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Recent Statuses

9 yrs ago
If there are RPs/PM's I need to reply to- I am working on it, I'm a little overladen in life atm. I haven't forgotten about you :)
10 yrs ago
Aaand back.
10 yrs ago
ALERT- I'm going AFK for a week, anyone that sees this on here, I won't be about to respond, this is to both 1x1s/RPs.

Bio

I've RP'd for the best part of over 14 years now here on the Guild, and particularly like military settings, both contemporary, past and near future. I have even dabbled in a little more experimental RPs, as well as created a plethora of 1x1s over my time in the guild. I like creating RPs with a distinct flavour- and often shift between narrative-led RPs to semi-randomised plots.

I'm pretty flexible and try and get back to people on ideas and responses, but sometimes, I may become very busy and it will take some time till I am un-busy- though I always come back!

Most Recent Posts

That's alright- I was a bit dry on mine as I wanted to do more! The next one I'm working on is a bit more interactive, a little less techy and a bit more progressive!

Me being a little silly didn't read all the descriptions for the GEARs attachments again- so I've modified Max's loadout slightly (Overwatch pod instead of ELINT). It's a little more noisy but I imagine like a radar-based battery can be silenced if turned off, right?
Max chuckled, nodding as he agreed with what had been said. Getting a DPV dropped in was a boon, so long as they could recover it of course....an issue that the lion knew the team would be able to get sorted even deep in enemy territory.

"Sounds good, Captain. That all works for me, my team is competent in using the wingpacks- they'll keep pace with a GFDS pack-equipped GEAR....depending on how hard the operator pushes. Don't ask how I know that." Max heard Anna giggling, sighing as he took the briefing notes he had and nodded back to Silverwind once more.
"I'll get us armed up first, then we'll get our work sorted out. There's also a few things I wanted to review as well...see ya later on, Captain." Max said, tailing off as he headed out with the team, aware that there was a seemingly long time to do a seemingly growing list of tasks in.

---

The armoury was teeming with Viper's activity, as they slowly but surely got their gear prepared for the operation ahead. A deep-recon mission in a civil-war torn country to find a HVT was always going to be an entertaining prosepct, so their loadouts would reflect that aspect of what they were going into. The lion, the jaguar, the squirrel and the rabbit all seemed at home with their work, Anna leaving for a moment to grab something of her own personal interest. In a couple of minutes she came back, Max casually chuckling as Anna walked back in with her wingpack, gently laying it on the main armoury table alongside the others that were there.

"I'm so fucking jealous. I have to fly a GEAR into a warzone, and you guys all get those Corvids. Seriously, I was tempted to just lose the GEAR and go on foot. Only reason I'm not is because we need the firepower." Max commented, Anna looking across it's surfaces, whistling to herself. A Viper classic indeed, the team one of the few RSDF Special Forces units that had clearnace to using such a specialist, freaky piece of kit.

The wingpack was nicknamed the "Corvid", after the crow and raven family of birds, a worthy name for the large-surface area carbon-fiber delta wing that turned an Arvaran temporarily into a gliding bird, the wing at roughly three-quarters the size of the team's resident jaguar, Anna. That made it fairly sizable, and even in spite of the carbon, weighty to the hold. It seemed to be an more advanced model compared to the primative basics that had come before it, likely benefitting from the advancement in military technology in the GEARS-specific GDFS unit, making it lighter, easier to carry and much more efficient as a wing surface as an unpowered Arvaran glider.

In the hands of Anna, it almost made her look pixie-like with it's long tail-wing that went down to Anna's lower legs, given the fact this thing was not like many would expect a standard mllitary-looking wingpack to look like. That was as the wing itself almost folded out in a butterfly mechanism into the delta-shape, making it remarkably small to carry on an operator's back when not in flight yet incredibly rigid in its individual components in fixed-flight, combining with a clever computer interface to stabilise and control rolls and movement. Like the GDFS which had a similar extraction mechanism, the Corvid was therefore a tool for low-weight, zero-detection insertions that required distance to be covered.

