Eisenhorn

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Urden would have cocked an eyebrow at the mention of a few decades savings before having to look for work again, if that had come from anyone other than a mage. He would blame the whole magic thing for the potential for long living. Well, that and being able to channel sufficiently potent amounts of energy into healing magic was probably doing wonders for Handy as well, though he knew better than to guess a woman's age. Lost him at least one job doing that, and he wasn't keen to make enemies of a healer. Made keeping a daemon around more sensible though, if one planned to live longer than most, you'd want company that could do the same. "I don't think anyone could stay in one place forever, though most of us don't have the expenses you apparently do. Well, the nobles might, but you never know what those bluebloods think they just cannot go without."

The smell of burning paper was certainly a welcome distraction from the aura that Handy had about her at all times. Why she couldn't just magic up all the resources she needed was a question he would save for another time, however, since it was probably not that simple. Pump some healing magic into a plant, bring it to maturity early, couldn't be that hard he figured. Well, not hard for someone capable of actually using magic, rest of the world got to keep toiling away the old fashioned way. Still, not sure he was grateful to have the rumors confirmed, though that wasn't really worth mentioning either. The remarks on trying to trap, of all things, Merophayal did get a genuine snort of amusement out of the mercenary. Better to laugh at the absurd, than balk at it outright. "Yeah, and if I was around half as long as she apparently has been, I'd know every trap someone pesky could possibly dream up in a single life. Not worth the hassle, near as I can tell."

There was some relief in the fact the ill advised summoning circle was nothing more than ashes and memories, so that would be a memory put squarely in the back of his head, unlikely not needing to be drudged up again anytime soon. "Funny thing, common sense, ain't all that common. Tell you what though, I ever find wisdom in old age, we can swap notes, see just how far behind the times I am."

@Raineh Daze

Augmented Machine Mobile Armor: A Gundam and Armored Core-inspired Mecha RP

Callsign: Watcher

Pilot:

• Name: Henry McCall
• Callsign: Watcher
• Age: 29
• Gender: Male
• Appearance:
  Hider

  
  
  Henry is fairly average of build, being 5'11", though he is almost all lean muscle and very little fat at all if one were to look closely at him. Normally he favors fairly sturdy clothing and his mother's jacket, that conceals a holster for his personal sidearm that he carries whenever possible.
• Personality: Henry tries to be at least cordially friendly with allies and fellow pilots, but often struggles with maintaining such a façade when in private, or when he thinks he is alone. It is mostly because he spends much of his free time reminiscing on both the time his family spent fleeing from the Universal War between the LTS and UEC growing up, and his own service in the last years of the war as an AUG pilot, having lied his way into service at a relatively young age. He struggles, in his private moments and when off duty, to keep such things off his mind, at this point having spent nearly his entire life either fleeing from, or engaging in, open warfare fueled by greed, or worse, a blinding belief in ideology.
  
  He takes an incredibly dim view on the ideologically motivated, finding them to be, at best, blinded and misguided and, at worst, utterly repulsive liars. Ideology, borders, governmental bodies and revolutionary bands, all pretty set dressing for the one thing that always drives these people. Greed, plain and simple, and he is utterly convinced that, once a group of people reach a critical mass, certain elements start grasping for power, for wealth, greed amplified by the resources accumulating around them and forcing every government, every revolution, inevitably down the same path. The UEC, for all its touting, had only cared about preserving its own power and status. The LTS hid behind the goals of purging a corrupt UEC, with themselves, of course, installed in place as a result.
  
  While Henry struggles with forming interpersonal relationships, both on and off the battlefield, he doesn't try to actively avoid them either. He is at his most calm when behind the controls of Platzregen, finding a soothing peace in the certainty of his AUG, its quiet acceptance, its purity of purpose. There are no illusions to its intention, it is a weapon of war, a tool used to destroy. There are no attempts to hide behind ideology, faith, credence or creed of any sort, and that is a calming presence in a mind often wracked with guilt and haunting memories.
• Skills: Henry is a survivalist by necessity, and a soldier by experience. Having spent as long as he can remember either running, scavenging, or fighting creates a blended toolset of skills that could prove useful even outside typical mercenary dealings and scenarios that one might be hired into.
  
  
  
