ReHistory: Warwalker: The Mechoning

Wait! Don't leave! The following wall of text might look intimidating, but it's mainly just descriptions of the dozens of weapons and stuff. And it involves mechs! Anyway...

The short version is that this is a real robot RP set in an alternate 1960's where Tesla and Edison's companies have spent the last 75 years pushing tech forward at an alarming rate, with giant robots being the logical endgame. It's freeform, and it's somewhat serious, but also willing to poke fun at itself and do things just because they are cool or funny, in a similar vein to Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

Players are mercenaries in a PMC that takes jobs from the government, Tesla, and Edison, due to providing them with deniability and anonymity. For all outward appearances, the PMC, "Global Parcel Delivery" claims to be a simple mail service. In actuality, they send their mercs on awesome missions where they pilot "Warwalkers" - mechs.

Rules

There aren't really any rules other than what a typical RP has - don't be a jerk, and don't autohit, and you'll be just fine. Also, if you sign up, at least try to give enough of a damn to put this thing on your watchlist and post every now and then. It's not like I'll track you down and beat you with a sock filled with quarters if you don't, but it just ruins everyone else's fun if you only post on the third Saturday of each month. Like I said, it's freeform, and actions will usually have outcomes that are realistic and reasonable for the situation.*

which means that unless you do something nuts, or the enemy has a trick up their sleeve, what you intended to do will usually be what happens

If you do something absolutely nuts where the reasonable outcome is unclear, then I'll break out a coin or die or something to decide.

Mechs are somewhat streamlined and modular, designed to accept a multitude of mass-produced weaponry and modifications on the arms, shoulders and back. The light mechs look somewhat sleek, are about 15 feet tall and pretty damn fast and agile, and while not capable of literally dancing around the battlefield, are quite graceful. Heavy mechs are 22 feet tall, much slower, and carry more powerful equipment. The mechs have some standard equipment, with customizable weaponry, modifications, and appearance. There's no sustained flying, but there are factory-installed jumpjets, which let a mech... jump... by acting like a sort of temporary ten-second jetpack - if you've played MechAssault, it's just like that. Pilots sit inside the torso of the mech, looking out via a series of cameras, and control the mech using the vehicle's numerous buttons, sticks, and force-feedback systems. Mechs are airtight and waterproof, filtering air for the pilot and hold a few reserve tanks of oxygen.

When it comes to weapons systems, heavy mechs have more ammo (if applicable), and can sustain the maximum rate of fire of an energy weapon for a longer period of time. Heavy mechs can equip all standard weapons, and also equip heavy weaponry. While light mechs are more limited in weapon selection, some of the weapons are not as useful or practical for heavy mechs, like the cable whip. Energy weapons do not need ammo like conventional ones, as they use excess energy that's been stored in the mech's batteries and capacitors, but they have limitations. A normal gun can shoot at its max rate as long as there's ammo, but an energy weapon can only fire for short (not too short, though) periods of time. Additionally, bullets go right through energy shields, while energy weapons are blocked and reduce the shield's available energy.

Each mech gets 4 slots to fit things into: left arm, right arm, shoulders, back. Unless otherwise indicated, weapons are stored in the arms and modifications on the back or shoulders, with most gun-type weapons capable of being mounted on the shoulders.

---

Backstory:

• 1885: With Edison refusing to pay the $50,000 he promised in return for redesigning his generators, a scorned Tesla vows to bring down Edison and forms Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing. Soon, Edison General Electric and Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing are the dominant electronics manufacturers and researchers in the United States, and engaged in a bitter rivalry. They begin to hire the best and brightest minds in the nation and from around the globe, while expanding their companies into dozens of new markets, including weapons manufacturing.
• 1915: EGE and TELM, eager to show off their weaponry to the world while attempting to shame each other in their ever-escalating rivalry, pressure Congress to involve the United States in the first World War. Their technology approaches what our world used in the Second World War. EGE's rocketry division is now headed by Robert Goddard.
• 1925: Adolf Hitler comes to power in Germany, and the nation secretly begins developing weaponry based off of American designs. TELM begins to pioneer the field of applied nuclear physics and engineering.
• 1930: EGE and TELM are the first to introduce their own variants of walking tanks - slow four-legged, all-terrain combat vehicles and precursors to mechs. TELM begins tests on controlling the plasma state of matter.
• 1935: Germany initiates a war against the rest of Europe. Their key strategy, the Blitzkrieg, relies on their mechanized infantry spearheaded by a new generation of tanks; augmented with jet engines, these vehicles are capable of traveling at great speeds and leaping over obstacles. Once again, EGE and TELM pressure Congress to intervene, eager to see how their inventions fare against the strange machines.
• 1940: After the defeat of Germany, EGE and TELM independently realize that the future of warfare requires more mobility and introduce the first generation of bipedal mechanized vehicles. TELM creates the first sustained particle beam.
• 1960: The world now finds itself in a Cold War between the USA, USSR, Empire of Japan, Chinese Confederacy, Latin Alliance, African Collective, and European League. TELM and EDE roll out the seventh generation of warwalkers - like the previous generation, they have state-of-the-art fusion cores and can be customized with traditional and energy-based weaponry and various modifications.

---

• Weapons systems: The descriptions are more for letting you know what each one is about, so don't get hung up comparing damage and rates of fire, since this is freeform and not going to use any stats. Weapons aren't set in stone, either, you can change them between missions. Your loadout is just what will be equipped when you start the first mission, and every subsequent mission until you change it.
  • Vibroblade: An arm-mounted, retractable, oscillating blade. Six feet long for light mechs, ten feet long on heavies.
  • Twin Swords: Collapsible swords sheathed on the mech's shoulders, and have magnetic hilts. Eight feet long on light mechs, twelve on heavy mechs.
  • Cable Whip: Launches a retractable, 40-foot-long high-strength cable with a wrecking ball attached to it at high velocity from the mech's arm. Light mechs have a modified version that can function as a grappling hook while heavy mechs have a heavier ball.
  • Electrified Whip: Similar to the cable whip, but has a relatively lightweight magnetic head to attach to other mechs, which then sends out an incredibly powerful electrical pulse. Takes time between shots to fully recharge the capacitors.
  • Machinegun: Projectile weapon with a high rate of fire, medium-long range, and low-medium damage. (7.62mm, up to 6000RPM, 30000 rounds on a light mech, 60000 on a heavy.*
    It's such a huge amount of ammo that you'll basically never run out, unless you fire for several minutes without doing anything else
    )
  • Shrapnel Gun: Fires a large direction-charge canister shell that detonates as it leaves the barrel of the gun, throwing a wide forward arc of metal shards out over many meters. Highly effective against infantry and small vehicles.
  • Railgun: A high-damage, long range weapon that shoots half-kilogram projectiles at 5 km/s and needs to charge between shots.
  • Missile battery: A cluster of high-yield, low-profile missiles with on-board intelligent targeting systems and long range, stored in a mech's shoulders. (the missiles are really tiny, but there are dozens.)
  • German Rocketry Pod: Pioneered during the Blitz as an easily-replaceable shock-and-awe type weapon. Launches a pod of rockets from the mech's shoulder which travel upwards and then separate, raining down onto an area laser-painted by the accompanying control arm. (The arm-laser is not a weapon, just a laser-pointer, so this weapon only uses a shoulder slot, not an arm and shoulder slot.) Pods carried by light mechs contain six rockets, heavy mechs have eight per pod.
  • Grenade launcher: Essentially a dumbfire version of the missile battery, but since the grenades make due without flight-controlling hardware, has a much bigger blast. Medium range and medium-high damage. Can be equipped on the shoulders or arms.
  • Ion Machinegun: Energy weapon with a high rate of fire, low damage, and medium range. (Shoots out around 2000 tiny balls of plasma per minute)
  • Laser: A high-energy focused laser beam with high damage, low range, and needs to charge between shots. (like a short-range version of Iron Man's unibeam)
  • Plasma Thrower: Energy weapon with a medium rate of fire, medium damage and medium range. (Launches a big ball o' plasma every 2 seconds)
  • Shockwave generator: A short-medium-range, medium-damage, wide-effect weapon that viciously pulses the air and shoots out shockwaves.
  • Flamethrower: An energy weapon with short range and low damage, but able to fire indefinitely. Must be in the atmosphere to operate.
• Heavy Exclusive Weapons
  • Oxy-Incinerator: Super-heats oxygen and sprays it out in a shimmery blue wave, anything in the path of the weapon is momentarily in a very hot pure oxygen environment. Non-flammable things can suddenly burn and metal melts almost instantly. Very short range, high damage, and atmospheric oxygen needs to be compressed into the storage tanks between each shot.
  • Railgun Artillery: Shoots a 1-kilogram round at up to 15km/s. Velocities above 5km/s require the mech to be stationary and braced for the shot. Very high range and damage, but has an extremely low rate of fire.
  • Gatling Gun: Like the machine gun, but has a lower rate of fire and bigger bullet for medium damage. (30mm, up to 1100RPM, 2500 rounds)
  • Mortar: Shoulder-mounted artillery weapon that launches explosive shells at medium-long range and medium-high damage, with a low rate of fire.
  • Chainsaw: Chainsaw the size of the vibroblade.