A parachute setup and was mounted on the spine of the wingpack that was the final handbrake-like stop for any flight, and had room for mounting other equipment in the near-hardpoints of the wings- with a specialist oxygen-feeding, tinted-visored helmet paired up with a wingpack. No weapons systems, but hey, it wasn't like the team were going to be engaging hostile air.....yet. The engineers were telling him they were still running tests on powered flight, and Anna certainly had some skin in the game on that one. Low-level, high speed infiltration with virtually no radar signal and relative ease of putting on the brakes, coupled to a wing that weighed hardly anything and took up hardly any room on an infiltrator's valuable kit-list? You just knew an infiltrator of her skills would kill, probably quite literally, for something like that. But alas, Anna wasn't daydreaming, as she checked over the flaps and winglets, as well as the condition of the parachute system attached, before flinging it on, the suit's wing opening up as she checked over one of the actuators on it.

"You bet. Holy shit, we haven't done this since what, that time we were in Galantria? Corvids are fun, but we're gonna need more than just falling out of the sky to actually last in a shithole like Arbrentia. So you've got our backs I guess." Anna commented back to the lion, Max nodding as he took his own M23 ISS and gently cleaned out the magazine well and lower reciever, nodding.

"Fair enough. We're gonna be in a real hotzone when we're in there. Tool up appropriately, guys." Max added, the team going back to quiet as he watched over at them kit up. It had to be said, the team's resident squirrel was probably the most exited he'd been in a while about using the Corvids, and somehow, Max wasn't at all shocked. What was it about squirrels that seemed to think gliding was the shit?

With one final sweep Max brought up his pad and reviewed the team's final loadouts:

Warrant Officer Maxwell Fitzroy "Actual" Bastion
"Team Lead/Marksman"
M23 ISS, Magnified Thermal Optic/Holographic
M57-2 Shotgun
M8A PDS

Corporal Anna-Marina "Spectre" Caldeira
"Grenadier"
M23 Rifle w/4x Optic/Red Dot Sight
MT-A1 Thumper MGL w/ Box Magazine
2x M8 PDS

Specialist Maxine "Hopper" Pavard
"Assault Medic/Anti-Tank"
M23 Special Operations Carbine with Holographic+Magnifier
M84 Infantry Rocket System (loaded in GEAR)
M8 PDS

Private First Class Logan "Kestrel" Vickers
"Explosives Specialist/JTAC"
M23 Battle Rifle with 4x Optic/Holographic
M8 PDS
Laser Designator
C4


-------

In terms of other tasks to do, once the birds were done pruning their fine wings Viper had gone their seperate ways to crack on with their own individaul tasks. Max was on his own going through his maintainance log for his Lion Rampant, Anna and Maxine were checking the landing site over and their DPV's drop-point, whilst Logan was working away on getting the team's uniforms sorted out and then had moved onto helping load up the oversized munition's into the Lion Rampant's extra gear stores. The rookie of the team had the worst jobs, but then again, everyone went through that in their induction to the team. Even Max wasn't alone in that when he first got into the 501st- it was a rite of passage, a thing that everyone did, like it or not.

Max in particular had finally gotten his manifest log, and looked up the sizable GEAR before him, with a wry grin on his face. A heavier arsenal than usual, not an ideal loadout for exactly flying in with a GFDS pack, but a necessity given how long they might be out in the field without any equipment- and the fact that he was de-facto the thing that would bring firepower for the fireteam. On their own, Viper was not a heavy unit- they had the basics but needed a GEAR to amp up their firepower when hitting a base or a precise target, especially when going into a more "hot" warzone that required more information live on the battlefield.

Information was key to have when fighting with a GEAR, especially when you were deep behind enemy lines and recon was more difficult- so the Lion Rampant in the Long Range Recon setup formed a cornerstone to that, connecting Viper Team's specialities with a GEAR unit that gave hard-hitting long range firepower and close-range 40mm fire, coupled to enhanced warzone information gathering capabilities and additional ammunition. Ordinarily if it was part of a larger unit it would rely on a different member of the team being responsible being responsible for ELINT in a wider GEARS unit, but given Max and his team could be on their own, he had to take responsibility for that side of information gathering here.