  • Experienced Survivalist: Having spent his pre military life constantly on the run from conflict and warfare, Henry has long nurtured and retained a broad skillset in surviving in a variety of environments. Short of drifting in the purely empty void of space, it is likely that Henry will be able to find some way to survive for extended periods of time alone or out of contact with friendly forces, in our out of Augmented Armor.
  • Scavenger: Part of his premilitary life was finding parts, equipment, valuables, anything to make it another day for Henry and his family. Even after joining the UEC as an AUG pilot, and after that having spent 12 years as a mercenary pilot in the Neutral Zone, there is always a need for a sharp eye to spot useful parts. Whether for in field repairs or resupply, upgrades after a job or mission, or just some bonus pay for bringing back something useful, Henry is always keeping an eye out for useful salvage.
  • Old AUG Pilot: Henry has been piloting Augmented Armors for about as long as they have formally existed (Though he only has experience in the official production models), and he has spent every hour of that time in his preferred model of AUG. Knowing Augmented Armors inside and out gives him an edge in both piloting, and combating, the machines. While he hardly knows all the AUGs out there, who really can with how customizable they are, he has learned to identify certain trends in designs and philosophies in piloting, using that to his advantage in a fight between AUGs.
  • Evasion: The only thing worse than getting shot down out of your AUG is surviving it and getting captured. Henry has made the decision that he will never willingly be captured, and has drilled himself on, in combination with general survival, learning how to hide from, and evade, enemy patrols looking for him. Even if it means overloading his downed AUG's Matsuzawa Drive to make it look like there were no survivors, he will do everything in his power to escape capture.
• Brief History: Born on one of the UEC controlled colony worlds, Henry McCall was the son of a doctor, Abigail McCall, and a UEC officer, Alexander McCall. Life was fairly uneventful until his 7th birthday when the LTS made its initial assaults on the outermost UEC colony worlds. Alexander was able to get his family on an escape shuttle, while staying behind to help command the garrison against the new LTS Mobile Armors. It would be the last time that either Abigail or her son saw the man again, and she volunteered as an aid to the UEC military, putting her son in a life of constantly hopping from colony world to colony world, watching the LTS putting world after world to the torch before the frontlines stabilized. On his 14th birthday, between an old friend of his father's efforts and recruiters being willing to look the other way, Henry enlisted in the UEC, showing sufficient aptitudes for becoming a pilot, specifically one of the first Official generations of AUG pilots. The truth is far more complicated, but said truth was something that Henry never learned of while with the UEC.
  
  Henry would spend three years first pushing back against the LTS, and then learning to fight other Augmented Armors. He found himself routinely isolated from other AUG pilots, answering strictly to command and never really developing a rapport with his fellows in arms. He only ever saw allied AUGs from a distance, UEC IFF flagging them as friendly, but that was about as much friendship as he ever saw from allied pilots. His own underage enlistment period ensured command elements never got to discuss matters with him that much either, and he would often times fight with nothing but his own thoughts and current orders on his HUD. Long deployments also meant no contact with his mother, the only person he ever really found any sort of kinship with, and most of his combat deployments blurred together, though how much of this is personal coping mechanisms with what he did during the war, and how much of it was validly blurred, is a hard distinction to make.
  
  Henry routinely found himself being deployed in dense urban environments, the kind of places that were nightmares for pilots of any vehicle. Every corner hid an anti Armor team, ever overhang concealed an enemy MA or AUG, and the strain of urban combat was taxing. He employed the cutting edge of FCS systems as he could get his hands on, always volunteering to take on more advanced FCS and weapon systems that interfaced with said FCS, doing everything he could to allow himself to truly focus just that bit more, falling so far into stress induced paranoia that he came back around from the other way, developing an almost zen like pattern in combat that would change him post conflict.
  
  He kept fighting right up until the end of the war abruptly came, unable to find the energy to even celebrate or acknowledge the death of Anthen Nilsk as anything other than the next step in the conflict between people. Rather than stay with the UEC, which could have seen a fairly illustrious career as one of the Augmented Armor pilots that helped push back before they were reverse engineered, unaware most of his contemporaries would get no such luxury. Henry took his AUG, an act that could have seen him flagged as a criminal, and left for the Neutral Zone. He attended his mother's funeral before he left UEC space, the woman having fallen ill near the end of the Universal War and passed as Henry was on his way back from the front to see her one last time. Per her wishes, the ashes were launched into space and Henry moved into the Neutral Zone, cutting ties with the UEC.
  
  He would spend the next twelve years doing mercenary work, joining with EINHERJAR as soon as it became an option. Whether he was doing work for corporate interests, the UEC, LTS, or other interested parties that had business or revenge to enact within the Neutral Zone. He grew more distasteful of politics, of government bodies and the hollow borders they professed. The Neutral Zone, to them, was just another line on a map to push trinkets around on, all to gather more power and wealth under their personal dragon's horde. Still, he knew nothing else in life, and being a mercenary at least, during the times it let him deploy in his AUG, provided some small measure of peace that he could not profess to find in his personal life.

Augmented Armor:

• AUG Name: Platzragen
• AUG Appearance:
  Hider

  
  
  Platzragen is of standard size for Augmented armors, coming it at 20m in height, everything besides the base frame at this point has been stripped off and replaced. Originally a UEC model of AUG, Henry took it with him when he left the UEC and departed into the Neutral Zone, and it has seen twelve years of customization and fine tuning. Stripped of any identifying markings and coloration, it has a more armored look than the original UECAA-111 ever did. When on task, ordinance is stored inside the AUG itself, loaded into the external weapon platforms that can also be ejected in an emergency, or when empty and direly needing just that bit more speed from the reduction in weight. While this lacks the elegance of internal systems, it also means that a catastrophic failure won't also be internalized.
• Armaments:
  x2 Thermal Accelerators: One handed launchers with two firing modes, reloading after each shot. The primary firing mode accelerates the munition immensely, simulating a kinetic weapon in operation, including need for direct hits. The secondary firing mode locks a target before firing at a lower velocity, thus allowing the smart munition seeking the target. Unlike the primary fire, this mode utilizes a proximity fuse to detonate within strike range of targets. Regardless of firing mode, each round detonates on impact (or in proximity), doing immediate explosive damage and either coating the struck target area in self oxidizing incendiary compounds, or creating an area of burning munitions that, while less likely to coat surrounding targets, creates an area of denial.
  
