vFear

Falling Skies: Wavering Valor

Another round of jeers and cheers from the pilots playing cards, another quiet grumble from Atalyah. He had the bright idea to try and sneak in an extra half an hours sleep atop two of the crates, with a peak hat sat over his eyes and one leg hanging off one side, which has gone about as well as you might think. Admitting his defeat, he lifted a gloved hand up to his hat to swat it down to the floor before hefting himself back up to sitting.
"Finally gave up?" asked a familiar voice to his left: one of the other pilots in 12^th Squadron.
"Surely cards can't be that exciting..." answered Atalyah as he rubbed a bit of life back into his eyes. The two shared a quiet, brief laugh, both of them knowing full well that cards was almost always that exciting.

Unzipping one of the leg pockets on his flight suit, Atalyah took a datapad into hand. After giving it a moment to turn in, he tapped in his login details and flicked over to read the news.
"Update: peace talks continue, no sign of progress yet." he read out loud, flicking over to the title of the next article as he did: "What can go wrong? A summary of history's worst peace treaties-" letting out a scoff, Atalyah pressed a button at the base of the datapad to close the window. "What rubbish..." he grumbled, as he swatted over towards his mailbox.

With a stiff expression, Atalyah found nothing of interest in his mailbox. That was precisely the problem: he'd written to his children four days ago, answering a few questions for a school project about the peace talks, yet still had no reply. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he pressed out of it and went back to flicking through news articles, occasionally tapping into one that caught his interest. Occasionally, he'd sneak a glance towards the mechanics or the secret service pilots, ultimately not paying them a whole lot of mind but still at least half as curious as some of the others in the squadron.

Falling Skies: Wavering Valor

Atalyah Mäkinen

^{The Veteran - Lieutenant Commander}

---

DOSSIER: Atalyah Mäkinen

Name: Mäkinen, Atalyah.
Age: Forty-four (44).
Gender: ♂ Male.
Callsign: Nix.
Kills: 32 confirmed MAS kills, although rumor would suggest that there's more hidden behind black ink and security clearances.

Psychological Analysis: Atalyah is a jading man, continuously growing more distant and unenthusiastic about his work, with little more than one goal in mind: either step down to an auxiliary role, or if that's not possible, make it to retirement.

To most, Atalyah keeps his business to himself. While not distant or estranged from his team - he's quite active, especially where informal training and soldiering skills are concerned - he never lets the conversation focus on himself. Rumors would suggest all sorts of reasons for why he's like this: some of the more dramatic stories whispered between the youngest staff on the ship tell tales of a man with nothing left to live for, or a man hounded by shadowy echelons of the earth government. The reality is much more simple: he's just very solitary where his personal life goes, wanting to keep his personal life and professional life separate until his last few years in the service are done.

Beneath all of what he presents is a man faced with his mid-life crisis, yet too estranged from it to do anything about it. After his many years in the service, all he wants to do is to retire to a civil sector job and see his children regularly; yet between his current contract with the United Earth Imperial Armed Forces and his divorced wife that keeps his children away from him, that seems impossible for him. He's tired and stressed, yet too stubborn to admit it to anybody, including himself - especially to the younger members of his team. It has yet to make a significant impact on his military career, yet it coming up in the near future isn't farfetched.

Military Record: Atalyah was born and raised on one of the many artificial homes in the galaxy: great structures floating in the depths of space, clad in life as if it were anything to the likeness of a planet. His parents, claiming a proud Finnish heritage yet ethnically a hotpot of races between them, both worked in hospitality. His parents - his father being the manager of a cafe and his mother being a chef - met when they were both in their young early 20's and were married by 25. Atalyah was born as the oldest of three children, with two younger twin sisters that came after him.

Growing up, Atalyah initially had a sheltered life. He started in a public school before his parents eventually opened up their own business and became successful, where he then transferred to private education shortly after starting middle school. His grades were initially above average throughout elementary school, where they then dipped worryingly low throughout middle school as he lost interest. He lacked aspiration: all he wanted was a quiet existence, with a simple job and a nice house away from the bustle of it all. He pictured himself as a laborer, or even working for his parents in hospitality. Yet, as time went on - out of a mix of his own volition and his parents encouraging him to aspire for something greater - he started putting hard work back into his education, ascending to high grades by the end of high school.

