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[sub]Yes, I supported the kickstarter. I love BT.[/sub]
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[h3]T;DR Summary:[/h3][indent] - The year 3050 in the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page]Battletech Universe[/url]
- The primary weapon of war is the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Battlemech]Battlemech[/url], a class of heavily armored robots piloted by a human's nervous system.
- Characters are [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/MechWarrior_%28pilot%29]Mechwarriors[/url] in the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Lance#Lance]lance[/url] (four to six -- I am willing to augment the lance) or support personnel (there's about a platoon of those, including infantry/security and aerial reconnaissance for the mechs.) However, three characters is all I need to start this.
- The characters top military academy students from the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Federated_Commonwealth]Federated Commonwealth[/url], in their final year of training at the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/NAIS_College_of_Military_Science]New Avalon Institute of Science (NAIS) College of Military Science[/url] or [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/The_Nagelring]The Nagelring[/url], and are doing field work in experimental battlemechs in conjunction with the College of Engineering at NAIS, who are trying out various new technologies.
- The unit and their support staff find themselves out in Steelton in the Lyran Commonwealth side of the FC, doing field tests of sensor and targeting systems in dense sandstorm conditions and other inclement weather specifically.
- Inner Sphere tech only; it's 3050, right before certain things happen. (Not spoiling)
- Characters should be members of the AFFC -- Lyran or FedSuns side.
- [url=https://discord.gg/CC4EPB7]Discord Link[/url] - Feel free to ask questions. [/indent]
[h3]In Character Info:[/h3]
[indent][I]3050; humanity has gone to the stars. But human nature hasn't changed much. In the last three hundred years, since the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Operation_Exodus]Star League Defense Forces jumped out of the Inner Sphere and into the beyond[/url], the Inner Sphere has been wracked with a series of [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Succession_Wars_%28History%29]destructive wars[/url] to determine the succession of one of the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Successor_States]Great Houses[/url] to the First Lordship of the Star League, a seat vacant since the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Amaris_Civil_War]Amaris Coup[/url] three hundred years ago. The only thing that's been accomplished is the near-destruction of space travel technology.

Right now, however, the Inner Sphere is in a good place. Thanks to Grayson Carlyle's recovery of the Helm Memory Core in 3028, technology is improving rapidly, a reversal from the fall of the Star League and the destruction of the Succession Wars when so much technology was lost that some planets were brought back to a 21st century standard of technology. With the marriage of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner, it seems inevitable that the unified Federated Commonwealth will eventually be able to bring the other three great houses to the negotiating table to revive the Star League, possibly without having a destructive war in the process. It feels like humanity turned a corner.

Graduation is a heady time for any student, but particularly for senior students at NAIS and the Nagelring, the best of whom are on a detached duty in the far reaches of the Lyran Commonwealth, finishing up a joint maneuver with regional militia and the 12th Star Guards, a mercenary unit, and testing new and different systems for the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth. It's a cool assignment where the young mechwarriors get to use unusual and new pieces of technology and battlemechs in a variety of interesting field conditions as test pilots near the Periphery. Though there is little action to be had besides dealing with potential pirate attacks, they get to run exercises with an elite mercenary unit and, in general, be free of the day to day discipline of academy life. It's almost like a working vacation, a reprieve for all the hard work of four years of the Academy and the hard years before that, preparing to enter the Academy.

They don't expect what's coming for them from the Periphery. No one does.[/I][/indent]
[h3]Out of Character Info:[/h3]
[indent]I can answer any and all battletech universe questions, but here's the essentials; your characters are [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/MechWarrior_%28pilot%29]Mechwarriors[/url], and are most likely from a feudal class or wealthy background. While the militaries are becoming more egalitarian with the rediscovery of [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/LosTech]Lostech[/url] from the [url=http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Helm_Memory_Core]Helm Memory Core in 3028[/url] the average mechwarrior is still the product of a feudal family and their retainers that have been piloting mechs, sometimes the same mech inherited from family, for generations. 

They are on soft duty, so they think, but there is about to be a huge disruption to the Inner Sphere's status quo and it's going to come at them from the Periphery. They will not be prepared for it but they will have to deal with it.

I designed the unit, a small unit of mechwarriors working with technology types, so that the characters would have a good reason to be very inexperienced characters with very advanced equipment -- realistically, anything in the Inner Sphere could show up on these scientific studies -- including mechs that belong typically to other factions. I wanted to keep it flexible.

I realize that the amount of lore in this RP can be daunting, but I've been in on the lore stuff for this setting since childhood and I can cut through the confusion. If you are confused or not familiar with the setting, you can throw me a concept and I can work out a sheet for you that handles the history portion -- and I am willing to do this. I can assign titles, planets, and a degree of background sufficient to set up your character as credible in their position and then let you fill out the rest. 

Samewise, I have a list of acceptable battlemechs to start with that make it easy; since the starting battlemech is just that and characters will be switching in the process of the RP, it's not hugely important to get the most perfect, bestest, awesomest mech from the outset, because your character won't be in it long (unless you love it). I am recommending light and medium mechs because this is still a training unit and because the maneuverability is important. It's not like you'll stay in them unless your character is just a big fan of the chassis.[/indent]