  x1 Punch Blade: A short, dagger sized weapon with a knuckle guard that has been reinforced for both parrying and striking. The weapon itself lacks any sort of advanced upgrades or anything that could possibly malfunction. While initially designed to be a backup, last resort weapon, it makes for an excellent alternative in close quarters combat where the rest of his arsenal could be restricted due to the explosive nature of the majority of his weapon systems.
  
  x1 Prototype Assault Missile System: The original weapon platform of Platzragen, this back mounted system stores and selects missile types based on programed parameters, combat analysis by the FCS, and pilot override should it be implemented. PAMS has several munition types depending on combat necessities and prebattle preparations, as follows (Munitions marked with an Asterisk are selected on a mission by mission basis, with more specialist munitions reducing overall munition capacity for standard missile load) with additional missile munitions capable of being loaded as discovered and programmed:
  
  
  
  • HMAA: High Maneuverability, Anti Armor: Standard munitions capable of being launched in rapid succession against single, high speed targets, requiring direct hits to cause effective damage. Simple, compact, and using a delayed second stage rocket to begin tracking after launch from PAMS means the munitions, with assistance from targeting systems, target enemies beyond direct line of sight.
  • CMST*: Cluster Munition, Smart Targeting: For high density environments, this munition deploys a cluster of smart sub munitions along its flight path, preloaded by PAMS prior to launch. Each smart sub munition hot locks onto a nearby target before launching directly towards it, proximity fuse ensuring sufficient damage done to most soft and lightly armored targets. IFF data from the FCS prior to main munition launch ensures sub munitions do not target friendly targets, however IFF protection only extends to verified friendly signatures.
  • DPPF*: Directed Pulse, Proximity Fused: Low count specialist munitions for disabling and interfering with the onboard electronics of high value targets. Unlike standard smart munitions employed by PAMS, DPPF missiles require continual targeting from the launch platform, meaning Platzragen must maintain a constant target lock until strike occurs. While more intensive on the pilot, the tracking capabilities of the missile are vastly increased. Upon proximity reach, a directed EMP pulse scrambles unshielded systems, and a secondary pulse makes smart munitions lock and track more efficiently. On its own, however, it is unlikely to destroy a target and all overload and target painting effects can usually be cleared with some effort.
  • IAD*: Incendiary, Area Denial: Utilizing a similar system to the CMST munition, IAD missiles take an arching trajectory that is programmed to maximize area saturation. Self oxidizing incendiary munitions are launched at regular intervals, the submunitions air bursting based on a proximity fuse system that is designed to maximize impacted area. There are no means of IFF safety with this munition, requiring careful consideration by the pilot to ensure friendly fire incidents do not occur.
  • WPCF*: White Phosphorus, Chaff and Flares: A support munition in every sense of the word, the missile system is either locked onto a specific target point (or target, requiring Pilot override) or after a short fuse delay depending on the circumstances of deployment. The two stage munitions first deploy chaff, flares, and other countermeasures to interfere with incoming smart munitions, while the second stage deploys a White Phosphorus smoke screen, with an internal O2 canister to allow for a much shorter lived smoke screen when in low/no oxygen environments. The White Phosphorus component is still incredible dangerous towards soft targets, requiring care in deployment in certain environments.
• Specifications: Platzragen is one of several early UEC designs for an urban Augmented Armor, though Henry does not refer to her by the original UEC designation anymore. Favoring armor and redundancy over stripping components for speed that it will never reach, Henry has chosen to alter the original design to instead use an excessive amount of smart munitions, typically via missiles. The Fire Control System is tuned and upgraded with several improvements to tracking and detection, being the only modern component on Platzragen, the intention being to pick up hostile or unknown targets as soon as possible and keep smart munitions tracking a target until impact. Secondarily this functions as a useful recon tool, helping alert allies of detected threats should they not be able to be eliminated prior to reaching their optimal engagement range. However, its status as an early AUG does mean that, compared to modern designs, any system that hasn't been upgraded is concerningly behind the times.

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

"A cottage isn't a bad end goal. Wouldn't be a bad way to wrap things up, just vanishing after a long life."

Urden had considered retiring once age slowed him enough, and nominally didn't just throw all his payment away solely on booze and hedonism for the expressed reason, and if asked he would confirm such suspicions. Of course, the number of mercenaries that got to retire he could name on one hand, and those were just the ones he knew from hearsay and stories. Mages were practically expected to retire, settling into some tower or sprawling manor that they could ride out the twilight years neck deep in books and study. Least as far as he heard it told, once again reminded that most employers with magical powers weren't even a fraction as chatty as Handy and Red here. Speaking of, Red started in on the usefulness of permanent circles for a mage that has cause to cast the same spell over and over again. Guess that made a sort of sense, the usefulness being for taxing or broad effects. He could see healers using something like that, just stick the sick and dying on the circle, wiggle their fingers, and wounds closed, disease banished, everyone's all happy. And the healer's purse is that bit heavier, of course. The mention of such a circle being put in Handy's staff would have gotten more of a remark if it wasn't immediately followed up by the mention that this circle could, in the wrong hands, accidentally bring Merophayal about. Didn't take a mage to know a name like that, though he did his best to keep a neutral expression.