---

• Modifications available to both types (once again, if you can come up with a cool idea for a mod, say so. I couldn't think up too many so don't settle for whatever ones I made):
  • Drone: A 4-foot-long autonomous drone that flies using a set of rotors and sends back data. Can explode using a self-destruct mechanism. Heavies carry a larger 6-foot version armed with either a small 5mm gun, or a pair of rockets. Has a laser-painter for use along with the German Rocketry Pod. Can toggle a false radar signal of a mech at its location, causing confusion to radar-reliant enemies.
  • Capacitor bank: Greatly increases the energy a mech can store, allowing a mech to fire in longer bursts, or use more stuff in parallel. (Think double)
  • Ammo Pod: Stores extra ammo, doubling mech ammo capacity.
  • Blast Shield: A deployable shield that can be removed from a mech's back, unfolded, and placed on the ground to produce cover. Light mechs carry a sixteen-foot-tall version, heavy mechs a twenty-five footer.
  • Shield: Carried on a mech's back as a quarter-circle, unfolds into a circular shield. Six feet in diameter for light mechs, ten for heavy mechs.
  • Dampening Field Grid: An arm-mounted Dampening Field Grid acts as a sort of buckler, quickly deploying an impenetrable energy disk on command over the outer surface of the forearm to stop oncoming attacks.
• Unique Modifications for Light Mechs
  • Stealth system: A system that provides temporary thermal and radar invisibility.
  • Impulse Jets: Improves the jump jets by adding an actual "jump" to the mech. Activating causes a huge change in the mech's momentum, allowing it to quickly leap 30 feet up, which can be combined with the normal mode of the jump jets to climb up to 100 feet. Can be aimed horizontally (or any angle between 0 and 90, really) to aid in movement. The impulse manipulation engine that powers the jets is stored on the mech's back.
  • Aqua jets: Useless on land, but underwater it allows light mechs to actually swim rather than be forced to walk along the bottom, or drift using floaties.
• Unique Modifications for Heavy Mechs
  • Energy Shield generator: Allows the mech to create a dome-shaped semi-temporary energy barrier of adjustable width (from right up against the mech to a twenty-foot radius) which can absorb laser and plasma fire, and prematurely detonates missiles.
  • Hunker shield: Basically the same as the energy shield generator, but with the upside of being stronger and the downside of having more energy demand and only covering the mech. The shield goes up for only a few seconds at best, and forces the mech to stop moving or firing or doing anything besides sitting there in the shield, but can take ridiculous amounts of punishment. Strong enough that it actually reduces the speed of bullets entering, and dampens explosions.