Manifest Tab

Request: Warrant Officer Bastion, Maxwell Fitzroy

GEAR Designation: XO-1514
User Name: "Lion Rampant"


All standard GEAR weaponry and features have been inspected/maintaned as per SOP

Requesitioned Loadout:
Package Designation: Long Range Recon


-30mm Sniper Rifle, Handheld/Rear Hardpoint

-Head-Mounted 2x LMG

-10x5 30mm Box Magazines, 4x5 30mm AP Box Magazines, 2x Fragmentation Grenades, 4x Smoke Grenades, Left and Right Hip Hardpoints

-Combat Claw and Ratchet for Rocket Anchor Lift, Left Forearm
-Automatic HE Grenade Launcher, Right Forearm

-Overwatch Advanced C3i Suite, Left Shoulder Hardpoint
-Rocket Anchor, Right Shoulder Hardpoint

-UAV charging and Quadrotor mount point, Back
-3x Limpet Mines stowed on Inside Left Shoulder (Shield)

Glider/Flight Deployment System

Other Stores:
-Personal Weaponry Container, Inside Rear Left Leg (Expanded)
-Basic Field Repair Kit, Inside Rear Right Leg
-Extra Equipment Container, Hip/Chest
-SERE Kit checked, inspected and mounted under cockpit seat
Ah awesome! I'm gonna cook up something now- I'll have them finish up in the armory and then they'll get the rest of their tasks done.

EDIT: I've actually gone with a slightly longer post than I expected. I wanted to give a teeny bit of depth to a piece of kit they're using- and get them all armoury'd up!
Max and the team took a seat, noting the rest of Python and making very brief introductions across the groups. An equally exotic team it appeared to Max, made up of the cream of GEARS operators hand-picked by Silver, as he listened in on the presentation. Listening in, Max paid attention to the fact that well, they were going back into a hot zone. Good thing he had Viper then, he thought to himself, as Silver continued- relating to the situation in play in Arbrentia. A lovely country, beautiful even, scarred by war and internal conflict. A dictatorship that proclaimed absolute power, which in reality didn't extend barely beyond the scarce parts of cities it held. A hellhole, and going in there was not an ideal by Max's standards.

As for dropping in, Max liked that. The use of GFDS packs on a GEAR was always an exiting prospect, one that Max was unashamedly proud of mastery in using. He had to admit, once you had one of those on, you weren't fucking around anymore. You were going into something very serious and that came with a piece of kit that asked the same requirement of the operator. Finding this target, whoever he was, would be of critical importance and Max knew that his recon team would be instrumental in doing so. While they weren't exactly a hammer compared to the other GEAR pilots, they were good at finding information and watching, waiting and observing, something that they could complete alongside the local resistance forces. Already, the lion was thinking of how to uttilise them or what loadouts to take, just running it in his head for the moment being. Silver then finished, the lion sitting up in his seat as he chuckled.

"No pressure bailing out of an aircraft into a hellhole near the Badlands and trying to find a needle in a haystack. But then again, you have the right people onboard." Max replied, looking across to his fireteam, then to the others.

"Let me know if you have any specific requirements, Captain. I'll tool up the team for it as appropriate, as well as get a GFDS setup sorted for the Lion Rampant. We might want to think about how we'll drop the rest of the team- either with wingpacks or getting them prepped for a long-range patrol vehicle run. I'm sure you have that in mind, Sir."
@Silverwind Blade

No worries mate, all ready when you are! :)
First post is a bit odd from me- an in-medias res intro to Max's home life and his team!
Maxwell Bastion stood outside the briefing room, on his own for a change as he stood with his Pebble in his paw, looking up to the holographic image, the sight of family one that didn't come often, but was one he had to deal with before things stepped up a notch.

In the middle of it all, family life had come back to him for a moment, the tall lion occupied with a video call.

"Look, Talisa, I know....yeah, I know I said I'd be back for Dad's 70th. You know how it is right now though." Max simply commented into his Pebble, the female lioness on the other end of the video call visibly and audibly sighing, as she shrugged. Talisa Bastion was Max's closest sister, her big sis who was probably too much of an influence with him. They played together a lot, and while she got herself together quite quickly, he really didn't.

"And they definitely can't let you go? I mean, c'mon Max, I thought you were seriously going to quit and take some time, do some contractor work, like you said right? Heck, even come work with me? A man of your talents, in a legal environment? You'd clean the place up!" Talisa replied as he sighed, shrugging his own shoulders.

"I signed up again. Can't tell you any details at all. It's a long one."
"Oh, Maxwell Bastion, man of international mystery! So elusive!" The sarcasm was clear from Talisa, as she didn't hide it at all what she felt.
"Oddly enough, sometimes I am one. Sorry, Tal. I can't. Just....pass on my regards, okay? I'll call him if I'm free...it is what it is."

