[OOC] Shards of Memory: Black Dawn

[Innue]

It was dawn this time, at least as much of dawn as it could be. The dark mist that tinted the sky black gave way to he growing light, allowing the dark form of the UN's kensai to be seen as ecliptic dots in the sky. They moved slowly towards Shard 4 like ghosts in the sky, the face of the killers unknowingly obscured.

---

Arina si Kasezia moved down the palace hallway, proceeding towards the 'war room'. It was merely a conference room, but while the government of the Arlanian Empire was being created, it had gained multiple uses. The Lords and Guardians that could be present were already seated.

As she pushed the door open, Arina was announced by the post just inside the room, the young voice contrasting with the ones she was used to.

“Announcing Arina sor'imperia Kasezia, Queen of the Arlanian Empire. All rise,” the voice commanded, breaking slightly and showing the boy's youth. The Lords and Guardians rose as the large screen across the table of the room came to life. It was a video of herself in the war room, as she was broadcasting to the soldiers about to fight the attacking UN forces.

Before she began, Arina waved her hand to seat her subordinates, while she stood like a noble statue.

“Today is a black dawn - the UN has chose to test our conviction and our will to protect our tradition - and this is what is going to triumph. Your actions will preserve beyond the times, forever within my heart and forever within the hearts of the Arlanian Empire. Today, you become Immortal. Today, you show your true character – your true Gift.”

Loud cheers could be heard broadcast back, Arina getting a smile from the reaction. She gave a nod and the screen blackened, leaving her in silence with her generals. With another nod she exited the room, leaving the Lords in charge of the operations.

---

As the UN forces closed in on Shard 4, the Arlanian Empire's kensai squad rose upwards to meet them. The distance began to close more and more rapidly...

---

The world is divided - as divided as Arla was from Earth. The war between the Arlanian Empire and the UN is only a haunting shadow of the past...

The original war began nearly 200 years ago, shortly after the Great Rift. The separation between the two worlds was torn, shattered by the influence of each upon the other. Originally it was harmless – a portal between the two worlds.

The two drastically different cultures mixed, often causing a violent reaction on both sides. Arla, lacking a true military force on par with the various groups on Earth, were forced to use magic against the opposition. While it stopped the individual fights, it sparked the war. Many were jealous of the Arlanian's ability to manipulate what was around them. Many wished to eliminate this by any means. The Arlanians, equally displeased with the situation sought a way to restore their true homeland.

Of course, it was never that simple. The rift was too large for any magic to destroy, not even Ara, who possessed magic that rivaled those of the Four. The attempt to close the rift, not only by the Arlanians, but by those of Earth, agitated the rift. The growth rate increased exponentially.

The period became known as the Merging, a deceitful name to make the history seem less violent. The Merging was actually a time of great conflict, the two worlds unable to occupy the same physical space as each other. They both shattered upon pressure. Many people died and much of the land mass of both worlds was lost forever into the void of space. Ara, who had not the power to close the rift, still had the power to save both worlds.

During the merging Ara drained all of she could from Arla, not only to protect it, but to protect everyone. The magic she used permeated everything, protecting it from the violent clutches of space. The two cores froze into spheres of metal, with gyrating metal rings flowing around them. She saved the concepts of both worlds – she saved the night and day, the rain, the moon, and the most importantly.... the people. She could not save everyone, and despite what she sacrificed on that day – she was branded as an enemy.

As the new world began, there was a temporary time of peace. Both sides, heavily wounded from the Merging were forced into submission by their own folly. A temporary, old symbiotic relationship ensued. The Arlanian's magic was now used in conjunction with the advanced technology of the Earth. Metal tendrils reached out from each shard, each a walkway to another. It showed the true unification of both worlds.

Gardens were planted, the shards connected, and Ara was able to watch as a new, almost more Utopian world was created. However, it was short lived.

Memories rarely die and the most haunting ones have the habit of returning with the smallest of prompting. The conflict that destroyed the 32nd Shard, less than 20 years ago, brought memories that were never meant to return. The violent fight killed all of those on that shard, regardless to what side they were on. Of course, neither side saw it that way.

Protests erupted on the other shards, demanding that magic be destroyed or controlled. The UN, formed by the various new nations that had formed after the merging, took this as a prime opportunity to take control over all of the shards. The Arlanians, vastly outnumbered, watched in horror as the Controlled Information Act was passed. This gave the UN the power to set up a new agency to control nearly everything – the magic, the written word, and many of the freedoms that both sides had taken for granted.

The CIA grew in power, the people pleased with the initial progress. The Great Library, the main project of the CIA was built to house the information taken from the Arlanians – mostly their spellbooks. The CIA soon became the true face of the UN.

It is unknown how it truly happened, but Ara was killed. Murdered by someone who wish for everything to end. As she laid dying, she released the power she had over the world, once again saving it from itself. The spell that maintained the world would live on, she joining the stars and the Four to watch over her people.

However, the pieces that were Arla began to produce a crystal like substance. It was years after it was discovered that a use could be made out of it. The UN, in an attempt to finally gain supremacy, created the CRS, a reactor that use the created crystals as a power source. What truly made them up is unknown, but the potent power was clearly displayed by the UN's new weapons – the kensai. Some Arlanians, who were powerful enough to maintain their magic, were now forced to fight with creations on their level.

Arina Emutato, the only Arlanian with enough blood to revive the royal ways, took the name Arina si Kasezia at request to her supports and formed the Arlanian Empire not more than 4 years ago in order to protect all of those that she felt would be persecuted by the UN. Using the magic that she could still tap into, Arina and her small force were able to take full control over 3 shards and truly formed the beginnings of an Empire.

With small conflicts between the UN and their kensai, they were eventually able to gather enough resources to create their own version from the captured models in battle. This put them, once again, on par with the larger UN. And this, is where the true conflict lies.

---

Light erupted from both sides as shots were fired. Like fireflies they danced in the sky, brilliant colors flickering against the brightening sky. The victor of it did not matter. Like Ara's spell that kept the world in a perpetual state, the war would remain even if the battle was one by a single side. It was nearly a spell of its own, one that desperately needed to be broken.

[Innue]

+ Characters +

UN:
- Shimi Megumi, Librarian
- Ni-ki Williams, Sniper/Pilot
- Li-ebe, Faction Leader
- Trip Wry, Agent/Pilot
- Key Emok, Agent/Pilot

AE:
- Arina sor'imperia Kasezia, Queen

Ravens (Scrub Force):
- Viveca Waldemark, 'Raven Lord'
- Alexey Yerofeyev, Vassal of Viveca Waldemark

Misc:
- Rin Taiki, CEO RinCo
- Saisei, Assassin
- Richard Wagner, CEO Kampfworks

---

+ Rules and Creating a Bio +

- Mech combat adheres to roleplaying combat standards. If disputes arise, I will make determinations taking into considering these factors, as well as the interaction of the described technologies. More details on these features give me more material to work with and is strongly advise that you are detailed with your kensai bios especially.
- You do NOT need an official bio for Shards. Let me repeat, you do NOT need an official bio for Shards. You are permitted to use unbio'd characters providing they do not engage in combat. Just run concepts by me before you jump into posting with said characters. You are strongly encouraged if you are going to repeatedly play the character to transition that character to an official bio'd character as soon as you can, especially as you solidify the character's details in the roleplay.

---

+ Bio Format +
(Multiple characters are STRONGLY encouraged)

Name: (Must be different from Username, or Real name)
Age: (Character age)
Gender: (Character Gender)
Gift: (See Gift Section - Page 2)
Birthplace: (Shard and Nation)
Profession/Rank: (characters employment and area of expertise - see page 2)
Kensai Piloted: (If any, name it - see page 2 for Kensai description - last 2 posts)
Affiliations: (If with a group/power)
Physical Appearance:
Clothing/Armor: (Military has uniforms - see page 3)
Weapons: (Any weapons the character uses, no bio weapons, anti-matter, or mass destruction weapons.)
History: (Include information about their past, what events shaped their personality, and if they have one, how they obtained their Kensai.)
Other: (anything else)

+ Kensai Bio +

NOTE: Only Faction Leaders/Lords/Guardians can initially have highly custom kensai.