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Light Mech

• Height: 15 feet
• Jump jet height: 40 feet.
• Maximum Speed: 70 miles per hour
• Weight: 20 tons

Heavy Mech

• Height: 22 feet
• Jump jet height: 10 feet.
• Maximum Speed: 30 miles per hour
• Weight: 50 tons

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Signup sheet
Character

• Name:
• Callsign:
• Age: 16+
• Sex:
• Appearance:
  • Flightsuit+Helmet:
  • Casualwear:
• Brief Backstory: At the very least explain why your character is in the PMC, as well as why they know enough about piloting to be entrusted with expensive mechs instead of simply being another member of the infantry sent into the meat grinder.
• Any other information:

Mech

• Name (optional):
• Size: You can pick the light mech, or the heavy mech.
• Appearance: Customize away. Pilots are in the torso, so even heads are optional.
• Left Arm:
• Right Arm:
• Back:
• Shoulder:
• Any other information:

---

Light Warwalkers

• Brian "Slash-Bash" Douglas/Rinzler (Insano)
• Anthony Summers/Ginger Fury (Exileman)
• "Iron" Hans Muller/New Riser (Nick The Swing)
• Bart Carson/Cold Turkey (Firock Finion)

Heavy Warwalkers

• Shane Miller/Grindstone (Stormthorn)
• Aleida Anholts/Archer (SOCR)
• Levi Negev/Sand Hawk (rabbit Rider)
• Tefari Zamanuael/Red Lion (Fauxlosophe)

And here's the discussion and the actual RP thread.

edited 15th Jun '12 10:32:42 PM by nman

Hooray! I'll just leave this here and fill it in later.

Character:

• Name: Brian "Slash-Bash" Douglas
• Callsign: Rinzler
• Age: 24
• Sex: Male
• Appearance: No matter what he is wearing, Brian has metallic Grey Eyes with Shiny Midnight Black hair. He stands at about 5' 11" and weighs about 175 lbs. He is moderately built, with some noticeable muscle.
  • Flightsuit+Helmet: Brian wears a very technological flightsuit/helmet combo that looks more or less like this.◊
  • Casualwear: When not in his flightsuit, Brian wears whatever he likes. Usually, he is wearing a shortsleeved, collared shirt of some color he felt like wearing with either jeans or khaki shorts. His footwear is either shoes or slippers of whatever he bought for the year.
• Brief Backstory: Brian's family had its fair share of mech pilots, the last and greatest of them thus far being his uncle. His uncle taught him everything he knew about keeping a mecha working and fighting. After fixing up one of his own mechas, Brian joined the Global Parcel Delivery to do what he loves to do and to support himself and his girlfriend, Sam.
• Any other information: Brian is a fun-loving, nerdy guy. He doesn't completely care about the global conflict thus far, only watching out for himself and his girlfriend. He keeps quiet and spends his time watching after both his Sams, though he'd like to see himself as being on friendly terms with everyone else in the Global Parcel Delivery.

Mech:

• Name: Sammy
• Size: Light
• Appearance: Sammy looks much like this, except she can change the color of her lights.
• Left Arm: Cable Whip
• Right Arm: Vibroblade
• Back: Impulse Jets
• Shoulder: Missile Battery
• Any other information: Brian sits in the torso of Sammy, but also has a holographic image of himself projected in her head that records his actions and moves as he does. This is for an extra element of surprise for any opponents who think they've killed Brian by destroying the head.

edited 29th May '12 2:10:30 PM by Insano

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Character

• Name: Shane Miller
• Callsign: Grindstone
• Age: 42
• Sex: Male
• Appearance: A rough shaven man with prematurely gray hair and cold gray eyes. Of medium high and thin but athletic
  • Flightsuit+Helmet: An old and badly worn U.S. mecha pilotjumpsuit with a large number of little white X’s stitched onto the back and shoulders
  • Casualwear: Military Fatigues
• Brief Backstory: Shane is ex U.S. military, with a long record of mechanized combat before he left and, following three years of failed civilian life, signed up as a soldier of fortune.
• Any other information: Shane Miller is an abrasive and reserved man personally, having an intense dislike for speaking of his past. The closest things he has to hobbies are tweaking his combat mech, visiting prostitutes, and being the kingpin of cigarette distribution, a rare commodity when deployed overseas.

