Krayzikk

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

You doing okay?

@Raineh Daze

Dunno if this was directed at me, but if it was I'm doing okay. Just busy. Haven't been in school in a while and it's a bunch at once. Still figuring out how to schedule course work and keep up a posting schedule.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Mentions/Interactions: @VitaVitaAR @Crimson Paladin @PaulHaynek

Nicomede was furious, if he'd had the time to really feel it.

All that power, and all he seemed to do was run away. He had Jarde now and a long detached, dormant instinct came to life anew. Like an ember fanned, a dislocated limb popping into place, or a crossbow bolt locked in. A realignment of body and mind in an instant. There was a young man in danger, a comrade, and he could do something about it. Hatred of evil was a powerful motivator, a reason to fight all its own, but the protection of a peer? That was the goal of a Mayonite, surely. That was the goal that had lead him to his disgrace, and he would make the choice again, and again, and again because the consequences were worth the lives he saved.

Sir Jarde deserved no less.

He abandoned the disruption; not because it could not work, it had clearly slowed down his regeneration, but because the monster simply had so much more strength to burn. Without the chance to exploit the disruption he was simply throwing energy into an abyss. But that meant he was free to do as Sir Fleuri asked; when the jar grew close enough he muttered the word again and it shattered, spraying the water at Jarde. And with any luck it would ruin the vampire's day, too.

Nicomede himself charged, seeking to bring the monster into range and keep him there. His spada and his off dagger were both kept in close, ready to strike or defend as the opportunity arose.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

<Snipped quote by Krayzikk>

krayzikk's iliad director's cut where the wrong guy gets achilles' armor

@Plank Sinatra

Oh, same difference. Ajax, Odysseus, Achilles, whatever!

<Snipped quote by Plank Sinatra>
If we ever do get to the point of upgrading, I like to imagine that the Ajax receiving better armor on par with the Achilles is one of the options, heh.

@Hawthorne

We'll get there. Snow and Caasicam would both tear off an arm and beat me with the wet end if I let the game die before then.

Halim

Name: Halim
Gender: Male
Age: 24, chronologically older.
Appearance:

appearance

Personality: Halim is a sweetly tempered young man and very eager to please, to a decidedly unhealthy degree. If he's ever learned to say no to someone, he certainly has never exercised that skill. He doesn't seem to shy away from his past and often thinks people are a little strange when they react with horror or disgust about it. After all, the BTF was everything to him up to this point, why would they ever do anything to hurt him?

While he wont admit it, he is terrified of not being useful. So when he's behind the controls of an Orbital he falls into a strange zen like panic, anxiously jerking and flitting about the controls with a fevered grace that few can match. While always glad to help; he rarely accepts any amount of credit due to him, either thinking himself not really worthy of the praise or attributing it to the actions of another pilot. Largely, this seems to be a result of Halim considering himself not as a person, but as equipment.

Backstory: Halim was born among the Bratox Trade Flotilla(a politically independent fleet of trade vessels that had grown to dominate the trade routes through the asteroid belt between the inner and outer systems) to the non-critical renewable labor caste. Like most children in the BTF Halim was raised in the communal education centers, where in he was tirelessly drilled on the various jobs he could be asked to perform upon reaching reproductive viability as well as reminding them all for how thankful they should be to the BTF for providing them with their existence for only a nominal annual fee. Halim took to his lessons well showing exceptional aptitude in simulated Orbital operation and astronavigation. At 15, after passing his provisional exams, he was finally deemed competent enough to enter the BTF's labor force and was swiftly assigned to Field Asset Protection.

Halim considered the years he spent with Field Asset Protection to be very fulfilling, if perhaps a little dull. In theory, most F.A.P Orbital pilots where armed deterrents for piracy, but that never really held up with Halim's experience. Most pirates wouldn't bother with targeting BTF ships and what few that where dumb enough to try normally shot down long before they came within his weapon range. In truth most of the time was spent using his orbital to block or destroy potentially damaging debris from hitting any freighter he was escorting or racing through the belt at what were (for any other pilot than BTFs finest!) near suicidal speeds to do more of the same.

