Rhona W

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Silverwind sat in the open cockpit of his fighter mode Falcon variable GEAR. External umbilical cables were hooked into the fighter-mode combat vehicle via open access panels behind the cockpit, their input powering the machines' electrical system. The silver foxes' pebble was active and tied into the GEARs' systems and numerous holographic windows floated around him in the compact cockpit as he worked through preferences, menus and system readouts.
The machine was still new enough to him, despite the intensive month of refresher flight training, live weapons tests, classroom time, study and essentially living and breathing the Falcon. He was sure that, when it came to combat, he'd pull things together and it was just a case of 'first date nerves', and that the other side of it was procrastination or covering to keep himself busy and not thinking.
The last operation he'd undertaken with Max and the two teams put together to handle Silent Line's influence in the civil war had gone... poorly. They had recovered the mole within the ranks, and had bought him in, sure. And in that regard, the op had been a success... but their intel had been way off. Silent Line had been building up in the region for a lot longer than anyone could have known, and had advanced tech of their own. It was only by the skin of their teeth that they'd made it out.
Some of them hadn't.
And that held onto him, despite his experence and best efforts. What helped was the fact they were being thrown back at the elusive enemy. Primed with a new mission, to hunt down nests of Silent Line operatives and their facilities, and stamp them out - with extreme prejudice - before they had a chance to take root. Most of the others who'd worked with them had been shuffled and shuttled to new teams like this one, formed of he, Max, Anna and Catriona, and the smallest unit of support staff possible to keep the unit realistically running while remaining mobile and at least nominally clandestine or secretive.
Putting aside the make-work of his self-imposed task, the one-eyed fox gave a growling sigh and closed all the floating panes and opened instead the files from his pebble related to the new mission he'd received for their new 'Silver Bullet' unit. It was simple on paper, but high intensity and high risk, as they'd all be expected to be. The target was a remote facility; a solar energy research facility abandoned for a decade previously but now showing signs of activity. Far out in the deserts of Simal, it would be a long trip there and back, and the unit would be a long way away from Solernia and it's comfortable temperate climate. The rough, scrub deserts of Simal and its' theocratic government could be an added danger - especially as they were not overly friendly to unannounced visitors. But the intel checked out, after interrogation of their prisoner and cross-checking through satellite and spaceplane recon. GEARs and conventional defences were in place, and it would be down to Max, Silver and Anna to kick down the doors, break things, and get information from whatever was left.
The fox leant back in his seat and ran his artificial hand over his face, massaging his eyes and staring up at the distant ceiling of the hangar bay, looking past it. If they managed to carry out the op, they'd have more intel on how to move on with their attacks against the enemy and get more intel on what it was they were building towards. Because it seemed like they were building up to something.
The holographic screen chimed and flashed, drawing his attention back to it; a reminder flashed up on the screen. It was time to meet up with the rest of the little unit; they were due to embark that evening for the beginning of their flight to Simal, and Max, Anna and Cat had to be bought up to speed. He swiped the screen closed and shut down the GEARs' avionics and test systems, exchanging thanks with his tech as he headed out of the hangar, and toward the bases' operations building and the room set aside for their briefing.

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Cool cool ^^ I'll have a think and try and get something up later today to get us off to a start at least

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Name: Catriona 'Burner' Burnside

