had left to go see a parent who had been critically injured. Alone in the house, Joshua quickly called his father, telling them that about the nanny's absence, leading to her to be replaced by an automated robot, the first of its kind.
In his father's absence, the boy grew up without influences and soon grew suspicious of him. At the age of 11, he felt the repercussions of Paragon's nearby enemies when his father kept coming home from work less frequently and even more tired. He was pushed to the edge, and Joshua felt it. Taken away from his father, the boy lived in the Alps with his grandmother. Away from society, the boy could read and write, and so he did for as long as he could. Creating beautiful poems, he would often read them to his grandmother, for her sight was failing and, by the time his magnum opus came about, his grandmother could barely appreciate it. He felt squandered.
His grandmother was fond of him but held back by her principles. When he wanted to leave her and find his father, no help was given. Joshua knew he could not leave in such an isolated area and did not want to live his entire life as a farmer, as his grandmother was. He grew skeptical. He could see the convoys of military transports passing through the mountains, knowing times grew more desperate every hour. His grandmother, parent to not his father, but his mother, gave him the King James Bible and with it, in his adolescence, he studied with as much determination his father had. The wild swathes of books that had been laid out for him was not simply a mere collection by his elder; it was a gift from his father. How else could he teach Joshua the wonders of the universe?
In the middle of the night he snuck out, only 14. The cold of the mountainside was nothing to him, as he was determined to find his father and ask him all the questions had developed in his mind. Making his way to the small village of Ungarbt, Joshua had the dread. The same dread as being left alone by his caretaker; this time he had no one to save him. Trying to solve these problems by himself was too difficult for him, so he went to the local police station. This is when the news struck him; an ambulance was driving into the nearby hospital as he entered. His grandmother had died of a heart attack after realising he was gone.
Without any relatives and still no idea where his father was, he was sent to a special training facility in the western reaches of Paragon, near modern-day Lithuania, and Joshua’s quick eagerness lead him to become one of the elite few to test the NC without question of what Paragon actually wanted from him. While he was always incredibly talented at picking up a task and turning it into an art, entering an NC training school is anything but an easy task. While no one had the courtesy to declose this information with him, it had become obvious that it was his heritage of scientists and technicians that had allowed him to partake in extensive and exhausting training. He was bottom of the class and learnt to spite those mocking him.
His foster family, a branch of modern Judaism (Torahts), were originally irritating to him until he It was amazing to see things from a different point of view in a different place. His questions became more fruitful but in turn his family became to spite him, with his constant criticism that undermined their faith. When his town was attacked by raiders, his family had little time to relax. Stashed heirlooms and family heritage was left behind, was attacked, Joshua lost contact with his family in the chaos, panicking and afraid. The area had become a hot spot of the exiled natives of the Middle East, who the Paragon had 'kindly' taken in after the Magen takeover. MAgen, being a mostly Muslim controlled Company, had no room for Torahts, and that is what led Joshua's adoptive family to settle above the Black Sea.
Scalded for crossing the line, Joshua had run to the coast. Before he had any time to reflect, smoke began rising from the town. The hellish sounds and vibrations of the NCs were as clear as ever. This was not the first time he had seen them, for they would often be paraded through the streets of Germany as a sign of strength (and fear, Joshua realised). When he arrived in the town, the black soot of destruction had choked everything.
Hiding in a library, the raiders drew closer. It was only when a Paragon NC came and saved him from the onslaught did he survive, his family dead or lost. Against the popular opinion, Joshua's scores only skyrocketed afterwards. Living on his own a few miles away from his old town, the Raiders never touched the NC training school. His prestigious skill with the NC, particularly with the discarded Paragon NC called the Anzu, became extremely apparent.
Able to operate independently, Joshua changed his name and was sent to New Anchorage over mysterious circumstances, but most deduce it to his outstanding NC skills.
Maybe this time he could find the answers he sought; what it meant to be human, alive and breathing. And whether or not he could ever deserve that answer.
The rest is for the biography, Joshua-turned-Yeshua chuckles.
Tactical Preference & Skills:
Midline: Yeshua’s NC is not strong enough to stay on the frontline, nor is it powerful enough to stay at the back of the formation. Instead, he remains behind the more powerful NCs whilst dishing out devastating damage in close and mid range.
Knowledge: Yeshua has memorised hundreds of different parable, texts and stories. His mind is brimming full of information, and he can usually come up with a scientific and practical solution in most situations.
Ambitious (or stubborn): One would be hard pressed to convince Yeshua against what he wants; this undeniable, insatiable wanting that drives him makes him militarily vital to get on your side.
