Reaper

Infinity: Intervention [A stat based sci-fi action adventure!]

I normally don't like doing these established Tabletop app things but I'll give it a whirl since it's you :3

Persona - The True Self

Warakuma High // Monday // 20 July

Jun had spent the better part of last week keeping a low profile. The kidnapping of a yakuza's daughter was just an escalation in the series of abductions. Her father had been furious and sent people out looking for those responsible, as well as the rival family that had sent its men after her. Needless to say, there had been a fair amount of violence in the past week. Then, the police got involved.

Jun had been pretty far removed from all this. She had eyes on her everywhere now, of course. From police officers making sure she wasn't caught up in the inter-gang war, hoping to catch another attempt on her safety, to her bodyguards, and everyone at school. She hadn't even dared to talk to the boy who had visited her in the hospital.

Not that she tried to anyway. The finals had come and gone and she was a rather bit more focused on her exams. Thankfully, she always kept her grades decent so even with the additional pressure, she had pretty much gotten A's on all her tests, albeit just barely. Her ranking wasn't all that great, but she honestly didn't care. Her new power had given her a new purpose. She was going to do well in school, find a good university and do something with her life that didn't involve being a gangster.

Her kendo training helped, and she vented her stress out on her instructor. He praised her effort even as he was massaging his shoulder from the force of her strikes. Everyone needed a hobby and Jun had to admit she like parts of her life being raised among the yakuza. The fact that she could beat up someone and not apologize as part of her training, for example.

She silently moved past the crowd gathering at the scoreboard, giving a few customary greetings to people she recognized. She left for home immediately, texting Rui as she walked home with lighter steps than she ever had taken. One obstacle down, one more to go. He had given her his number and asked her to consider. It had taken a while but she made up her mind. No more hiding, this time anyone who came after her and her principles would fight Jun head on, and not anyone or anything else.

I'm in. Give me a few days to persuade my father.

Himura Household // Evening

Dinner was tense. Jun's father was still trying to track down the cultists to no avail, while fighting retaliations from a rival yakuza. His sour mood would usually have the blonde girl trying to leave the dinner table as soon as possible, but tonight was an exception. She kept steeling herself, repeating the mantra she always did in her head during kendo. Eyes forward. Look for a chance, and strike.

"Father." Her tone was dead, stiff, and betrayed the seriousness of her resolve when she tried to sound casual. The man looked up, eyes glaring at her knowing she was about to say something to piss him off. Jun hated to admit it but her father at least knew that part of her well enough. "Call off your lapdogs and let me handle myself. They're a nuisance, and it's bad enough you have them lingering outside my school."

Her father opened his mouth to speak, but the girl didn't let him. She smacked her bowl upside on the table and looked him in the eye. "I am not helpless. As much as I loathe saying this, I am the daughter of a yakuza. Let anyone who comes after me try their best. I will exact my price in blood before I let anything happen to me again." Was that... pride?

"I am not your pawn, some treasure to be kept hidden away until you're ready to marry me off for power. I am not a son like you hoped for, but I am my own person nonetheless. If you insist on treating me like on, meet me in the dojo in ten minutes. Your Masamune against mine." She had thrown down the gauntlet. It was extremely disrespectful of her to challenge her own father to a duel, but his glare was met with her own.

The man, for once, backed down. "I'd normally strike you for such insolence. But I see your ordeal has only tempered your strength. This isn't petulance. I'll allow your request, as long as you remain within Warakuma. Venture outside, and I will have my men follow you."

Jun nodded. Fair enough, she wasn't intending on going out in to the city anyway, not so soon. In Warakuma, any assailant would be hard pressed to ambush her before she could react. Out in the crowded streets of Tokyo, that was a different thing altogether. She was stubborn and bold and hot-tempered at times, but she wasn't an idiot.

"Oh, and this does not mean I approve of your taste in partners. Try and use this opportunity to shame the family, and I will lock you in here until I find a suitor."

Her fists clenched at the insult he just had to deliver. Always had to have the last word. Still, that was a battle for another day. She had gotten what she needed for now. She'd fight that war later. There was a far more important one going on right now.

That night, she sent the confirmation to Rui. I'm in.