Mech

• Name: The Bitch
• Size: Heavy
• Appearance: A mish-mash of gunmetal gray and olive drab. Large, boxy, and rather asymmetrical in appearance, The Bitch is an ugly heavily armored fighting machine that is years outdated.
• Left Arm: Ion Machinegun
• Right Arm: Gatling Gun
• Back: Drone (for spotting)
• Shoulder (retrofitted for heavy weaponry): Mortar artillery on right shoulder, with ammunition counterweight and cockpit over the left.

edited 28th May '12 5:20:05 PM by Stormthorn

While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail, / In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail.

You're both in.

One minor question, though. When you say the cockpit is "over" the left shoulder, is it internal, or do you have some sort of extruded cockpit in mind? Just need to know that for descriptions.

Damn -sorry, I forgot to put "Callsign" on the signup list, you might want to add one, I guess.

edited 28th May '12 4:27:35 PM by nman

Cockpit built into an enlarged left shoulder with an exit hatch on one side. It has no window however, instead showing a wrap-around view from cameras mounted more centrally on the mecha.

While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail, / In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail.

• Name: "Iron" Hans Muller
• Age: 16
• Sex: male
• Appearance: Hans is a handsome young man, having disorganized and short trimmed blond hair, he has rather wide blue eyes that show some hints of an internal naivety about the world. He is always wearing a necklace with his father's iron cross medal on it, a gift from his mother that once belonged to his father.
• Flightsuit+Helmet: His flightsuit is black and red, and his helmet has a visor on it, and a red arc going down at the back.
• Casualwear: He wears a black sleeveless shirt under a white button up shirt, leather pants, and steel toed boots. He also wears fingerless gloves. He sometimes wears a black jacket over his normal clothes when it gets cold.
• Brief Backstory: Hans is the son of a member of the SS, in particular a very ruthless one whose only real smidgen of morality was his care for Hans, and that was, alone, thought to be because Hans is everything he wanted in a son, except for the fact that Hans is, despite being somewhat bigoted and cold around other racial groups, still a rather nice youth with a lukewarm personality who is slowly learning tolerance. He simply knows no better than how he acts, though such will change over the course of the RP. Hans' father and mother had, after the war ended, became hired by Tesla Corp. due to their ideas about machines, his father in particular in an Operation Paperclip like affair, due to is father having some warcrimes he was involved in. After he showed signs of being a prodigy, his father put him in a private academy and made sure that his son became a child prodigy ace pilot, ala Asuka Langley Soryu. Due to mom and dad's influence, Hans became a part of the PMC as a part of the Young Pilot's Trial Program.
• Any other information: Hans was born with a strange genetic disorder which resulted in his muscles being extraordinarily developed at an early age.

• Mech

• Name (optional): Fenrir
• Size: 15 feet
• Appearance: Fenrir is a rather light on its feet mecha with an appearance slightly reminiscent of the Gareth, from Code Geass. It has compact armor and a good defensive quality to it.
• Left Arm: The left arm carries a vibroblade
• Right Arm: Carries a laser beam launcher on it in the palm of hand
• Back: Capacitor Bank
• Shoulder: German Rocketry Pod
• Call Sign is "New Riser"

If I am incorrect about the capabilities given by a Capacitor Bank, just tell me and I'll correct it.

edited 29th May '12 1:17:56 PM by NickTheSwing

• Name: Anthony Summers
• Callsign: Ginger Fury!
• Age: 26
• Sex: Male
• Appearance: Anthony is....facially unpleasant. He has what appears to be a haphazard haircut (possibly self inflicted) his eyebrows are bushy, and its red all over.
• Flightsuit+Helmet: His helmet has a big red afro painted on. His Flightsuit is actually pretty standard and is a dark gold color, other than the greese stains.
• Casualwear: Overalls. Sometimes his helmet as well.
• Brief Backstory: Anthony is a bit of a savant when it comes to mechs. He just....gets them. He loves being in them, loves working on them. The "delivery service" he works for lets him pilot cause he does it well and because every now and again, he has a mad idea that works for new tech. Plus he fixes his own unit and he's cheap.