Kensai Name: (The name of the characters kensai)
Kensai Pilot: (Name of the pilot if any)
Kensai Weapons: (How many, and what it is armed with, go into detail on how they work, weapons rules apply, see rules)
Kensai Armor:
Kensai Engines: (Movement, speed, OS etc)
Kensai Appearance:
Kensai History: (If not a generic unit, what is its unique history)
Kensai Other: (Anything else)

[Innue]

+ The World +

The world is a web of floating pieces of earth. The metal pathways that once connected the shards do not remain, most of the metal salvaged for kensai production. The numbered shards are mostly covered with skyscrapers in the middle. The outer ring are usually reserved for parks with trees creating a 'wall' between the edge and the rest of the shard.

Water is pulled out of the Rift, as Ara had stored it there. It still rains and snows on occasion, water escaping from the rift and creating clouds and other various weather features.

Most things are powered by crystals, which seem to have a perpetual energy source. They do not take from anything, but will fade over time before 'resting' and restoring themselves to full power. It is unknown how they truly work but it is suspected it is due to Ara's spell.

If there are any other questions about the world, please ask. And do read the intro....

---

+ Gifts +

Certain people of Arlanian blood are capable of minor magic. If you do have spells, you need to clarify them with me.

Gifts, however, are something more innate. It is something that can be done over and over (particular restrictions). Only certain people have them, but they can be gained through Arina si Kasezia, who has the power to give Gifts.

Gifts should not be overpowered and should learn along the side of things like Shimi Megumi's ability to synthesize information from books, or Li-ebe's puppetry abilities.

---

+ Geography +

--0-------0------0-----31------0--------0-----0 >
--------16------------------30------------------ >
--------------15--------25------8-----------29- >
---1-----14-------26----10----------7--------- >
-0-----------------------------24-----------0---->
-----17---------9-------3-----6------11-------->
0------------------13--OO--27---28-----------0->
---------2------------------12------------23----->
------0-----------21----19-------------4--------->
---------18--------------------22------------0--->
0----0----------5-------20-----------0---------->
-----------0-----------0-------------0------------->

The world is made up of floating pieces of earth, suspended by a peculiar magic. The 2d image that is above only really indicates the distance between them one way. Each of those spins around the two cores in the center.

The Arlanian Empire controls the 'Southeast' part of the world, comprised of Shards 7, 11, and 4. It is consider a solitary nation.

The UN is separated into 5 nations for political purposes.

Shards 20, 22, and 23 make up the Era, being predominantly comprised of pieces of Old Japan. They are one of the few nations to maintain a name from before the Merging. The name actually stood for, at creation, Eastern Revival Alliance. The name, however, was dropped with the creation of the UN. They kept the territory as one nation and the name was changed to a word, rather than an acronym. The capital is on Shard 22.

Shards 2, 21, 18, and 5 make up Elencia, a self created name that has no particular origin. It was one of the first created after the Merging. It is rumored that Elencia was the name of the wife of an influential force in creating the nation that it is. However, there is no proof that this is true. The capital is on Shard 21.

Shards 25, 30, 10, 8, and 29 is known as the Republic of Artemis. This nation was one of the few that was not created until the creation of the CIA and the UN. As the other world 'nations' converged, they forced the mostly autonomous shards to create the nation of Artemis. They were given the name, rather than it being chosen, as a reference to their contribution to the CIA. The capital is on Shard 8.

Shards 1, 14, 17, 15, 16, and 26 is known as the Nation of Deichtine. Many of the shards that make up this nation were formerly Arlanian. They are noted for having a high prominence of those with 'gifts'. It is further rumored that this was the original birthplace of Arina si Kasezia. The capital is on Shard 1.

Shards 9, 13, 3, 19, 12, 27, 28, 24, and 6 are known as the Ouroboros. Both Elenican and Ouroboros were created at similar times and the argue of age is one that cannot be ended. Ouroboros, however, stakes the claim that it would live forever and it is one of the key elements of the people that make up the nation. The capital is on Shard 3.

---

+ Political Powers +

Arlanian Empire – In an attempt to prevent complete eradication of the Arlanian ways and people, the Arlanian Empire was created. The run the more 'eastern' region of the shards, taking the major shards of 11, 7, and 4. The capital is on Shard 11, their largest shard.

Unified Nation – This group, basically synonymous with the CIA, controls basically whatever it can, controlling the major shards 1-30, except for what is controlled by the Arlanian Empire, The Ravens, or are owned by private people (mostly insignificant ones). They also have very limited control of the Outer Reaches, which is controlled by a group called the Ravens. These Shards are broken into various 'nations'.

The Ravens – a scavenger group that has no 'home'. They are the shards furthest away from the center and receive very little in benefit from the UN, who they frequently take from. They have only one numbered shard - Shard 31.

[Innue]

+ UN Structure +
The UN's CIA, being the largest organization, is split into divisions. There are 5 divisions of the CIA split up by geography.

Arc – Comprised of shards 20, 22, and 24, Arc is the smallest of all of the Divisions of the CIA. The focus of this group is specialty training and they are heavily responsible for any of the more 'special' project on the entire agency. Part of it is their proximity to a test subject that is Shard 4.

Cradle – Comprised of shards 2, 18, 21, and 5, this group is responsible for most of the long term projects of the division. It is the 'nurturer' of the agency and many of the wounded to go one of the shards of Cradle.

Arrow – The fighting force of the CIA is mostly trained here. Arrow is the 'offensive power' of the agency. While all agencies are perfectly capable of protecting themselves, this group is very focused on training soldiers and keeping the military aspect of the group high.

Flag – Flag is probably the least known division of the CIA. Anything the other groups need to be done, Flag takes up.

Central – The largest division, it is made up of shards 24, 6, 28, 27, 3, 12, 19, 13, and 9. It is the group that controls all of the other agencies and is responsible for the whole creation of the CIA – the Grand Library. It is said that Central is not only the political power of the CIA, but also the true research division...

The CIA is ranked similarly to the military for the bulk of the organization. The lowest level are simply called Agents, an element borrowed directly from the government. That title is kept alone unless they are in a particular group such as a Specialist group in which they would be 'Name' Arc Operations Agent. Agents are those that are the 'ground force' of the CIA and there are not a lot of them. Most of their tasks involve computer work or various other tasks that don't require a kensai. There are exclusive groups which are not really anywhere on the scale of rank. They are a complete specialist, such as an Archiver. They have no authority, but also can only be issued orders by a Chair.

Above the agent is the pilot, at least in military operations. Pilots are not only split up by division, but by faction within the division. A common title for a pilot would be 'Name' Arc Sword. Faction names are sometimes named by the person that runs it (they are often given honorary titles like Li-ebe who is 'The Widow'). Each faction tends to have 3-10 kensai in each group. One of the most famous factions, no longer existing, was the one run by the current CIA Director – Arc's White Dragon. Individual faction leaders, of course, are the highest in pilot ranks on the field. The faction leaders, yearly, vote for their division faction leader. Often pilots do undertake standard agent tasks in addition to pilot duties.

Beyond that things progress into the chairs. Specialists will have their equivalent to faction leaders if it is a large department such as medical or research fields. They are the ones that do most of the day to day running of the organization in that area. Before the overall director of the entire agency are the Division Directors. There are 5 and they vote from their ranks for overall director. Another person will be then put in charge of that division. Anything that requires a vote, the CIA director receives 2 votes. All other decisions by this person that are not requiring of a vote are not questionable and must be executed.

Chain of Command (overall – separate for each individual class):
CIA Director
Division Director
Faction Leader
Pilot
Agent

The specialist chain of command only consists of the specialist and their 'chair'. This does not apply to all groups. Groups that only have 1-2 people will just be represented by themselves should they be called to meetings (one must be selected if there are 2) and are not given a title.

---

+ CIA Factions +

This is for the various military factions created by the players giving the names and other needed information.