"Bloody hell. Well, you go off to your briefing. For the love of everything don't go getting killed. Mum is worried sick about you as is. Always going away, and with last time, she was really angry."
"And she knows I'll never change. I literally said the same thing to Helen too. This is what I do best...it's how I help the world."
"Right, by coming back with more cuts every time you return home. Yeah well....we all love you anyway, Maxy. I mean that."
"You too, sis. I've got to go....see ya, bye!" With a reciprocation, Max cut the call, turning his gaze to see that he wasn't entirely alone right at the end of that.

The other members of the team were standing not too far away when they came over, the sight of Logan, Maxine and Anna a sight for sore eyes for Max.
"You're still getting shit from your siblings, "Maxy"?" Anna bluntly retorted, to laughter from the others, as Max shrugged once more.

"Yeah, well....it turns out being a special forces soldier when you were meant to use a History degree to go and do something "productive" in society wasn't in the plan?" Max chuckled, making the sarcastic fingers remark as the others chuckled in response.

"Yeah, I suppose. We have a briefing with your new honcho now, yes? This Captain Silverwind Blade, I heard he's a mean bastard." Anna commented, the blunt jaguar probably one of the only people Max demanded to be in his fireteam from day one. Nobody else could work with her, given her overtly blunt and sassy demeanour at times, but Max just loved it. It was almost a foil to him, as he was a foil to her.

"You might get on well with him. I fought with him a few months back. Handy as hell in a GEAR, even without most his limbs. Your type of person, Anna." Max retored, Logan nodding.
"Yeah, I heard of him. Crazy guy. But good at what he does. Looking forward to it." Logan said, Maxine quietly nodding.
"I'm sure we'll all get on. Look at us, back together again. I really hope you haven't signed us up to anything crazy...but thanks for bringing us back into it, Max!" Maxine added, the fact that there were technically two "Max"es on the team meaning Hopper was used much more commonly in response by the rest of the team.

"Pleasure. Let's just keep our heads screwed on, and keep an open mind for what comes next. Not too much, as this shit is serious. What we might be going into is gonna be crazier than that deep recon operation in Galandria." Max added, speaking to all, before Anna stepped up.
"Mr fucking namedrop, are we? "Oh yeah, back when I glided into a mountain base and killed like 20 guys and personally disrupted the Galantrian Guards servers all with a silened pistol, I'm Maxwell fookin' Bastion!" " Anna retorted sarcastically, with an indicated and obvious tease of Max's accent, knowing she enjoyed pissing off Max greatly.

"Shut your mouth....come on everyone, let's go." Max replied with a wry giggle, quickly shutting down the jaguar as he blew her a kiss to her, the jaguar sighing. It was a sarcastic relationship, but man, it worked and kept them both out of trouble.

They headed through the doors of the briefing room, the lion in the lead followed by the black jaguar, red squirrel and the Flemish giant bun, all in their fatigues and looking sharp. Their fatigues were the golden-grey-brown that the 505th Recon had, a special breed designed for grassland and light arid conditions, something that the team liked as their little signature compared to others. Max had gone back to having his farie locks, while Anna had an undercut of sorts, her noir black skin and hair gently pruned back, with her golden spots very tricky to spot in the darkness, whilst glaring a little in the light. Logan had a typically pruned cut, whilst Maxine's big ears poked over a cap she wore, the team medic carrying a sachel with her at nearly all times, almost in the same way Max carried a M8 on him almost by force of habit. Viper Team did not look like your ordinary bunch of special forces soldiers, more like a bunch of scraped together misfits from afar, but Maxwell and his team proved their results on paper every time.

The lion looked over at the desk at the front, giving a nod to Silverwind.
"Greetings, boss. Viper, this is Captain Silverwind Blade. Ghost Hunters unit commander. Captain, this is a band of lunatics I can't believe you managed to get me to bring on board." Max stated, a simple enough introduction and one that he hoped would get the ball rolling, Max comfortable enough to greet his commander with a little more casual tone, whilst the rest of the team held back.
@Silverwind Blade

Love it- quite the variety! Yeah we can add that later down the line.

Sounsd good to me- once the IC's up I'll work a response up with the fireteam.
Awesome stuff. Appreciate all the links/admin put up here. I've put Max and his fireteam in and can extend this out with another more general-purpose team too if needs be.

I'm ready to go when you are!


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