Age: 34

Species: Highland Cow

Appearance:
Very tall and heavy-set, Catriona - or Cat - carries a lot of weight, but also a lot of muscle. Powerful despite her extra curves and padding - and extremely 'generous' figure - she can be easily underestimated by others, something she uses to her advantage.
She has quite thick, reddish fur with long, more coppery-red hair on her head that is thick and shaggy, as with most highland cows. It falls in a thick fringe over her face, often blocking her eyes from view. At the back, she wears it in a large, thick braid, often over one of her shoulders. Her eyes - when they can be seen - are vibrantly and brilliantly green. Her fingers, being a cow, end in hoof 'caps' from the third knuckle, and she has only two quite thick fingers and a thumb per hand. She also has short horns atop her head, just behind her temples and ahead of her ears, growing out to either side. Both her fairly large, mobile ears have multiple piercings, studs and hoops, with a scaffold piercing in her right ear near the tip. Her navel is also pierced.
While it's not obvious she has rather significant scarring to her right side from her ribs to just above her hip, gained in the last operation against Silent Line, in the same incident that resulted in the loss of her GEAR. Another scar crosses her throat where it was attempted to be cut in the same operation. This has resulted in her voice being rendered significantly quieter and more raspy than its' previous loud and confident tones, and much to her continued sadness, she has lost her formerly superb singing voice, and her penchant for loud, infectious laughter.

• Height: 7' 2"
• Weight: 300kg

Personality:
Positive Personality Traits: Outgoing, good-humoured, confident, determined, loyal, caring
Negative Personality Traits: Short-tempered, stubborn, overconfident
Likes: Music, Dancing, Sweet treats, cooking, drinking.
Dislikes: Bureaucracy, Cruelty, Selfishness, Arrogance

History:
Catriona grew up as part of a loving family. She was one of three children, and the oldest of them. She was well-loved by her parents and siblings, and was always a confident and outgoing girl, looking out for others around her, and had a lot of friends. Her size and strength often helped with her standing up for others and against those who were bullies. Wanting to care for and help others, she at first trained as a police officer, and showed excellent aptitude for combat and tactical operations, later becoming part of police tactical response. Excelling in cross-training exercises and counter-terrorism, she later joined the reserves for two years, before transferring over to the Solernian Armed Forces full time. She later trained as a GEAR pilot and was transferred to Special Operations after three years. She undertook several operations overseas related to hostage rescue and assaults against hostile forces and positions, showing an affinity for the employment of heavy weapons, as well as being renowned for her calming presence and as someone who looked out for her team-mates.
She is loyal and of a good-nature, and is of the opinion that her service is for the benefit of others. She is not especially fond of the fact that she has to kill others, but does so with little remorse, being of the opinion that those she fights signed up with the same knowledge she did, or that if non-military aggressors and fighters, knew what they were giving up by taking up arms. However, she will not act with unnecessary violence, cruelty or viciousness against others and will treat defeated or wounded enemies as she would wish to be treated. She has little patience or understanding for those who would mistreat others, and fights with the thought of protecting those who can't help themselves in mind.
Her determination and dedication to her ideals lead to her being hand-pickd for the fight against Silent Line. During previous operations, her GEAR was heavily destroyed, and she was heavily injured, and more so after being briefly captured. Attempting to defend a wounded comrade from the local Resistance fighters, her throat was cut and it was only through intervention from Viper Team that she survived, but has currently been relegated from GEAR piloting to a support role until her condition improves.

Personal Gear & Equipment:

• Pebble
• Field combat vest/armour
• Field combat helmet
• Personal first aid kit
• Personal survival kit
• K8 Combat Knife
• M61 Combat Revolver with LAM unit
• M99 SAW
• Fire Axe (specially sharpened)

Carries other weapons as the situation dictates, often swapping out the SAW for an anti-armour launcher. Due to her staggering build and strength, she has been known to wield crew-served weapons on occasion.

While not currently assigned a GEAR and not actively serving as a pilot, Cat is still a trained GEAR pilot

GEARS: Silent Line Redux (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Stuck up a thread for the new one, and made some additions/edits to the lore in keeping with it - roleplayerguild.com/topics/183619-gea…

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Name: Silverwind Blade

Age: 46

Species: Silver Fox

Appearance:
Left eye missing and covered by black leather patch; right eye red-brown. Scar across bridge of muzzle. Left ear nicked and torn. Heavy scarring across left side of body, with several smaller scars in other places. Left arm replaced by highly functional prosthetic arm comprised of black-and-white bioplastic.
Silver-grey, fairly thick and somewhat shaggy/grizzled fur with off-white on chest, throat and lower muzzle. Longer 'ruff' of fur around throat/neck. Black markings on muzzle, black ears. Darker grey lower right arm and lower legs, black tail tip. Thick, unruly neck-length brown hair with prominent grey peppered through, especially around temples.
Fighting fit, and relatively well-muscled (more of a runner/swimmer build than a body-builder), though age is starting to catch up with him and soften the edges of his trim lines.