Faction information uses the following format -

Faction Name:
Faction Leader:
Division(Arc/Cradle/Arrow/Flag/Central):
Faction Symbol:
Faction Colors:

---

+ Uniforms - CIA +

Unless Special Operations, uniforms are by division. Mostly, the all contain the same design.

The basic uniforms are black, with trim based on Division. The black coats are long in the back, descending to about the back of the knee. The front, however, ends about at the waist. The coat buttons up on the right side of the chest with 4 buttons in a rectangle. If the CIA member has a particular Faction or other allegiance, their patch will be on the left part of their chest.

The buttons on the uniform are always a silver color and any basic personnel will have silver trim around the edges. The cuffs of the uniform are quite stiff and always tailored to the wearer. They have bright silver buttons as well. The Trim that edges up to the stiff color runs along the side of the arm to the top of the shoulder. The number of trim lines is indicative of rank and faction and division.

Paired with this are black slacks and black boots, both which are mandatory.

Arc, in addition to the silver trim, will have yellow trim running parallel to the silver. Cradle has a white additional trim. Arrow just has an additional silver strand. Flag has a blue band of trim and Central has a golden band.

Upon special approval, additional trims can be added if a faction has attained particular status or has a particular department like Research and Development.

Special operations have their own uniforms. Most noted is the Widow's blood red jacket which has black trim instead or the White Dragon's white, gold, and blue.

[Innue]

+ The Arlanian Empire +

Nearly all authority in the Arlanian Empire lays with the Queen. However, there are various subordinates. Many of the titles that people have are ones the Queen has just chosen solely out of whim. As they are building an Empire, many of the tasks overlap each other currently. Having a small population, their nobility is often overlapping with their fighting force.

If the Queen does go onto the battlefield, she is, of course, the authority on that unless she defers that right to one of her other subordinates. Following behind her are the 4 Lords. Each Lord has 2 people that take control should something happen to them. They are split up based on the Arlanian Sky.

The lords possess the titles of Seiryu,(Gen)bu, Byakko, and Suzaku. The Guardians, the people under the lords, have the name Kanoga, Shiboshu, Yokohama, Tiroi, Virae, Dunotori, Thifareemit, or (Sordi)chi.

The Arlanian power structure is the one that is able to be changed most easily. As it grows, it is suspected this will change.

Chain of Command:
Royal Family
Lord
Guardian
Everything else

[Innue]

+ The Raven Command +

The Ravens only have a leader at the time. They have no true chain of command and whomever has proven worthy is given the right to lead at the time. This frequently changes after battles, based on who survives and who accomplishes what.

[Innue]

+ Standard Kensai +

UN Kensai

+ UN Kensai +

Kensai Name: A-01 Shisso

Kensai Weapons: The basic kensai for the UN is armed with mostly physical projectile weapons, particularly focusing on barrage fire weapons. While both arms are capable of wielding such weapons, they are traditionally used by the left arm. These weapons vary from a machine gun style weapon to a more powerful single shot weapon. They, however, are not capable of using energy projectile weapons as it is too draining on the cores. On the left shoulder, there is a spot for either a set of 4 rockets or a spare Chaos Bomb(one mounted in chest). Chaos Bombs are capable of taking out 5 kensai at once within 30 feet of explosion point.

The right arm traditionally uses a EDB (Energy Disruption Blade) which has a line of energy that allows it to cut into metal and other objects with relative ease. The EDB is capable of cutting through most defenses if given enough time. Other Kensai, especially those with various energy shielding, are more capable of resisting such weapons. The EDB is highly efficient, only draining energy when it is cutting into something. However... after about 20 'cuts' the Shisso will be too drained to operate. These cuts are usually ones on the destruction level. Impacting with other blades does not drain the EDB by much as the two disruptions merely transfer energy to each other. EDB's vary in size depending on the preference of the pilot.

Kensai Armor: The Shisso has minimal armor. It can withstand a decent amount of rounds from kensai on its level. Single shot, more powerful weapons, will have no issues going through the Shisso's armor. Rapid fire weapons, like those usually put onto Shisso's are traditionally smaller in size and do less damage depending on impact point. They are especially vulnerable on the back where their propulsion system is. It has extremely light armoring and a solitary round, even from another Shisso, will incapacitate it.

Kensai Engines: The Shisso uses a basic level CRS (Crystalline Reactor System). The system is highly efficient despite its basic design. It allows the Shisso perpetual flight as long as no other activities are being done. This makes the Shisso especially useful in moving around in pre-battle formations.

Kensai Appearance: 35 feet in height, the Shisso is average in most design fields. It does not boast a highly aerodynamic frame and is not capable of extremely fast flight over a long range. It is, however, fairly agile with its movement. The legs and arms are not bulked down with any form of armor. The traditional humanoid appearance, the cockpit is in the chest which protrudes proudly outwards from the rest of the machine. This is where the bulk of the armor is situation to protect the pilot. The head, which occasionally varies by faction, has angled sensory visor resting back from the rest of the head. The helmet usually has some sort of communication antenna on this model as it is not capable of sustaining internally protected communications. The Shisso are completely white with black accents on parts like the shoulder and the feet. The left shoulder traditionally bears the faction crest while the right shoulder, which protrudes upwards like the left traditionally bears the emblem of the nation that it is from.

Kensai Other: This is the first created model

---

Kensai Name: SO-01 Scharfschütze

Kensai Weapons: The Scharfschütze boasts the most powerful weapons for the basic models of kensai. It has a dual projectile sniper rifle that can switch between an energy based shot to a traditional projectile. The rifle, unlike the Shisso, is mounted to the right. It has direct access to a personal CRS solely to power the weapon. They also have EDB weapons like the Shisso. They are traditionally shorter than the ones on the Shisso. They are usually wielded by the left hand.

Kensai Armor: The Scharfschütze is minimally armored and has about half the staying power of the Shisso if barraged by fire (and hit). It also has the same weakness with the propulsion system.

Kensai Engines: The Scharfschütze is one of the few models that has a dual CRS system. While one is usually designated for the use of the rifle, they can both be used to power the movement and other aspects of the model. It should also be noted that the CRS on the Scharfschütze are significantly larger than those on the Shisso, giving them longer staying power. They are, of course, extremely fast and capable of high energy outputs.

Kensai Appearance: Shorter than traditional kensai, the Scharfschütze stands about 30 feet high. The frame is also significant sleeker and less bulky than the Shisso as the parts of the Scharfschütze are angled to allow maximum aerodynamic qualities. It should be noted that this does thin a lot of the fame down which is why it has minimal armor. It, of course, has most of the armor situation in the chest where the cockpit is. The color of the Scharfschütze is pure black, showing that they are special operations. They do, as well, boast the same shoulder marks at the Shisso.

Kensai Other: The second generation model of the UN.

AE Kensai

+ Arlanian Empire Kensai +

Kensai Name: E01 Wächter

Kensai Weapons: The Arlanian Empire's kensai design is a hybrid between the Scharfschütze and the Shisso, mostly because the plans were created from captured models of kensai. The weapons on the Wä*hter are mostly energy based. The AE's ability to still use magic allows many of the models to use the 'Könighand' (King Hand) which can channel the abilities of the pilot into the gem that is slotted onto the mech. Traditionally these are on one of the hands, but some more advanced models have the gem slotted over the chest. Only particular abilities can be channeled through the 'Könighand', but it does allow at least the raw energy to come out. Usually, the average person can only give up about 5 shots through the 'Könighand' before they themselves pass out. It does, of course, also have the CRS. The weapons on the Wä(c)hter are dual purpose like the Scharfschütz but are only capable of solitary shots. They can fire a shot about every second. Like all Kensai, they too wield and EDB which has the same statistics are the Shisso. If the 'Könighand' is used to put energy into the EDB, they are quite capable of cutting through things with more efficiency.

Kensai Armor: It is about the same level of armor as the Shisso, usually relying on the 'Könighand' and their more powerful weapons to cut through the ranks of the Shisso. Traditionally, a solitary shot to a major point on another kensai will take it out. They, as well, possess an unprotected propulsion system.

