FourtyTwo

Raven Squad: Redux

No worries! I've been mentally dead but am still about! I might prepare a reply tonight / tomorrow :)

Raven Squad: Redux

@DawningAurora

Haha, not as old as a character was in the last. Honestly, 35 is the new 25!

Oh and OOC edits have been made to account for new chars. I'll edit into the sheets shortly :)

I won't keep us too long but I'd like to get the team to meld in and soon enough something will come through, but enjoy the intro :)

Raven Squad: Redux

@VeyrinDay

Sorry for the delay on that one!

Accepted, but with a couple of caveats:

A) I like the idea that she's kinda this ghost, but it's probably worth toning it down a little bit just for reasons of fit (ie I like the concept but it feels to me a little heavy on how it's tailored in). I like the idea of her having this Agent 47 styled background, but it's a little hard to read. I'd kinda want to know why Skye would take a gamble- there has to be a tether of something as likely she had an operation and was basically stripped down into any potential detail to find out what she was, and a willingness into that. That I imagine is where the report detail comes in - she can wonder in from nowhere but it's how she fits into the team from that point forward. That is what I'd be looking for- otherwise it's really hard to account for among other character backgrounds, though I'm ok with a bit of ambiguity of course.

I'd almost imagine in a similar vein to how Tylar (from the last RP) kinda came up as an operator out of a failed, or collapsed programme- and Skye no doubt takes a punt on her as this lost soul who showcases an extraordinary potential in spite of everything with no ties. I'd imagine in spite of the fact the programme was hidden in agenda, it seems like it has ties to a country such as China or South Korea (though wouldn't be touched upon heavily in the RP ofc!). It's only for Skye to comment upon- while it doesn't have to be fixed, it gives a little bit ambiguity to work on that operators like Ghost go rogue and sometimes are picked as diamonds in the rough.

B) Weaponry- great descriptions but do they link into anything real? Those rifles exist so I'll happily take approximations but just so long as mentally you're aware of roughly what that looks like, that's fair and if you're happy (would assume so but thought to ask?)

Raven Squad: Redux

Bam, IC is up! I've set it up so most of the team will be in the rec room, which a general meeting spot for most of the team. I've given a nice little section for the team to bond before we go headlong into things.

We are still open too!

Raven Squad: Redux

Somewhere off the coast of Corsica



They called it La Source. Or in other words, the HQ for Raven Squad, the crystal-clear waters of the Med and the rocky granite-sandstone of the Corsican shore revealing a small island off the big island's mainland itself, like so many here, a beautiful little spot in the setting evening sun.

They called it home more than that, and it was a unique one at that. An old French naval facility built into the side of a cliffside, the base occupied the small island's perimeter but looked striking at that. It was built by the Nazis in the Second World War but found to be of no use for a local naval station after 30 years in service, so was quietly aquired by someone to be put to something else, Skye had to guess. Then most likely passed to Raven Squad as their little base of operations, home for them to use. Remodelled and remade into the home base for a team that might need to be anywhere at a given notice, and so they needed a place that they could call their own. The inner concrete walls were painted a striking white and grey, and looked modern, in spite of the old appearance of the facility.

The facility had five storeys to it, including the cave that the base was built on top of that had the calm water sitting inside it with various boats, and from there, the second storey being the largest with a deep cavern that multi-tasked as a multi-purpose training area, shooting range and armoury for the team. The team's gym was located there, with a cut-off area for the team's heavies, who altogether used equipment that was totally different- kettlebells and concrete blocks that looked more at home to be lifted by forklift rather than by people. The third storey had the team's accomodation, a series of indiviual quarters, the fourth a rec and lounge room with a panoramic view that incorperated a kitchen and bar, and the fifth, well, partly the property of Skye and partly the briefing rooms. The walls were a mix of chiselled stone with concrete built into them, with paint and LED lighting making it seem at least a little brighter.