Halim would have been happy to remain like this until the day he was euthanized, but the Pandora Expedition put an end to that. He along with three other high performing pilots from the F.A.P where 'generously donated' to the project with shiny new Orbitals to match, though for what reason he did not know. Still, his was not a place to question and now, as he blinks the last vestiges of cryosleep from his eyes, he is eager to make himself useful to his new owners.
Skills:

Space Ace: Having lived his whole piloting career in space, Halim can fly in zero gravity and high orbit with a grace and speed that would impress even veteran pilots. More over, there is no pilot that could hope to match his pace in a debris field no matter their experience.

Astral Navigator: Halim is able to astronavigate, a somewhat outdated skill set given modern instrumentation and automated navigation computers. However, one never knows when instruments fail.

Absolute Loyalty: Halim is ready and willing to follow any order given to him to the letter with a happy smile! Neither fear nor ego cloud his judgement, making him an ideal wingman.

A Tool that Knows its Tools: Halim has never piloted an Orbital that wasn't a Casket. This familiarity makes him and other F.A.P pilots uniquely suited to handling their more finicky systems, even without instrumentation for aid. Additionally, he can diagnose issues with his Orbital from sound and feel alone.

Flaws:
Combat Novice: While Halim's piloting is certainly good, his combat experience is frankly laughable. He'll need a firm guiding hand and some time before he'll be considered a true combat pilot.

Space Case: Halim has some serious gaps in his knowledge base. He is barely able to read beyond a 5th grade level or perform math beyond firing calculations. He has no familiarity with any political or social norms beyond the BTFs.

Gravity!?: Halim has never been planet side, nor has he ever piloted within an atmosphere. Expect a radial display of under performance under such conditions.

Absolute Loyalty: Halim will HAPPILY follow ANY order given to him by those he perceives to own him. This includes the entire expedition currently. Even those who might abuse that power.

Equipment: He has a standard issue flight suit with helmet and a BTF uniform (pictured above). He owns nothing else, not even blankets or pillows for his bunk. Surely if he needed those things someone would have given them to him....right?

Casket

Model Number: Cerbain Security Corp model, CSC-37. Aka, The Casket.

Role: Deep Space Escort, Mid Range Variable Combat

Appearance: Halim's Casket is 20.6 meters tall with the stock 'Lunar Landing' paint option, and only can be differentiated from the other BTF provided Orbitals by the operator number on the shoulder.

Hider

Systems:
Cerbain Optimized Power Suite: Cerbain is noted for having a certain level of care for their customers...which is to say absolutely none at all. This power suite heavily optimizes weapon and defensive systems while effectively gutting life support, climate control, and all other 'none vital' systems to their barest minimums.

Shahmaran Thruster Suite MK 3.3: A highly tuned thruster suite exclusive to the Casket Series that priorities control and tight maneuvering over all else. Many old school pilots consider this suite, and this suite alone, to be the reason to get a casket and the latest version does NOT disappoint.
Weapons:
Persephone Shield Emitter Array: The one true piece of innovation to come standard with a Csc-37. The PSE is a fantastic defensive option for both the Orbital and its escort, allowing the pilot to form large and sturdy hard light barriers effective against both kinetic and energy weapons. However, due to its rather large energy demand, it cannot be run in concurrently with weapon systems.
Isurugi Heavy Industries 50mm Rotary Cannon: Mounted in the shoulder weapons compartment. A bog standard option.
X Corp Beam rifle: Mounted in Shoulder weapons compartment. A high intensity Beam rifle still in service at the time of the Caskets initial release. While many swear by this weapon, citing its excellent accuracy and energy efficiency, it has a noted lack of penetration or stopping power compared to more 'modern' beam weapons.
2x Cerbain TCK-B: Tactical Combat Knife-Beam Variant. A short cost effective beam weapon directly mounted to the upper arms, just before the wrist. While their cutting powered can't be argued, CQC with this Orbital has been noted to be more akin to fist fighting than anything else.
Manufacturing History: Cerbain Security Corp is an Orbital manufacture that believes in building BY the numbers so they can build IN the numbers. They are less known for their innovation and more for their ability to field large orders of Orbitals quickly and inexpensively without compromising on (reasonable) quality. They have, and always will be, leaders in making infantry fodder machines, thus why their most famous series ended up with the nick name "The Casket".
Still, the 37 does its job and damned if it doesn't do it well, able to fill any role within a team and provide a slight defensive edge.
Weaknesses: Like many previous entries in the Casket series, lack of specialization and an over focus on economy HURTS this Orbital more than anything. It also suffers from having to commit to going on the offensive or defensive, unable to spare the energy for both DESPITE having its none critical systems gutted. A less talked about, but still present, issue is the shoulder mount being the only platform for body mounted weapons and creating a blindspot on the pilots left side.

