Arsenal

Land of the Ancients: Return of Elderic

All right, if you need me to change anything up let me know.

Land of the Ancients: Return of Elderic

Within the span of an hour's walk, they had followed Xia to her father's boat and set off for the next city. Cyrus mostly kept to himself during the trip down the river. He spent the good part of another hour drafting a letter, one he hoped to express mail back home to his father. He knew his father would be able to get ahold of old partners in the printing companies to copy and produce the letter. Word of this tragedy would be known to the entire world in mere days. Cyrus wondered exactly what would change, though, if the world knew about what happened, and for that matter, if anyone knew what just happened anyway. Monsters had organized and made an assault on a major community; something like that just doesn't happen by chance.

He had plenty of time to think about what they had just survived though he never voiced his concerns to his traveling companions, not yet anyway. There was a dour, gloomy look plastered on his face while he tried to make sense of it all, but he made an effort to try and push it to the back of his mind. Hours started to pass, and the scenery ever so gradually started to change; trees along the river's edged became gradually more sparse as they left the thickest heart of the forest and made progress towards the next beacon of civilization. Cyrus would occasionally open his letter again and again to make sure his penmanship was clear and legible, that he'd remembered to write everything he could, that nothing was forgotten.

Once they had finally moored Xia's boat and disembarked, the sun was fast vanishing over the horizon. Cyrus hoped they would not have to try navigating in the dark of night, as he didn't have any source of light, and wasn't sure if Kiara or Xia had anything of the sort either. At least they were far away enough from the cover of trees that maybe the light from the stars and moon would give some illumination. Their journey continued with little other difficulty, and at long last, as the moon hung high over their heads, Cyrus could see the flicker of a distant torchlight just in the distance. The sight of a posted guard at the gate was even more comforting; it meant that this city was safe, secure, and well-protected. Cyrus began to pick up his pace now that their goal was in sight, using the wooden stick to push into the ground and increase his stride.

The guards, however, seemed to be wary of the three of them when they tried to ask for entry into the city. Their suspicion was roused only more when they attempted to relay the story of monsters destroying a city. Still, Cyrus could see a hint of worry and concern when they told their story, even if they tried to remain skeptica; it was as if they weren't the first ones to tell the guards about what had happened. The guards finally seemed to pull themselves aside to discuss privately with one another, Cyrus wondered to himself what they were planning, he kept his eyes on the spears that each guard was clutching, fearing that the guards may force them away.

At long last, the guards reluctantly opened the way and allowed the three inside. Cyrus reached up to place his hands on the shoulders of both Kiara and Xia, "Well, I need to get to the post office as soon as possible, what are you two going to do now?"

Iron Demons (The Mecha RP)

Taylor leaned against the wall while listening to the briefing. Ordinarily, this kind of job just wasn't what Taylor would take, going out to lead an offensive against some self-proclaimed freedom fighters, but the market for escort and private security was getting a little thin lately and she needed the money. When the dossier detailing the enemy frames was tossed out onto the table, Taylor leaned her head to get a look. She'd encountered something of this capability only a handful of times before; the kind of bandits she'd run into in her line of work rarely could even afford something like that second-rate kind of frame. There was a taciturn, blank stare on Taylor's face all the while, if she was thinking anything at the moment no one was going to be able to guess it just by looking at her.

When Ryder dismissed them to discuss among themselves, Taylor pushed off against the wall and straightened herself up. She tied her belt a little more tightly, as it had come loose and allowed the front of her flight suit to open, revealing the receiver of an unusually large pistol and the handle of a knife tucked inside of each side of her suit's torso, both last-ditch weapons in case her frame was disabled. She cinched the belt shut, closing the opening of her suit as she wandered towards the rest of her new teammates. Everyone seemed to be picking out roles that they felt they were able to serve best. Alexander appeared to want to take on a long-range role, and Taylor felt maybe that might be where she herself should begin.

"During the initial assault, I think I'll support him," Taylor briefly paused to gesture towards Alexander, "Then I'll move in to engage at close range once the battle is underway, but I'll need to link up with someone, I'm not exactly keen on trying to fight on my own."

She put her hands into her pockets, leaning her head to look across at Gunther, "You, Gunther's your name, right? If you have no objections I'll join you once the first salvo has been fired."

Land of the Ancients: Return of Elderic

Great, so Arrayah, Lucius, would one of you like to make our side's time-skip post or should I?

Land of the Ancients: Return of Elderic

I'm all right with that too.

Iron Demons (The Mecha RP)

Two and a half seconds between each individual shot is a significant amount of time in close-quarters situations, although after thinking about it for a bit, maybe the guess I put out there for the reload time was a bit optimistic. We'll say that 2.5 seconds is the minimum reload time, assuming conditions are perfect and nothing goes wrong. The railcannon, as you'll see when we start the RP, operates a lot like a really big single-shot bolt action rifle. After every shot the bolt needs to be racked, a new round inserted, and the bolt closed again.

Iron Demons (The Mecha RP)

Well, so long as the Jackal doesn't take too many hits it should be fine, doesn't exactly carry a lot of armor to begin with. The biggest weakness of the Jackal's design that I see (and a weakness I think a lot of our frames would share) is that they would be vulnerable to a ground attack aircraft, or whatever the equivalent of that would be in terms of a CVF. Not many of our frames have anything that resembles a dedicated anti-air weapon.

I think it might make for interesting story if at some point our team is ambushed by guys with flying CVFs equipped with guided anti-ground missiles to see how our characters would handle it (if they even can).