The reason Atalyah decided to focus on his education was an aspiration to join the armed forces. He was inspired by stories of officers in the war against the Coalition, inspiring their men and achieving great victories through cunning and tenacity. Yet, then something else caught his eye: mobile armored suits. What else could be more romantic to a teenage boy then valiant heroes in mecha, fighting against the despicable, peace-hating enemy that was the Coalition? It inspired Atalyah to strive for something, gave him a goal, and with his efforts he was eventually rewarded: he graded high enough on his final exams to quality for the United Earth Forces Academy on Mars, where he was accepted to study to become an MAS pilot, after passing the extensive trials and tests required to become a pilot.

Moving to the core worlds was incredibly exciting for Atalyah. The lights and glamour of it all wasn't lost on him, the impressionable young mind that he was. During the week, he studied to become the man he wanted to be, yet during the weekends, he took out to the streets of Mars to experience life in the core worlds. After so many months, the glamour was lost on him, yet it was exciting while it lasted. Throughout his 4 years at the academy, Atalyah fluctuated with his performance until he eventually graduated with slightly above-average grades, which led to his graduation and further training at the Mobile Armor Academy for another 2 years before finally receiving his posting.

Much like post of the graduating MAS pilots, Atalyah was posted to the 101st Mobile Armour Suit Legion, alongside the bulk of the mechanized fighting force for the United Earth Empire. He found the transition difficult: much of what he had been taught barely qualified him to be considered a rookie when compared to what the veterans knew. He found himself second-guessing his decision, yet caught upto speed given time.

It was during his early career as a pilot that Atalyah met his future wife, Ieva Astrauckas. Ieva was a naval crewman that worked in a logistics role on board his ship of posting. The two took a shine to one another over the first few months of their posting, both being relatively new, before they eventually entered a romantic relationship. It was difficult to maintain, the two soon being posted apart from one another, but they made it work.

Throughout his early career as a MAS pilot, Atalyah saw most of his combat in and around the Free-Enterprise zone. The Orion Arm Theater became his home for most of his early career as a pilot, before he eventually found himself posted to the Perseus Arm, taking part in offensive campaigns against the Coalition. It was in the Perseus Arm that Atalyah really cut his teeth with MAS warfare, finding himself surviving where many of his team members were not - some times by narrow, near-death chance, and others by more reliable planning and piloting. After taking command of his flight, and later his squadron temporarily after his squadron commander died in combat, Atalyah was eventually assessed as a special forces candidate. He passed, where he was then sent off to a classified region of UEE space for training. It was during Atalyah's time with Special Forces Command that he married Ieva and had two kids - a son and a daughter. By the time he transferred out of the outfit several years later, they had divorced, having grown apart between the secrecy and restricted communications.

What Atalyah did between being picked up by Mobile Armor Special Forces and returning to the 101st Mobile Armor Legion is uncertain. Much of what he did has been tightly guarded by UEE Special Forces Command, much to the chagrin of senior commanders in the 101st. A mix of independent reports, Coalition propoganda, and leaks, have placed him in several sensitive areas throughout the conflict: ranging from uncooperative neutral planets in the Free-Enterprise Zone to suspicious incidents behind Coalition lines. At some point, for some reason, Atalyah returned to the 101st MAS Legion, local commanders only being told that he served with Special Forces Command and that no further questions were to be asked.

Now, for little over two years, Atalyah has remained with the 101st. For that entire time, he has stayed true to his newfound policy of keeping his professional life and his personal life separate. There have been times where he's simply vanished for weeks at a time, his commanders left an e-mail from Special Forces Command letting them know he'd be missing, before returning as if nothing ever happened.

Equipment: Normally, Atalyah carries a select range of his standard issue equipment. He rarely carries his handgun, only when the alert order would dictate that he must. Among his personal possessions, he notably has a laptop with all sorts of odds and ends on it, as well as a photo of his two kids.

MAS UNIT: PTX-098 SOC 'Aegis'

Designation:
PTX-098 SOC 'Aegis'.

Role:
Breakthrough assault.

Chassis:
Heavy [+35 WT]

Engine:
PentaCore™ Engine [+25 PWR]

Description:
The PTX-098 SOC, formally designated as Aegis but often nicknamed Biwing or Biplane after it's two additional limbs, is a shock assault heavy MAS designed by B████ █████ and L███ ██████████ for use by ███ ███████ █████ ███████. It saw a limited production where it was issued to specialist members of the aforementioned unit, where it received mixed responses regarding performance. Many special forces outfits preferred medium and light MAS, rarely seeing the intense combat that required a breakthrough unit such as the Aegis. With the introduction of next-generation MAS alongside the lack of drive in next-generation heavy MAS development, most PTX-098 MAS models found uses elsewhere within the United Earth Government: namely as escort units for high value persons and in conventional MAS units, where it's capabilities were more task relevant.