Kensai Engines: The Wächter also has a dual CRS system allowing it to move faster than the Shisso, but slower than the Scharfschütze.

Kensai Appearance: It is a physical cross between both UN models. Mostly they are painted blue with white accents, crests placed on the models to indicate 'Faction' (Divided between Lords/Guardians) and has the symbol of their leader on the chest.

[Innue]

I no longer need space. You are free to post questions and such.

[Taka]

Yum...Mecha.

[The 42nd Gecko]

Here's my old Raven write-up.

The Ravens, as a scavenger group, cannot easily mass produce Kensai. Thus, almost all their Kensai are either stolen or custom made. There is a pseudo-feudal system where one proficient pilot will be supported by a cadre of scientists, mechanics, and other "vassals", in maintaining a top-notch Kensai, or as close as the research deprived Ravens can manage. As the Kensai Pilot brings in loot and other material from raids or scavenging trips, they expand their power base, potentially giving stolen Kensai to some of their more loyal and proficient vassals to make them "men-at-arms", so to speak. Extremely proficient Pilots will even give resources to Pilots who have run into hard times (perhaps because they don't have enough resources to maintain their Kensai) in order to strengthen their own position and have the other Pilots "owe them one".

While the Raven Kensai may not have particularly advanced technology, they have innovative uses of current technology due to the masses of inventors and mechanics aspiring to put any edge they can on their "lords" Kensai. There is no such thing as a “standard” Raven Kensai. Every one likely has some bizarre trick up its sleeve unless it is freshly captured. In other words, every Raven Kensai is a custom-Kensai. In other other words, every Raven Kensai is a custom-Kensai with crappy performance.

Raven Technology does have a primary weakness, armor. The metals that the Kensai have access too are generally metal that has been shot at a lot. While the Raven mechanics are highly adept at patching up said armor, they do not have the infrastructure to melt it down a full size armor plate and reforge it to original specs. Every patch job weakens the armor. Likewise, Ravens have to have mobility to run away from larger forces, so they must skimp on the amount on the armor. This, combined with the fact that every shot taken on your Kensai is something you will have to compensate for by capturing or salvaging more gear, means that Raven Kensai really, really don’t want to get hit. And so they have come up with many ways not to be hit.

Crystal Railgun(Weapon System): Many times the crystal of the main engine of any given Kensai salvaged by the Ravens is damaged. This means that the Ravens have access to a disproportionate ratio of small crystals to equip to subsystems on their Kensai. Against high-end mechs, energy based weapons are often not the way to beat them. Thus, a long range conventional weapon is necessary. Railguns fit the bill, and the Ravens have become adept at using the smaller salvaged crystals they have available to produce capacitors for extremely high performance railguns. These railguns generally fire once and then are done until recharged, but generally that’s all the Ravens want to do. Strike devastatingly with overwhelming force from beyond enemy range, then grab loot and run away before reinforcements arrive, all without ever being shot at. And if the strike is unsuccessful and the targets remain up, then run the fuck away before they can catch up thanks to your extreme engagement range. Try again tomorrow.

Crystal Chaff(Defensive System): It’s hard to dodge an Energy Projectile Weapon, and some of the special abilities Arlanian mechs are capable of using are ridiculously devastating. In the process of removing damaged bits of crystal and sometimes finding a crystal almost entirely destroyed, the Ravens have a supply of crystal dust that is generally no longer useful as a power source. But, with a few modifications, the Ravens have found it is useful as a kind of chaff against energy weapons and special abilities, as it tends to sponge up the energy, while also levitating in place to remain useful rather than just immediately falling. It’s also pretty darn useful for gumming up engines, slowing them down for long enough for the Ravens to get away. It also interferes with most targeting systems, including radar, ladar, infrared, and magic. If a group of Ravens decides to raid a location they think has energy weapons or any Arlanians, one of them having a few canisters of Crystal Chaff is almost a guarantee. Some of the most advanced cutting edge Raven systems are capable of dragging a cloud of Crystal Chaff around to maintain a shield for the Kensai. Obviously, this shield is not omni-directional, as otherwise the Kensai would interfere with its own engines and its use slows down the Raven while it drags the cloud.

Crystal Afterburner(Engine System): For reasons explained above, the Ravens have more damaged crystals than normal crystals, and one use they’ve found for them is as a sort of afterburner for their engines. Extremely bad fuel efficiency, but hey, when the other option is get torn apart by superior forces? Time to spend some cash and get out of there.

[Innue]

Name: Rin Taiki
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Gift: Analysis
Birthplace: Minor Shard his family owns
Profession/Rank: CEO RinCo
Kensai Piloted: CE02 Tenkan
Affiliations: N/A
Physical Appearance: Taiki appears small, but is really only just below average height. However, Taiki's lack of imposing form comes from his thin body, clearly lacking exercise. Taiki's most notable features are his bright blue eyes and incredibly black hair, which are at sharp contrast to each other. He has a fairly angular face, which a fairly prominent bone structure.
Clothing/Armor: Taiki typically wears very formal clothing. Many of his buttoned shirts are adorned with precious metal buttons, as well as being in an almost Chinese style. He can also often be seen in a near full suit, especially when meeting with delegations from either side of the conflict.
Weapons: None.
History: Taiki was born and raised as an heir. With access to high quality education at a very young age, Taiki was able to develop a strangely large and diverse set of talents and knowledge basis. His father ran RinCo a company that developed cutting edge technologies for governments and private industries. After the merge happened, Taiki's father, Taiko, was a part of the few willing to embrace the Arlanian's.

After the Merging, as tensions grew, Taiki's father was drawn into the escalating conflicts with the pressure to build weapons to the infant UN to provide them an edge. RinCo created most of the underlying technologies for the original and modern day kensai. However, Taiko's involvement would eventually draw the ire of both sides, with Taiko refusing to take a side in the conflict, threatening to cut off production of all weapons should they continue to try to draw him in. Taiko's later assassination was largely attributed to his refusal to side with either group.

Taiki would take up where his father left off, creating more and more advanced kensai. Taiki himself had taken up programming a large number of the underlying computer systems for all RinCo's production and database systems, but their programmable goods as well. Taiki also created a number of groundbreaking technologies, including the LightWave system, which is essentially a mobile supercomputer that can be 'constructed' in thin air and be physically passed through.

The loss of Taiki's father was extremely disturbing for him. Not only was he now CEO of a leading technology company and the heir to a massive fortune, he was without any family, his mother passing when he was two. Vengeance became his main goal, but without knowledge of who had killed his father and for what real reason, Taiki decided to exact revenge on both sides and developed the Tenkan, a kensai that was developed for operations against both sides.

During his development of the Tenkan, Taiki spent most of his time in the R&D complex, which lead to his discovery of his father's hidden research when altering some of the system's code. From that, Taiki was able to uncover that his father had been working on advanced integration of quantum computer systems into a biological system. The fruits of this research was Saisei.
Other:

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Kensai Name:
Kensai Pilot:
Kensai Weapons:
Kensai Armor:
Kensai Engines:
Kensai Appearance:The Tenkan's is smaller than most Kensai, in its base form only at 27 feet in height. However, the Tenkan's Evol system alters this basic form utilizing Aurora, the kensai's AI system. In essence, the Tenkan is multiple mechs, utilizing different armor and weapon pieces to the task at hand.

CE02 Tenkan (GENBU) - The Tenkan's Genbu form is the largest version of the Tenkan. Highly armored, the Tenkan boasts the thickest armor of the kensai's forms, expanding its height to nearly 35 feet, but giving the entire kensai and imposing, thick form.

