Kensai

Shattered Steel - An Ace Combat/Project Wingman/etc inspired aircraft-based RP

Aurélie nudged the throttle on her Rafale just a hair, the roar of its twin Snecma turbofans changing pitch almost as soon as the input came. She hadn't told the rest of the squadron, but the fighter had a name: Milou. And it was as frisky and spirited as its namesake.

Milou edged forward of the other two fighters of the recon section, neither of which were as agile. Reagan's F-117N had its virtues, but nimbleness was not one of them - it depended heavily on its admittedly impressive stealth capabilities for survival and tactical advantage. Peacenik's Hornet, on the other hand... well, it was a good, how do you say, "bomb truck", no? In any case, a leader had to understand the strengths and weaknesses of her followers - so it was time to sort out precise roles.

Aurélie toggled the radio to the section push. "Cobalt Recon, this is Cobalt 3," she said, her voice a thing of smoke and cognac, like the air in a restaurant after the last customer has left and the patron takes a drink and a cigarette with his brigade. "Cobalt 4, you have the best stealth profile, so you are taking point. We will deactivate Link 16 to preserve low observability until positive contact has been made with the enemy. I will follow echelon right and high to provide top cover for you. Cobalt 5... you are in trail, keep your eyes peeled and be ready to deliver ordnance once we've tagged targets for you."

She gave the section half a minute to shake out into the formation she'd described. Unorthodox, but since when did a mercenary squadron have the luxury of playing by the book?

"Exquisite," she said when they were in place, half sincerely. The others had genuinely impressed her with the intelligence and precision with which they'd taken up position. "Now - we are mostly here to be eyes and ears, not as trigger pullers. But if it comes time to open up, we do it quick and decisive, no half measures. Maximum violence in minimum time."

That, too, was one of her principles.

@AvaP @Smike

Calling All Heroes and Villains!

Violet Lightning

Name: Kisaragi Mika 如月美香

Alias: Violet Lightning / Shiden / 紫電

Alignment: Hero

Powers/Abilities: Mika is able to sense, generate and manipulate electromagnetic fields. The most dramatic application of this ability is her "Left-hand Shot", named for how she literally uses Fleming's Left-hand Rule and induced Lorenz forces to accelerate a small ferrous projectile to velocities in the vicinity of 2,500 m/s (approximately Mach 8, or hypersonic). She carries a little bag of ball bearings for this purpose, which she can also use for other applications, including as a simple sap. For close-in work, she has a pair of kunai throwing daggers connected to wristbands with thin steel cable, with which she can deliver taser-type shocks. Defensively, she can put up an electromagnetic shield that works against EM radiation and ferrous metals. When she wants to go more subtle , she is capable of reading and controlling electrical signals, for example those of RFID or credit card mag strips. She also gets great mobile reception and never wants for wi-fi.
Mundane skills: Genius-level intellect - For all she acts ditzy and brash, Mika has a mind like a steel trap. She is extremely intelligent, with particular ability in higher mathematics and physics. She is also quite good at problem-solving, especially when it involves her powers.
Streetrunning - Unlike many other supers who rely on their powers exclusively, Mika's quite aware that her more mundane abilities can make all the difference in a dangerous situation. She has actively practiced the art of moving efficiently in an urban environment, and does so quite well. Of course, she also gets an edge from using induced EM forces on the metal inserts in her costume to give her a boost here and there....
Knife wielding - Similarly, you never know when being able to use a knife might be useful. Mika can throw her kunai quite accurately, and also use them in close combat. Again, she's not beyond using her powers to cheat a little, but even without them she is far from helpless.

Weaknesses: While Mika's meta-ability is potentially very powerful, it is limited by a couple of factors. Firstly, she isn't intrinsically immune to the forces that she generates; while she can balance them with her power, it requires precise and careful control to make sure that she doesn't, for example, accidentally blow her own fingers off while performing her "Left-hand Shot". This tends to put a cap on how much force she can generate, and how quickly she can perform different tasks with her ability. It also means that she can go really, really big if she's willing to risk injury or collateral damage....
Secondly, while she can tap into and manipulate EM spectrum signals such as wi-fi, she has the neural bandwidth of a normal human being, if a gifted one. She's very intelligent, but she can only handle so much information at a time. She's thus normally dependent on a device such as a smartphone or laptop to process the data. So she can boost signals, or jam or warp them, or other such relatively brute-force applications, but (for example) editing herself out of a video feed would be beyond her capabilities.