"If even a fraction of the rumors are true, said frustrated mage will have plenty of time to regret his decision. Fortunately Red here seems to be as adept at being a voice of reason as a battlefield menace, who'd have known?"

For all the aloofness on the mission, Handy certainly was an odd one to try and get a read on. Urden knew she was capable, that much had been made apparent, and Red certainly made that clear as well. Metaphorically reeked of magic, to such a degree that even after expending a burst of it had done little to get his skin to stop crawling. Maybe it was something he would have to get used to, and given his apparent inability to avoid injury, that might just be necessary. But the sheer lack of consideration of long term consequences, even if it was just conjecture, was a concerning point. Then again, he was in a band of nobles, at least one assassin, and a griffon rider to name a few oddities compared to his usual, pre Lions dealings. A mage with more magic than sensibilities was hardly the strangest thing in the world when put in such circumstances, even if her voice of reason was daemonic in nature. And if said duo was going to make it even easier to keep collecting pay until he could also wander off and be forgotten, well, who was he to look a gift Hundi in the mouth then?

@Raineh Daze

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

The mercenary cocked an eyebrow when Handy got out of her seat and walked over, the sense of discomfort growing slightly stronger as the Hundi got closer and rested a hand on his arm, and the feeling went silent and, if he didn't know better, Urden would have had to assume he was going just slightly mad. The fact the sense of magic felt like other senses certainly could be disorientating, but Urden kept a level head as the sensation faded and the general feeling around the Hundi felt slightly less off putting. Of course it was still there, and a part of his brain wondered if it felt slightly off because some of that energy had been channeled into...or was it through him? Logically, a purge should go through, but there wasn't anything logical about magic.

"So next time I overdo it at the tavern, I should come to you to clear up the senses, got it. Appreciate the assistance, here's hoping that clearing out a poison should suffice. Not sure I want to know how clearing up a curse might go."

Of course, leave it to Red to chime in again about the original topic of the magic circle and not really needing it. Apparently the past work of Handy had proven the lack of need of this intent fueled circle. If he was forced to admit it, this was all frankly well above his head in regards to understanding, but the fact he was spending time agreeing with a Daemon was certainly not what he would have considered a safe bet. Then the mention of a permanent one in an eventual house brought a face palm from the daemon, which in turn got a snort of amusement from the mercenary.

"Right, going for the traditional tower design or something a bit less, what's the word, conventional? Though if you make a permanent circle, wouldn't that keep you from modifying it for other use in the future?"

Why did the stories always have mage and wizard towers. Why did a bunch of bookish types love going up and down flights of stairs constantly, now that his own commentary got him thinking. He didn't like going up and down flights of stairs all day, walking and marching was all fine and well, but having to carry stuff up and down stairs was another matter completely. Nevermind the fact that, the more he heard about magic circles, the less of a good idea they seemed to be. Some days he considered himself fortunate that he didn't have some ancient bloodline, heroic destiny, ancient magical powers, or other such nonsense. He got to do whatever he wanted with his life, even if he had chosen to follow in the family business of trading blood for coin.

@Raineh Daze

Augmented Machine Mobile Armor: A Gundam and Armored Core-inspired Mecha RP

Alright, finally got my lad sorted out. And make that three submissions with socially troubled individuals.

CS

Pilot:

• Name: Henry McCall
• Callsign: Watcher
• Age: 29
• Gender: Male
• Appearance:
  Hider

  
  
  Henry is fairly average of build, being 5'11", though he is almost all lean muscle and very little fat at all if one were to look closely at him. Normally he favors fairly sturdy clothing and his mother's jacket, that conceals a holster for his personal sidearm that he carries whenever possible.
• Personality: Henry tries to be at least cordially friendly with allies and fellow pilots, but often struggles with maintaining such a façade when in private, or when he thinks he is alone. It is mostly because he spends much of his free time reminiscing on both the time his family spent fleeing from the Universal War between the LTS and UEC growing up, and his own service in the last years of the war as an AUG pilot, having lied his way into service at a relatively young age. He struggles, in his private moments and when off duty, to keep such things off his mind, at this point having spent nearly his entire life either fleeing from, or engaging in, open warfare fueled by greed, or worse, a blinding belief in ideology.
  
  He takes an incredibly dim view on the ideologically motivated, finding them to be, at best, blinded and misguided and, at worst, utterly repulsive liars. Ideology, borders, governmental bodies and revolutionary bands, all pretty set dressing for the one thing that always drives these people. Greed, plain and simple, and he is utterly convinced that, once a group of people reach a critical mass, certain elements start grasping for power, for wealth, greed amplified by the resources accumulating around them and forcing every government, every revolution, inevitably down the same path. The UEC, for all its touting, had only cared about preserving its own power and status. The LTS hid behind the goals of purging a corrupt UEC, with themselves, of course, installed in place as a result.
  