Persona - The True Self

Eh, I have discord and telegram and WhatsApp Web to communicate with too many people already. I don't even check Skype any more. I do check back on the site every day, I've just been busy with university and birthday celebrations. Should have a post up this weekend

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

Bang bang

When the bullets started flying Julie adapted. Her drone still in the air, circling the area, an eye on the tablet screen to make sure they didn't have more than ten Salvesh to deal with for now. Her other eyeball was fixed on the the crosshairs of her a ACOG sight, swaying with the recoil of her rifle as her military training kicked in. Settle the sights on a target, squeeze. Inhale, acquire target, settle sights, exhale, squeeze. At this range she couldn't reliably aim at the uncovered, unarmored parts of the Salvesh, but honestly she didn't have to.

They were firing so much lead down range that some of them were bound to find something lethal to hit. In simple terms: Throw enough shit at the wall and some of it's going to stick. Hell, she didn't even start spraying when the increase fire order was given. She just spent less time waiting for her sights to settle and squeezing off rounds whenever a Salvesh silhouette popped up in the center of her sights. Guns were useless to a soldier if they ran out of ammo, and it was a currency they could not afford to spend too extravagantly, this far from their resupply.

Jump Scares

For now, the drone wasn't picking up any additional hostile contacts. Once the cease fire signal was given, she cautiously advanced behind the squad, sending the drone further out just as Collins yelled for her to provide an update. They double-tapped the bodies, and as Julie passed by one, the wounded Salvesh tried to snap up and swing a weapon of some kind at her. It barely got all the way up before it took two rounds in the head from her pistol and three more in the chest. Her tablet had dropped to her side in the ambush, a piece of cord in the corner the only thing tethering it to her vest. "Motherfucker." She swore, checking the tablet for damagea as she sent the drone towards the hill to make sure the area was clear.

Contact

"Keep your panties on." She hissed, not appreciating someone barking at her in the middle of doing just what they were asking anyway. "Drone will be over the crest of the hill in 10. 9..."

When her countdown ended, she did it with a curse. The moment the drone cleared the ridge, her screen was dotted with heat signatures. "I have Salvesh silhouettes cresting the hill at a sprint! Roughly about two platoons in strength. Looks like they're here for the after-party." She stated matter-of-factly. No doubt they heard the gunfire and were headed in this direction to either reinforce their friends or avenge them.

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

Time to be a bit nationalistic. For your consideration, the Terrex

It carries 12 troops, is air portable and amphibious and carries a variety of armaments, all remote operated. 7.62 MGs to 40 mm grenade launchers to ATGMs.

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

If Sci-Fi options are available...





I love the aircraft of the Halo series.

Or perhaps the Banshees and Medivacs from Starcraft?

As for IFVs... I'm putting the Warrior up for consideration:



I mean, I love how it looks, though a close second would be the Bradley.

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

Awakening

"Fucking hell..." Rachel cursed the moment she woke up, wondering if this was some sort of weird test or initiation. She remembered being given a shot, and feeling drowsy, but this was not her bunk. This was far from the barracks, she could tell that much. Her first instinct was that this was some kind of ship, looking at the interior, but it didn't look like any kind of Navy ship - from any country.

As she got up and sorted herself out, she realised where they were the moment she got a glimpse outside. "What the actual fresh hell is this..." She pondered. They couldn't have been- There was no way.

Our Employer is a What?

The South African Colonel explained everything. If "explaining everything" meant flipping everyone's realities upside down and telling them the contract they took on was to fight in some intergalactic war. She was a fan of sci-fi movies, but even she thought the whole concept of the "Rebel Alliance" being comprised of people just finding out aliens existed - and one of them was hiring them to kill other aliens - was a laughable concept.

This as asymmetrical as warfare could get. Firstly, if the Grathik had the technology to bring humans safely to their planet in the span of time it took them to recover from the drugs, that means that had seriously advanced technology. That meant their enemies would have at least somewhat similar levels of weaponry. So they were quite potentially going up against unknown volume of firepower.

Secondly, they had no idea of the Slavesh's capabilities. A picture offered some insight (aim for whatever their shells didn't cover) but they had no idea how fast or strong they were in a fight. They had no idea if their training would even work - camouflage and stealth movement worked great against humans, since experienced soldiers knew just how much to expect of their enemy's senses. Did the Slavesh detect body heat? Did they have great hearing, sense of smell? Did their organs grow in the same places? No point aiming for the chest if their hearts were stored between their legs or whatever.

Thirdly, the environment. Humans were adapted for Earth. There was no telling what the planet's gravity would do, or its atmosphere. Rachel knew that she sure as shit wasn't going to drink or eat anything that was certified to human food and water. They were briefed on what to expect on the surface of 'Sauna', and it sounded fun. She was used to tropical climate - she trained in it her entire career. She was used to heat and humidity and jungle terrain. She just wasn't used to doing it with a mask on.

