This roleplay also heavily involves anthropomorphic animal people, furries, funny animals, whatever you want to call them, now that you're warned I'll begin. [s]Humans still exist.[/s] Some colored art and sketches as well if you like art. If this thread catches any interest, feel free to post or tell me privately or whatever. I wrote a lot of lore/background story/whatever stuff so feel free to take a couple of hours or a couple of days to read it all, its more [i]tell[/i] than [i]show[/i] so I don't blame you if you find it boring. [hider=Deep Lore] [center][b]A decades-spanning war[/b] has wrecked the world as few countries are capable of holding out against a evil, technologically advanced and numerically superior foe. An alliance has rallied 50 nations to hold out against what has become a gradual demise, the [color=39b54a]Alliance of Free Nations[/color], once capable of keeping lands free from war is now teetering on the brink of total collapse as the member states see their homelands fall under the robotic [color=ed1c24]Cenphys[/color] war machine. Just when it seemed as millions of deaths had provided the alliance a stalemate in the war, a new front had opened- the vast continent and once-thought safe land of [color=00aeef]Eldica[/color] suffered from a vast and surprising naval invasion all along it's west coast. The [color=39b54a]AFN[/color], stretched thin across multiple fronts, is unable to send any reinforcements to the defenders, leaving [color=00aeef]Eldica's[/color] fate in the inexperienced hands of local garrisons and the relatively few active-duty servicemen in the area. Facing the overwhelming might of Cenphys machines for the first time or exhausted from the endless war, defending the continent has become [color=ed145b][i]an endless uphill battle[/i][/color]... [/center] [u][b]Your Dutiful Partner[/b][/u] [hider=Lance] [hider=Art (THICC image)] [img]https://i.imgur.com/COlvGq6.jpg?1[/img] [/hider] [u][b]Lance[/b][/u] Born on a farm to a massive family far from Eldica, Lance enlisted in the military as soon as possible and served as an Arkreda light infantryman for several years. Lance's survival against the Cenphys opted him to be hand-picked for AFN operative status. After many operations however, battle fatigue had settled in, and he was sent to Eldica to recoup and help train various units making their way to the various fronts around the world. Despite his insistence on [i]not[/i] being sent back into the field, the AFN were preparing him for another mission, but given the recent invasion... With work now much closer to home, Lance and other AFN operatives are now key members of [color=fff200]Task Force Aegis[/color]. [/hider] [u][b]The Good Guys[/b][/u] [hider=The Alliance of Free Nations (AFN)] [img]https://i.imgur.com/WC17IJ2.jpg?2[/img] The [color=39b54a]Alliance of Free Nations[/color] is an organization/alliance composing of 50 member states, vowing to protect the world from the Cenphys threat. Composed of wildly different political ideologies, ethnic peoples and military powers, the AFN is only held together by it's desperate hope to survive in an increasingly bloodied world. Despite this, the AFN is- despite what the public might believe -a very weak alliance, with many nationstates relying heavily on the major national superpowers to protect them while focusing on bolstering economic power or expanding political influence. Arkreda, an industrial, economic and military powerhouse of a nation, is considered the backbone of the whole organization, with enough soldiers and equipment to be found in every major battle across the globe. The AFN does it's best to try and organize the various militaries into cohesive military units, but given the various languages and wildly different training and equipment, it's proven difficult- even with decades of war experience -to have everyone working together. Most soldiers simply opt to stick with their own countrymen. [/hider] [hider=AFN Operatives] [hider=Art (More BIG image)] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Nnporo2.jpg?1[/img] [/hider] [i][Image above depicts one of the many kinds of uniforms you'd see Operatives wear in the field][/i] [b]AFN Operatives[/b] are individuals from different backgrounds who have proven to be adept at handling the Cenphys and survived their incursions or even served in raids against the robotic war machine. Soldiers who distinguish themselves in the eyes of AFN operatives get sponsored for recruitment and provided they survive training, become part of a quick-reaction force responsible for the protection of what remains of civilization. While their is no official title to this international collective of elite military personnel, many simply call them operatives, with their most distinguishing feature being that their uniforms often hold no adherence to military regulation, and often having comfortable albeit tight one-piece black jumpsuits. Despite their ridiculously expensive cost to train and equip, more often then not the Cenphys have proven adept at killing them, causing a stir of panic among many different operatives about being sent on future missions. Every time a team is sent on a raid, few return, with operations increasingly seems more and more like a suicide mission... [/hider] [hider=Arkreda] [img]https://i.imgur.com/5l7z8UA.jpg?1[/img] [i]Arkreda Military Personnel[/i] A global superpower and having one of the biggest militaries in all of the AFN, Arkreda maintains a massive influence over the modern world, especially since it's become responsible for protecting most of it. With a massive population and advanced industrial base, they're one of the only nations capable of holding their own against the Cenphys without completely collapsing. Because of this, many