Appearance White coat fading, the Anzu is ethereal, royal, but hasn’t been maintained properly for months. In war, paint won’t protect you.
Body & Type The Anzu is a modified mid line NC, which had many different shady funders, mostly strange cultists and worshippers. Massive, incredibly powerful plates act as shields on its forerarms, shoulders, chest and knees, while leaving the rest of the rather soft body exposed.
Equipment & Armaments Head - Standard Array Body - Standard Thrusters Right Arm - GXT-95F ‘Imdugud’ Flamethrower, disruptive but unreliable Left Arm - GBT-96F 'Apsi' Hydrant System, running through the entire NC and can have high-pressure water ejected from the left arm in case of lubrication or aid. Right Leg - Ziz Thrusters, specialised in short bursts of descent control. Left Leg - Ziz Thrusters, specialised in short bursts of descent control.
The Anzu carries the Ninurta’s Cannon, a heavily experimental and extremely unreliable weapon that takes 4 seconds to charge, and when it does, releases an extremely hot and powerful maelstrom of energy. The cooldown timer has never been fully measured, for it will always have the chance to overheat and backfire; instead, it is up to the pilot when it should be used afterwards, but the further between blasts suggests a lower chanccenterastrophic failure.
Appearance: Standing at 5’6”, Agatha has sharp features and a smile that could cut an NC to ribbons. Hair once flaxen has long since gone gray, which is pulled into a loose bun. Deep set green eyes and a pointed nose. Some people have told her she has the face of a 1st grade Math teacher who takes joy in assigning homework over the weekend. While not a weight lifter, she has a solid frame from years of hard work on the surface. Tends to wear a faded burgundy vest over an oil stained grey jumpsuit.
Age: 58
Role: Scout Sniper
Personality: Agatha is a restless woman who finds there is no worse fate than finding yourself without purpose. Give’s 110% percent to everything she does, and is a strong proponent of clean living, or as clean as one can get outside the burrows. Carries herself with a wizened air of experience that comes with age, not book smarts. Could be described as desperate in search for a cause, desperate enough to come to Anchorage.
Doesn't acknowledge her own bitterness with having settled down and giving up on piloting. Feels like she lost out on something important, but can't besmirch her husbands memory or their daughters to disregard their lives together as unimportant.
Biography: Born and raised on the surface, Agatha always knew she was a special snowflake. At the bizarrely typical age of 14, she was found compatible to pilot an NC. Like so many before her she was drawn into piloting a bipedal weapon of mass destruction and had many mercantile adventures as an independent NC operator that aren’t worth recollection. The kinds of adventures that blur together but can often be summed up as, ‘Go to exotic locations, meet interesting people, and kill them’.
Throughout her ventures she had a loyal mechanic who would have followed her to hell and back by the name of Albert Smith. He wasn’t particularly handsome or clever, but he was loyal, sweet, and won over her affections through his perseverance. At 27 Agatha was married, by 28 she had a daughter and another on the way. Finding their means of employment too dangerous to foster a family, they decided it was prudent for Agatha to set aside the adventuring for a more sedentary lifestyle. Investing their considerable saving towards setting up shop in a scrapyard, Agatha began a new life as a mother and family woman.
For years, that was good enough. All the effort she had put forth piloting her NC was directed towards running the scrapyard and raising her kids. There wasn’t the same rush that came with piloting a multi-ton automaton, but she was satisfied for a time.
Then the children grew up, and left the nest to find out their own destinies. To be the special snowflakes that have fantastical opportunities all lined up for the taking if they only go out and claim them. Her husband of 29 years had grown ill and passed peacefully in his sleep.
That left Agatha, with a job she didn’t care for and no one relying upon her. Most would have considered this time to retire, settle down and indulge herself before the inevitable end, but she couldn’t. Even with the best years of her life in the past, she knew she had more to give. Firing up the old NC, which had been used as a makeshift crane for the scrapyard, she went out to recapture her lost glory, but found there wasn’t any demand for someone so long out of the game. The only ones as desperate as she was where the good folks down at New Anchorage, and they just so happened to be looking for any pilot that would come their way.
Tactical Preference: Specializes in the collection and dissemination of tactical information with the armaments to capitalize on this knowledge with unparalleled veracity from long range. Relies upon heavy thrusters to facilitate rapid repositioning to out maneuver and evade enemy forces.
Word Color: Teal 008080
NC Codename: Charon
NC Appearance:
Body Type: Moderately armored bipedal NC specialized towards ease of movement and relocation. Meant to be a Sniper who repositions with each shot and endeavors to flank an enemy rather than engage from extreme long range at a stationary position. The armor isn't enough for front line combat, but is sufficient to keep Charon active while exposed during relocation.