  While Henry struggles with forming interpersonal relationships, both on and off the battlefield, he doesn't try to actively avoid them either. He is at his most calm when behind the controls of Platzregen, finding a soothing peace in the certainty of his AUG, its quiet acceptance, its purity of purpose. There are no illusions to its intention, it is a weapon of war, a tool used to destroy. There are no attempts to hide behind ideology, faith, credence or creed of any sort, and that is a calming presence in a mind often wracked with guilt and haunting memories.
• Skills: Henry is a survivalist by necessity, and a soldier by experience. Having spent as long as he can remember either running, scavenging, or fighting creates a blended toolset of skills that could prove useful even outside typical mercenary dealings and scenarios that one might be hired into.
  
  
  
  • Experienced Survivalist: Having spent his pre military life constantly on the run from conflict and warfare, Henry has long nurtured and retained a broad skillset in surviving in a variety of environments. Short of drifting in the purely empty void of space, it is likely that Henry will be able to find some way to survive for extended periods of time alone or out of contact with friendly forces, in our out of Augmented Armor.
  • Scavenger: Part of his premilitary life was finding parts, equipment, valuables, anything to make it another day for Henry and his family. Even after joining the UEC as an AUG pilot, and after that having spent 12 years as a mercenary pilot in the Neutral Zone, there is always a need for a sharp eye to spot useful parts. Whether for in field repairs or resupply, upgrades after a job or mission, or just some bonus pay for bringing back something useful, Henry is always keeping an eye out for useful salvage.
  • Old AUG Pilot: Henry has been piloting Augmented Armors for about as long as they have formally existed (Though he only has experience in the official production models), and he has spent every hour of that time in his preferred model of AUG. Knowing Augmented Armors inside and out gives him an edge in both piloting, and combating, the machines. While he hardly knows all the AUGs out there, who really can with how customizable they are, he has learned to identify certain trends in designs and philosophies in piloting, using that to his advantage in a fight between AUGs.
  • Evasion: The only thing worse than getting shot down out of your AUG is surviving it and getting captured. Henry has made the decision that he will never willingly be captured, and has drilled himself on, in combination with general survival, learning how to hide from, and evade, enemy patrols looking for him. Even if it means overloading his downed AUG's Matsuzawa Drive to make it look like there were no survivors, he will do everything in his power to escape capture.
• Brief History: Born on one of the UEC controlled colony worlds, Henry McCall was the son of a doctor, Abigail McCall, and a UEC officer, Alexander McCall. Life was fairly uneventful until his 7th birthday when the LTS made its initial assaults on the outermost UEC colony worlds. Alexander was able to get his family on an escape shuttle, while staying behind to help command the garrison against the new LTS Mobile Armors. It would be the last time that either Abigail or her son saw the man again, and she volunteered as an aid to the UEC military, putting her son in a life of constantly hopping from colony world to colony world, watching the LTS putting world after world to the torch before the frontlines stabilized. On his 14th birthday, between an old friend of his father's efforts and recruiters being willing to look the other way, Henry enlisted in the UEC, showing sufficient aptitudes for becoming a pilot, specifically one of the first Official generations of AUG pilots. The truth is far more complicated, but said truth was something that Henry never learned of while with the UEC.
  
  Henry would spend three years first pushing back against the LTS, and then learning to fight other Augmented Armors. He found himself routinely isolated from other AUG pilots, answering strictly to command and never really developing a rapport with his fellows in arms. He only ever saw allied AUGs from a distance, UEC IFF flagging them as friendly, but that was about as much friendship as he ever saw from allied pilots. His own underage enlistment period ensured command elements never got to discuss matters with him that much either, and he would often times fight with nothing but his own thoughts and current orders on his HUD. Long deployments also meant no contact with his mother, the only person he ever really found any sort of kinship with, and most of his combat deployments blurred together, though how much of this is personal coping mechanisms with what he did during the war, and how much of it was validly blurred, is a hard distinction to make.
  
  Henry routinely found himself being deployed in dense urban environments, the kind of places that were nightmares for pilots of any vehicle. Every corner hid an anti Armor team, ever overhang concealed an enemy MA or AUG, and the strain of urban combat was taxing. He employed the cutting edge of FCS systems as he could get his hands on, always volunteering to take on more advanced FCS and weapon systems that interfaced with said FCS, doing everything he could to allow himself to truly focus just that bit more, falling so far into stress induced paranoia that he came back around from the other way, developing an almost zen like pattern in combat that would change him post conflict.
  
  He kept fighting right up until the end of the war abruptly came, unable to find the energy to even celebrate or acknowledge the death of Anthen Nilsk as anything other than the next step in the conflict between people. Rather than stay with the UEC, which could have seen a fairly illustrious career as one of the Augmented Armor pilots that helped push back before they were reverse engineered, unaware most of his contemporaries would get no such luxury. Henry took his AUG, an act that could have seen him flagged as a criminal, and left for the Neutral Zone. He attended his mother's funeral before he left UEC space, the woman having fallen ill near the end of the Universal War and passed as Henry was on his way back from the front to see her one last time. Per her wishes, the ashes were launched into space and Henry moved into the Neutral Zone, cutting ties with the UEC.
  