CE02 Tenkan (SUZAKU) -

CE02 Tenkan (SEIRYU) -

CE02 Tenkan (Byakko) -

Kensai History:
Kensai Other:

[The 42nd Gecko]

Name: Richard Wagner
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Gift:
Birthplace: Shard 30
Profession/Rank: CEO of Kampfworks and its subsidiaries.
Kensai Piloted: None
Affiliations: UN, but dabbles with the Ravens when it suits his purposes.
Physical Appearance: When one pictures in ones mind a typical, corrupt, know-nothing business CEO in middle age on the fast track to gray hair, bald spots, and comb overs, spouting empty words that commit to nothing, Richard Wagner does not disappoint.
Clothing/Armor: Business suits. At all times. Richard does not rock the boat.
Weapons: None.
History: Richard was born to a high paid but ultimately unimportant upper management official in Kampfworks. Richard worked his way up to the top, but didn't have all that horribly far to go. To most, he is highly uninteresting, having been the manager of a poorly named company that produced run of the mill war material, specializing in missile and anti-missile systems.

However, things heated up as Richard dragged Kampfworks into the modern battleground, creating the Kampfworks Kensai (or KWK) division and competing with RinCo. While not having the technical skill of RinCo, they nonetheless compete. Due to Richard's political connections and tight bindings to the UN, they generally get some business regardless of how poor their designs are due to the UN's unwillingness to put all their eggs in a basket that refuses to align itself with either side. Recently they've had some success with producing mass designs with combat roles that RinCo has not addressed, due to a strangely long lull in RinCo's releases of mass production designs. They are not as successful as RinCo and are always a step behind in the technology race, but their mass production capabilities are impressive, and RinCo Shissos are often reloaded and repaired with KWK munitions and material.

Richard has an unusual combined morality and immorality. The lives of men who have not "made" themselves means nothing to him. The lower people are practically a sub-race to him, and he will ruthlessly dispose of them if he needs to. At the same time, Richard considers other CEOs and high power people as real people, and treats them with respect and dignity in person. He still practices cutthroat and immoral business practices, but he considers them simply the firm handshakes by which "real" men test each other.

One of Richard's handshakes is his association with a certain Raven Lord, using the Raven Lord to collect insurance money on useless goods as well as attack competitors. Richard has no real understanding of the Raven Lord's motivations, and he doesn't care. It's just good business.

Other:

---

Kensai Name: KWK-01 Jaeger

Kensai Weapons:
-KWK Heavy Autocannon or KWK Medium Cannon with EDB Bayonet attachment.
-KWK Heavy Shield
-KWK Chaos Interceptor

The Jaeger's right arm is a gun from the elbow forward, and it is a much more bulky, reinforced, and limited in motion arm than most Kensai arms. As such, it is capable of carrying a heavy payload.

The Heavy Autocannon is generally considered more useful, being a Kensai sized LMG with similar uses in battle, capable of dealing heavy damage to targets without cover or suppressing fire on targets in cover. It shares an LMG's heating problems, but due to the Jaeger's lackluster melee, it surpasses the Medium Cannon with EDB Bayonet attachment due to the general uselessness of the Bayonet on an arm with such limited motion. The Medium Cannon fires a powerful single shot, and has better reload time than similar weapons on a Shisso, but the EDB Bayonet is generally ignored, and as such, it doesn't take as good advantages of the Jaeger's strengths.

The Left Arm is similarly bulky, reinforced and limited in motion, but is full length and carries a heavy shield capable of repelling most Kensai fire, for a short while. The armor is highly ablative and comes apart under sustained fire, but is capable of withstanding a lot of punishment before it does.

The Chaos Intercepter is generally regarded as the only successful innovation of the KWK when they created the Jaeger, as they recognized the slow mech's vulnerability to Chaos Bombs and gave it an intercepter missile with a roughly 70% success rate. While the Arlanians rarely field Chaos Bombs, the KWK Chaos Interceptor and its later upgrades is generally the one good thing that came out of the Jaeger design. It is mounted in the left shoulder.

Kensai Armor: The Jaeger is a beast when it comes to armor. The Jaeger was designed with the somewhat stupid idea of exhausting Wächter pilots use of the Könighan by designing a mech that would take multiple shots to disable, even with such a powerful weapon. The idea was then that the Shisso could hide behind an advance of Jaegers that soaked up the enemy Könighan fire, then mop up the exhausted Wächter pilots, no longer able to use their strongest weapon.

True to that ideal, the Jaeger is the most resilient Generation One mass production design, capable of withstanding a solitary Könighan shot to any given part of its shield or frontal armor without sustaining critical damage. However, a second shot to the same location can destroy the Jaeger, and the rear armor and propulsion systems, while lacking the extreme vulnerability of other Generation One and Two mass production Kensai, is vulnerable to heavy weapons such as the Könighan. However, barring concentrated fire to a singular location, the Jaeger is fabulously resilient to ranged fire. Its armor and shield are vulnerable to EDBs, having being designed before countermeasures were developed for such technology.

Kensai Engines: Generation One was not the time for such an heavily armored Kensai, as the large but basic single CRS is barely capable of keeping the Jaeger afloat and can't do it for long. While the Jaeger can reach a not embarrassing top speed, its acceleration, agility, and endurance are all severely deficient. The Jaeger's endurance means it can only be used for short hops between relatively close shards, or must be towed by external engines for part of the flight. Its aerial maneuverability renders it incapable of maintaining cohesion with combined forces, and it can easily be flanked.

Kensai Appearance: At 43 feet in height, the Jaeger is tall, but even more than that, it has a bulky, wide build designed to shield Kensai behind it. It is designed to catch fire, not dodge it. This interferes with its aerodynamics. The legs are reinforced unlike many designs, as the Jaeger is actually vaguely competent at ground operations compared to its aerial failures. The head is modular, so that each faction can have their customized variant. It has a deep blue and white paint scheme, while otherwise sharing the shoulder marks of other UN designs.

Kensai History: The Jaeger design was a rushed model to try and prevent RinCo from having a corner on the market and offer an alternative. Designed to assault ground positions and defend them, this was designed early during the war when some UN officials still believed that the war would be quick once the might of the UN was mobilized and that the Arlanians would quickly be forced to attempt to endure seige warfare, defending their cities from entrenched positions. The Jaeger was fairly competent for this role, and during its first few engagements was actually effective at soaking up fire, leading charges, and scattering Arlanian positions, as the Arlanians were used to fighting lightly armored Shissos. However, the Jaegers immense tactical and strategic limitations were quickly recognized and taking advantage of, and as the battle became one of air superiority, the Jaeger design was delivered crushing defeats. It is now generally relegated to guard details on the ground or very rarely, assaults on entrenched ground emplacements.

Kensai Other: A Generation One model by KWK (as they repeatedly hammered home with their naming scheme)

---

Kensai Name: KWK-04 Jaeger MK II

Kensai Weapons:
-KWK Modular Weapons Loadout
-2 Wristblade EDB
-2 KWK Chaos Interceptor MK III

By the time the Jaeger MK II came out, KWK had plenty of time to come to grips with the fact that they weren't on RinCo's par in most fields. If you can't beat em, join em and copy em with incremental improvements. The KWK Modular Weapons Loadout is a fancy way of saying that the Jaeger MK II has hands and a shoulder mounted carrying case designed to accept main handheld weapons from generally any Kensai Producer. The Shoulder Mounted carrying case can also be used to carry a variety of missile or interceptor systems. Sure, KWK would love to also sell you a EDB Bayonet-less slimmed down version of their Medium Cannon or perhaps their interceptor systems, but they recognize they aren't top dog. Of important note, though, is that using a weapon like the Scharfschütze's Rifle that requires a dedicated CRS will lower the Jaeger MK II's performance and endurance.

The Jaeger MK II mounts two EDB wristblades, whose poor performance show that KWK still has trouble keeping their loadouts in the range of their engines to supply. With limited cuts, and cutting out entirely if the secondary CRS is taken out, these are more of defensive than offensive weapons.

The Jaeger MK II mounts a KWK Chaos Interceptor MK III in each shoulder. A lighter, smaller, and generally more effective design than the original, the MK III has a 80% interception chance and can be set to defend Chaos Bombs headed towards allied targets, albeit, with a reduced chance of successful intercept. Additionally, they can be set to intercept other types of missiles and rockets. All in all, Interceptor Systems remains KWK's best card.