• Height: 5' 7"
• Weight: 130kg

Personality:
Positive Personality Traits: Compassionate, Loyal, Selfless, Protective, Warm, Good Sense of Humour, Optimistic
Negative Personality Traits: Reckless, Cocky, Easily Provoked, Too Trusting, Bitter
Likes: Whiskey, Classic Rock music, Reading books (mostly sci-fi and military thrillers), Hiking, Climbing, Socialising and good company - especially that of women.
Dislikes: Large Crowds, Cheap (and weak) beer, Large Cities, Having to prove or justify himself, Bureaucracy, insincerity, shallowness, manipulation.

Silverwind has had an eventful life, but despite this he maintains a somewhat laid-back and calm personality. He has an amicable nature, and is friendly to most people unless given reason otherwise. He is especially loyal to those who act as friends to him and support him, and one another. He has no time for those who are bullies, and pick on those who cannot defend themselves, or who have worked hard to get what they have. Arrogance, greed, and callousness do not impress him, and he will be cold and distant to such people, or even outright refuse to be civil with them, or mocking them openly for their negative traits and flaws. He will relish opportunities to take down such petty and selfish opponents, and will feel no remorse for their loss. Equally should anyone turn on him, he will have no mercy, sympathy or compassion for them, and will be especially cold to them.
He is open to making friends, but past events have left him with a high level of anxiety and doubt over making new friends and letting them get too close. This rings even more true for any romance or thought of love, though he is a serial flirt and does very much enjoy the company of women, and appreciates many kinds of beauty in them. Which can often get him in trouble.
He trusts very few people in the military, beyond a handful due to his past experiences, though he remains loyal to the Princess and the Solernian Royal Family.

History:
Silver was born in a small settlement in the interior of Solernia. He lived a fairly carefree and simple childhood, and enjoyed outdoor past-times, and getting into mischief. He had a few good friends, and a stable home life.
Unsure of what he wanted to do with his life, he joined the RSDF after seeing a parade and display of GEARs on a trip to the capital, and becoming infatuated with the machines.
He was successful in training, though struggled with authority at many turns, as well as getting into a fight with another cadet of a higher 'social status' than him that looked down on him for his 'lesser' position and lack of knowledge and understanding.
Despite this setback, he carved out a notable career, rising to command a GEAR unit known as the Roughriders, and gaining a reputation for many successful operations, won by guts, daring, the skin of his teeth and bravery. He bent orders and regulations to do what he saw as the 'right' thing, often earning him ire from his superiors, though a grudging respect. He also gained a reputation for never leaving his men behind, and always being on their side.
His career was so successful that his sister, Juliana, followed in his footsteps and enlisted, becoming an aerospace pilot.
Eventually assigned to Special Operations command, he was put in command of the Roughriders, a special forces unit. The Roughriders became his second family, especially after his parents died in a tragic accident. He and Juliana came together to mourn, and after his return to service he found himself becoming romantically entangled with Iriana, a member of his unit.
The unit became especially successful and received many commendations for their service, and eventually this came to be a problem - special forces units that are too well-known about have trouble remaining undetected and stealthy.
While Silverwind was never boastful, he was proud of all his unit had achieved, and knew that by working together his unit could achieve amazing things.
Nonetheless, his unit was destroyed on a classified operation, with only he and his third-in-command, Meyer, surviving. Both of them were heavily injured. Silverwind retired from service at the time, while Meyer went on to serve in an advisory training role. He lived in quiet isolation and peace in the countryside, keeping in contact with his sister, a handful of other relatives, and a few people he met locally.
Upon the formation of the 33rd and it's mission, Silverwind was invited to command the unit by an old friend, General Versco who was still part of the RSDF and was involved in his surviving the mission that obliterated his unit, and caused the mass of injuries he suffered that lead to his early retirement from active service five years prior. Full details of this mission remained classified by Royal Decree.
After much coaxing and discussion, he eventually agreed.