I am very tired and this took a great deal of time. But...have a very soft boi if you all are still accepting. Let me know if there are any issues you want me to change.

@ghastlyInc

Absolutely still accepting, and looks good! You can move him to the Character tab, and just have him launch when you post.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

As a heads-up, the Ajax likely has no way of detecting the anomalies on its own, but thanks to the Diomedes ITU, Holden's likely receiving sensor information from both the Bedwyr and the Odysseus-- potentially from the Voyager and the Outrider as well, though I don't know how much relevant info they're receiving from their systems. So long as someone has info from their sensors, and is marked as a friendly by the Ajax, the share of information is certainly possible.

That being said, I'll see if I can't put up a reply soon enough.

@Hawthorne

So, I'm going to be totally honest with you.

It was ten o'clock at night and I was powering through a huge migraine. That 100% was supposed to say "Odysseus" and I fucked up my Greek heroes for a second there. I'll fix that.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

GM IC:

The LZ wasn't much to look at.

An expanse of uneven, loose shifting soil expanded before the descending pilots. Sensors could pick up vegetation just at the edge of visual range, the band of life that bordered one of the planet's sources of water. But the coordinates were very specific; their target was this spot halfway between that band of life and harsh desert. The ground was firm enough to support the landing Orbitals, but their feet sank a short distance every time they took a step. Digging in it wouldn't be too hard.

The shuttle ferrying the scientists down proceeded towards the surface, safely nestled roughly in the middle of the pilots that had sortied.

One thing the area didn't lack for was wind; the uppermost, loosest layer of the ground shifted easily in the breeze, but most of their sensors returned very little. Except, perhaps, for those of Bedwyr and Odysseus; it wasn't obvious, and even if it had been it might have taken a careful look to make anything of. But it was just strange enough for their sensors to throw as an observation, something that didn't quite match; the whole LZ seemed to have a multitude of heat sources under the ground, just a little too warm for their surroundings and overlapping at random intervals.

Its first escorts safely at the zone, the shuttle landed towards the center of the LZ.

***

Voyager stomped, louder than most of its counterparts, towards the second catapult. The spires atop its shoulders folded forward while it maneuvered, both to fit more comfortably inside the launcher and to align their emitters for planet fall. Its feet slotted into place, magnets securing her to their surface. Voyager leaned forward, much the same way Artemie herself did, distributing most of its weight opposite the direction its inertia would want to take it. She had only ever carrier launched once or twice, but she remembered the recommendations.

Actually entering the atmosphere was something she had to think about.

<<Isra.>> She announced, the timing sequence appearing on her screen as operations initiated the countdown. It was an old custom to announce your launch, something from decades before she was born. She'd been pretty cheeky about it before. 'Be right back', 'see you soon', and she'd really gotten a lecture when she decided it'd be funny to be more colorful. But it was important this time. She felt it the same way she had felt when she looked at Voyager for the first time and knew what she would need to write on it. Sometimes you needed to make a statement.