Mech!

• Name (optional): Scarlet Fever!
• Size: Light
• Appearance: Anthony's mech is designed with overlapping, but moving armor plates, similar to scale

mail. It gives the overall mech a somewhat medival feel. There is no head, but where the head would be is a large red afro. Overall it has a Red and gold color scheme.

• Left Arm: Taser Whip
• Right Arm: Ion Machinegun
• Back: Impulse Jets
• Shoulder: German Rocket Pods

edited 28th May '12 7:35:55 PM by Exileman

"More stuff in parallel" just meant that while it could double the time you can fire one energy weapon, it could also increase the time you fire two energy weapons at once by 50%. So yeah, just one weapon or mod per slot - that's an exclusive or, not inclusive.

Other than that, seems a bit too Super Robot and Marty Stu of a background. While sixteen is young, that's alright since it's the minimum age for employment and every character is supposed to know how to pilot a mech, but you're still simply a merc, so you don't actually own the mech (unless it's an old mech, not a fancy-schmancy prototype badass), and the Super-Strength disease is really overkill. The idea is also that everyone has access to the same stuff, so a prototype mech with tons of horns and talons and multiple guards is pushing it. But other than that, the background's interesting, though I assume if his father was really ruthless and actually involved in warcrimes, then there was some sort of Operation Paperclip where he had to change his name or something.

And sixteen meters.... That's over twice the height of the biggest mech. You can choose the light mech, or the large mech.

That's in. You might want to use bullets to space out a list in the future, just to make things more compact. Oh, and I'm assuming "Laser rifle" is the laser.

edited 28th May '12 7:58:52 PM by nman

Is it okay if I switch the laser rifle to Ion machinegun? It's what I was thinking of, but since its already on there, I feal like I should ask.

Yeah, you can change it whenever you want until the RP starts, and after that, you can still change it whenever you're not on a mission or something. That's why I suggested bullets, so that if you ever change it, there's a place to look up those 4 slots.

I have no idea how to do the bullets on here. I thought I did, I was very wrong. Hints/tips/ please tell me how to do it.

Added callsign.

Allurand and surrounding world loading, 28%...

Just put a * at the beginning of a line, and it automatically does it for you.

If you need to know more, just look up Text-Formatting Rules and it explains everything.

Adding that to the OP.

edited 28th May '12 7:33:04 PM by nman

I edited the bio and such, but I'd like to keep his disorder in there, mainly because its a part of one of Hans' complexes and a part of some of his development: would dad care for me if I wasn't strong?

Alright, that's good then. For the strength, then, it was really just the combination with everything else that made it seem too much, so I guess it can work, since there's not much actual physical combat planned, so as long as he's not like a ninja-assassin it can work out. Oh, and you still need a callsign, or is it just his nickname? And you still left your size as 16m, is it a light mech (15 feet) or heavy (22 feet)?

edited 29th May '12 7:25:02 AM by nman

Changed it to 15, and made his call sign New Riser. Its just a cool little thing I came up with that would sound good in a mecha show.

Cool.

Although... you wrote 15 meters. I'm just going to assume that you meant the light 15-footer, or did you want the bigger one?

edited 28th May '12 9:30:38 PM by nman

The issue is that you list the height in Meters (M) when our mechs our in feet (' or ft). Fifteen meters is a mecha upwords of 50 feet tall. Think Iron Brigade not Mech Warrior.

Ninja'd.

edited 28th May '12 9:32:56 PM by Stormthorn

While the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail, / In the Name of the Empress, the Overland Mail.

Sorry, I am used to meters.

No worries, just wanted to make sure that you actually wanted a light mech, and that you weren't going to be sad if you were expecting a heavier one. Your character's in the OP now.

And it's probably not helpful that we use kilograms and millimeters for weapons while using miles, feet, and tons for the mechs.

edited 28th May '12 11:07:00 PM by nman

Vague interest, though technical details intimidate me. Was curious though where Great Britain rests in your TL? There's a European League, which I imagine is a more integrated and active form of the EU? However given British tendency to stay separate from Europe governmentally, economically, etc., I would imagine they'd be somewhat separate from the EL though maybe not a major power?