A large helipad sat at the top of the cliffside, hidden from the sea by a rock formation and a stout lighthouse that lay barren inside, the helipad hosting their V22 Osprey as well as a small hangar-like building that contained a fairly exotic vehicle pool that could be loaded in or taken down onto a boat. The rest of the island wasn't large- it was more a lump of rock in the ocean, maybe a mile squared in size, but it was empty and mostly just rocks and hardy dunes. The small encampment for rotational support staff, ranging from techs for the vehicles and V22, logistics teams and various SIGINT postings finished up La Source as a location on the other side of the island, only on a need to know basis of what was going on.

It was everything an evil genius would love. Lucky the people who wanted to stop those sorts had it to themselves. Any locals or tourists must have thought it was some billionaire's little palace, because nobody would have assumed it made any sense beyond the cove at the bottom and the fancy looking one-way glass of the rec room and well, Raven Squad's team leader.

======================================

1900 Hours

Skye loaded the SIG, the rifle tight in her hands she unloaded rounds down range, the sound of metal plinking from rounds drilling them echoing yet satisfying, the Scot switching from the canted sight to the main magnified optic itself, tailoring it in and letting the rounds fly down range. It was almost a catharsis, the use of her rifle something to take her mind off things, and nearly the end of her day's routine. Admin done, a new rotation of the team in after some previous wetwork, her usual daily run and swim and now something she wanted to catch up on- her rifle's new barrel and optics fitting, something she wanted to get right. And the way she had drilled the metal target, she was happy it was right.

The large German behind her could spot that too.

"You clearly did not need my services today. That is a shame, Frau Lyons."

"Alright, Laura. You might be keen to keep busy. But I'm more than capable." Skye replied with a sultry undertone as she stared at the target, then clearing the chamber and taking the empty mag out, taking the rifle to hand as she turned to see her, barely phased by the large German giantess's prescence, chuckling as she stood right up to her, a thing nobody had the right to do.

"You know, most people need accuracy. But I understand, setting things on fire is just more fun for you, isn't it?" Skye couldn't help but giggle, Laura responding in turn, shrugging her shoulders as she walked over, herself checking the workbench she had, with a large Mk19 grenade launcher heaped atop it, her secondary toy for when she wasn't gonna set people on fire.

"Or just blowing them up. You know, I can shoot straight, just uhhh....well, it just seems like too much work to not cover the area in munitions. Quantity, not quality, ja!" Laura replied, Skye laughing and shaking her head, putting her SIG back into the armoury's lockup, back where her gear was, near her exo and the rest of her combat loadout, availible on short notice. Skye kept quiet for a moment, before turning to Laura again, the Scot wearing a typical navy-blue t-shirt and jeans, sans the ear defenders she'd needed for the range now. She picked up a case next to her weapon store, something else she wanted to take up with her.

"I'm headed to the rec room. You coming along?" Skye asked, the giant German shrugging, herself heading back to another workbench, hauling a large pair of MGs onto it, knowing she had her orders still to finish- as silly as she was, she wasn't gonna disobey Skye, at least, not after last time.

"Nein, I've got some more work to do. Jamie's equipment still need work. I know he loves working on it, but I have a few things to run through. I am a professional, Skye, when you tell me to do something, I..."

"When I last told you to do something, you got into a cardboard box and you nearly choked out Glitch with that hind of yours. And professional...jaysus, Laura, you're literally the opposite." Skye commented in return, chuckling, Laura knowing she had her own reply.

"Well, he must have enjoyed it."

"I don't think he did? Later on." Skye felt more confident in her own reply, and with that, left Laura to her own devices, leaving behind the armoury and heading out, on her way towards the team's rec room.

Stepping into the lift, Skye had the chance to think about the team, and who they were a little. She had a few things to sort, and the rest of the team after their daily jobs would be in the rec room by now, Skye coming in a bit late.

There was Jaguar, or Mateo- a capable, adept infiltrator, the guy she could count on to sneak and wreck havok, with an ability to sabotage, hack and get behind lines like no other operator- yet wasn't a totally cold asswipe.