  He would spend the next twelve years doing mercenary work, joining with EINHERJAR as soon as it became an option. Whether he was doing work for corporate interests, the UEC, LTS, or other interested parties that had business or revenge to enact within the Neutral Zone. He grew more distasteful of politics, of government bodies and the hollow borders they professed. The Neutral Zone, to them, was just another line on a map to push trinkets around on, all to gather more power and wealth under their personal dragon's horde. Still, he knew nothing else in life, and being a mercenary at least, during the times it let him deploy in his AUG, provided some small measure of peace that he could not profess to find in his personal life.

Augmented Armor:

• AUG Name: Platzragen
• AUG Appearance:
  Hider

  
  
  Platzragen is of standard size for Augmented armors, coming it at 20m in height, everything besides the base frame at this point has been stripped off and replaced. Originally a UEC model of AUG, Henry took it with him when he left the UEC and departed into the Neutral Zone, and it has seen twelve years of customization and fine tuning. Stripped of any identifying markings and coloration, it has a more armored look than the original UECAA-111 ever did. When on task, ordinance is stored inside the AUG itself, loaded into the external weapon platforms that can also be ejected in an emergency, or when empty and direly needing just that bit more speed from the reduction in weight. While this lacks the elegance of internal systems, it also means that a catastrophic failure won't also be internalized.
• Armaments:
  x2 Thermal Accelerators: One handed launchers with two firing modes, reloading after each shot. The primary firing mode accelerates the munition immensely, simulating a kinetic weapon in operation, including need for direct hits. The secondary firing mode locks a target before firing at a lower velocity, thus allowing the smart munition seeking the target. Unlike the primary fire, this mode utilizes a proximity fuse to detonate within strike range of targets. Regardless of firing mode, each round detonates on impact (or in proximity), doing immediate explosive damage and either coating the struck target area in self oxidizing incendiary compounds, or creating an area of burning munitions that, while less likely to coat surrounding targets, creates an area of denial.
  
  x1 Punch Blade: A short, dagger sized weapon with a knuckle guard that has been reinforced for both parrying and striking. The weapon itself lacks any sort of advanced upgrades or anything that could possibly malfunction. While initially designed to be a backup, last resort weapon, it makes for an excellent alternative in close quarters combat where the rest of his arsenal could be restricted due to the explosive nature of the majority of his weapon systems.
  
  x1 Prototype Assault Missile System: The original weapon platform of Platzragen, this back mounted system stores and selects missile types based on programed parameters, combat analysis by the FCS, and pilot override should it be implemented. PAMS has several munition types depending on combat necessities and prebattle preparations, as follows (Munitions marked with an Asterisk are selected on a mission by mission basis, with more specialist munitions reducing overall munition capacity for standard missile load) with additional missile munitions capable of being loaded as discovered and programmed:
  
  
  
  • HMAA: High Maneuverability, Anti Armor: Standard munitions capable of being launched in rapid succession against single, high speed targets, requiring direct hits to cause effective damage. Simple, compact, and using a delayed second stage rocket to begin tracking after launch from PAMS means the munitions, with assistance from targeting systems, target enemies beyond direct line of sight.
  • CMST*: Cluster Munition, Smart Targeting: For high density environments, this munition deploys a cluster of smart sub munitions along its flight path, preloaded by PAMS prior to launch. Each smart sub munition hot locks onto a nearby target before launching directly towards it, proximity fuse ensuring sufficient damage done to most soft and lightly armored targets. IFF data from the FCS prior to main munition launch ensures sub munitions do not target friendly targets, however IFF protection only extends to verified friendly signatures.
  • DPPF*: Directed Pulse, Proximity Fused: Low count specialist munitions for disabling and interfering with the onboard electronics of high value targets. Unlike standard smart munitions employed by PAMS, DPPF missiles require continual targeting from the launch platform, meaning Platzragen must maintain a constant target lock until strike occurs. While more intensive on the pilot, the tracking capabilities of the missile are vastly increased. Upon proximity reach, a directed EMP pulse scrambles unshielded systems, and a secondary pulse makes smart munitions lock and track more efficiently. On its own, however, it is unlikely to destroy a target and all overload and target painting effects can usually be cleared with some effort.
  • IAD*: Incendiary, Area Denial: Utilizing a similar system to the CMST munition, IAD missiles take an arching trajectory that is programmed to maximize area saturation. Self oxidizing incendiary munitions are launched at regular intervals, the submunitions air bursting based on a proximity fuse system that is designed to maximize impacted area. There are no means of IFF safety with this munition, requiring careful consideration by the pilot to ensure friendly fire incidents do not occur.
  • WPCF*: White Phosphorus, Chaff and Flares: A support munition in every sense of the word, the missile system is either locked onto a specific target point (or target, requiring Pilot override) or after a short fuse delay depending on the circumstances of deployment. The two stage munitions first deploy chaff, flares, and other countermeasures to interfere with incoming smart munitions, while the second stage deploys a White Phosphorus smoke screen, with an internal O2 canister to allow for a much shorter lived smoke screen when in low/no oxygen environments. The White Phosphorus component is still incredible dangerous towards soft targets, requiring care in deployment in certain environments.
• Specifications: Platzragen is one of several early UEC designs for an urban Augmented Armor, though Henry does not refer to her by the original UEC designation anymore. Favoring armor and redundancy over stripping components for speed that it will never reach, Henry has chosen to alter the original design to instead use an excessive amount of smart munitions, typically via missiles. The Fire Control System is tuned and upgraded with several improvements to tracking and detection, being the only modern component on Platzragen, the intention being to pick up hostile or unknown targets as soon as possible and keep smart munitions tracking a target until impact. Secondarily this functions as a useful recon tool, helping alert allies of detected threats should they not be able to be eliminated prior to reaching their optimal engagement range. However, its status as an early AUG does mean that, compared to modern designs, any system that hasn't been upgraded is concerningly behind the times.