Systems [WT: 35/35 | PWR: 22/25]
M-09C 'Bastard' Plasma Blade [1 WT | 3 PWR]
A plasma blade stored in the left side of the unit's torso, subject to an ejection mechanism as to be 'drawn' by the pilot. The M-09C 'Bastard' is named after the medieval 'bastard sword': namely that it's effective regardless of if it's held with one or two hands. The blade has a fixed length that measures longer than the average plasma sword.

AC-2 50mm Autocannon [5 WT | 3 PWR]
The primary ranged weapon of the Aegis is it's 50mm autocannon, constructed with a single barrel that fires at almost 1 shot per second. The weapon is designed to be carried in both hands and features slight modifications so it can be better angled around objects, such as the shields in the Aegis' design. It is fitted to a hip harness which pulls the weapon into a position sitting against the back of the unit's hip, which is where it sits where unused; this allows for the unit to rapidly draw it's plasma blade without sacrificing the autocannon.

Aegis-class alloy shield limbs [8 WT | 0 PWR]
On top of the two standard arms featured on the PTX-098 is a pair of additional limbs, each bearing an extensively large alloy shield almost as large as the unit itself. These shield limbs feature systems installed into them and can move independently of the rest of the body, keeping the main two hands free for whatever they may want to hold.

Optimized Alloy Plating [5 WT | 0 PWR]
Unfortunately, the two shield limbs on the PTX-098 aren't enough to defend it from combat: flanking maneuvers and renegade shots bring about other sources of damage, just to name a few. To this end, the PTX-098 has been fitted with optimized alloy plating, providing it with better protection without over-encumbering it.

Aegis-class class 5 shield [10 WT | 15 PWR]
While the two shield limbs provide significant protection as is, it is not enough for the breakthrough assault MAS. It features an integrated class 5 shield system, capable of extending and withdrawing it's protection to the alloy shield limbs on demand should they be overwhelmed or surpassed.

Aegis-class missile matrix [6 WT | 4 PWR]
Across the chassis of the MAS is a series of missile units - a total of 2 pods: one in the shoulders and one in the torso. These missiles put the 'breakthrough' in breakthrough assault, often being fired around the two shield arms while the pilot simultaneously engages with other weapons. Naturally, there are only so many missiles per missile pod, limiting each pod to 2 uses per battle.

Falling Skies: Wavering Valor (Mecha, Space Opera)

I've updated my character sheet post with my MAS sheet. Both probably need a few touchups, which I'll have time to get around to this weekend once this endless overtime hell is over.

Falling Skies: Wavering Valor (Mecha, Space Opera)

@Whoami

"Floating worlds" were something he mentioned in the opening post for lore, but in hindsight, that's probably something I've misinterpreted as something else. Probably to the style of those colonies, like you mentioned. I'll double back and reword that.

Falling Skies: Wavering Valor (Mecha, Space Opera)

@vietmyke
I got pretty impatient towards the end of working on this so I can only imagine there'll be some spelling/grammar errors I'll need to fix and things I missed, but here's my bid for the veteran slot. I hope I've made it at least a little interesting and given you stuff to work with, with the mid-life crisis and the shady stuff.

MAS profile to follow soon.

PILOT: Atalyah Mäkinen

Name: Mäkinen, Atalyah.
Age: Forty-four (44).
Gender: ♂ Male.
Callsign: Nix.
Kills: 32 confirmed MAS kills, although rumor would suggest that there's more hidden behind black ink and security clearances.

Psychological Analysis: Atalyah is a jading man, continuously growing more distant and unenthusiastic about his work, with little more than one goal in mind: either step down to an auxiliary role, or if that's not possible, make it to retirement.

To most, Atalyah keeps his business to himself. While not distant or estranged from his team - he's quite active, especially where informal training and soldiering skills are concerned - he never lets the conversation focus on himself. Rumors would suggest all sorts of reasons for why he's like this: some of the more dramatic stories whispered between the youngest staff on the ship tell tales of a man with nothing left to live for, or a man hounded by shadowy echelons of the earth government. The reality is much more simple: he's just very solitary where his personal life goes, wanting to keep his personal life and professional life separate until his last few years in the service are done.

Beneath all of what he presents is a man faced with his mid-life crisis, yet too estranged from it to do anything about it. After his many years in the service, all he wants to do is to retire to a civil sector job and see his children regularly; yet between his current contract with the United Earth Imperial Armed Forces and his divorced wife that keeps his children away from him, that seems impossible for him. He's tired and stressed, yet too stubborn to admit it to anybody, including himself - especially to the younger members of his team. It has yet to make a significant impact on his military career, yet it coming up in the near future isn't farfetched.