<<Voyager, taking off. Let's introduce ourselves.>>

Operations handed off timing control and Artemie was pushed hard into her seat as the rails shot her forward, even more when she fired Voyager's thrusters at the end of the line. Pyxis' grays gave way to the black of space and then that blue and brown marble filled her gaze.

Her trajectory already had her on a nearly least time course towards the LZ, but she deviated just a little while she tested her mobility. Voyager flowed left and right, up and down, making a single lazy rotation on its vertical axis. Everything checked out. The Lunite flicked a switch to warm up the G-Aegis, but she knew it wasn't strictly necessary. She helped write the manual on the system, and she'd been paying close attention when the X Corp tech walked her through its use during reentry. The barrier projected in front of her would increase her aerodynamics breaking into the atmosphere, and her own flight capabilities would let her minimize friction. It'd get a little toasty, but nothing even worth noting.

"Starlight, you're flying backup. We won't need the boosters."

"Yes, ma'am." The computer answered promptly, managing to imply the 'obviously' left off of the end. Or maybe that was Artemie's imagination. But it was obvious, and only her excitement (and nerves, not that she'd admit it) made her reiterate it.

And they were hitting atmo in three... two... one...

The Aegis flared, purple light enveloped in the dull red of friction-tinted light. The colors were magnificent from inside the cockpit and she wished for a second she could have seen them from outside. But the moment was brief, and the Aegis shut back down at exactly the correct time. No need to waste the energy now that she'd made the transition.

<<Coming in overhead. Well boys and girls, anyone seen Adam and Eve?>>

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

Posts incoming tonight, but I wanted to drop the ship writeup here for you all before I put it into the Char tab for reference.

AS-01 Pandora

The AS-01 Pandora is, so far, a vessel completely unique. Its engineers invented the designation “Advance Ship” for its use, and though a broader Pandora-class had been theorized none had been slated for commissioning at launch. The Pandora is strictly the name of the composite vessel composed of a central ship and the additional Colony Module that supports it. The CM lengthens the ship by 100m and more than that broadens it by at least half, though it tapers down about halfway up the length of its core ship. It’s not accurate to say that the CM attaches to its stern, the truth is that the central vessel slots into it until the CM ends roughly midship. Numerous bolts hold it in place and a multitude of airlocks join the two almost seamlessly from the interior.

The Colony Module itself is meant to be reconfigured as a permanent orbital, or planet-side, installation upon arrival. In addition to itself being the raw materials it carries within it the facilities (and stockpiles of the materials) to fabricate anything that could be needed at the journey’s end. Immense 3D printers, fabrication equipment, and expandable free-floating construction bays ensure that there is no conceivable scale restriction on what could be created. The mining equipment aboard can extract raw materials found within the Proxima system itself, if the stockpiles aboard are insufficient. The scope of its mission required Pandora to be a self-sustaining mobile foundry, fabrication, and development station and its designers exceeded even their own expectations. But all of this equipment imposes a substantial mass penalty on Pandora, and the ship’s own drives would have required much more time to accelerate the AS-01 to its top speed with the Colony Module attached. Not to mention the power required to run the wealth of equipment contained within it and provide the future Hope Station with all of the power that it would require.

So the CM is equipped with not one but two carrier-scale Oberth Reactors and a series of incredibly powerful EM drives arrayed to its rear. Owing to the complex series of interconnected relays between the two components of Pandora these thrusters are completely controlled from the bridge and these Oberth Reactors (and their capacitors) can be called upon to supplement the core vessel’s own power reserves.

The core vessel is the CVA-1002 Pyxis Ares-class Battle Carrier. Though the third ship in the class Pyxis is the first to be commissioned. CVA-1000 and -1001 though planned, designed, and ordered have (as of launch in 249) been kept from commissioning due to running revisions to the class. Flaws detected in the CVA-1000 Ares required a return to docks for revision and a substantial delay in the construction of the CVA-1002.