Augmented Machine Mobile Armor: A Gundam and Armored Core-inspired Mecha RP

You have my immediate attention, yes.

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Urden decided to consider a cursed arrow the less likely option between cursed and poisoned, despite the kind of luck that it would take to have been hit with a cursed arrow from slavers, of all things. No, poison made a sort of sense, especially one that interfered with mobility even after a wound otherwise healed. Made it easier to incapacitate and capture, so he was inclined to suspect a poison of some sort. That of course led to the next question of whether the poison would sort itself out after a period of time, or if that meant more magic healing being slung at his leg.

"If I was a gambling man I would lay good coin on a poison of some sort rather than a curse. I don't think we ran into any particularly magical mercenary slavers, and a poison that interfered with movement to any degree would make some sense to..."

The rather large daemon interrupted at this point, dragging another sheet over and making quite a few modifications to the original design, apparently noting quite a few things needed to go. Handy objected, apparently the modifications made it so that the circle wouldn't...work solely based on intent? If he had the slightest inkling about magic, summoning, or magical summoning that would probably be cause enough for alarm, but his gut instinct told him that letting anyone do something just on instinct alone was probably questionable at the best of times. Of course, Red explained, mostly to Handy, but the explanation gave him at least an inkling of what was going on. As it was, the current circle would let someone summon a daemon with no control over it what so ever? Well that was a damn fool decision if he ever heard one, and he cocked an eyebrow at Red when she promptly asked him to imagine a world where mages could summon daemons without any inkling of controlling them.

"Hell, that'd be like leaving a bunch of kids around loaded siege weapons. Inevitably going to cause excessive collateral damage, at best. Except, I suppose, the siege weapons could promptly slaughter the kids, reuse the circle, and just let every last friend of theirs through to here. Least that's what I would do, if I was some daemon summoned by someone who couldn't negotiate out of a wet bag, let alone into a contract."

In short, Urden couldn't say that it was a very bright idea to have a summoning circle anyone could use without proper training. Last thing anyone would want is someone just smart enough to get themselves into trouble using it, and before you know it, everyone's neck deep in daemons. Well, maybe if he got a head start in planning he could prepare and make a killing, figuratively and literally, in the daemon slaying business. That many just running around, everyone who had coin worth a damn would be looking to hire exterminators. Though, more likely, it would be some grand apocalyptic event those religious folks sometimes rambled on about, to scare folks into behaving and being good boys and girls. Still, his day had started with damaged clothing and a sore leg, he had gotten overcharged for clothing and now he was listening to Handy and Red discuss a creation that could, in the, well, right or wrong hands be used to hold open a door to hell forever, if he understood the capabilities right. Some days he wondered if guarding merchant caravans would have been a better choice. It certainly would have been a damn sight more boring, that much was clear.

@Raineh Daze

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Urden allowed the merchant to make her sales pitch on new clothing, selling their qualities while looking over the damage done and the mending work to be done. It sounded like it shouldn't be too complicated a job. So why, pray tell, did it cost as much as it did then? Damnedable mark ups no doubt, but he would consider the information the Nem gave as part of the deal to be generous, and frankly, to save him time since he had other pressing matters to consider before spending time haggling with the Lion's attached merchant. He would surrender the clothing and agree to the payment, considering where the library was. Dear friend would have almost brought a snort of amusement from the merc if his coffers hadn't been lightened by as much as they had, but he fortunately needed nothing else from the merchant currently.

"I will keep the new clothing shipment in mind, let's see how well the mending goes first, shall we? As for anything else, I think the information and mending will be all for now. I won't take up any more of your time since, how's the saying go, time is money?"

Urden excused himself with a polite smile, though once he turned and was sure no reflective surfaces would betray his expression it quickly fell into a neutral, not quite pleased one. Being charged quite that much for a simple job didn't sit right, but he frankly didn't feel like either burning bridges by snubbing the merchant, or wasting even more time carrying around damaged clothing like a lost child. He'd need to get better with his needle work so that he wouldn't be paying quite so much in the future, or work a damages clause into his contract with the Boss. Though he didn't fancy renegotiating an entire contract for one addition, that was never a good look, but it didn't take him long to reach the library. Lucky him, he didn't need to go bothering servants and making them wonder what some mercenary wanted with the family library. Entering just in time to hear the remark on nobody else using the design, he made a rather chipper remark in response, also announcing himself at the same time. Spooking mages was never wise, especially ones with their pet daemon around.

