Steel Warrior Academy: A Mecha School RP Signups and Interest Check

The year is 2145. The war between the United Earth Governments, a organization formed of the various separate governments on Earth, and the Fiefdom of Casval, has raged for years. The United Earth Governments had been monitoring the colony Casval ever since it separated from them. Their worries grew when its new leader, Armon Dantalion Casval, took power. He began to preach against the UEG, stating that they were oppressive and that it was the Casvalan duty to destroy them and liberate Earth from the various governments that made it up.

Even with their preparations, the UEG was unprepared for the Fiefdom of Casval's first assault. The Casvalans not only attacked with a vast amount of high-power weaponry, but also with an immense number of Mechanical Frames. They assaulted other colonies, taking them by surprise.

The UEG was shocked. They had no idea the Fiefdom of Casval possessed Mechanical Frames, let alone so many. They had to move to end the war quickly, before any more colonies were attacked.

They failed.

The war has raged for years now. In the wake of this combat, many new pilots must be trained. Pilot Academies, unified schools created to both educate students and train them to be potential pilots, spawned across UEG space. A host of pilots came to train here, often of their own will. There was no mandatory draft, though anyone with interest in Mechanical Frames was strongly encouraged to attend.

The students attending learn both regular subjects, and in-depth knowledge of how to pilot and control Mechanical Frames.

One such school is the Tsukino-Danvers Academy. Founded by Tsukino Sumiko and Gregory Danvers, it is one of the most populated of the Pilot Academies in all of UEG space. It is host to a vast number of students.

This is their story.

So, um... to start with, this is a combination Slice Of Life/Real Robot Mecha RP. It's based around the Tsukino-Danvers Academy, a MF Pilot school on the colony of Kantaku. Kantaku is a 'reclaimed' colony, an attempt at colonization which initially failed, but has now met with success. While the colony is home to little but Kantaku city, the Tsukino-Danvers Academy, and the overgrown remnants of the first colony, this makes it a perfect place for training battles using Mechanical Frames. These student pilots are not intended to enter full combat until they are old enough, but the training is intended to prepare them.

As for the Mechanical Frames themselves...

Mechanical Frames are humanoid fighting machines. Controlled by a human pilot located in the upper torso, Mechanical Frames are often referred to as "mecha". They can be customized and altered by pilots, which is popular among Students. They can also be outfitted with a wide variety of weapons, from handheld missile rifles or laser systems to superheated bladed weapons designed to cut through armor like butter. Mechanical Frames are also capable of space combat, though their main purpose is ground combat. As a base, UEG Mechanical Frames look like this*. However, that model has light modifications, namely the shoulder-mounted weaponry. A vast amount of alterations can be made to Mechanical Frames, in some cases completely altering their appearance.

*Casvalan MF's look like this.

To start with, players will be playing students, and all battles will be training battles between these students. However, as the plot progresses, this may change...

Anyway, on to bios!

• Name:
• Age: (No higher than eighteen)
• Gender:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• History:
• Mechanical Frame:
  • Appearance: (Must look as if it was at one point the base model, otherwise feel free to go crazy with designs)
  • Weaponry:

edited 28th Sep '13 3:38:17 PM by AnnoR

Definite Interest.

So, um... I may have more then one character, but to start with...