Personality: Mika goes out of her way to go against the stereotype of the Asian woman - she's loud, brash, crass, flashy, ditzy. It's not all an act. She really is quite absent-minded; but she's also intelligent, kind, and generous. She used to be very insecure, so she learned to put up a front that allowed her to choose who she would interact with, and to preempt people judging her. Of course, what counts as brash and crass in Japan is fairly normal extroverted behaviour in America, so she fits in fine.

Background: Mika's powers manifested quite subtly. It was only in middle school that her teachers realised that the dreamy, absent-minded girl could generate EM radiation. This came as quite a surprise to her parents, who were normies to the point of caricature. All of a sudden Mika was different.
She'd never felt quite right about being part of the normal flow of life, and discovering her powers set her free in ways beyond the power itself. It seemed to turn a switch on in her head - she understood now that she didn't really much care what people thought of her, so she could just be herself and do whatever she wanted.
Which was, apparently, to be a gyaru.
Of course, she's actually a little bit more introspective than that. She feels like she ought to be a role model for kids, to show them that what's important isn't what society thinks of you but what you can do for yourself and the people around you. That's what heroes should be - the best version of themselves. And that's what people should aspire to, rather than being beaten into a mould. That's what inspired her to become Violet Lightning.
And then, of course, she ran into her biggest nemesis: Bureaucracy Man! Not even kidding - there's a mascot for the civil service who has the power to process information really quickly, with photographic memory (his weakness is that he doesn't necessarily understand what he's read, so he may not be able to grasp its relevance....) In any case, the state wanted her powers registered, and for her to apply for permits for all the possible applications of her powers, and undergo a multi-year apprenticeship under established heroes....
So Mika noped out to all of that, and applied to do her postgraduate studies at the Nova Institute of Technology, the best STEM school in America and a partner with alma mater Handai, the University of Osaka. If she got into the hero game while she was in Nova City, that would be fine, right?

Appearance: Mika has a lot of looks, but as a gyaru she's almost always flamboyant and flashy, with loads of accessories and a shock of bright pink hair. Physically she's quite lithe and petite, but visually she takes up a lot of room.
She uses a special hair dye that turns jet-black and has contacts that go blue when a current is passed through them, so when she's "on the job" she looks very different from usual.


Affiliations: None as yet.

Motivations: Doing her own thing, being a role model, protecting the weak.

Relationships: Mika's mostly on her own in Nova City, although as an outgoing, vivacious young woman she's made her share of casual friends; she hasn't let anyone closer into her confidence yet, and has no plans to. She does have an academic mentor, a Professor Siddarth at NIT, who's a close friend of her Handai mentor Dr. Konoe Satori. Prof Siddarth is grumpy and somewhat stuck in his ways, so he gets a bit flustered by Mika's antics, but he's every bit as kind and generous as she is deep down and they click on that account.

Base of Operations: As a grad student, Mika has scored a private rental apartment in a university-owned housing development.

Signature Gear: Bag of BBs, pair of kunai, smartphone, laptop, "Frankencomp" - a portable processor unit running on a Raspberry Pi with a dozen additional AI chips soldered on, used for processing data in custom fashion on the fly. Costume has metal inserts to augment powers.

Public Perception: As a new hero on the block, Violet Lightning is little known at the moment.

Combat Style: Sneaky and cunning. Mika knows she's a glass cannon despite her shields, so she prefers to work from a distance, sniping or otherwise using her powers to futz around with the opposition's plans.

Calling All Heroes and Villains!

Do... do we have a Knight Saber in the house?

There's gonna be a hurricane tonight!

Seriously though, Lilah and Mika might make a good pair. One might even say... a dirty pair.

Calling All Heroes and Villains!

Well, here's my little packet of electrons.

The grad student

Name: Kisaragi Mika 如月美香

Alias: Violet Lightning / Shiden / 紫電

Alignment: Hero

Powers/Abilities: Mika is able to sense, generate and manipulate electromagnetic fields. The most dramatic application of this ability is her "Left-hand Shot", named for how she literally uses Fleming's Left-hand Rule and induced Lorenz forces to accelerate a small ferrous projectile to velocities in the vicinity of 2,500 m/s (approximately Mach 8, or hypersonic). She carries a little bag of ball bearings for this purpose, which she can also use for other applications, including as a simple sap. For close-in work, she has a pair of kunai throwing daggers connected to wristbands with thin steel cable, with which she can deliver taser-type shocks. Defensively, she can put up an electromagnetic shield that works against EM radiation and ferrous metals. When she wants to go more subtle , she is capable of reading and controlling electrical signals, for example those of RFID or credit card mag strips. She also gets great mobile reception and never wants for wi-fi.
Mundane skills: Genius-level intellect - For all she acts ditzy and brash, Mika has a mind like a steel trap. She is extremely intelligent, with particular ability in higher mathematics and physics. She is also quite good at problem-solving, especially when it involves her powers.
Streetrunning - Unlike many other supers who rely on their powers exclusively, Mika's quite aware that her more mundane abilities can make all the difference in a dangerous situation. She has actively practiced the art of moving efficiently in an urban environment, and does so quite well. Of course, she also gets an edge from using induced EM forces on the metal inserts in her costume to give her a boost here and there....
Knife wielding - Similarly, you never know when being able to use a knife might be useful. Mika can throw her kunai quite accurately, and also use them in close combat. Again, she's not beyond using her powers to cheat a little, but even without them she is far from helpless.