"Don't got selling yourself short, Handy, you watch, legends will one day speak of the groundbreaking magics of yours."

Whether the mercenary was being serious, mocking, or just taking a crack at the mage and her work was hard to say. Still, Urden wouldn't pretend to understand a damn thing that she was doing, mages weren't too chatty with hired help typically, and the odd mutterings rarely made any more sense than a stark raving madman might. Not that he would ever say that out loud, he was brazen not stupid, though as he approached and got a better look at the circle, he could safely say it might as well be random scrawls for all the sense it made. Not that it needed to, not like he'd ever be slinging more than throwing axes. Still, he acknowledged the daemon before getting into the main purpose of his interruption, inclining his head to the duo briefly. Despite, or more likely in spite, of the off putting aura around the Hundi healer he kept the jovial tone from before, and kept up the bravado in casually addressing the daemon as he did anyone else. Sure, most folks didn't find having a daemon around particularly comforting, but from what he had seen Red here was about as honest as you could expect a daemon to be. Put most professional soldiers to shame with the combat prowess, and that he could focus on and just sidestep the whole horns and red skin bit.

"Hey Red. I won't distract you two too long, maybe. Probably. Thanks for the healing after the little scuffle with the Morahti Handy, though correct me if I am wrong, since I probably am, but magical healing usually doesn't leave a throbbing ache this long after the magic was used?"

Ideally, it would all just be a case of complaining over a lack of understanding healing magic and to just give it a few more days, but his gut instinct told him that by now he really should not be feeling any sort of aftermath to the injury. Normally he couldn't afford the luxury of magical healers and went about having his wounds mended the simpler way, stitchwork and bandages from the handiest person available.

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

"Flatterer, I don't get paid enough to be anyone's boss, merchant."

Urden had come across the diminutive merchant tagalong, Lirrah, first. Worked for him, since he suspected that whatever sewing was needed would take awhile. Still, his tone was pleasant enough, clearly no offense taken and more a matter of poking at being called a boss of anyone or anything. Still, now that one of the people was found, he could at least stop carrying around ruined clothing like some sort of lost child. Unfolding the damaged trousers, he would demonstrate the hole that the arrow had left both entering, and being removed after healing was available, while speaking on the events like someone might talk about what was needed from a trip to the market.

"Someone, well two someones, and you sure are one of them. Took an arrow in the leg thanks to those Morahti, and while it healed decently enough, sadly magic doesn't mend significant holes in clothing. Bit too much for my rather crude stitch work, so I figured I would see if our resident merchant might just happen to have a service available for mending said damage? Already took the liberty of cleaning the blood and grime out, so that shouldn't be a concern."

The mercenary also had suitable payment along with him as well, as loath as he was to part way with hard earned coin over something as simple as mending clothing. Better that than buying new clothing completely, of course, assuming the Nem merchant didn't try and gouge him over the request of course. He also could have probably asked around and found someone in the Boss's employ that could have done it too, now that he thought about it, but he was already committed at this point. Still, the mention of looking for people gave him at least enough of a thought to ask if Lirrah had seen the resident daemon summoning healer.

"Seen that ever so helpful hundi healer lurking around? Got some matters to discuss with her as well."

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Urden was busy hacking through enemy ranks, when abruptly he ran out of Morahti to continue assaulting. Pausing, he saw Boss pulling her fancy sword from the leader of the slaver mercenary's chest and the stragglers getting picked off and routed. Sounds of the prisoners being freed was also quickly apparent, and it was about this time that his injury caught up with him, adrenaline wearing thin enough to let the pain back through, and he immediately took a significant chunk of weight off his leg that still had an arrow sticking in it. Right, yes, injuries, he should probably get those tended to before they moved too far on. Which meant, after a quick glance around, he spotted the resident Hundi mage and began limping his way over to her in relatively short order. Fortunately, looking for the glowing ring wasn't too much trouble at all. Continuing his limp, by necessity, he raised an arm in greeting, the other carrying his now thoroughly bloodied axe that would need cleaned later.

"Well, now that fun little diversion is over, mind if I borrow you for a few minutes? One of the bastards got lucky."

@Raineh Daze

---

Urden's leg still ached like hell. That probably wasn't normal, given what was done to mend his leg, which meant he had another reason to track down the Hundi again. Speaking of tracking, that Lirrah also needed talking to as well, word was she could do mending, and better to keep the local merchant on his good side by tossing work her way when reasonable. He had other shopping to do as well, next chance they got, but nothing worth having specially shipped, with a specially adjusted price to go with it. He had put the damaged trousers through some hand washing, he'd gotten the blood and such out, but the hole was blatant and beyond his limited ability to stitch back together. Gathering the damaged clothing into a neat bundle, and making sure he had his coin purse with him, he began moving out, looking for either Lirrah or the Hundi, whichever he ran into first.

@Octo