Equipment: -Powerful, back mounted thruster pack for explosive bursts of propulsion meant for either rapid ascent on a vertical plane or dashing forward to cover long distance in a short time. -Advanced Targeting suite to magnify targets up to 60x and offer thermal and night vision capabilities at range. Will paint targets viewed through optics with a marker that will be relayed to friendly units.
Armaments: - PXS-8.0 'Opticor' Super heavy Maser rifle. - leg mounted dumb fire rocket pods. 2 pods per leg, 12 rockets each. - Shoulder mounted smoke grenade launcher.
“Few have the opportunities of escaping the machine that is corporatocracy; those people are called the strong and those who suffer in their shadow are the weak.”
Name
Anastasia Kalfox Stein
Appearance
Stein is youthful in appearance, though that is a far oversimplification of how she appears to others. Expressed by scowls, grimaces, and narrowed brows; Stein has a vicious temperament towards social and military scenarios alike. Her hair is a pale blonde that is supplemented by what many have called “icy, emotionless” eyes. Her casual attire, when she cares for it, is decidedly practical resulting in fitted clothes for appropriate weather conditions but not forsaking mobility. Stein’s body isn’t very tall though, which only aids in her somewhat youthful appearance; setting in at about 5’5”.
Age
20
Role
Hybrid (Assault, Support)
Personality
Cold and calculating, Stein is a product of her environment. Raised to be the perfect soldier for Volkov International Security, Stein’s morality is a hard question to answer as she has never really had a moral compass of her own. Operating for the corporation from a young age, she had been conditioned several times over as corporate instructors drilled in countless lessons that planned to make her content with the actions of the company and no one else. After countless battles, Stein has found herself not only distanced from “normal” human reactions and beliefs but also particularly vicious in her resolve thus gathering her the title of “Little Dragon” amongst other corporate soldiers. Beyond her fire & ice-esque exterior it isn’t quite certain if she has emotions such as sympathy or empathy.
Backstory
Those born in the dominion of the Volkov Corporation are raised with three priorities— the good of the corporation, the survival of the citizens under it, and the success of the individual. Anastasia Kalfox was born the daughter of a company man, one of the many members of the prestigious Board of Directors of the Seattle branch. A self-described “company man”, Anastasia’s father was a man of passion and influence. The lack of a presence of a mother figure in the young girl’s life led her to primarily take cues from her father as well as the company’s values. However, Anastasia’s father cared little about parentage which became abundantly clear when he saw his daughter as another way to gain influence and prestige.
Initially his idea was to groom Anastasia as a possible bargaining chip for an arranged marriage… that is until she showed aptitude and potential as a prospective mech pilot when testings showed she had the capacity to link with a Neural Combatant system. After this realization, Anastasia was instead groomed as a corporate soldier rather than a corporate bride. For Anastasia’s father, it seemed his instincts with his daughter to advance his station were perfectly correct and thus began Anastasia’s career as a militarized pawn at the age of ten. Taking mentorship under Field Captain Roxa Vox, Anastasia soon found her emotions broken to which she earned the nickname of “Stein”. Given the NC, the “Little Dragon” the name of Stein Kalfox would come to be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield and off of it. Eventually gaining more and more renown in North America, Stein would eventually gain the respect… and envy of her comrades.
By the age of twenty, Stein had evolved into a creature of battle; a creature who only felt peace in her NC. However tragedy resulted when her father had his entire career put on trial after “suspicious circumstances” came out that he was trading company secrets for profit. As a byproduct this resulted in the removal of Stein’s reputation, resources, status, and camaraderie within the company; a company that would hastily abandon her during the middle of a mission in the Alaskan territories which resulted in severe damages to Stein’s NC. Left for dead with a half-blown NC, relieved of resources, and “thrown away” to New Anchorage she was now forced to work independently as she wondered why everything she had been branded was now non-existent.
Her time at New Anchorage, so far has been fruitful despite going through two commanders and feeling an unnerving emotion return to her. She has taken well to some of her new “comrades” such as Jan Van Gent, but still has yet to get used to much of her team. The new commander, Michael Graham, however is watching her very closely.
Tactical Preference & Skills
Due to her conditioning, Stein is particularly skilled given the wealth of her military training and combat experience which includes training in close quarters combat, standard battlefield tactics, physical conditioning, and firearms. However these are only a few of Stein’s advantages as she lacks in-depth understanding of things outside of corporate concerns, moral expectations, and so forth. Her preference in her non-mecha skills are a tie between close quarters combat and firearms; going for an agile combat basis utilizing handguns.