Avatar from: http://x0whitelily0x.livejournal.com/5953.html N: 5 F, 0/40 S

You don't need to feel too intimidated by the technical details. Most of the descriptions for weapons and tech are really just there because we like discussing them, figuring out what a "realistic" weapon would be, and kind of just gushing about them. But in general, the descriptions are there to make it easier for you to write cool stuff about your mech, and to understand the sort of rock-paper-scissors tradeoffs each one has with range, fire rate, and damage. You don't have to worry about optimizing your mech, either, since this is freeform and doesn't use some system to calculate everything.

As for Britain - various regions of the world are just cordoned off and labelled as parts of different powers/superpowers, but there's not much that's been set in stone about their governments. So if it would seem more realistic, I guess the European League could easily be a collection of European states with the UK as a sort of half-member with an agreement to stick together when things go crazy, in something reminiscent of the EU.

edited 29th May '12 8:00:11 PM by nman

I'm not actually sure about joining this RP. I don't want to be in too many at once and a couple of the accepted characters make me wary. But that said, the setting and all sounds really interesting, plus...

You mentioned you wanted suggestions for mech mods? Well, regardless of if I join or not, my mind couldn't help coming up with some as soon as I read that. So, without further ado, here goes.

• Both type modifications
  • Marker drone: A different kind of drone that comes equipped with a laser-painter for use along with the German Rocketry Pod. (Sacrifice a slot so you can use the GRP as an indirect fire weapon.)
  • Decoy drone: Another drone that can toggle a false radar signal of a mech at its location, causing confusion to radar-reliant enemies.
  • Det pack: The simplicity of a bomb scaled up to the size of mechs, and that can clamp to the side of a building if needed. Comes in remote detonated, timer, laser tripwire, and motion detection, with either an all-direction blast or shaped charge.
• Light mech exclusive
  • Aqua jets: Useless on land, but underwater it allows light mechs to actually swim rather than be forced to walk along the bottom.
• Heavy mech exclusive
  • Hunker shield: Ever played Halo Reach or Supreme Commander 2? Basically the same as the energy shield generator, but with the upside of being stronger and the downside of having more energy demand. The shield goes up for only a few seconds at best, and forces the mech to stop moving or firing or doing anything besides sitting there in the shield, but can take ridiculous amounts of punishment.

Feel free to use or toss any of these ideas, I just couldn't get my mind to stop thinking about it. I'll probably lurk for a time, while I think about whether or not I'd like to join.

You are reading this.

Those look interesting. I added the last three mods, and added the functions of those first two to the drone, since they seem like they wouldn't take up too much space (a laser-pointer and small addition to the communications array). I hope you do decide to join, as well.

Character

Physical

• Name: Aleida Anholts
• Callsign: Archer
• Age: 28
• Sex: Female
• Appearance:
  • Personal: Aleida is small enough to feel very comfortable within the computer-and-mechanic cramped cockpit of the Draak, standing in at only 5'5" (165cm) and 150lbs (65kg). Sandy blonde hair passes her shoulders by about six inches as she's allowed it to grow out a bit after leaving the service. From her coastal mild climate she usually always carries a pair of sunglasses; if not over her eyes, atop her head. She remains fit since leaving the service through jogging and swimming exercises, leading to lean muscles and good cardiovascular endurance.
  • Flightsuit+Helmet: Pilot Suit◊ Patches on arms appear as this◊ in addition to GPD service patch. That roundel is also visible to either side of the cockpit canopy on her machine. Three stars are present in a line on the shoulder plates, also placed near the roundel on the cockpit armor of the mech.
  • Casualwear: Still retains typical military casual garb, camo or beige cargo pants and jackets, usually wears thick-strapped tank tops or t-shirts underneath in accordance with her familiarity with coastal climate. Hair usually worn tied back in a ponytail.