Kensai Armor: The Jaeger MK II maintains the design principle that it shouldn't be able to be defeated in a single Könighand shot. The Jaeger MK II is heavily armored, but not as much as the MK I, and a Könighand is quite capable of dealing heavy damage in a single shot. However, the almost spherical armor around the chest prevents the primary CRS and cockpit from being taken out in one shot, regardless of the angle of attack. The Jaeger MK II, while not a tank of the Kensai battlefield like the original Jaeger, is still resilient enough that it takes a concerted or sustained effort to defeat.

Kensai Engines: The Jaeger MK II copies the Scharfschütze's dual CRS system, but without RinCo's finesse. Even with the larger, more expensive crystals, the Jaeger MK II's performance is slightly worse than a Shisso. However, it's only slightly worse than a Shisso, as opposed to the lame duck original Jaeger's complete lack of use in the air. It can keep up with Shissos in formation, and cycles the Primary and Secondary CRSs to maintain for long periods of activity, though not indefinite.

Kensai Appearance: At 40 feet in height, the Jaeger MK II is slightly shorter than the original design, but more importantly, it is very much less bulky and somewhat less armored. It's fairly aerodynamic, with the spherical-like designs around the cockpit and Primary CRS as well as the Modular Weapons Loadout being the primary sources of drag. The head is modular, so that each faction can have their customized variant. The Paint Scheme comes with a custom job as the MK II's primary job demands, while otherwise sharing the shoulder marks of other UN designs.

Kensai History: The Jaeger MK II design came out relatively late in Generation Two, and is enjoying tentative success as a command Kensai for small squads of Shisso. A Jaeger MK II adds considerable punch and durability to a squadron of somewhat outdated Shisso, as well as having a very low pilot death rate, useful for veteran pilots. Additionally, such experienced pilots seemed to enjoy the versatility of its main loadout, with the primary complaint being the underpowered EDB Wristblades, which are often removed and replaced with a single traditional EDB.

Kensai Other: A Generation Two model by KWK.

[Jerkchicken]

Alright Im gonna give this a go after reading all this exposition

[Innue]

Name: Ni-ki Williams, The Green Sniper
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Gift: N/A
Birthplace: Shard 22
Profession/Rank:
Kensai Piloted: SO-01 Scharfschütze CEGS
Affiliations: UN
Physical Appearance: Ni-ki is a tall, thinly built raven haired woman. Her face visibly shows some Japanese ancestry. Despite her thin build, she has a fair amount of muscle on her.
Clothing/Armor: Ni-ki's wears fairly standard attire for a woman in her position. As one of the aces for the UN's Arrow, Ni-ki has a bit more liberty with her attire - even if she doesn't often exercise it. As a partial joke, the Director gave her a dark green jacket instead of the standard black, a play off of the nickname he had given her as the Green Sniper, a reference to the pain color of her Kensai. The rest is standard attire for the UN.
Weapons: Handgun, combat knife, sniper rifle.
History: Ni-ki grew up on the capital shard of Era, shard 22. Middle class, Ni-ki never felt like she was really denied access to anything she needed, and she actually was able to grow up with many of her wants. Her parents made sure to go the extra mile with her education, using connections through her father's work to get her into the military Academy at the age of 14. When she graduated at the age of 18, she was noted to be one of their most accurate sharpshooters, while preforming above average in all of her other fields, allowing her to graduate with special commendation.

Ni-ki was assigned to a sniper division within Arc. After a year of pilot training, she was finally on her first mission, which went rather horribly. After an ambush with Raven forces, five of their frontline Shisso were taken out, leaving only two operable. Only one of the four snipers on the mission were taken out, leaving them with only five working kensai. The Raven's, eager to collect more kensai, quickly swooped in, outnumbering them nearly two to one. Ni-ki was able to take out two of their modified Shisso before they were within firing distance, but was incapacitated by one of the Raven's own snipers. The round passed through the right side of her cockpit, opening it up to the air, but leaving her unscathed. It was this mission where she would get her name. While the remainder of her squad fought, Ni-ki pulled out her own rifle and began returning fire through the gaping hole in her machine. For most, this would have been ineffective, but Ni-ki's precision and knowledge of kensai structure allowed her to provide meaningful support fire, actually taking out another kensai with her standard sniper rifle.The returned to base with only two operable kensai, the Ravens returning with the same, but with an extra kensai or two worth of parts.

Word of her marksmanship began going up the ranks, especially with the success of her next few missions, each in which her machine remained unscathed. As a joke, her squad began painting large green lines on the body of her kensai for each enemy she took out and would remove one for each hit she took. At age 21, her entire kensai was painted green, although Ni-ki things her companions fudged the numbers a bit with their painting. At this point, word of her deeds had reached the Director who awarded her with a customized Scharfschütze with a full green body and appropriate accents, granting her a jacket of the same green.

She is one of the most well known pilots for the UN and often the poster girl for recruitment.

Other:

---

Kensai Name:
Kensai Pilot:
Kensai Weapons:
Kensai Armor:
Kensai Engines:
Kensai Appearance:
Kensai History:
Kensai Other:

[The 42nd Gecko]

Name: Alexey Yerofeyev
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Gift: N/A
Birthplace: Shard 31 - Raven Territory
Profession/Rank: Kensai Pilot
Kensai Piloted: Nasya Alfa
Affiliations: Vassal of Viveca Waldemark, Raven Lord
Physical Appearance: Alexey is very moderately above height man whose prominent feature is the thickness of his build and the relatively grizzled-ness of his young skin by scars. With a bulked out build bulging with muscle, he's does not look like someone you want arm wrestle. Alexey is of Eastern European descent, with an early black beard coming in to match his black hair.
Clothing/Armor: The Ravens have no standard uniform, but they generally have a "symbol" that marks which Raven Lord they affiliate with, if any. As such, Alexey will reluctantly wear the fake peacock feather of Viveca along with his normal garb, generally tucked into a belt. Alexey is no stranger to showing skin and often will wear minimal upper body clothing, such as a tank or nothing. He worked hard for his physique, and what's the point if you can't show it off? Besides, all those scars are simply trophies of blows that just couldn't keep you down. However, he generally wears full length pants and avoids shorts. Generally, they are worn combat fatigues. Colors are usually dark, such as black or deep green. If in combat, expect a bullet proof vest and gas mask, though, he's not suicidal.
Weapons: Armored gloves with deploying shock knuckles for non-lethal takedown. Machine pistol for decidedly more lethal takedown. If expecting trouble, expect Alexey to be carrying grenades and/or a rifle.
History: Alexey grew up knowing the raucous freedom that is Raven life. Without a strong government, might makes right, and from a young age, Alexey Yerofeyev wanted to be the rightest person in Shard 31. Needless to say, Alexey got into lots of fights, gaining plenty of scars and marks. But, in a shard where social power is attached to skill in a Kensai, there wasn't a whole lot of place for a boy with only a lot of fight and two fists to his name. He was eventually picked up as part of an impromptu infantry that Viveca formed when the Raven Lord wished to raid a base and make off with some gear rather more delicate than a Kensai could be trusted to retrieve. Alexey performed well as part of the infantry, being one of the standout soldiers, but did not make himself noticed.

That is, until, when Viveca came to personally retrieve the goods, and a tactical response team somehow slipped past the guarding Kensai and engaged them in combat. Alexey proved himself more than competent, when, upon the failure of his gun to fire, he simply rushed up and beat the tar out of one of the response team and fetched himself a gun that way. Upon THAT gun's failure to fire due to a palm-lock system, he hurled it at another one of the response team and then proceeded to beat them into unconsciousness as well

Viveca being one of the few Raven Lords to see a need for skilled melee combatants in the Raven ranks, had Alexey tested for Kensai piloting. Despite some initial failures, Viveca found a particular Kensai type that fitted Alexey's skills, and it was subsequently remade and renamed the Nasya Alfa. Since then, he has served as a direct vassal for Viveca.