Notes
Stein doesn’t know how to process “everyday” life; including personal emotions, relating to others, hobbyism, art, and so forth. She only understands things in the ways of corporate and military interests which makes her pretty confused in the current situation she is in. Her Neural Plug sync rate is above 98%.
Text Color
0076a3 / Blue
—NC—
Codename
Little Dragon
Appearance
Painted in a coat of cobalt and silver with chrome framework; the “Little Dragon” doesn’t intend to appear titanic in appearance with little to no overbearing designs and instead more practical additions.
Body & Type
Medium
Equipment & Armaments
Modified by Stein and tailored to her personality by Volkov engineers, the “Little Dragon” has a good deal of ‘extra content’ such as:
Anti-Armor Machine Gun System: A modified MEK-50 machine gun system designed with anti-tank ballistics in mind; this modification allows for more ammo capacity. Stein favors this over a Railgun simply due to reaction speed even if it has a far more disposable ammunition.
Personal Defense Lightshield: Based on the experimental AEGIS-01, this lightshield is created in a way similar to a lightsword (energy, plasma, etc) to block incoming melee strikes. It uses about as much power as a railgun but over a sustained amount of time. Can cause power malfunctions and brownouts if used over capacity.
Anti-Personnel Crowd Control System: A vanilla VGKW-04 missile launcher spread meant to deal with soft targets.
Short Thrusters: The standard of the majority of current model NC’s, the “Little Dragon” has small use pulse thrusters to traverse small cliffs or avoid crowded scenarios.
EMP Flares: A small amount of EMP flares are also on board to allow for radar jamming and other utilities.
“I’m not scared of anything! I’ve been on my own for over three years, thanks. I don’t cry like a baby and I definitely don’t need an “adult” to tell me how I should behave. If I do my job you should keep your big mouth shut, you fuckin' loser.”
Name
Kathryn Dradht Ryn
Appearance
Ryn gives off the bite of someone far taller than what she actually is, a fact that is supplemented of her years of experience living as she has without parents or adult guidance. She’s only 5’3”, about average height for a thirteen year old girl of her background and with a build that has been hardened from over three years of physical conditioning though given the lack of a military regimen Ryn isn’t too muscular though her frame packs far more of a punch than one would presume. With fiery orange hair and blue-green eyes, Ryn looks determined despite her childish appearance. She wears whatever she can find, though she prefers loose comfortable clothes over all else. She refuses to wear a dress.
Age
13
Role
Hybrid (Sniper, Artillery)
Personality
The girl that would become known as Ryn is not one that has held many friends and for good reason— Ryn is abrasive, loud, arrogant, boastful, blunt, confrontational, condescending, and generally downright antagonist to a senseless point. Where it is true that many of these things are products of a child raising themselves in the unforgiving frontier of the North America, a lot of it is simply that she has realized she can get away with anything as long as she does her job. At the end of the day there is only one person Ryn cares about— Ryn. For nobody helped her or her family when they needed it so she lacks sympathy for those who rely on her to do anything then what she is required to do. This apathy lends itself to her carelessness that would’ve ostracized Ryn from other communities had she not been more than a capable NC pilot. However, Ryn isn’t heartless by any means and in some others can see the sort of helplessness that she once held; a helplessness that she hates and will decide to give out to those people what the world has given to her, believing it is a obtuse “circle of life”. For if anybody reminds her of her childhood they deserve to be put into the earth like worms— a reminder Ryn tries to push aside by the familiar feeling of self-medication, materialism, and seeking out to prove herself by her own obtuse standards to people who have long since been dead or gone.
Backstory
Kathryn Dradht was born in the independent settlement of Blackstone Harbor, at the edge of Fairbanks territory, located in the what was once known as northeastern Maine. Her early childhood was one with a single parent household, her mother being an independently-contracted NC pilot known as the “Blackstone Reaper” as she flew the NC machine known as Phantasm.
Her mother is killed when Kathryn is nine years old— in a volatile onset for childish revenge she takes the surgeries required to become a NC pilot without even taking the compatibility test; she uses most of her earnings saved by her mother to pay for the procedure.
Leaves Blackstone Harbor and becomes known as one of the youngest independents that have survived.
Tactical Preference & Skills
Ryn admittedly doesn’t have very many skills out-of-machine— she’s a decent brawler for her age and height, is skilled enough with advanced mechanics to self-maintain her NC, and is literate enough to know how to read a map and a book.
Notes
N/A
Text Color
f7941d / Orange
—NC—
Codename
Phantasm
Appearance
A purple-colored NC that takes the form of a bi-pedal mech— it has various slots to which Ryn has swapped out for several weapons over the last three years with varying results.