• Name: Hasegawa Chie
• Age: 10
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "I don't have time for you, I'm drawing." Her pilot suit is mostly blue.
• Personality: Chie has a personality that greatly contrasts her small, childish body. She has a tendency to be deeply sarcastic towards others if she decides they deserve to be treated with sarcasm, and she often quietly teases others. She enjoys drawing, and has a deep interest in anime, manga, and video games, which she pursues whenever she is able to. Chie often draws or writes about these things, though her writing is significantly more childish then her art. In spite of her thick layer of sarcasm, she does still have the personality of a child and is surprisingly easily frightened. Chie also enjoys cosplay, to the point of having been reprimanded for coming to school in cosplay before.
• History: A child prodigy from a rich family, Chie jumped ahead from elementary school to High School, proving to be surprisingly knowledgeable and holding a massive potential for being a pilot. She elected to go to a pilot school herself, deeply interested in Mechanical Frames and deeply desiring to pilot one. In spite of her young age, she was accepted due to her extensive knowledge.
• Mechanical Frame: Modified UEG MF-V4, also known as "Būmu-chan".
  • Appearance: "Heavy armor and weapons systems, check..."
  • Weaponry: Chie has seen to it that her MF has been outfitted with a vast amount of weaponry and equipment:
    • Shoulder-mounted Missile Launchers: Flipped forward in their active state, Chie's MF has a pair of these mounted on its shoulders. Each contains eight separate missile pods.
    • Point Laser System: In a rather unique design choice, the head-mounted "unicorn" horn is actually a point-laser system, capable of projecting a thin beam of energy highly dangerous to unshielded, lightly-armored targets.
    • Point Laser or Rocket Rifle: Chie's MF can wield either of these weapons easily.
    • Superheated Blade: Chie's MF can also use a large superheated sword, though her preference is ranged combat.
    • Shield Systems: In spite of the mecha's bulky appearance, it has light shields.
    • Armor: To compensate, the MF has heavy armor, capable of taking severe damage before vital systems are in danger.

Some questions -

• What age is the average student?

• Where would students come from - all over the globe, or specific regions? Kind-a wanna play a pilot from somewhere in Africa.

• Do mechas all have to be combat focused? Could some be focused on recon or repairing other mechas on the field?

Well, it's intended to be like a High School. Chie is a child prodigy.

All over the planet and from colonies.

All mecha have some kind of combat capability.

• Name: Jabari Mustafa

• Age: 16

• Gender: Male

• Appearance: Roughly 5"4, Jabari's is well built from years of training, fitness and preparation as a pilot, but he's also naturally thin thanks to a high metabolism. He has short black hair, tightly curled against his head. His skin is dark, to say the least, while his eyes are a clear shade of brown. His lips are thin and his nose is broad but small. He has a single tattoo in white ink arranged around his right eye, of a series of interlocking gears - the symbol of Mwalimu Makali, one of the UEG's larger factories within Africa, based in Kenya.
  • He tends to wear his piloting gear/uniform most of the time, but on the rare occasion when he isn't training he can be seen in a simple white t-shirt and black or brown jeans. When working out, he usually wears a variety of colourful tracksuits.

• Personality: A focused, serious 'tough guy' who lives and breathes Mechanical Frames, he doesn't talk very much and rarely socializes outside of those he has a previous connection too - a factor that further reduces who he considers a 'friend'. He doesn't have a lot of interests or hobbies besides piloting and engineering, though he does occasionally enjoy reading classical literature from around the globe - albeit on a tablet computer or e-reader. That, and sports.
  • That said, he has a respect for others like himself - those who truly dedicate themselves to the maintenance and piloting of Mechanical Frames. As a child, he quickly made himself acquainted with those he saw to be important or potentially interesting or 'useful'. He just finds it harder than most to call people friends.

• History: Jabari had what you might call an 'easy life' financially, but it was quite a different story in other areas - his father (Bakari Mustafa) was the head of Mwalimu Makali, was not exactly what you'd call a 'family man'. With a mother who died young and a step mother who, despite wanting to look after him, he rejected, he found himself often alone at home - and while wealthy, his more anti-social and introverted nature left him with few if any friends.
  • His father, a prominent figure in the production and research of new Mechanical Frames for various nations of the UEG (due to, you know, working *for* the UEG), was deeply involved in the war. With no one else to turn too for any sort of familiarity or kindness, Jabari volunteered himself at a young age as a pilot. Although not old enough to actually pilot, at the tender age of eight he began studying the engineering and piloting of Frames - he ultimately wanted to attend a proper piloting academy.
  • His step mother hated the very thought of it, witnessing her own husband be consumed by work and by the war. But where she saw terrible risks and hatred, Bakari saw potential. He had his son undergo private tutelage from retired UEG engineers and pilots. By the time he was 14 - and thus old enough to attend an academy - he already had extensive training and had run numerous simulations. He was granted access to the academy as a representative of Mwalimu Makali, a heritage that he was so proud of he had it tattooed on his face.
  • To the other students, he is a stranger. To the academy, he is a source of additional funding. To his father, he is a hope of further career prospects and bargaining ploys. And to his step mother? He is a source of constant, desperate anxiety.