Other: This is not a protagonist character, but mainly meant as flavor and someone for fellow Raven characters to run into for some inconsequential chatter/drinks. In combat, he is meant to serve as someone who can show off how awesome your new mech/pilot is by defeating someone who is not a nameless grunt.

---

Kensai Name: Nasya Alfa
Kensai Pilot: Alexey Yerofeyev
Kensai Weapons:
-2x KWK Heavy Shields, stripped down, but still useful shields.
-2x Perun's Arms

The Nasya Alfa's primary armament is its arms. Enhanced and upgraded considerably from their original Generation 1 specs, the Nasya Alfa's arms are almost comically over-sized, powerful hands, powered by integrated dedicated small CRS in both. These arms are capable of simply grabbing other Kensai and beating them into submission. The arms are armored sufficiently and treated to withstand one or two Shisso level EDB cuts before being penetrated, and the general idea is that if you're in melee with another Kensai long enough for it to cut the same exact place twice, you're doing it wrong.

Likewise, the Nasya Alfa can also pummel the opponent into submission with the dual shields it carries, which have been sharpened at the edges. No EDB technology, just brute force and reliance on the fact that almost every common Kensai in deployment is a lightly armored speedster type.

Against tougher targets, the Perun's Arms systems are knuckles charged with electricity from the integral CRS, capable of forcing extreme currents into the other mechs. Unless the other mech has some sort of system to handle it, it will likely suffer internal damage as its systems are overloaded, and also be temporarily stunned. This quickly drains the Nasya Alfa's arms, however, and too many uses will leave the Nasya Alfa nearly defenseless.

Kensai Armor: Other than the arms, nearly identical to original Jaeger specs, barring a great many patch jobs.
Kensai Engines: Other than the arms, nearly identical to original Jaeger specs.
Kensai Appearance: ^
Kensai History: For a long time, no one wanted to pilot the stolen Jaegers that Viveca had acquired. Due to their inability to escape from losing battles, most Ravens are a little too interested in self preservation to pilot one of these. Not so with Alexey, as he is quite willing to commit everything to victory. As such, the Nasya Alfa has racked up a large number of confirmed kills, for a Raven vassal, since it has gone into use, leading Raven charges after the Railgun sniper fire is exhausted. Thanks to the Raven's propensity for using chaff to disorient targets, as well as attacking ground targets, the Jaeger model's weaknesses are largely ignored in the hands of Nasya Alfa's current pilot and 8 Shisso have fallen under the might fists of the Alexey Yerofeyev.
Kensai Other:
Quick Summary - Nasya Alfa - Ace Custom Jaeger - Flying Brick - Double shields and fists Of lightning.

[Innue]

Name: Shimi Megumi
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Gift: Shimi possesses a series of unique abilities. The first is the pace at which she can read, allowing her to read long novels in minutes. The second is her ability to absorb and understand the information she is reading, even to the point of extrapolation from fictional logic, allowing her to learn skills that would take many years to master. However, the skills gained are very much temporary, unless she rereads the book from memory (she has a true photographic memory). The last ability is her ability to manipulate paper that has either been written on it with Arlanian ink, or paper from Arlanian trees. Her manipulative control is rather potent, enough she can stop bullets in a small area with pieces of paper. Her potency with the ability is largely affected by how much she has personally interact with the paper in question as well as her distance to it.
Birthplace: Shard 22
Profession/Rank: Librarian, UN
Kensai Piloted: N/A
Affiliations: UN, Library
Physical Appearance: Standing barely over 5'1", Shimi is a short, mousy woman with a mess of shoulder length brown hair. She has warm brown eyes with soft skin from lack of time outdoors. She has a surprising amount of muscle on her body from carting around books all day.
Clothing/Armor: Shimi's outfit is non-standard for a UN employee. While she has one of the standard uniform jackets, hers, however, in a silver-white, is almost comically too big for her. She only wears the jacket when there are formal events, most just giving her the room she needs to work. For more casual instances and work when she can get away with it, she wears a very stereotypical librarian's outfit, with a brown tweed skirt and a stuffy white blouse. She has a formal suit jacket that matches her skirt, as well as a long brown overcoat that she often wears.
Weapons: Carries around a briefcase of paper items.
History: Shimi is a very peculiar woman. Her father was a Japanese businessman and her mother an Arlanian woman of the Yuki family. Shimi's abilities manifested early on, allowing her to skip formal schooling due her ability to gather information from books instead of other people. Her mother was taken in by the UN when she was 10, having previously been protected by her father's status - an important player in the UN's affairs. But when his business went south, so did his ability to protect his wife.

Shimi's father was unable to cope with the loss of his wife and disappeared shortly after her fifteenth birthday. He is listed as deceased, assumed that he flung himself off the edge of the shard. With no parents left, Shimi was brought in by UN officials, but surprisingly to be offered the ability to work for them instead of suffer through the persecutions the other Arlanian's had undergone. She accepted the offer, not out of fear for her own safety, but out of the chance to work within the Library. She was given the modern day equivalent of a mid range six figure salary, allowing her to live at the top end of the middle class. However, Shimi opted for a modest 1,300 sqft apartment on Shard 3, the Shard housing the Great Library. She uses the rest of her salary to purchase books, as well as rent space in an underground warehouse on the same shard..
Other:

[The 42nd Gecko]

Name: Viveca Waldemark
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Gift: Yomi
Birthplace: Shard 31 - Raven Territory
Profession/Rank: Raven Lord
Kensai Piloted: Coruscate Peacock
Affiliations: One of the more influential Raven Lords, also has connections with a certain UN weapons dealer.
Physical Appearance: At first glance, Viveca appears to be a child. A girl child, at that, with no help from his name. Rising to a highly unimpressive 4'9", with a delicate looking build, with black hair flowing to his hips, Viveca is in a perpetual state of resignation about his physical appearance. Despite however much physical training he puts himself through, he has yet to figure out a way to be taken for the man save for letting his beard grow out. That lead to even more annoying constant apologies along the lines of "Excuse me miss, but OH I'M SO SORRY!" happening constantly. Thus, he generally shaves several times a day and just rolls with whatever people chose to believe rather than have to listen to excruciatingly drawn out apologies all the time.
Clothing/Armor: Viveca keeps his ID in a deploying mechanism on his left arm, as he often has to flash it every 15 seconds or so in many of the places he frequents. As for his clothes, he will generally wear clothes that fit whatever locale he is infiltrating. In Arlanian territory, he will wear Japanese-esque style clothing passed down from his mother, in UN territory, he will wear modern earth clothing suitable to the necessary level of formality not passed down from his father as it wouldn't fit. At home in Raven Territory, he generally wears an armored flight suit. At home at home, he's liable not to wear much but a towel, as he's generally not at home save to take a shower or sleep.
Weapons: Viveca wears a miniature, human sized AER Lance (description with Coruscate Peacock) with a very much reduced spike length, but also utilizing much more high quality shielding, allowing it serve as a parrying dagger versus both conventional and EDB weapons. It also, thanks to the reduced projectile size, and higher refinement allowed to the smaller stature of its bearer, allows it to retract and fire a second time. It is worn on the right forearm.
History: Viveca was born to a mixed Earth/Arlanian family, his mother dying shortly after childbirth. His name is an artifact of the fact that, just to humor Viveca's mother in her final moments, his father pretended Viveca was a girl as she had desired, and the name accidentally stuck. Unfortunately for him, he lived up to it in build, being even more diminutive in frame than his mother.

His father had taken his wife to Shard 31 in order to avoid the prejudices again a mixed marriage. He was a Scharfschütze pilot, and took this with him when he went AWOL. Vivica's father is alive and well, but never had the taste for war after his marriage, and thus the Scharfschütze passed to Viveca, who succeeded in several battles and eventually became a Raven Lord, transforming the Scharfschütze into his own Ace Custom, the Coruscate Peacock, acquiring vassals along the way.