Iron Demons (The Mecha RP)

Okay, I managed to scrap this together in short order, please let me know if anything needs to be changed at all.

PILOT
Name: Taylor Kayo
Age: 27
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
Weight: 120 lbs (54 kg)
Background: Mercenary
Bio: Taylor Kayo is a hired gun that advertises herself as a professional bodyguard, preferring to take jobs of escort and protection over more aggressive jobs such as military liason or bounty hunting. She picked up her piloting skills from her late father, Jonathan Kayo, a CVF pilot formerly enlisted with the Seaboard Frontier. Having the foresight to see the way the world was turning, he carefully instructed his daughter with the skills he believed she would be able to utilize. Taylor was less than appreciative of the efforts of her father to teach her to pilot, having originally held ambitions to do something more than pilot a frame and wanting nothing to do with the wars raging across the planet. She would never quite understand the reasoning behind her father's insistence until the world began to turn into the new wild west five years ago; when laws and governing nations started to crumble and dissolve all around them.
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Her father's health started to wane quickly as he succumbed to the wounds he'd earned while fighting under the banner of the Seaboard Frontier, but with his last months on earth he passed his knowledge and his frame to his daughter before passing away. That was three years ago; since that time Taylor began searching the war-torn land for a new purpose, for where she belonged, carrying every meager posession she had with her in her inherited CVF. Of course, traversing the world alone in a piece of large military hardware began to attract unwelcome attention. Bandits who prized the valuable frames decided to stalk Taylor. They made their move when she was in travel between the ruins of cities, ambushing her in their own CVFs, demanding she surrender her frame. Knowing that being was left stranded so far from civilization without a vehicle would be a death sentence, and in a panic, Taylor fought back rather than give in to their demands.
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Taylor's CVF incurred massive damage and was nearly destroyed in the course of the battle, but Taylor's training and experience were just enough to let her survive against the untrained bandits, even outnumbered three-to-one. She killed one, and managed to injure and scare off the second and third. Taylor realized her calling lied with the frames; she immediately claimed the scrap of the destroyed enemy CVF and made for the nearest community she could find. Using the funds she had and what money she could get selling her old CVF and parts from the destroyed bandit CVF, she managed to get enough money to buy a surplus military frame, marking the beginning of her career as a mercenary.
Description: Taylor Kayo

FRAME
Name: CFD-A5 Jackal-5
Description: Jackal-5
Weight Class: Class 4
Weapons Descriptions: The Jackal-5 is only equipped with a massive 200mm railcannon. The cannon is normally stored in a folded configuration on the back, but is unfolded and held in hand when in use. The railcannon is large and slow-firing, taking about two and a half seconds to load between shots, but makes up for this deficiency with sheer power and range.
Additional Notes: Designed to fulfill the same role in CVF warfare as a Tank Destroyer, the Jackal-5 is built to use its speed to outmaneuver more heavily armored frames, and it does so by sacrificing extra weapons and armor to gain this mobility advantage. Jump jets mounted on the body do not allow sustained flight but heighten jumps and allow for mid-air dashes. The cockpit is of unusual note, as the pilot actually is suspended in a harness in an upright position inside of the torso, as there is no room within the chassis for a traditional seat for a pilot to "sit down" in.
Past Encounter: The Jackal series was originally commissioned to be designed and used by the Seaboard Frontier. When it failed to meet expectations the design was subsequently rejected because of concerns regarding the frame's lack of armor and stability, and the early production models were sent back to the contractors that had built them. In an effort to recuperate lost costs, the contractors sold the frames that had already been built to the highest bidders. Taylor's Jackal is the fifth one ever built, and while it has seen combat in minor skirmishes with bandits, the Jackal was never used in any official capacity by any military before being sold to Taylor.

Iron Demons (The Mecha RP)

Neat, haven't seen a new mech RP for a while, would there be room for one more or did you already get your recruiting done through the interest check?

Land of the Ancients: Return of Elderic

For a while, Cyrus sat and quietly ate, nibbling on the sliced pear. He had intentionally tried to save most of the salted pork for their trip, since it would not spoil nearly as quickly as the fruit. He looked across at Kiria with some concern since she didn't seem to be wanting to eat at the moment; given what they had just survived he did not blame her for not really being in a mood to eat. He bit onto a piece of apple, letting the slice hang just outside his lips while he pulled a fountain pen and a leather-bound book from his pockets. He used one hand every so often to retrieve a piece of food, but spent the majority of his time also writing an entry into the blank pages of the notebook, documenting the day's events.

Between pages of writing Cyrus demonstrated an unusual talent with his penmanship in another way, he started to sketch an illustration of the black ghouls that had attacked them during the day, and after it were sketches of Kiara and Xia. At that moment, though, Xia wanted to show gratitude towards them for helping, though really Cyrus felt it was more often the case that Xia had been helping him. She returned with gold and an axe, passing the axe and a rather large portion of gold Cyrus's way. He was going to protest, but picking up the solid, heavy axe, he realized how much he was going to need a real weapon, as opposed to his wooden broom handle. He slipped the axe through his belt, quietly promising to himself he'd return whatever gold he didn't use to Xia once they were to part ways. Cyrus looked back up to Xia from over the pages of his book, "Thanks, but I should be thanking you."

Xia soon after asked if they were ready to go, but Cyrus had a thought, "Wait, one more thing."

Cyrus closed his book shut and put it away, disappearing into the kitchen one last time. He returned with a bundle containing some extra food for the three of them, in addition to a couple kitchen knives and a sharpening stone wrapped neatly in folds of washcloths, "I don't know how long we'll be out, but I was taught always to be prepared."