Still, anyone looking at her would have seen a giant shit-eating grin plastered on her face. Was this an absolutely stacked deck against them? Sure, but she was never one to turn down a challenge.

Now, the best part of the whole briefing was the reveal of the Grathik. Seeing an alien in the flesh was pretty persuasive evidence it was not a hoax or trick of some kind. At the same time, Rachel couldn't suppress the joke waiting to happen. "I wonder if he's seen the things that come out of Japan." She quipped, more for her own benefit than to humor those around her.

Terra Firma

The worst thing about Sauna was the uniforms. She'd worn green all her life, and she seen the Air Force blues and Navy greys. She'd never seen a respectable military wearing pink. It helped them fit in with the environment, sure, but pink went on princess dresses and ballet costumes. She'd settle for the "tacticool edgelord" black gear instead of this crap.

That was the only thing she hated about the planet. The exercises were easy enough, she was born and raised in this climate, and the masks seemed to be easy enough to breath in, nothing like the stifling gas masks she had used during biological/chemical defense training. The weapons were a nice upgrade too. She didn't know what the Grathik made these guns out of, but they were lighter and felt easier to use. The drills took a bit of getting used to, unlearning her habits from the Singapore Armed Forces and relearning different signals, unit movements.

At least she was fighting beside other soldiers. She wasn't quite on friendly terms with anyone yet, but they all seemed to know what they were doing and everyone at least accorded everyone else with professional courtesy.

Calm Before the Storm

Rachel was right at home in the jungle. Her training took over with ease, feet sweeping aside vegetation before planting her weight down, minimising the noise she made while moving through the foliage. There wasn't much point in moving into thick vegetation with a group their size, so it was easy to just avoid snapping branches like a movie cliche. Her head kept on a swivel as she watched for any movement.

Her index finger tapped a rhythm against her trigger guard, not making any sound but helping her pass the time by moving to the beat of her favorite song. When they came up the Salvesh, she was quick to take a knee on instinct and finding solid cover behind a thick tree trunk. It took all of 5 seconds for her to get the drone up and circling around to ensure they hadn't missed any of the Salvesh that were hidden from sight, or moving to flank them.

The infrared cameras picked up ten signatures moving, and no signs of any hidden tangos. She nodded and confirmed the assessment with quick hand signals. The Salvesh were carrying firearms, though she couldn't identify what kind of weaponry they were exactly, not with what little they knew of the enemy's equipment. Still, the enemy could shoot back, that's all her team needed to know. She had the drone return and switched her tablet back for her rifle, leaning out the right side of the tree so she could aim and fire without exposing as much of her body.

She observed the movements of the Salvesh, trying to see if she could pick up anything useful in their movement patterns, the way they communicated or interacted. She didn't need to understand language or culture to understand that some things were universal. Influence, respect, authority. In any social setting, it was easy to tell who had the ear of the others in the area just by observing who was the one person everyone seemed to be either defering to or talking with.

Enemy commander, third from the head of the column. She signaled once she recognized the other nine Salvesh seemed to be moving in pace and taking their directions from that particular figure.

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

Excellent post here...
<Snipped quote by HeySeuss>

I like this. Counting. When I was in the Infantry Officer Basic Course, we would walk a 600 meter path along a specific trail in the woods of Fort Benning, Georgia. As we walked, we would count our left steps. The purpose was to determine our “Pace Count”. This pace count is used by Infantry leaders, Officers and NCOs to determine how far they have traveled. By using the pace count as well as measuring distance on the map, the two confirmed one another or helped to tell you, you were lost. After counting one’s steps, you divide the number by six and that tells you how many left steps you take in 100 meters. For me, this number was 64.

…the signal for the entire squad to freeze, would be a clenched fist held up with the non-firing arm at a right angle. Every member of the patrol repeats the hand and arm signal and movement ceases. Do not take a knee, do not point weapons in the appropriate direction, simply stop moving. This is different from the halt hand and arm signal. When this signal is given, take a knee and point weapons out and away from the impromptu “cigar-shaped” perimeter the squad assumes when it halts.

@Gunther

Depends on the training you've been given. The SAF teaches recruits in training to always take a knee when out in the field. Lower your profile, preferably behind solid cover in case you're spotted. Especially in jungle terrain. The platoon leader will indicate fire direction and movement as needed

(18+) Reaper's House of... Stuff

I'm jumping back into the swing of things here. Any takers?