• Mechanical Frame: The Chuma Askari is a heavily customized Mechanical Frame. Jabari looked at the base model, and decided he wanted something built for speed, recon, and skill - so, with the assistance of the company engineers, stripped it down to its barest essentials: powerful engine, durable inner frame and a built-in jet pack... and replaced everything else with sleeker, more expensive, vastly superior alternatives.
  • Appearance: Painted primarily in dark grey, with green highlights and the interlocking gear symbol of Mwalimu Makali painted in white onto its left shoulder (as well as other white trimmings), it gives off a sleek and ninja like form. The limbs are strong but relatively slim for a Frame, smoother and less angular than most. The head possesses four eyes, arranged into vertical pairs. The jetpack is curved into a vaguely hump like 'shell', with two primary thrusters. Smaller, hip mounted thrusters allow Jabari to better maneuver himself.

  • Weaponry & Equipment:
    • Switchblades - retractable, vibrating, diamond edged swords attached to the wrists, designed to slice through the softer sections or joints of a Frame in melee. Jabari has undergone numerous classes in a variety of fighting styles to better improve his skill in this way.
    • Mk III Plasmatic Rotation Rifle - a sleek, sniper rifle esque weapon with an open-topped, ridge/groove liked metallic 'beam' instead of a typical gun barrel. It also possesses a high speed, vertically positioned, rotating disk towards the rear (mounted on the top of the rifle's 'butt') with a thin but durable, arching spindle propped to its right. When the trigger is held, the disc spins at super-sonic speeds before being struck by the needle, shaving off microscopic 'threads' that fire down the grooved 'barrel'. The 'threads' convert into plasma from the speed, burning through everything in their path with terrible accuracy. tl;dr: The weapon is extremely powerful, accurate, long ranged and fast firing, but requires a noticeable 'warm up' period in order to actually fire. In addition, if fired for too long the spindle risks 'burning out' from the speed, fracturing the disc and injuring the wielder.
    • Support Drones - a set of three tiny drones that detach from the chest. Though too small to carry weapons, their relatively low-intellect A.I.s are focused around gathering information. Mounted with tiny cameras and able to coordinate targets from multiple angles, they are generally ignored by most foes but can provide crucial reconnaissance.
    • Kugawanyika Alpha/Beta - a series of fragmentation ('flak') cannons built into the shoulders of the mech, they unfold to spray a large number of relatively slow bullets, slugs and shrapnel over a wide area, with extremely low accuracy. While effective against a large number of unarmoured targets, the cannons are mainly used as a distraction against Mechanical Frames, forcing opponents to think on their feet. The standard 'quantity over accuracy' is the Alpha version, which outside of battle can be switch with the more accurate but less numerous and rapid firing Beta version.

edited 2nd Oct '13 2:46:28 PM by Eventua

Looks mighty interesting. Do you mind if I post my idea of an character here?

• Name: Hildebrand von Kraft
• Age: 16
• Gender: Male
• Appearance: In his civvies. Stands at roughly 5'9''. His suit is mostly black with extra red parts.
• Personality: Hilde is a man with a golden heart. Like a historical knight, he wishes to protect the weak and defeat evildoers. He is, however, not a fool and understands that on the battlefield every trick counts. That being said, he respects the defeated and holds no grudges against his own failures caused by other students. He has real trouble comprehending irony, so it might be best if you don't use it when talking with him. Tends to speak rather formally and politely. A surprisingly avid videogamer.
• History: Though von Krafts aren't as meaningful as they used to be before the conflict has arisen, Hildebrand strives to change that. A student with relatively good grades, he picked the pilot school as a place where he could really show his abilities and feel like he's personally defending his homeland.
• Mechanical Frame: UEG MF-K11 undergone some heavy tuning. Goes under name of "Verfechter".
  • Appearance: A tribute to now extinct warriors in shining armors.◊
  • Weaponry:
    • Superheated Lance: Though it looks rather unremarkable, its piercing power combined with high speeds this MF can pull off can run through any run-of-the-mill schmuck unlucky enough to be in its path. It can also be used as a mace due to its relatively high mass.
    • Titanium Alloy Shield: Apart from providing some sweet protection from all kinds of attacks, it also stores a HMG loaded with AP rounds inside. When things go rough, it can go wild on an opponent. Highly effective against heavily-armored targets, though not so much against shield systems.
    • Turbo Boosters: A number of extra engines that allow the MF to briefly take off from the ground - though not all that high, just enough to hover a bit over it - and grant it an additional burst of mobility or an extra oomph to a charge.
    • Armor: Of a medium variety, it trades survivability for additional speed. It can still take a beating, but a continuous assault will shred it. Luckily, it has its actual shield to protect itself with.