Weaknesses: While Mika's meta-ability is potentially very powerful, it is limited by a couple of factors. Firstly, she isn't intrinsically immune to the forces that she generates; while she can balance them with her power, it requires precise and careful control to make sure that she doesn't, for example, accidentally blow her own fingers off while performing her "Left-hand Shot". This tends to put a cap on how much force she can generate, and how quickly she can perform different tasks with her ability. It also means that she can go really, really big if she's willing to risk injury or collateral damage....
Secondly, while she can tap into and manipulate EM spectrum signals such as wi-fi, she has the neural bandwidth of a normal human being, if a gifted one. She's very intelligent, but she can only handle so much information at a time. She's thus normally dependent on a device such as a smartphone or laptop to process the data. So she can boost signals, or jam or warp them, or other such relatively brute-force applications, but (for example) editing herself out of a video feed would be beyond her capabilities.

Personality: Mika goes out of her way to go against the stereotype of the Asian woman - she's loud, brash, crass, flashy, ditzy. It's not all an act. She really is quite absent-minded; but she's also intelligent, kind, and generous. She used to be very insecure, so she learned to put up a front that allowed her to choose who she would interact with, and to preempt people judging her. Of course, what counts as brash and crass in Japan is fairly normal extroverted behaviour in America, so she fits in fine.

Background: Mika's powers manifested quite subtly. It was only in middle school that her teachers realised that the dreamy, absent-minded girl could generate EM radiation. This came as quite a surprise to her parents, who were normies to the point of caricature. All of a sudden Mika was different.
She'd never felt quite right about being part of the normal flow of life, and discovering her powers set her free in ways beyond the power itself. It seemed to turn a switch on in her head - she understood now that she didn't really much care what people thought of her, so she could just be herself and do whatever she wanted.
Which was, apparently, to be a gyaru.
Of course, she's actually a little bit more introspective than that. She feels like she ought to be a role model for kids, to show them that what's important isn't what society thinks of you but what you can do for yourself and the people around you. That's what heroes should be - the best version of themselves. And that's what people should aspire to, rather than being beaten into a mould. That's what inspired her to become Violet Lightning.
And then, of course, she ran into her biggest nemesis: Bureaucracy Man! Not even kidding - there's a mascot for the civil service who has the power to process information really quickly, with photographic memory (his weakness is that he doesn't necessarily understand what he's read, so he may not be able to grasp its relevance....) In any case, the state wanted her powers registered, and for her to apply for permits for all the possible applications of her powers, and undergo a multi-year apprenticeship under established heroes....
So Mika noped out to all of that, and applied to do her postgraduate studies at the Nova Institute of Technology, the best STEM school in America and a partner with alma mater Handai, the University of Osaka. If she got into the hero game while she was in Nova City, that would be fine, right?

Appearance: Mika has a lot of looks, but as a gyaru she's almost always flamboyant and flashy, with loads of accessories and a shock of bright pink hair. Physically she's quite lithe and petite, but visually she takes up a lot of room.
She uses a special hair dye that turns jet-black and has contacts that go blue when a current is passed through them, so when she's "on the job" she looks very different from usual.


Affiliations: None as yet.

Motivations: Doing her own thing, being a role model, protecting the weak.

Relationships: Mika's mostly on her own in Nova City, although as an outgoing, vivacious young woman she's made her share of casual friends; she hasn't let anyone closer into her confidence yet, and has no plans to. She does have an academic mentor, a Professor Siddarth at NIT, who's a close friend of her Handai mentor Dr. Konoe Satori. Prof Siddarth is grumpy and somewhat stuck in his ways, so he gets a bit flustered by Mika's antics, but he's every bit as kind and generous as she is deep down and they click on that account.

Base of Operations: As a grad student, Mika has scored a private rental apartment in a university-owned housing development.