Foreign Legion [First Contact/Uplift/Military Sci-Fi]

"Night Time is the Right Time"

Name: Julie Koh
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/Nationality: Chinese/Singaporean
Former Unit: Singapore Armed Forces, Military Intelligence
Role: Intelligence Officer

Physical Description:
Julie stands at 170cm, cutting a lean figure. Black hair, brown eyes, with a piercing gaze, Rachel comes across as a rather intimidating looking figure to civilians. Muscular as a soldier, she's toned and surprisingly strong despite her size.

She has a tattoo on her left upper arm.

Skillset:
Basic First-Aid Training
Intelligence Gathering/Counterintelligence operations
Communications/Technological Specialist
Proficient in Data Encryption and Security Penetration
Proficient in handling a variety of vehicles from motorcycles to jeeps.
Concealment and Camouflage Expert/Stealth Operations trained
Proficient Marksman
Navigation Expert
Small Unit Tactics
91/100 Points on Individual Physical Profiency Test.
Received Airborne Training
Trained for Jungle warfare

History:

Born on the island state of Singapore, Rachel was a boisterous girl growing up. She was always respectful of authority figures, but at the same time got into plenty of mischief with her energetic personality and cunning mind. She was never malicious in her antics, just too focused on getting laughs and pushing her boundaries.

After 2 years drifting through junior college with no real sense of purpose, Julie looked for it in the military. Signing on with the Singapore Armed Forces at 18, she was awarded an army scholarship for her excellent academic record. She enlisted in the Military Intelligence branch, hoping to put her mind to good use, and took to the lifestyle. Sure, the discipline and regimentation might have seemed at odds with a joker like her, but it helped her focus her energy. Laughter was a great morale booster for her comrades, and her cunning served her well during her officer training when it came to petty cadet politics and surviving sadistic trainers. It also made her "one of the guys", which helped her blend in a lot easier as a young woman in a male dominated field.

After 2 years of service, she took a disruption to pursue a degree in Psychology in university as the field intrigued her. It would serve her well, she reasoned, knowing how a human mind works when it came to intelligence gathering. Academic life pushed her mentally, but otherwise she felt at odds with everyone else. People were carefree in an academic setting while she felt there was so much more to life than partying and living day to day with no end goal in mind.

She returned to service after graduation, and soon found herself working in the field on real operations rather than peacetime training. Counter-terrorism efforts in the region was growing day by day, and Julie proved her mettle in the jungles of Malaysia surveying jihadist camps hidden in the thick jungles. She was close enough to observe everything they did and relay them back to headquarters without ever being spotted.

Occasionally, she was called on to gather physical evidence, and her team rose to the challenge. They prided themselves on gathering intel without firing their weapons, but on the few occasions where firefights broke out, they prided themselves on bringing everyone back alive. On her last operation, however, Julie made a career ending mistake that would see her taken off the field until her contract with the army expired. All official documents were classified and nobody ever spoke of why she was transferred from active combat duty.

When the call came from Centurion, she was quick to sign up, seeking redemption. Hopefully her talents would serve her better in a PMC.

Psychological Profile:

Julie tends to be reserved and introverted at first, cautiously weighing if she'd get along with someone before engaging them further. That said, she is professional enough to put aside personal pet peeves for the sake of the group. Anyone who earns her trust and confidence, however, will find they have earned a steadfast ally and friend. "Mama bear" was the affectionate term her teammates used to refer to her, though thankfully that was never her callsign.

Julie is quick-witted and paired with a sharp tongue. Rarely the one to not have the last word, her eloquence serves her well when making friends and silencing critics. She's a good judge of character and usually knows how to avoid pushing someone's buttons too much. Conversely, being able to know where one's raw nerves are also puts her at an advantage when trying to push people off balance in a conversation.

She has a strong moral compass, though it is balanced with a bit of pragmatism. She's a woman of principle and not bowing to peer pressure is a badge of honour for her. She'll compromise and cooperate where she can, so long as she's not asked to go against her values and beliefs. She's fairly disillusioned and jaded when it comes to bureaucracy, and is very guarded with the reason why.

Equipment:
- HK 416 fitted with an ACOG scope, suppressor, laser designator and vertical foregrip.
- First Aid Kit
- M1911
- Personal Belongings she keeps on her person
- Communications Gear (including but not limited to, AHTI, data drives and binos).
- Tablet and recon drone