Will be looked at when completed.

I'm not seeing anything objectionable, and knight mecha is pretty awesome, sooo... accepted, eh-heh.

• Name: Takaya Nanako
• Age: 18
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Looks like this, occasionally does cosplay.◊
• Personality: Huge Gunbuster fangirl. That is, she got into this old show, and decided that it was an amazing thing to design after... and that's pretty much all most people can say. See, though she's far from shy, Nanako is basically inaudible: too quiet to hear easily, and even if you do hear, accent plus poor articulation means that it's basically just mumbling.
  So she sticks to building things, tinkering with her mecha, and looking up things related to her absolute favourite thing. You've got to wonder how long it is before she goes through Gainax's entire catalogue...
• History: Nanako, when she was younger and had no idea what she wanted to do, stumbled across this strange animated thing... and then another! And another, and another, and another, until it was 12 in total. And then, later still, she found a game that showed her oh-so-many similar things! And more attacks for her first love, even.
  So she worked on becoming an engineer, and then used her uncanny aptitude for this to get into being a pilot... though she's not so good at this.
  Her dream is to build a perfect replica of Gunbuster.
  Then Buster Machine 7.
• Mechanical Frame: Oh, come on, take a wild guess what she called it. >.>
  It's... heavily armed. Very. And also sturdily built. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact she's not exactly... skilled at piloting it, hence overengineering the thing.
  • Appearance: Yes, she modified it into an exact, miniature replica.
  • Weaponry/Other Armament:
    • Microphone: Nanako has built a microphone into the mecha that has exactly one purpose: making her halfway intelligible. Unfortunately, it's programmed solely for hot-blooded attack names, and so doesn't really work for normal conversation or messages... though I suppose unintelligibility because everything sounds like she's calling an attack is still an improvement.
    • Overengineered: Though nowhere up to the specs of the combined form of Buster Machine 1 & 2, Nanako has endeavoured to make her creation as durable as possible. This also makes it very heavy, so she regrettably can't use it as a spaceship yet. Things to work on, eh?
      It can take a lot of punishment, which is good because it can't really dodge too well. At least energy weapons aren't a problem, because...
    • BAAASUTAAAA SHIIIIIIRUDO! A cape. A cape, stored in one of the shoulders. When pulled out, it can disperse pretty much any energy weapon—but it kind of ruins visibility and you can still shoot from the other side, or aim below it. On the other hand, it also looks damn awesome.
      Unfortunately, the attack basically pounds the ground around the mecha.
    • BAAASUTAAAA BIIIIMUU! It is a laser. From the face. Continuous, rather than fire-and-forget, so it can carry on a while and cut stuff up.
    • BAAASUTAAAA... HOOOOOMUUUUURUUUUUUN! From somewhere, a baseball bat is produced. Also from somewhere, a ball of energy. One meets the other, and an enemy gets an energy ball to the face. Requires aim and baseball skill, by appearances. Guess what is lacked?
    • BAAASUTAAAA... TOOOOMAAAAHAAAAWKUUU! Two axes are produced from... somewhere (seems all this stuff is kept in the armour) and snapped together, producing a double-sided axe. This... well, this is quite an intimidating weapon in and of itself. It gets spun around really fast until you basically have a blurred wheel... OF DOOM! It's basically an excessive saw.
    • BAAASUTAAA CORRIIDAAAAA! This? Well, if either of 'Gunbuster's' arms or legs are on you, you're about to get as much power as it can muster pumped straight into your mecha. Through specially-designed poles that shoot out just for this, too. The result tends to be explosive.
    • SUUUUUUUUUPAAAAAAAAAAAH...
      ...INAZUMAAAAAAAAAA...
      ...KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!
      Gunbuster goes up, one foot reveals a pair of saws... and the whole thing gets wreathed with lightning as it plummets downwards, liable to make anything and everything in the way go 'boom' due to gravity, mass, and the other stuff.

edited 1st Oct '13 3:27:40 PM by RainehDaze

She looks good so far, at least.