Signature Gear: Bag of BBs, pair of kunai, smartphone, laptop, "Frankencomp" - a portable processor unit running on a Raspberry Pi with a dozen additional AI chips soldered on, used for processing data in custom fashion on the fly. Costume has metal inserts to augment powers.

Public Perception: As a new hero on the block, Violet Lightning is little known at the moment.

Combat Style: Sneaky and cunning. Mika knows she's a glass cannon despite her shields, so she prefers to work from a distance, sniping or otherwise using her powers to futz around with the opposition's plans.

Calling All Heroes and Villains! Join Our Custom Superhero Roleplay World!

I'm interested if it's advanced, not so much casual.

Star Wars - Fires of Exaron [5BBY]

Space elf shinobi

Name: Silvi Toth
Species: Sephi
Age: 47
Appearance:

My Hider

Equipment:
CS14 "Ghost" light blaster pistol
Light stealth armour
Electrobinoculars
2 x stun grenade
Stealth vibroknife
Death sticks, Algarine torve weed
Infiltration package - vid-vox scrambler, com jammer, scramble key, electronic lock breaker, 5 dataspikes, disguise kit
Skills:
Infiltration - The proverbial shadow in the night, Silvi is one of the best sneaks around. There aren't many places she can't get into with a little planning and prep work.
Manipulator - As part of infiltration, Silvi is also really, really good at getting people to lend her a hand or turn a blind eye; as good as it gets without resorting to Jedi Mind Tricks.
Knife in the darkness - While not a frontline soldier, Silvi has become quite good over the years at making people stop breathing. When she closes in on an unsuspecting target, she kills quickly, quietly, efficiently, and with no trace of mercy.
Weaknesses: Silvi is a fairly heavy user of mood altering substances, and can get gloomy and depressive when she has to go without them.
History: Silvi Toth was a civilian "contractor" for the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Sephi, serving at the pleasure of His Majesty King Alaric - in return for a blanket pardon for certain offences against the throne that have since been expunged from the records. By all (admittedly spotty) accounts she proved a highly useful asset, especially once the Sephi threw in their lot with the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
The Republic despatched a clone army against the Sephi under Jedi Master Yoda. Peace talks broke down and King Alaric was murdered by Yoda, a treacherous act that threw the Kingdom into confusion and allowed the Republic to grind the Kingdom's forces under the heels of its clone troopers.
When the Republic threw off its mask and became the Empire, the Sephi were neither surprised nor impressed. The remnants of their forces went to ground and began to form resistance cells against the Empire; at the time of the incident, Toth had been attached to a unit working beside a Separatist Special Forces regiment called the Invisible Hand. With nowhere else to be and no-one to answer to in the wake of King Alaric's murder, Toth began to work with and for the Separatists. Colonel Ruun was well aware of her particular set of skills, and has ensured that she has stayed as well rewarded and supplied as he can afford. This has proven to be a sound investment over the years.

Shards of the World(D&D/Hunter X Hunter Inspired)

Xu Wanjun

O V E R V I E W

N A M E
Xu Wanjun

A G E
19

G E N D E R
Female

A P P E A R A N C E

Image

P E R S O N A L I T Y
Wanjun is quietly charming, an enigmatic smile ever playing on her lips. She's graceful and knowing beyond her years, and her gently whispered words all too often hide a stinging insight.

B A C K S T O R Y
Wanjun hails from the sprawling lower districts of Karahar, the de facto capital of the Empress Dowager's faction. She doesn't talk about her childhood, but it cannot have been easy; the first mention of her name in official records is in a bill of sale - as the goods. Someone, possibly her parents, had sold her rights to a house of ill repute.

On slavery in Jianghu

While slavery is officially banned across Jianghu, there is little to prevent the trading of specific rights and duties of a person. In practice, this commonly results in a state of indentured labour hardly distinguishable from chatteldom.

Surprisingly, things turned out relatively well for the young Wanjun. Her natural grace and beauty had caught the eye of the brothel-keeper, a Madam Wu, and she was trained as a dancer and entertainer, to be groomed to become a courtesan. This gave her "first night" a certain value, to be auctioned off to a discerning client. This value would grow with her popularity, so it was in Madam Wu's interests to educate the girl and keep her in the best of condition until the big day came.
Fate, of course, turned things upside down for Madam Wu and Wanjun, just as it did for many others. The death of the emperor and the Dowager's seizure of power represented an even greater opportunity for both - the Dowager was looking for persons of talent, and did not shy from trawling the gutters in the hope of finding pearls. Her agents brought word of a young courtesan, highly intelligent and charming, a brilliant poet, and a musician of no small water. Before long Wanjun was receiving a distinguished visitor, no less a personage than the poet laureate Li Taibai, who presented her with a letter, a commission, and a small jade amulet - the last a symbol of Imperial favour. For Madam Wu, a promissory note that more than covered her entire investment in Wanjun, enough to buy off the staff of the entire brothel... and a gentle but firm warning to forget any and all claims to the girl.
After a surprisingly long and frankly terrifying audience, Wanjun now finds herself en route to the Academy in Arnmange City, herself now an agent of the Dowager Empress.