Backstory:

Aleida was very young when World War Two hit the Netherlands, but old enough to remember the chaos, confusion, and suffering her family and country endured under the German regime. When the Canadian-led forces finally liberated her homeland it was a time of great joy, and these events left a lasting impression on her. She wanted to be one of those who prevented the former, or failing that ensured the latter. She didn't care how, or why, just that she wantes to be there protecting her country in it's next time of need.

Aleida entered the Dutch armed forces officer academy at 18, graduating four years later as a warwalker pilot and serving for another four years. She was not the top of her class, placing only in the top 30%, but her battlefield conduct and simulator performance were excellent and she never troubled a superior.

Unfortunately, her country decided it didn't need her. During a military drawdown due to budget cuts, her machine was sold off as so many others were. She took it as a sign it was time to depart and was honorably discharged at the rank of Kapitein. Her military clearance allowed her to follow the paperwork trail her faithful Solar Flare left behind until she found it come into the hands of Global Parcel Delivery, which she immediately contacted specifically citing the warwalker and her previous military service. She was hired on and was able to wheedle her way back into her old cockpit, before anyone else could make themselves comfortable in it.

Personality:

Aleida always has an opinion on everything, but is the type to never tell her superiors that; she is on the battlefield to do a job to the best of her ability, even if she may disagree with the job she was given. Some say she left the military at a good time, promotions to Majoor blocked by her seeming lack of any sort of battlefield ambition. On the field her primary concern is simply guiding her unit to perform for greatest effect, and supporting them through the myriad of ways the Draak warwalkers allow. Off the battlefield all these inhibitions disappear. Aleida can be terse and short-tempered, not usually but occasionally resorting to snark. She doesn't suffer fools and she doesn't suffer failure. She is usually most relaxed around other pilots of ex-military personnel, or civilians who show they actually know what they're talking about. She is very tolerant and casual with those who were lower grade than her, those who may be lower on what passes for GPD's command totem pole, even if they don't adhere to titles or formalities. She cares about the substance of combat hierarchy, not the trappings of positions. At times she will have to catch herself from allowing this attitude to dictate her actions towards superiors.

Mech

• Name (optional): Solar Flare
• Size and Class: Draak-class Heavy Fire Support Platform.
• Appearance: Base appearance◊ with the following alterations;
  • Top weapon removed and replaced with a drone mount point placed over torso centerline
  • Blast port for Oxy-Incinerator mounted on the armor rail visible underneath the cockpit.
  • Missile racks on either side of the cockpit replaced with armored air intake vents for engine cooling and for the Oxy-Incinerator
  • The outer (side) surface of the left arm*
    To the right of the image
    has the twin 35mm system mounted on it. Due to the three-meter barrel length, the barrels can flip out and back, pointing behind the arm when not in use.
  • The areas of thicker armor around the cockpit contains panels that can slide forward and completely conceal the glass canopy.
• Left Arm: Twin 35mm, 2500 rounds ammo, ammo feed can switch ammunition types automatically
  • 1250 High-Explosive Incendiary
  • 625 Armor Piercing
  • 625 Fragmentation
• Right Arm: Railgun Artillery
• Back: Drone mount
  • Sensor Decoy
  • 5.56mm Machine Gun
• Shoulder: Oxy-Incinerator
• Any other information:
  • When the 35mm barrels flip to the rear-facing position, the claw on the left arm can act as a fully functional hand
  • Can enter Siege Mode which renders the machine stationary but automatically braces for the Railgun Artillery, adds additional armor for the cockpit, and activates additional advanced sensors able to intercept radio communications, create accurate 3D battlefield mapping and manually control her drone, and can track stealthed units through seismic sensors. May act as a command post or very long range (over-the-horizon capable within 50km, can fire even further*
    shots fired at greater than 12km/s can achieve escape velocity and thus hit anywhere on the planet; the Draak does not have suitable calculations and battlefield imaging to accurately hit targets outside a 50km radius. Uplink with a central command post is possible with the Draak's communications gear, but would be necessary to make the shot
    ) sniper platform.

edited 7th Jun '12 10:35:40 AM by SOCR

How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?