There was Jamie, or Scion- the son of the legends, not many of whom had really heard the name, but was someone who Skye had no doubts about their ability regarding as a heavy operative, carrying the torch that his parents did. And no doubt no less savage.

There was Xander, or Glitch, an unpredictable, capable hacker who seemed to be a specialist in this modern age of warfare, able to outdo the enemy's electronic warfare and maximise their own. A loose cannon, the sarky comedian of the group, but capable in what he did.

Oh, and Ghost, the....well, she couldn't tell. She was so quiet, so intensely machined she swore behind those eyes was a machine, but no, it was DNA and flesh and blood, the training results said so. An infiltrator with not much heart, but all brain. Perhaps it made her so good at what she did, and Skye didn't want to ask many questions, apart from the mostly redacted report she'd gotten from Oracle.

Then Misa, or Bobi. The team's first mechanised heavy, an opposite world to that of Jamie's platform. A risk to be sure given the history, but someone who probably matched Mateo's will for revenge. Odd that, it almost fuelled people, blowing, blasting, turning shit inside out. Perhaps on their holidays they'd get what they wanted, here, it was business. Mostly.

And last but not least...there was Grayson, or Brazen. A foil, an antithesis to Skye Rosalind Lyons, someone she'd heard about and yet wasn't sure if she'd ever see herself working with, but someone who was the mysterious other on her programme, someone who as much as she respected, was...bloody English as they came.

====

The lift doors opened, and Skye stepped out, the red-haired Scot having her locks tucked into a ponytail, her navy shirt a practical contrast to her blue-coloured jeans and brown trail shoes. She had a certain confidence in the way she walked, a certain aura, the kind of look that very much radiated an energy of casual, yet authority, brewing beneath the surface. Many had taken her short at first looks, many didn't make that mistake. But it came with proving people wrong, and never stopping. She never wished to, and never wanted to stop being involved. The smell of the kitchen was ever so satisfying, as she rounded the corner and came right through.

The rec room was a a spatious, airy lounge with a bar and kitchen in one corner, beanbags, chairs and sofas scattered about and a feeling of generally being opened out. For a small squad that was Raven, it was luxury, and a calming presence as she headed over to the cooler, and finding a bottle, she found hers, in another case that she could draw. The evening sunset sat on the horizon, with Skye breaking the silence.

"So, yous thought I'd just leave you sitting here, wondering about what we'd do. Nae, I got yous something to get chatting. And whoever is making that food....that is simply magnificent." Skye's leadership seemed straight, direct, and yet like any good mum, never too condecending. Not when it didn't need to be, with six glasses on the table.

And the loosener? A '72 Single Malt, Tobermory, Isle of Mull Whisky. A glass of that on the table for her, a gentle wick to start her off, and she felt more in the mood. That and for the rest of the team to have that were coming through, because well, it was the start of the new batch. With that, she opened the other case she'd brought down and quietly got to work with it, which revealed a cherry oak fiddle, an instrument she treasured very much. The chatter was going on but she thought to fill in the blank, and leaning against the wall, she began to find her tune. A Scots instrument that scored home, literally every loch, mountain and valley felt like this had it playing when she was back in her head. A tune she knew might bring a few people in, given the door was open, and get them all together.

Fiddle

For a moment, she wasn't on a Corsican island. She was home, and it always felt like it took the edge off her mental state, a quiet solace that she could sooth into.

Raven Squad: Redux

Laura Zeiss

Name: Laura Anna-Sophia Zeiss

Callsign: Big Bertha

Age: 27

Apperance:

Laura is no way around this word, massive. Standing at over seven foot (7"2), her height is one thing but her power is another. Laura's workout routine has chiseled her and pushing a car over onto its side is small bother to her. Safe to say she's merciless in hand to hand- it's not cardio, but pure power, the sort a strongman would have and what she works on. Yet her like of schnitzel and wurst (the dirty jokes start here) has led to her uhh....how do we put this?

(Volume Warning)

Almost elegantly plump, the shape she has is not a lanky tall giantess but a well-rounded, unit of one. Some people even say they've truly come close to understanding just how vast her....assets are. Those people are lying, because they'd be dead if they got close and got to brag.