Viveca has always known the freedoms of Raven territory and loves it with a blindness to all its flaws. He also realizes that the moment the UN and the Arlanian conflict ends, one way or the other, the Ravens as a whole will be held to the account of the attrocities of a few. Viveca thus is desperate to keep the war going between the UN and Arlanian Empire as long as possible. To that end, he seeks contacts amongst both sides to gather power and be able to tell which side is winning at any given time, to aid the other side. His ideal scenario is that both sides pound each other into dust without a real victor.
Other:

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Kensai Name: Coruscate Peacock
Kensai Pilot: Viveca Waldemark
Kensai Weapons:
-3 AER Lances
-3 CP Crystal Railguns
-14 Snub Limpets
-2 CC Launchers - 2 Canisters per Launcher
-2 Multi Launchers - Loaded with 4 MST Flares and 4 Tactical Missiles.
-2 Jester Hands

The Coruscate Peacock wields almost entirely single use weapons. It is designed for short frantic engagements with a few high end Kensai, not sustained battle with numerous grunts. In other words, it is designed to assassinate enemy commanders, not tangle with the main lanes.

An AER Lance is a weapon where a long "spike", 25 feet in length, but quite thin of treated energy-resistant metal, is attached to a snub-variant of a Crystal Railgun. The result is a near instantly deploying melee assassination tool. The Snub Railgun is attached to the forearm of the Coruscate Peacock, with the tip of the spike just past the tips of the outstretched fingers. Upon activating, the railguns activates, shooting the spike forward through whatever happens to be in front of the spike. Generally, an AER Lance can penetrate most any armored or shielded Kensai straight into the mechanics and inflict fairly as much damage as if a standard EDB had just penetrated through. However, the Lance, once deployed, is a mostly ineffective weapon, having no edge or EDB technology to allow it to slice further once its initial railgun assisted thrust is complete. The tip is still sharp, and can pierce armor if the full weight of a Kensai is behind it, but it is in general little more than a stick to block EDB weapons with at that point unless the enemy is already disabled.

The Coruscate Peacock mounts a AER Lance on its right arm, as well as two reloads over its shoulders, the spikes sticking up in a V shape. After detaching either of the arm systems, it can reach up to attach one of these reloads.

The "Custom Partitioned" Crystal Railguns is a reference to how the Coruscate Peacock mounts three Crystal Railguns attached to its left side below the armpit but above the hip. These are the rear halfs of Crystal Railguns, possessing the payload and most of the capacitors, but the "track" of the bullet is not complete. The remaining half is attached to the Coruscate Peacock's left forearm. In order to fire these Railguns properly, the Coruscate Peacock must move the left arm partition of the barrel into place to fire each Railgun. This allows the Coruscate Peacock to have three full sized Railguns for the weight of two, (4 halves making 2 wholes), but adds additional points of failure, as if the front half attached to the left forearm is damaged the entire array is useless.

Snub Limpets are magnetic launched mines. They fire off on a ballistic trajectory with an initial rocket, then active magnets, attempt to attach to whatever they find, then detonate their shaped charges to penetrate armor.

The Coruscate Peacock's legs carry 7 Snub Limpets, 4 on the upper leg, 3 on the lower leg, on each leg.

CC Launchers are launchers for Crystal Chaff canisters. The Coruscate Peacock has two mounted in the chest, just under the cockpit.

Multi Launchers are launchers designed launching MST Flares, capable of blinding numerous systems as well as marking targets for the Tactical Missiles also launched by this system. The Coruscate Peacock holds them mounted at the hip.

MST Flare is a very bright, very hot flare. If the MST Flare contacts a mech, it is not capable of dealing damage, but leaves some of its material on the target, guiding Tactical Missiles.

Tactical Missiles can be launched with the nearly unshakeable tracking system of the MST Flare if the target is marked, or simply lock on to infrared signature, far less reliable against modern Kensai.

Jester Hands are palm based technology based on the Könighand (and is manufactured with scavenged hands) that allows the Coruscate Peacock to move Crystal Chaff clouds. The Coruscate Peacock has one on each palm. They are also capable of "catching" Könighand blasts. However, catching more than one shot per recharge period (the same as the reactor's) will result in a very pretty explosion where the Coruscate Peacock's arms used to be. Additionally, a Jester Hand that has been used to catch a Könighand can no longer move CC clouds.

Kensai Armor:
After that dizzying array of weapons, the Coruscate Peacock's armor is actually worse than a Shisso. The hips and lower body are almost completely unarmored, the chest armor is compromised by the CC Launchers just below the cockpit, and the arms are loaded out with fragile weapon systems. In whole, the armor is comparable to a Scharfschütze. Basic weapons fire is easily capable of tearing the Coruscate Peacock to pieces, and the propulsion system is undefended.

Kensai Engines: If the detachable weapon systems, such as the Multi-Launchers, Snub Limpets, and CP Crystal Railguns have been detached, the Coruscate Peacock, powered by a high performance dual CRS system devoted almost entirely to propulsion systems found on the back and legs, it is the fastest and most agile ace custom generation 2 Kensai in existence, barring ones powered by a Gift. Turn the afterburners on, and it can probably compete with those too. Even with its numerous weapon systems attached, it's still an incredibly swift Kensai capable of outpacing and outmaneuvering unmodified Scharfschütze.

Kensai Appearance: Long, long ago, the Coruscate Peacock was likely a Scharfschütze or some test prototype based on the Scharfschütze, and the similarities are still vaguely visisble in the overall frame and proportions. The head, however, is collapsed lower into the chest for aerodynamic and weight purposes, taking about 4' off the height, the lower body was completely replaced to mount more propulsion systems on the legs and reduce the armor to the minimum needed for flight. The AER lances and CP Crystal Railguns mounted on the Coruscate Peacock gives it an incredibly unique silhouette. The paint job on the Coruscate Peacock is actually color change paint, and changes between deep blue and bright red. The intermediary line between those two colors, depending on what angle it is viewed from, is a rainbow of dark sea-green, light green, yellow, orange, from the blue to red side. However, upon an electrical current being run through the armor, it will shift to an arctic "dazzle" camouflage, useful for loosing opponents by hiding in the sun if they've been reduced to visual sensors.

Kensai History: The Coruscate Peacock has seen relatively little action since its refit. It is designed to engage high end or Arlanian targets, and the Ravens tend to avoid locations that are protected that heavily. The Coruscate Peacock has participated primarily in long range Railgun barrages on most of its ops, but has intercepted 3 targets that have attempted to close to melee with the Kensai the Coruscate Peacock has been escorting. In total, Viveca has 6 confirmed kills in the Coruscate Peacock, but given that three of those kills are from barrage fire, only the three one on one melee kills are remotely impressive. Because the UN is unaware of who is killed by whom during Railgun fire barrages, the UN does not consider the Coruscate Peacock an ace and does not have a file on its pilot.

Before it was upgraded, however, the Coruscate Peacock had quite a few kills and was believed to still be piloted by Viveca's rogue father. The refit was extensive enough that the UN was unable to discern it was the same Kensai, and thus the file has been archived.

Kensai Other:
Quick Summary - Coruscate Peacock - Ace Custom Scharfschütze - Highly Agile - Loadout of single use high damage weaponry

[Parser]

You skipped over Gifts, I'm afraid. So what are the mechanics going to be like? I'm assuming we'll be doing combat, but are we just going to freeform it, or what?

[Innue]

Parser said
You skipped over Gifts, I'm afraid. So what are the mechanics going to be like? I'm assuming we'll be doing combat, but are we just going to freeform it, or what?

Fairly standard RP combat, no dice or anything.

Mechanics are what you make them.

Apparently I removed my section on gifts, but they are essentially minor 'magic'. I'll get the text SoonTM.

[Innue]

+ Gifts +

Certain people of Arlanian blood are capable of minor magic. If you do have spells, you need to clarify them with me.

Gifts, however, are something more innate. It is something that can be done over and over (particular restrictions). Only certain people have them, but they can be gained through Arina si Kasezia, who has the power to give Gifts.

Gifts should not be overpowered and should learn along the side of things like Shimi Megumi's power over paper, or the Widow's Puppet ability. Things such as limited telepathy would be allowed.