Interest, probably won't put together a full profile until Wednesday or Thursday due to school/work. Probably just going to re-adapt Christine from the Gundam School RP. Because speed is armor.

Edit:Yeah, in retrospect, far too dark.

edited 30th Sep '13 11:14:17 AM by TenebrousGaze

Honestly, um... while I'm all for seriousness, that backstory is a bit too dark.

Dooonnneee! :D

What'd'ya think? :o

Um, well...

A major point is that Mechanical Frames are largely produced by UEG-overseen factories. This is actually a plot point, it's why the UEG was so shocked that the Fiefdom had any MF's. Having this company pretty much be the sort kind of... takes over that plot point entirely.

And they definitely wouldn't use a child to test their mecha. That... really doesn't make much sense to me at all.

edited 30th Sep '13 4:01:23 PM by AnnoR

Ah. Good point. It's getting late, but tomorrow I'll have a think about I can modify it, or summat.

(Just took out the bit about testing, though, since lolwut)

edited 30th Sep '13 4:02:30 PM by Eventua

So, um, planning on having a second character. Everyone is allowed multiple characters if they so choose.

• Name: Mihama Ichigo
• Age: 16
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "Oh, hi there!"
• Personality: Ichigo is an enthusiastic, energetic girl who seems to have no end to her amount of cheerfulness. She is extremely friendly and eager to befriend just about anyone she meets, as well. However, this is somewhat... not entirely successful, as she is rather socially awkward. She has no sense of personal space whatsoever and tends to very frequently violate it, enjoying doing so immensely. Regardless of whether it's in public, or private, or even in the bathes, Ichigo is likely to do a vast amount of things to violate personal space and be totally unaware of the fact that she shouldn't. Ichigo enjoys company and gets lonely very easily.
• History: Ichigo was found outside of the ruins of a destroyed Fiefdom base, unconscious but alive. she showed signs of minor injury, but was otherwise unscathed. Brought in by UEG soldiers, she eventually awakened and proved herself to be a remarkably sociable and yet incredibly awkward girl. After being confirmed to have no connections to the Fiefdom, she was raised by a UEG official. Ichigo expressed a great deal of interest in Mechanical Frames, and was very pleased when she was enrolled in the Academy.
• Mechanical Frame: UEG MF-T7, modified to be as light and fast as it can be.
  • Appearance: "I've got a railgun!"
  • Weaponry: The MF's chief armament is the large, long rifle. It is a long-range mecha, ideally a sniper, equipped with an immense high-power railgun capable of piercing shields and armor. It also possesses a superheated knife, but the railgun is its chief weapon. It may also be equipped with shorter-range weapon with higher rates of fire.

edited 2nd Oct '13 4:38:35 PM by AnnoR

Modified my post - took out the 'tested new designs' and changed MM Industries to essentially a government division. I figure that if the UEG produces and designs new Frames, they'll do so in different ways for different sorts of environments, cultures, nations and price tags.

As a result, maybe they have multiple divisions, essentially government monitored corporations that focus on different parts of the globe? Maybe?

Accepted.

I'll look into other things with more detail later.

Would I be correct to compare the UEG Mechanical Frames to Armored Cores, by any chance? Going by the appearance there are more than a few similarities there, and anything to do with that sort of mecha is something I can take interest in.

I'm not sure what you mean. Can you explain?

Since I was kind of working on stuff for the setting with Anno before the thread got posted, I'll just say that I'm not really sure if they're like that. The biggest influence on the setting and the mecha is probably the original Mobile Suit Gundam, so... I'd compare them more to Gundams, I guess? Only heavily customizable seeing how one seems to have came out looking like Gunbuster.

...Still need to figure out something for this, ahah.

Ah, right. Thank you for the clarification on that; I should have something ready to post here either later today or tomorrow, circumstances permitting.

The in-universe excuse for how customizable they are is so they can be modified for any situation, and students have taken advantage of this.

... I included it so people could have tons of variation in their mecha, eh-heh.

And Moe is right.

edited 1st Oct '13 4:07:31 PM by AnnoR