Arkreda territories have become a safe-haven for refugees and military remnants of destroyed countries. Out in the field, it's common to see their tanks among organized armor formations, or their soldiers manning checkpoints and defensive lines. Despite all of this, their success against the Cenphys is only due to the fact they've been able to hold their foe in [b]stalemate[/b], taking a more defensive stance and leaving occupied nations to their fate. The demographics of the country is primarily composed of the native Arkredan wolves, though thanks to massive colonies that either were once controlled by foreign powers or haven fallen under Arkreda political influence prior to the war, Arkreda also has sizable demographics of other species, albeit with the native wolves being the fastest growing demographic. [b]Humans[/b] are also a very minute demographic within the colonies, but are too focused on reclaiming their homeland to be of any influence. Arkreda is notorious for it's patriotism and militaristic streak throughout history, albeit at the cost of international opinion. Arkredans are known for being confident, unafraid of violence and highly social, they've also been seemingly fearless in the face of the Cenphys advance. Eldica also falls under Arkreda's influence and is notorious for being huge dockyard for the navy. [/hider] [u][b]The Bad Guys[/b][/u] [hider=Cenphys] The [color=ed1c24]Cenphys[/color] was originally a collection of the brightest and wealthiest people on the planet. Seeming to be an innocent think-tank that proposed ideas on how to ensure technological progress in a violent and unstable world. Most didn't even know their name, let alone that they had any influence within politics or economics, which made their ascension from think-tank to political entity all the more surprising. In what seemed to be an overnight coup, a combination of robotic soldiers and private military companies had successful removed a government in charged of a vast swath of territory in the far north of the world. In a matter of years the country went from barren frozen wasteland to a massive interconnected series of railways all leading to large factories and dome-line structures that hid the small number of organic populaces within. Through military force, they dominated their smaller neighbors and eventually with the power of resources and money, bought out foreign governments- with a simple show of force and corruption they had come to dominate a large portion of the globe with little resistance. Panicking from their quick rise in influence, various powerful nations formed their alliance against the Cenphys. For whatever reason, be it mounting international pressure, a desire for power or having planned it all along, the [color=ed1c24]Cenphys[/color] declared war, and the rest is history. [/hider] [hider=Cenphys Technology] [hider=Sketches] [img]https://i.imgur.com/kqTSslJ.jpg?1[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/0AvcKVh.jpg?1[/img] [/hider] [i][Images above depict appearances of Cenphys soldiers][/i] The military of the [color=ed1c24]Cenphys[/color] is one-of-a-kind, given how a gigantic portion of it is composed entirely of automatons and drones. Rather then rely on organic soldiers, these robotic machines are the core of every invasion, occupation, raid and manage just about everything that normal soldiers would, all without the need of sleep or food. While easily shot down or blown up like anyone else, they're seemingly immune to EMPs, or being hacked, with an all-powerful [color=ed145b]Artificial Intelligence[/color] managing all military operations across the globe. With this hive-mind capable of analyzing failures, understanding enemy tactics and communicating quicker than a millisecond, it's become near-impossible to effectively counter them outside of of a brutal, unrelenting war of attrition. Drones fly sorties against enemy fighters while tanks don't even need a crew (astoundingly requiring no repairs or maintenance in the field, outside of getting shot at) with vast naval ships and submarines being occupied by a ridiculously small crew of repairbots. With speedy dropships and armored carriers, the Cenphys can appear swiftly up and down a frontline at any moment, responding quickly to enemy spearheads and quickly encircling them. What makes this even worse is how factories ceaselessly produce a seemingly infinite supply of these machines. Large [b]factory vessels[/b] can be found at sea at the core of any massive fleet, creating replacements wherever casualties happen and even creating entirely new fighters or tanks. The AFN has prioritized destroying any and all factories belonging to the Cenphys, but given how they always end up creating more... The war seemingly never ends. [/hider] [u][b]Setting and Other Stuff[/b][/u] [hider=Eldica] Eldica is a massive continent colonized by the Arkreda nation centuries ago. Its one of the most populated continents within Arkreda's territories, with it's land covered by vast megacities, residental districts spanning coastlines and gigantic industrial facilities producing enough to keep the military running. It also has a massive farmlands and agricultural base deeper into the continent. With the biggest dockyards within the entirety AFN, it serves as staging point to launch future invasions from. The biome is primarily temperate with massive forests in the center and northern parts of the continent, and large swamps and jungles located to the south. A large desert to the south west, and a vast mountainous range that stretches up and down the west coast. It also has several nomadic tribes of coyotes native to the continent, who often keep to themselves in the deserts south west. [hider=Coyote