Military Record: Atalyah was born and raised on one of the many artificial homes in the galaxy: great structures floating in the depths of space, clad in life as if it were anything to the likeness of a planet. His parents, claiming a proud Finnish heritage yet ethnically a hotpot of races between them, both worked in hospitality. His parents - his father being the manager of a cafe and his mother being a chef - met when they were both in their young early 20's and were married by 25. Atalyah was born as the oldest of three children, with two younger twin sisters that came after him.

Growing up, Atalyah initially had a sheltered life. He started in a public school before his parents eventually opened up their own business and became successful, where he then transferred to private education shortly after starting middle school. His grades were initially above average throughout elementary school, where they then dipped worryingly low throughout middle school as he lost interest. He lacked aspiration: all he wanted was a quiet existence, with a simple job and a nice house away from the bustle of it all. He pictured himself as a laborer, or even working for his parents in hospitality. Yet, as time went on - out of a mix of his own volition and his parents encouraging him to aspire for something greater - he started putting hard work back into his education, ascending to high grades by the end of high school.

The reason Atalyah decided to focus on his education was an aspiration to join the armed forces. He was inspired by stories of officers in the war against the Coalition, inspiring their men and achieving great victories through cunning and tenacity. Yet, then something else caught his eye: mobile armored suits. What else could be more romantic to a teenage boy then valiant heroes in mecha, fighting against the despicable, peace-hating enemy that was the Coalition? It inspired Atalyah to strive for something, gave him a goal, and with his efforts he was eventually rewarded: he graded high enough on his final exams to quality for the United Earth Forces Academy on Mars, where he was accepted to study to become an MAS pilot, after passing the extensive trials and tests required to become a pilot.

Moving to the core worlds was incredibly exciting for Atalyah. The lights and glamour of it all wasn't lost on him, the impressionable young mind that he was. During the week, he studied to become the man he wanted to be, yet during the weekends, he took out to the streets of Mars to experience life in the core worlds. After so many months, the glamour was lost on him, yet it was exciting while it lasted. Throughout his 4 years at the academy, Atalyah fluctuated with his performance until he eventually graduated with slightly above-average grades, which led to his graduation and further training at the Mobile Armor Academy for another 2 years before finally receiving his posting.

Much like post of the graduating MAS pilots, Atalyah was posted to the 101st Mobile Armour Suit Legion, alongside the bulk of the mechanized fighting force for the United Earth Empire. He found the transition difficult: much of what he had been taught barely qualified him to be considered a rookie when compared to what the veterans knew. He found himself second-guessing his decision, yet caught upto speed given time.

It was during his early career as a pilot that Atalyah met his future wife, Ieva Astrauckas. Ieva was a naval crewman that worked in a logistics role on board his ship of posting. The two took a shine to one another over the first few months of their posting, both being relatively new, before they eventually entered a romantic relationship. It was difficult to maintain, the two soon being posted apart from one another, but they made it work.

Throughout his early career as a MAS pilot, Atalyah saw most of his combat in and around the Free-Enterprise zone. The Orion Arm Theater became his home for most of his early career as a pilot, before he eventually found himself posted to the Perseus Arm, taking part in offensive campaigns against the Coalition. It was in the Perseus Arm that Atalyah really cut his teeth with MAS warfare, finding himself surviving where many of his team members were not - some times by narrow, near-death chance, and others by more reliable planning and piloting. After taking command of his flight, and later his squadron temporarily after his squadron commander died in combat, Atalyah was eventually assessed as a special forces candidate. He passed, where he was then sent off to a classified region of UEE space for training. It was during Atalyah's time with Special Forces Command that he married Ieva and had two kids - a son and a daughter. By the time he transferred out of the outfit several years later, they had divorced, having grown apart between the secrecy and restricted communications.

What Atalyah did between being picked up by Mobile Armor Special Forces and returning to the 101st Mobile Armor Legion is uncertain. Much of what he did has been tightly guarded by UEE Special Forces Command, much to the chagrin of senior commanders in the 101st. A mix of independent reports, Coalition propoganda, and leaks, have placed him in several sensitive areas throughout the conflict: ranging from uncooperative neutral planets in the Free-Enterprise Zone to suspicious incidents behind Coalition lines. At some point, for some reason, Atalyah returned to the 101st MAS Legion, local commanders only being told that he served with Special Forces Command and that no further questions were to be asked.