After refits the Pyxis is, itself, a substantial retrofitting of a class that has not even properly entered service.

Even though it was brand new Pyxis was requisitioned for the Proxima expedition owing to the compatibility between the expedition’s mission parameters and the Ares-class’ intended operational parameters. Ares-class carriers were designed in defiance of traditional fleet, or even Orbital, doctrine that would cast the mothership in the role of a defensive vessel relying on Orbitals and supporting vessels for offensive and additional defensive functions. Even and especially after the rise of Heavies and their successors carriers have been built first for hangar and living space, second for defensive systems, and lastly for offensive capability. The Ares-class takes advantage of next-gen Oberth efficiencies to provide for them all. By scaling it up almost to the scale of an old supercarrier the class has excellent carrying capacity and still retains the space for armor like a dedicated battleship… and the offensive capabilities of one.

Pyxis sports ten rail-powered CIWS installations along its port and starboard sides, with some of them distributed to cover above and below as well. Ten cyclical missile launchers also run along either flank, each one capable of putting a cluster shipkiller (or any other munition) into space at a rate of one every five seconds. This gives the carrier a throw weight of a hundred and twenty missiles per side per minute, as long as munition supplies hold. This is without factoring in the additional, smaller launchers on either side dedicated to passive point defense such as chaff, anti beam dispersion, and other functions. Pyxis also carries eight dual barreled rail cannons with 225 degree firing arcs, four top and four bottom, and a spinal beam cannon that runs three quarters the length of the ship.

Defensively, Pyxis has a full EW suite, energy reinforced armor, and an armored secondary hull around its most important inner spaces. In addition to the bridge, Pyxis has a full auxiliary control nestled deeper within the ship. The ship’s hangar has four magnetic launch catapults, two pointing forward and two pointing back though the rear catapults are presently inaccessible due to the Colony Module. In the event of catapult failure, there are manual release doors and hatches to get the Orbitals into space unassisted.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Gonna wait for @Krayzikk to post but I will go ahead if too much time has passed.

@PaulHaynek

Today or tomorrow, depending on where the break in stuff I have to do falls. But no later than tomorrow.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

I've got a couple questions. Does a heat shield look like an actual shield, or does it look like a second (or third) layer of armor to deflect heat on atmospheric entry? Where do the boosters go? Arms and legs?

Also, what do the catapults look like? Are there multiple of them and we can go whenever, or do we need to form lines and fire ourselves at the planet one at a time?

Do we write up what the LZ looks like? Or are there geographical features already planned?

@Hawthorne

The heat shield is an actual, expanding shield kind of like Gundam's ballute pack. It's not so much of an issue for Orbitals that can enter under their own power but it's a lot harder to control reentry speed for those that can't, so they get a heat shield. The boosters can go back, legs, wherever there's feasibly a hardpoint.

There are at least two catapults. There might be more, but to be honest I haven't had time to finalize my description for Pyxis yet. But there's at least two.

As for the LZ, you're welcome to go right up to entering the atmosphere I'll get an establishing post written after everybody (or almost everybody, if someone's taking a while) has launched.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

There it was. The world Artemie had only glimpsed.

Not a beautiful blue marble but hauntingly striking in its own right. She couldn’t shake the feeling that it had been different once, that the surface she saw now was a remnant. It wasn’t anything she could have put into words. But she couldn’t shake it, nevertheless. She parted ways from her colleagues with a nod and crossed the hangar with growing purpose.

On the way her eyes passed over the machines to her left and right. Some of them were familiar; she spied a couple G-Falcons and an artillery that bore a close resemblance to units she had seen before. But others… Brand new (to her) and gleaming in the hangar light, every inch lethal and efficient. And of course… Her brows furrowed a little at the red one. It was small, it was… Alien. In appearance. Its striking paintjob and design certainly drew the eye. It didn’t look anything like the others, but its design was naggingly familiar. Something about its aesthetics and layout, the design ethos behind it, was exactly like something she’d seen one before. Her hair stood on end when she crossed in front of it because she heard the diminutive Orbital raise its voice, a thing of infinite familiarity and a bottomless uncanny valley.