Remember, that's without almost 250kg of armour on. We'll get to that bit later.

Her lightly brunette hair is left flowing, and she has gentle blue eyes, as if she wasn't German enough. Her face in spite of her gigantism is relatively normal, charming even. She has a burn along her right cheek, making that much more red than her other side, ironically through a childhood. A tattoo of an Germanic heraldry Eagle is across her shoulder and back, indicative of her roots, the only ink she has chosen to have.

Outside of her armour, Laura seems to have a variety of clothing, often wearing an over-sized T-shirt and jeans, often with a pair of old military boots that are specially made for her- her choices are more limited than the rest of the team but she has plenty of choices nonetheless.

Nationality: German

Skills:

-Armoured Pyro:

Laura can take 12.7mm and even 20mm shots, small arms pinging off her suit like nothing. Taking cover behind her is a good tactic- because she can usually reply to the fire she is taking with more than enough of her own. But even more frighteningly, she can lay waste with fire to areas in front of her. While electricity, plasma or railgun based weaponry might be coming to fore, nothing scares the utter shit out of people than high-octane flamethrower juice, specially tuned by Laura.

-Brute:

Laura is relentless in CQC- she's trained in Krav Maga and to be honest, what she has made work for her to be a bear in a CQC situation. Approaching her as a non-heavy is basically a suicide mission - unless you're good, she's brutal in close quarters and doesn't let up.

-Adaptable

Laura is a tank, when suited-up and a Heavy. But out of the armor, she is still incredibly hard to take out. It would take almost a whole magazine of an AK to stop her dead without body armor she thinks, and she is very, very hard to kill indeed- almost comedically (wonder why..). This, combined with the fact that she has some level of stealth-training when unarmored means that she isn't totally useless at being quiet. Though holy shit, it's an act of comedy in itself. She's not stupid- crazy and disobedient she may be, she knows what it takes to not die and to find other ways to get the job done.

-Combat Engineer:

Laura has a certain type of specialism with explosives and engineering on the battlefield. She has lots, and lots of C4 on her person, putting the "Combat" into Combat Engineering. She has hidden it of course, to stop her from being blown apart if shot- and can pretty much take a small destroyer out with. It does go the other way too- defusing bombs is something she can do, and with a cutaway element of her gloves, she can quickly become the team's EOD. Probably for the best her ass is on the line too, most would argue.

-Armourer:

Laura acts as the team's full time armourer, . The Heavies of the team benefit for a purpose-

--

History:

A daughter to a East German Stasi Colonel.

A grand-daughter to an actual SS Major.

A great-grand-daughter to a mustache-twirling Count in the German Empire.

And probably beyond that, a whole load of people who probably wheeled, dealed and killed people in Saxony for the last thousand years and did so no matter who owned them.

Laura Zeiss's family history is the sort that the more you look at it, the more it might make sense that a German girl who wants to go fight and make her own place in history makes sense. There's some bad motherfuckers in her past, literally.

Yet Laura is so, so much more than that, and from the day she was born, she literally was bigger than that.

Laura was born with a rare genetic disorder that correlates closely to gigantism, albeit without the less debilitating facts. From day one, Laura was told she'd have to work hard to overcome disability. This shaped a lot of her life- she was a flare lit, and told to enjoy life given she'd likely die early. Some would say enjoy a meaningful life, Laura interpreted that as burn as hard as you can, as fast as you can. Sometimes, as she did in her later life, literally.

She was laughed at at the private boarding school she attended in Swizterland that she was sent to by her parents at young age given her abnormality, but would often be able to beat up boys with no fuss at all. When they shredded up her dolls, she only went and burnt down their dorm. Twice. Her love for setting things alight was clear and Laura became feared, not mocked. She worked out and overrid the problems that came with gigantism by basically becoming a gym girl. Pumping iron, and building herself up. She won multiple strongwoman competitions aged 17, at which point she hit seven foot. Few women in history have been that tall, but in spite of that, she stayed relatively under the radar by choice, keeping a close circle of friends. She found herself attracted to both genders, finding that with her size and her freedom to do whatever she liked, she'd have any taste she wanted.