Now, for little over two years, Atalyah has remained with the 101st. For that entire time, he has stayed true to his newfound policy of keeping his professional life and his personal life separate. There have been times where he's simply vanished for weeks at a time, his commanders left an e-mail from Special Forces Command letting them know he'd be missing, before returning as if nothing ever happened.

Equipment: Normally, Atalyah carries a select range of his standard issue equipment. He rarely carries his handgun, only when the alert order would dictate that he must. Among his personal possessions, he notably has a laptop with all sorts of odds and ends on it, as well as a photo of his two kids.

MAS: PTX-098 SOC 'Aegis'

Designation:
PTX-098 SOC 'Aegis'.

Role:
Breakthrough assault.

Chassis:
Heavy [+35 WT]

Engine:
PentaCore™ Engine [+25 PWR]

Description:
The PTX-098 SOC, formally designated as Aegis but often nicknamed Biwing or Biplane after it's two additional limbs, is a shock assault heavy MAS designed by B████ █████ and L███ ██████████ for use by ███ ███████ █████ ███████. It saw a limited production where it was issued to specialist members of the aforementioned unit, where it received mixed responses regarding performance. Many special forces outfits preferred medium and light MAS, rarely seeing the intense combat that required a breakthrough unit such as the Aegis. With the introduction of next-generation MAS alongside the lack of drive in next-generation heavy MAS development, most PTX-098 MAS models found uses elsewhere within the United Earth Government: namely as escort units for high value persons and in conventional MAS units, where it's capabilities were more task relevant.

Systems [WT: 35/35 | PWR: 22/25]
M-09C 'Bastard' Plasma Blade [1 WT | 3 PWR]
A plasma blade stored in the left side of the unit's torso, subject to an ejection mechanism as to be 'drawn' by the pilot. The M-09C 'Bastard' is named after the medieval 'bastard sword': namely that it's effective regardless of if it's held with one or two hands. The blade has a fixed length that measures longer than the average plasma sword.

AC-2 50mm Autocannon [5 WT | 3 PWR]
The primary ranged weapon of the Aegis is it's 50mm autocannon, constructed with a single barrel that fires at almost 1 shot per second. The weapon is designed to be carried in both hands and features slight modifications so it can be better angled around objects, such as the shields in the Aegis' design. It is fitted to a hip harness which pulls the weapon into a position sitting against the back of the unit's hip, which is where it sits where unused; this allows for the unit to rapidly draw it's plasma blade without sacrificing the autocannon.

Aegis-class alloy shield limbs [8 WT | 0 PWR]
On top of the two standard arms featured on the PTX-098 is a pair of additional limbs, each bearing an extensively large alloy shield almost as large as the unit itself. These shield limbs feature systems installed into them and can move independently of the rest of the body, keeping the main two hands free for whatever they may want to hold.

Optimized Alloy Plating [5 WT | 0 PWR]
Unfortunately, the two shield limbs on the PTX-098 aren't enough to defend it from combat: flanking maneuvers and renegade shots bring about other sources of damage, just to name a few. To this end, the PTX-098 has been fitted with optimized alloy plating, providing it with better protection without over-encumbering it.

Aegis-class class 5 shield [10 WT | 15 PWR]
While the two shield limbs provide significant protection as is, it is not enough for the breakthrough assault MAS. It features an integrated class 5 shield system, capable of extending and withdrawing it's protection to the alloy shield limbs on demand should they be overwhelmed or surpassed.

Aegis-class missile matrix [6 WT | 4 PWR]
Across the chassis of the MAS is a series of missile units - a total of 2 pods: one in the shoulders and one in the torso. These missiles put the 'breakthrough' in breakthrough assault, often being fired around the two shield arms while the pilot simultaneously engages with other weapons. Naturally, there are only so many missiles per missile pod, limiting each pod to 2 uses per battle.

(High Casual) An Age Old Feud II

@HushedWhispers

Oh, I didn't notice that. I can do a female, I've actually got an idea in mind if you don't mind me applying for it. c:

Falling Skies: Wavering Valor (Mecha, Space Opera)

You had me at mecha space opera - if you've still got slots going, anyways. I'm pretty flexible so I'm happy to fit most roles, but naval officer and hotshot/ace sound pretty exciting.

@vietmyke

(High Casual) An Age Old Feud II

Ah shit, my attention lapsed, looks like I missed out on this one. In the unlikely event you need a fill in, I'll be around if you want it.

Reboot High Casual Medieval RP.

@HushedWhispers
Still interested. Hoping to keep the role if possible, although I'll likely end up reworking the character since it was made around the old King.

Fate/numerus clausus (A Great Holy Grail War RP in Scotland!)

is this rp still woke or are we kill?