S T R E N G T H S
Wanjun is a brilliant scholar, as Jianghu culture defines it - accomplished in the "four arts" of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and especially learned in poetry. She is also a captivating dancer and a charming dinner companion.

F L A W S
Wanjun is a lithe, petite woman - which means that, despite impressive strength and endurance for her size, she will come off much the worst in a physical confrontation. For all her charm, she also has a temper - which manifests as a cold, calculating, vicious fury that is hard to slake. She will remember every slight, every grudge, and not think a decade too long to avenge it.

A T T R I B U T E S

C L A S S
Bard would be the closest equivalent, or a Dancer in Three Emblems.

P R O F E S S I O N
Courtesan

A B I L I T I E S
Wanjun is almost always coolly elegant, but on the rare occasion that she allows her inner rage to flash in her eyes, it's been known to shrivel testicles at thirty paces.
She also has the ability to drink a dockworker under the table, having developed impressive alcohol tolerance and more than a few tricks over the years.

E Q U I P M E N T
Aside from the trappings of a classical scholar (including brush, ink, inkstone, and paper, as well as zither and flute), Wanjun bears the aforementioned amulet. Showing this to an Imperial official is equivalent to their being in the presence of the Dowager Empress herself; disobeying the commands of the bearer is tantamount to treason - and Imperial officials are all too keenly aware of the varied and exquisite punishments for all the varying shades of offence.

N E N
Wanjun is a manipulator, who will express her nen through her arts, particularly dance. She will play upon hearts and minds, causing all to do as she wills.

N O T E S

Wanjun uses 0072bc.

Shards of the World(D&D/Hunter X Hunter Inspired)

Interested.

Star Wars - Fires of Exaron [5BBY]

Space elf shinobi

Name: Silvi Toth
Species: Sephi
Age: 47
Appearance:

My Hider

Equipment:
CS14 "Ghost" light blaster pistol
Light stealth armour
Electrobinoculars
2 x stun grenade
Stealth vibroknife
Death sticks, Algarine torve weed
Infiltration package - vid-vox scrambler, com jammer, scramble key, electronic lock breaker, 5 dataspikes, disguise kit
Skills:
Infiltration - The proverbial shadow in the night, Silvi is one of the best sneaks around. There aren't many places she can't get into with a little planning and prep work.
Manipulator - As part of infiltration, Silvi is also really, really good at getting people to lend her a hand or turn a blind eye; as good as it gets without resorting to Jedi Mind Tricks.
Knife in the darkness - While not a frontline soldier, Silvi has become quite good over the years at making people stop breathing. When she closes in on an unsuspecting target, she kills quickly, quietly, efficiently, and with no trace of mercy.
Weaknesses: Silvi is a fairly heavy user of mood altering substances, and can get gloomy and depressive when she has to go without them.
History: Silvi Toth was a civilian "contractor" for the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Sephi, serving at the pleasure of His Majesty King Alaric - in return for a blanket pardon for certain offences against the throne that have since been expunged from the records. By all (admittedly spotty) accounts she proved a highly useful asset, especially once the Sephi threw in their lot with the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
The Republic despatched a clone army against the Sephi under Jedi Master Yoda. Peace talks broke down and King Alaric was murdered by Yoda, a treacherous act that threw the Kingdom into confusion and allowed the Republic to grind the Kingdom's forces under the heels of its clone troopers.
When the Republic threw off its mask and became the Empire, the Sephi were neither surprised nor impressed. The remnants of their forces went to ground and began to form resistance cells against the Empire; at the time of the incident, Toth had been attached to a unit working beside a Separatist Special Forces regiment called the Invisible Hand. With nowhere else to be and no-one to answer to in the wake of King Alaric's murder, Toth began to work with and for the Separatists. Colonel Ruun was well aware of her particular set of skills, and has ensured that she has stayed as well rewarded and supplied as he can afford. This has proven to be a sound investment over the years.

Spearhead: A modern/near future Special Forces RP (Closed to new applications)

Ah, sad that all this happened while I was busy/asleep. Have fun though!