Mankind's destiny had always lain among the stars. Space was a vast wilderness, untapped and untamed. The heavens have called to men since time immemorial. It was a tapestry upon which we could define our fate. It was the void, dark and foreboding, like a monster from myth demanding to be challenged. And it was the final frontier man would set out into in search of discovery.
And so they did. They stretched out their hands into the sky and laid claim to all they touched. A thousand worlds were united under a single people. It was a golden age of exploration that would endure for centuries. An emboldened humanity looked to the horizon for an even brighter future- hopeful, optimistic. What could possibly stop them?
Themselves, in short.
The year is 3061. The United Federation of Orion–Cygnus has officially dissolved as tensions between the great powers of the sector reach their boiling point. Most commentators believe open war between the nations of Orion-Cygnus to be improbable at best; vast stores of planet-busting weaponry owned by every major player make for a gunshy galaxy, they claim. But what think tanks and talking heads call 'a state of low-level conflict' looks a hell of a lot like war to the average citizen living through it.
Their communities are being occupied. Their space stations blown out of the sky. their trade vessels boarded, robbed of all they have and then scuttled- often with the crew still aboard. No one quite knows the extent of the damage, nor can anyone guess at the casualty numbers- the combatants have every interest in losing track. The fighting's not being done by the Sol Union, Thedes Empire or North Star League. Its being done by private security firms, paramilitaries, and foreign-backed militias. The frontier's the primary theater of war, sparsely populated and rich with unexploited resources. Many frontier settlements are de facto independent, even if they're technically within the borders of one nation or another. The settlers certainly don't care which color they are on some Coreworlder's map. They've thrived for generations on their own, relying only on the sweat of their brows and the helping hands of their neighbors. But times are changing. The scramble for the frontier's begun.
The Vox Fortuna is one of many small-time mercenary companies that've made their way to the frontier to join the scramble. They operate out of a single frigate called the Fortuna, specialized in carrying and deploying the premier platform for modern armored warfare: Exoframes. Giant, mechanical titans capable of immense destruction, as diverse in design and versatile in application as the people that pilot them. The Fortuna's crew, not-so-affectionately known as the Gamblers, are miscreants, cutthroats and outcasts. They have no home port, little wealth to their names and a reputation for fucking up every contract they swindle their way into. They've been blacklisted by every major state and corporation in the arm. Only the truly desperate would consider hiring them, and its always a gamble.
Lucky for them, war makes a gambler out of everyone.
Welcome to Gamblers of Vox Fortuna, a Real Robot mecha meets Space Western RP. Our story will follow a company of morally questionable mercenaries as they traverse the frontier in search of work as an interstellar proxy war wages in the backdrop. The narrative will be largely episodic, starting with the crew arriving at a destination, accepting a contract and then completing it (or not, as the case may be) as the players see fit. Will our roguish protagonists stumble their way into heroism? Or will the draw of a quick buck make them do the unthinkable? I'll do my best to present situations and scenarios that are compelling, fun and promote interesting interactions between your characters.
This is an invite-only RP. If we're friends you can hit me up on Discord if you'd like to join.
I won't be setting any hard and fast rules regarding posting schedules or content. If I'm inviting you I expect you to know not to be a freak, and if you're not going to be able to post in a timely manner I'm going to do my best to accommodate you without letting the game die in the process.