'Now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel;
What hath God wrought?'
Pre-flight checks are now complete.
Anemoi-001 is now alive.

Well that was… Foreboding. Rushing in where angels fear to tread for certain, huh?

But none of them were the machine she waited to see. Bay after bay, all full, until the very end of the row… And there she was. IS-049. Voyager hadn’t gotten quite the same spitshine the others had Artemie had to admit. Came from having no dedicated flight crew. Someone had given her the onceover but not the same personal touch.

But that was alright. Artemie’d fix that.

She slipped her foot into the loop and gripped the line, letting the winch pull her up to the hatch on Voyager’s side. Unlike most Orbital cockpits which were accessed through the chest, Voyager’s would have been blocked by the emitter in place. Last time she entered through the back; her stasis chamber had been docked there, and she had gotten into place through its airlock from the ship that ferried her to Pluto. But that module wasn’t in place now. There was no need for it. The boosters were still in place but she was accessing the cockpit through the hatch near its ‘ribs’. She swung her legs in first and wriggled sideways into the cockpit hearing it ome alive the moment she was detected.

“Arty,” the computer began in a low, playful voice. “Been a while. Seven years, five months, and twenty three days. You don’t write anymore.”

“Kinda been asleep, Starlight,” Artemie said absently settling into her seat. The cockpit was pristine. Not that surprising, she hadn’t spent very much time in it. When she wasn’t on an EVA she’d been waiting in the stasis chamber. Or asleep in the stasis chamber. “But you’re still chatty, huh?”

“Always. Sleep well?”

“Like the dead.” The Lunite answered, turning her attention the controls in front of her. Starlight’s personality matrix was pretty basic, but having someone to talk to had been nice on her voyage. And the stock computer voice always felt too cold. Even a little basic intonation went a long way to giving it some life, and she’d had a while to tweak it. “But it was a relief to wake up again. How’re we looking?”

“Tiptop, boss. Pyxis pushed out a navigational update to all units based on the data we’ve got so far. Reactor is operating nominally, and Voyager’s capacitors are at one hundred percent. As are Dauntless boosters one through four.”

“Good…” Her voice trailed off as she flipped through the weapon systems, running circuit tests on each in turn. The three emitters along Voyager’s body glowed faintly as theirs were completed, illuminating the golden letters on its chest. Nothing came up wrong. As far as she could tell, everything was good to go.

For the first time in twenty years she picked up her helmet and twisted it carefully into place.

**

“Alright, folks!” The Chief of Orbital Operations, a tall woman with her arms crossed, shouted. “You heard the skipper. The scientists are all loaded up, you’re launching first. Staggered launch, I don’t want any screwups just because you’re all feeling rusty. Those of you without flight capabilities, your crews rigged up entry and escape assist boosters. You should all be checked out on them. Deploy your boosters and heat shields on time during descent, and fire those boosters again when it’s time to leave. You can ditch ‘em down there if things get hot, we’ll reattach ‘em or get you back up here another way.”

“Once on station, I want those of you who can fly in the sky keeping an eye out. Artillery units, you guys’ll establish a defensive perimeter with your peers. You all know the drill. Eyes peeled, ears open.”

“Proceed to the catapults when ready. Flight Ops will handle timing control. Get going!”

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

Gotta love re-reading a month-old CS and spotting a spelling error and weird language you missed on initial proofreading.

Also, what's protocol for the Pilots? is a pilot's post in their cockpit, or standing by in the hangar?

@ArmorPlated

Strictly speaking, protocol would be to complete preflight and stand by outside your Orbital. In actuality there's a good bit of wiggle room, provided you are at or in your Orbital and preflight is done.

Short version, letter of the reg is one thing (and even that depending on your original military of service) and the practical application is actually personal preference.