She remained distant from her family throughout, her siblings normal, clever, erudite little boys and girls that would party and have a normal life. Laura knew she'd never have anything like it- and hasn't kept much in contact since leaving. I mean, not a bad idea when your other nickname at school is "Commie Nazi" and Laura was not really either of those things.

Upon finishing school, she went to university in Vienna, Austria. She qualified as an Engineer, believe it or not (okay, it was Chemical Engineering, she wanted to set more shit on fire), and she got directly into the German Army as in logistics and combat engineering. She was a total misfit, but the higher ups realised that she was no good at just fixing things and blowing things up, but doing it virtually alone. Break Health and Safety rules literally in two with her bare hands, make shit happen through fear and some clever welding. A loose cannon but one that was too clever, too capable and too versatile. A few whispers in the intelligence community in Germany and after putting her through an intensive course, she was utillised as a specialist unit. And of course, such a girl could only get one callsign- Big Bertha. The artillery shell that the Allies in WW1 saw make crates like small asteroids in the Somme. She was trained in how to use heavy weaponry, and she made some herself, as well as oddly enough, learning the basics of working quietly when it was needed. Laura sometimes had to burn everything to the ground, but sometimes, for someone of her size, killing quietly is possible. In Laura's wise words, the more questions you ask about the methods a seven foot giantess needs to kill people, the more likely you might be to get them. She worked alone, and trained up on a variety of tactics, learned to depend on herself to get through any firefight. She also ended up being a bit of a craftswoman- engineering, tooling and putting together equipment for herself that she could use in combat.

She was the first recipient of a prototype THICC system, a trial run through EU defense conglomarates that while working on exos that needed a proof of concept for an armoured suit that would be less mechanical and more like a muscle-based system to improve movement. Enter a girl that literally needed heavy armour that fit that purpose- and some back and forth, she got what she wanted, exact to spec. Prior armour programmes focussing on just a giant's strength alone. And well, the rest as they say, is history. Her service record, never disclosed, revealed operations that people thought were entire special forces squad, conducted by just one crazy German. Laura was approached quietly by Skye knowing full well what a team like Raven needed- and that they could augment her ability even further. Giants are incredibly rare, military trained ones that are clever enough to engineer things, even more so. While Skye wished Laura wasn't a crazy, disobedient wildcard, you play the hand you've got before someone like Laura starts thinking of working for anyone with money.

That said, Laura isn't used in combat- she's kept as an ace in the hole, used for operations that require a flamer who can be slightly unpredictable. Rather unusually, Laura works as the team's armourer, and sets up the team's heavies primarily- putting her know-how and engineering talent to good use to also work on other aspects of the team's technical capabilities.

------------

Personality:

If Laura was as volatile as the flame tank she carries into the fight, she'd be blown up a long time ago. A cool collected and very efficient engineering German on one side, a wild, totally freaky girl on the other side, Laura doesn't have boundaries and isn't exactly sane. She is loud, proud, and well, does as she likes- she hates rules and frankly makes her own. While kind and nice to all those around her, it definitely comes across in a very, very odd way- but she cares from a place of heart and understands about doing the right thing. Her ingenuity is different to Skye's- she seems to be resourcesful with tools and can MacGyver things into will, usually in a very chaotic way. What can't be done with that can be done with brute force, and Laura doing violence to appliance with all her size is usually something you run for cover from. She's a great drinking friend, though it may take her a lot, the concequences are frightening of that too. Her pyromania is also quite clear, and it's almost at this point a running gag- if it moves or happens to be not a target, she's setting fire to it unless told not to. The same goes for her drive, hell, even her approach to people, it is manic and disorderly, almost as if all the power has gone to her head a bit. All aside from Skye are going to get some of her manic, oddball personality, whether it be efficient German or the full crazy big girl.