Tribesmen] [img]https://i.imgur.com/D9TXOUZ.jpg?1[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/LfQ4TQt.jpg?1[/img] [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Humanity] Humans are a small minority of the world, but have become notorious recently due to the war. Having served as a duct-tape that struggled to hold world peace together for a long time prior to the war, the human population is but a small percentage compared to the rest of the species on the planet, and in turn, their influence is small as well. Thanks to recent events, Humans are even more uncommon- the Cenphys invaded and dominated their homeland since the war started, with humanity deemed to be the biggest threat to the Cenphys out of all species on the planet. Human colonies around the globe have since then taken up arms and desperately tried to liberate their continent numerous times, failing repeatedly to make a successful beachhead. A few humans have been trying to make the AFN more effective through more frequent communication between different nations, but all attempts have barely made any headway thanks to the ever-increasing war, causing various governments to become more self-centered on their own survival. Rumors purport that Humans are favored targets by the Cenphys, either for capture or elimination. [/hider] [hider=Technology and Notes] The technological level is sci-fi cassette-futurism 1980s cold-war. Or [b]"Whatever the hell looks cool."[/b] to me. Helicopters, MBTs, mechanized infantry and the alike are all similar to the cold-war era tactics, from air-assault calvary to the deployment of massive formations. Everything here is largely inspired by video games, movies and whatever generally feels good, so its loose and fast rules as well- like I said, whatever looks cool. I've been largely inspired by [b]World in Conflict: Soviet Assault[/b] a lot which I'll shamelessly admit is a large chunk of what I've been playing while writing this, including watching some Arma 3 ops and Wargame: Airland Battle. Also some Hearts of Iron 4 mods. If you don't play video games, all you need to know is that its a lot and lot of [b]war[/b] media stuff. This is also my first time every doing something with a bit of romance! So, there is that too. The romance component isn't the centerstage of whats going on, but when you draw [i]dummy thicc foxbois[/i] it does became a side component to whats happening. Plus everyone loves a little bit of romance, right? And I guess I'll let you in on a little [i]secret[/i]- if you've been reading all this lore and stuff (or at least digging around and reading this post) I'll even let you in on a [i]secret offer[/i] and allow you to make this a MxF if thats more you're thing. Y'know, if you really wanna make a female character. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=The Thread/First Post] [center][h2]Act 1: The Invasion of Portsail[/h2] [i]The Great Western Port[/i] [img]https://i.imgur.com/CGBsTsl.jpg?1[/img] [color=39b54a]Green: Allied[/color] White: Task Force Aegis [color=ed1c24]Red: Enemy[/color] [b]It was a quiet day...[/b] On the western coast of Eldica is a bustling hub of millions, the massive city of [b]Portsail[/b]. Notorious for it's gigantic shipyards and constant flow of goods coming in and out of the many ports, its a city that seemingly never rests, yet it's a city forced into fear as gunfire now rings throughout the streets. No one knew the invasion was coming- even the naval forces protecting the Maelstrom Sea west of Eldica were caught off-guard at the fact the Cenphys had completely bypassed them. Utilizing airborne drones to jam all communications, patrol ships meant to detect submerged vessels were all picked off simultaneously in a coordinated strike. Vast submarines meant to carry entire armies alongside with powerful battleships would then rise from the ocean, knocking over various vessels and firing their payloads into the coastal fortifications. As entire coastlines erupted in explosive fire, thousands of soldiers were hastened to their positions only to find them occupied by their robotic adversaries. Easily surrounded and caught unaware, the AFN forces struggled to hold up any resistance along the coasts. This all occurred approximately around 7 AM...5 hours ago. Now, it's 12 PM, over the course of 5 hours the city has been an absolute warzone. Constant streams of civilians have been making their way out of the city, on foot, by train or even the seldom few news helicopters and one or two planes helping in the evacuation. While many units- both local garrisons and international forces stationed in the city during the invasion -have been able to form a defensive line, it's begun to fail, with breaks appearing up and down the frontline. Now with the looming fate of the city falling, much of the military forces left are now trying their best to break off and evacuate by their own means alongside the Portsail citizens... Be it soldier or AFN operative, you've found yourself amongst the cobbled together forces of [color=fff200]Task Force Aegis[/color], by choice or not is irrelevant- there isn't anyone really to organize what unit you belong to anyway. Any previous positions and units that had protected the city have fallen somewhere within the five hours of constant fighting. In a desperate attempt to avoid dying alongside the rest of the units trapped in the city, you've jumped on with a convoy of armored vehicles trying to make their way towards an underground tunnel that'll lead to the suburbs, only to get ambushed right by a massive stadium... [/center] [/hider] And if the anthro animal peoples off-putting, I just like 'em because it makes brain go [[b][i]happy noises[/i][/b]], don't blame you if you find it weird, or anything I've drawn to be weird. I'm a weird person.