[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hNTFkMWQuVUdoaGJuUnZiU0JUZEdWdy4wAA,,/komikazoom.regular.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjU0LmE1MWQxZC5RU0JOWldOb1lTQlNiMnhsY0d4aGVRLCwuMAAAAAA,/komikazoom.regular.png[/img][/center] [center][img]http://static.imovies.ge/m_posters/1280/142683291168.jpg[/img][/center] [hider=Too Long Didn't Read Synopsis] [i]Phantom Step is an anime-inspired mecha roleplay drawing direction from the likes of Mobile Suit Gundam, VOTOMs, Patlabor, Full Metal Panic, and other Real-Robot shows. It is set in a world saved and transformed by a strange substance that arrives on Earth moments before nuclear armageddon. With it humanoid mecha are made possible and soon become a driving force in the new world order.[/i] [/hider] [center][i]The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. But it is often the unseen step, the [color=red]phantom step[/color], the decision to take the journey at all that is truly the first. [/i][/center][hr] The world was once a terrible place. Long before the end of the 21st century the world had become stagnant. The countless wonders promised by the vast technological and scientific fields hatched at the dawn of the new millennium gave way to dead ends and disappointment. The more people learned the more they were convinced how little was actually possible. Space travel, the seed that germinated the idea of a brighter future for so many, was deemed ‘unprofitable’. The vast distances required to go anywhere of meaning proved too intimidating and with no obvious solution funding was gutted from nearly all programs. Advanced cybernetics. The possibility to cure the ills of countless people and restore the lame seemed to die on the table. Progress stopped at overpriced external prosthetics as the human body was deemed too ‘unpredictable’ to accommodate such things without extreme risk of rejection or death. Artificial intelligences amounted to nothing more than glorified spreadsheet programs and any further integration was deemed ‘unfeasible’ for the foreseeable future. And robotics, once igniting the imagination of people everywhere with the television tales of hot blooded heroism and possibility, went nowhere. Clumsy humanoid robots stumbled around like badly made toys. The hurdles needed to make them viable for anything of worth proved too much. Engineers were told to be “realistic” and resigned themselves to building cheap robotic arms to replace factory workers around the world. For every question, for every hopeful dream of a better and brighter future the world seemed to give a resounding, apathetic “No.” “Unfeasible” “Unprofitable” “Unrealistic” All the while the world warred. Those who opposed each other did not face one another on the field of battle. No. Wars were fought through by proxy in weak, wilting nations by men who did not care, or think about why they fought or what they fought for. Blind nationalism. Unearned wealth and prosperity. Poisonous arrogance born of past deeds no longer relevant. With every passing day things only seemed to get worse. Environmental deterioration. A cavernous gap between rich and poor. Corruption. Deceit. Death. Despair. All the while only news of the bleakest and most profitable kind was reported. People’s hearts began to ache. Individuals seemed to mean nothing. They had no power, no importance, no hope against the bloated masses of corrupt organization and the black hearted, small minded people who dictated them. For over a century the world sat, pointing unearned weapons of blind death and destruction at each other. Preventing any real fighting, any progress, any change. From every corner of the globe the world seemed to be held in place by the fat, warted hand of reality. Then it happened. Bloated egos burst and keys were turned. Missiles arced through the sky, piercing the atmosphere as they traveled back down to the ground. Weapons of mass destruction flew, ready to wipe everything of meaning from the face of the earth. Innocent people cowered by the untold millions, huddling in basements and crying in the arms of their families as people cursed their fate. “Why? Why did it have to end like this? We could have done something great…” All the while the corrupt men of privilege sat in bunkers, unphased by the result of their insipid actions. Only concerned about their own survival. Their own continuation and the propagation of their narrow, bleak world views. Seconds ran down on the clock and across the globe missiles struck the Earth… And nothing happened. The missiles exploded of course, crumpling on impact, their fuel and unstable parts igniting like gigantic fireworks as they blew craters into the ground. But there was no flash. No blinding orb of nuclear fire. Out of the thousands of nuclear warheads launched not a single solitary one detonated like they were meticulously designed to. People still died of course. Houses were crushed, bases lit aflame, cows crapping in fields flash cooked to perfection by the explosions. Yet it wasn’t even a drop in the bucket compared to the destruction that was supposed to have come from the nuclear holocaust. One by one people stepped outside and turned their eyes skyward. There in the heavens they saw millions of brilliant lights streaking downwards. All across the globe, day and night, the people of earth were witness to what looked like the largest rain of shooting stars ever recorded in human history. Moments later strange silvery flakes, like snow, drifted down from the sky upon the troubled Earth. That day became known as The Silver Fall. A strange material had fallen to Earth, raining across the world from space. The moment it entered the Earth’s atmosphere it produced a inexplicable effect. It’s mere presence prevented the ignition reactions of the WMDs launched at the time. Nuclear, hydrogen, neutron, whatever the material, whatever the process, it was blocked and canceled out. Like the breath of an angel it settled as a fine dust across the planet and overnight grew into strange, silver crystals. Initially relieved at their salvation from nuclear annihilation the people reflexively expected the worst from the strange substance even after being saved. Yet time passed and the material seemed to do nothing. It was pretty and grew rather quickly, but it wasn’t any more harmful than stone or