You are guaranteed fun with Laura, but holy shit, it's going to be chaotic and mad.

Tactical Suit:

The Tactical Heavy Intervention and Close Combat, or as everyone who will call it in reality, the THICC suit, is six inches of liquid body armour, nanofiber weave, kevlar and dragonskin plating backed by a titanium and carbon-fiber anti-blast membrane coating, with a loose layer of comfy fire-retardant composite and Nomex at the base. A matt black suit, though the lining is blue velvet, just to make it extra comfy. Built specifically to Laura's standards, among heavy armour suits, it's a unique propostion given it isn't as robotic or squared off, but flowy and curved...accordingly. A layer of actuated muscles help the suit out instead of an exoskeleton, though Laura does most of the lifting. An internal ventilation system airs the suit and stops it becoming as hot as the outside, though it can be battened down to CBRN standards. Armoured up it can take almost all small arms, including .50 and even a handful of 20mm rounds- the gas-mask come helmet less so, but it still offers a high level of protection.

A heavy pair of tactical boots take the weight of the suit, while a pair of heatproof armoured gauntlets woven into the suit keep her cool while using her flamethrower alongside an insulating layer on her front. The suit also has an in-built low-level AI system, built into the suit's gas mask / helmet interface, with an interactive HUD and monitoring software. The gas mask is a full face model, with an highly-armoured core and two classic holes, with a filter (think Pyro). A PDA on her arm helps with anything her blinking and voice commands won't do. A Trophy System helps with stopping projectiles that could turn her into a BBQ on feet, and a mini-missile system for light AT, AA and smoke-screen purposes.

The suit does however, translate the user inside's movements quite directly out across the suit given the liquid-gel content of the armour's anti-blast composition (ie the bit that means she can survive getting blown up). The suit is modelled on her following her proportions, no less, it amplifies it given the armour's depth. Remember what was mentioned above? Your imagination can fill the blanks, ya' filthy animals.

And yes, Laura did ask for that. The logic being, well, it's hardly like anyone outside of her team is going to know, right?

There's no obvious etchings or markings on the suit, but Laura won't tell you what there is unless you ask nicely. Or, find out the hard way...

---

Weapons:

Carried:

Custom-Made Flamethrower + 2x Backpack Fuel Tanks

Shoulder-Mounted:
Trophy System (Left)
Mini-Missile System (Right)

Sidearms:
2x H&K MP7A2s

2x Unica 6 Revolvers

Equipment:

CS Gas Grenades (2x)
V40 Clsuter Frags (2x)

Hobbies: Skydiving, Weightlifting, Strongwoman Comps, Metalworking, Drinking,

Likes: Metal, Classical Music, Spontaniety, Fire, German Beer and Wurst

Dislikes: Boring People, Rules, Paperwork to do with "Collateral Claims", French Beer, IEDs wired in Sudan

Raven Squad: Redux

@Steel Legion

A plus brother, that is a mad CS and I fucking love it. Add it into Characters!

The fact he's educated and English is gonna clash perfectly against Skye- in spite of how similar they are. I can see them having a highly love/hate relationship, and I cannot wait to see that happen.

Man, this RP is coming really nicely along! I'll launch an in character thread shortly but we'll still be open to applications. Got a slot for a Light (M) and potentially a Heavy (F).

Raven Squad: Redux

@BigPapaBelial

Nice character! Odd looking armour but sure, add it in- very interested in this character.

It's probably worth mentioning OOC- Big's char as he says in history is from two characters who are vaguely related to Raven's predecessor (albeit unconfirmed), which itself is something from a 1x1 running for at least 10 years. Really not important but it's a cool easter egg! (ie it's not critical to know for this RP)

Raven Squad: Redux

@DawningAurora

Heavy (F) is availible if that's what you're looking for, yup!

@BigPapaBelial

Heard your idea via PM and it's insane, dooo it

Raven Squad: Redux

@Steel Legion

Sure, no worries! PM me if you can or post here and I'm happy to provide feedback.