Personal Gear & Equipment:

• Pebble
• GEAR pilot suit and helmet
• Personal first aid kit
• Personal survival kit
• K8 Combat Knife
• M61 Combat Revolver with LAM unit
• M23 MRS in Battle Rifle configuration w/4x optical red-dot, flashlight, laser pointer/designator optional suppressor and underbarrel grenade launcher or shotgun as required.
• Kukri-style knife/machete

Carries other weapons as needed, often swapping out the M23 for a shotgun or a Thumper grenade launcher.

Personal GEAR Assigned: FLK-4CN Falcon

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Soft reboot and semi-continuation of GEARs Silent Line. Continuing after some time has elapsed.

Silverwind and Max have been seconded to a new direct action, fast response unit, optimised with the best technology for use against high-value targets and infrastructure, acting as a 'silver bullet' against emergent threats and situations. Still focused on eliminating the shadowy, dangerous and frightening organization known as the 'Silent Line', they are poised to strike across Arvara's surface at a moment's notice.

Setting info here - 1drv.ms/u/s!Ah_XMfA4YqeyhTvoeKTMBDDmC…

After the operation to assist resistance fighters, intelligence uncovered from the captured Silent Line informant revealed that they had begun to establish a network of caches, bases, installations and equipment all across Arvara, apparently building toward some final strategy, the nature of which is still unknown. Uncovering the nature of the operation and stopping it before it happens is of the utmost necessity, resulting in the deployment of advanced prototypes and the formation of the 'Silver Bullet' units for rapid deployment into hotspots across the planet.
Rapidly organised, Silver and Max are prepped and ready to go within a few short days.

GEARS: Silent Line Redux (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

That sounds like a great idea to me; I'll take a look over the characters I came up with too, and maybe adapt one of them as our tech support and/or 'mission control' too.
I'd prefer to continue elsewhere if that's okay with you? Should we start a new topic as a soft reboot, or use the existing one. We could copy and paste over anything we need to from the old one and make any edits as we get started, or just start with new posts. I'm good either way, but I'll probably do some edits etc to my character and GEAR.

GEARS: Silent Line Redux (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Yeah, a soft reboot of sorts would probably be good, strip things down a bit and keep it simple. I think having too many extra NPC's was making it a little difficult to keep track of everything.
Maybe changing the idea and having it be just our two characters and maybe one or two support personnel with us acting as a kind of 'silver bullet' type unit, going in and kicking doors down to take out high-value targets, be they individuals, WMDs, super-prototypes or whatever else, and perhaps still on the trail of Silent Line, just because a) it's a cool name, and b) it adds a narrative weaving things together nicely.
It could also give us a reason to rejigger our GEARs slightly and make them a bit more exceptional if so desired.
Just spitballing some ideas really to pump things up and make it a bit of a more robust idea for it being primarily just the two characters, maybe with just a couple of supporting characters controlled by each of us, rather than whole squads to deal with. Let me know what you think.

GEARS: Silent Line Redux (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Hey, my dude. I'm feeling a bit more motivated after my little hiatus from things. If you wanted to pick this up again, I'd be up for it. Although, maybe re-starting or at least rolling things back a bit might be an idea?
Either way, let me know.

Battletech; Jihad

I've been away from RPG myself for a while; got a bit fed up with it for a bit, and other stuff got in the way much like yourself.
I also recently rediscovered my love for BattleTech, as it was one of my first and favourite mecha setting and franchises.
I'm not overly familiar with the lore past the Clan invasion era, but I've been brushing up a little bit here and there. From the sound of it, the freedom of the Jihad era and the presence of a clear 'bad guy' threat makes it seem like a good period to base a game in though.
I'd be up for joining in, or at least giving it a try.