steel. Slowly people relaxed and like most problems the material was trivialized. The stuff was everywhere. On rooftops, in gardens, on roads, atop telephone poles, in the guts of abandoned buildings, and even in places where it simply shouldn’t have been able go. Clean up programs were organized to get the stuff off the roads, but there was simply too much of it to contain. Attempts were made to study the material and process went nowhere. The material seemed to spit in the face of the people, in the very laws that dictated what it could and could not do. It’s properties remained erratic, almost eldritch, as if it had a mind and a will all to it’s very own. It was given the name Lucinite. Many wrote it off as a useless, potentially hazardous material. Why should they care for something they could not define? Could not dictate and control like everything else? Political fallout from the launching of nuclear weapons occurred all the while a young man working out of a garage began to experiment with the material. Applying it with a rhyme and reason only he understood he achieved things he hadn’t thought possible. The results were amazing and in just a few short months he created a functional bipedal robot capable of being safely piloted by a human being. Standing 6 meters tall it was a crude thing, but held immense potential for improvement and application. Yet his attempts to approach companies and investors were met with mockery, and humiliation. Everyone from construction companies to military financiers seemed to go out of their way to shoot down his ideas even when the working fruits of his efforts stood tall before them. Stricken with anger and contempt for those who slighted him and his creation, the young man swore to found his own company and disappeared shortly after. A mere two weeks later and war broke out. Seventeen different countries, including major super powers, took up arms against each other. Arrogant militaries and despotic leaders dragged unwilling civilian populaces into a massive war. Countless numbers of innocents were killed and with the loss of WMDs, desperate countries turned to the use of illegal and experimental weapons. By the time the dust cleared entire nations had ceased to exist and millions were left dead, homeless, and injured. During all the turmoil a small company by the name of Lucen Critical Components managed to take advantage. It grew from a small company to a massive conglomerate that stretched across the globe. When the war ended they were one of few major corporations left standing after the massive economic fallout. Specializing in the production of bipedal humanoid machines simply known as “Phantom Steps” and special power generators utilizing Lucenite as a fuel, The Lucen Conglomerate offered humanitarian aid on a massive scale. Their PS’s helped rebuild roads, utilities, and homes from the remnants of the United States to the abused underbelly of Africa. Lucenite power generators produced clean, nearly free energy for emergency clinics and hospitals treating the burgeoning number of injured and dying. They even provided safety and security, arming PS’s and protecting civilian populations against remaining rogue military elements. The Lucen Conglomerate ran up a tremendous amount of expenditures as they did so, nearly going bankrupt in the process. However their efforts did not go unnoticed. Profits skyrocketed as their services, products, and expertise were requested and sought after by people across the globe who had witnessed what they had done. Thankful families they had helped even outright donated money to the company. --------------- 15 years have passed since then and the Lucen Conglomerate has an iron tight monopoly on Phantom Step technology and Lucenite based power generation. The world is now reliant on them for parts and reactors, as only the CEO understands how to properly produce such mystifying devices. The company’s grasp was everywhere, and the previous mocked CEO used his influence to enact change. Following the end of the war, the company helped push certain individuals to suggest the the standing armies of the world were solely to responsible for the war. It was their blind obedience and brain dead discipline that lead to so many deaths. Had the civilian population had any say in it, there would have never been any war. With many governments near non-existent, the company held tremendous political power. It was suggested that the armies of the world be disbanded, their assets destroyed or repurposed, and that private security forces run and owned by LCC take their place. “The army exists solely to kill people and destroy things. They have not, and will not ever protect innocent lives. Only a force raised specifically to maintain order and protect can save lives!” Ten years later and the world is a vastly different place. Standing militaries are illegalized. The threat of nuclear annihilation seems to be gone forever. Areas of ceaseless conflict from around the world have been pacified and cleansed with advanced fighting machines. Medical, technological, and entertainment no longer seem to have any limits. The world is at peace...except it’s not. Lucen Critical Components, the company that helped rebuild the world, now essentially owns and controls it. For all the good they do and wonders they provide, the company has grown oppressive. It stands in the place of governments and it’s will overrules the desires of the people. For every wondrous possibility, there is a dark and unspoken terror that mirrors it. When anything is possible nightmares can become as real and factual as anything else. Lucinite has had some strange effects. Certain people have been altered by it and strange, terrible creatures like monsters have begun appearing. Some people fight for the Lucen C.C, others fight against them. Gone are the days of impossibility. Of fat, arrogant pessimists dictating the dreams of mankind. Now is an area of possibility. Of great danger and even greater rewards. Well meaning tyrants and the people who now have the power to truly change things. All that must be taken is the first step. A single step is needed to begin a journey of a thousand miles. Some steps are heard. Others are like phantoms. Unseen, unnoticed. But it’s often the things that at first go unnoticed that are the greatest. It is the Phantom Step.