Just remember that they’ve been a Pilot for years at this point. They should know better than almost anyone else in the squadron what they’re getting into.
I don’t have a specific date yet. I want you guys to take your time with your CSs and make them the best you think they can be. No pressure. I’m working on my own CS at the moment, so maybe I’ll set a date after I’m done with that.
"The only way to beat the fear of the dark is to make the dark fear you." -Haruka Koda, the First Pilot
H E R E B E D R A G O N S
The year is 5115.
100 years ago, the Shard appeared on the borders of Origin space, and began a bloody campaign to wipe out any and all life in the sector. A ragtag group of settlers, miners, and workers on the frontier banded together, turned their tools and ships into kit-bashed weaponry, and dubbed themselves the Red Line Coalition, dedicated to putting their lives on the line for their homes, their families, and the rest of those who inhabited Origin space. But it was not enough.
Origin heard the cries of the Red Line, and sent battleships, soldiers, and supplies to the front, to halt the alien menace's advance. But it was still not enough. The enemy moved on, almost unhindered, devouring whole worlds in their wake.
Finally, a breakthrough. Argo Interstellar, a weapons manufacturer, took samples of fallen aliens' flesh and blood, and began to work. They devised a way to use the enemy's own technology, their own bodies and weapons, against them. They took volunteers, and shaped them into bearers for this radical new weapon. The enemy's advance finally slowed... and then halted. All thanks to the Pilots, and the Dragons they controlled.
30 years has passed since the stalemate began. The Red Line is constantly alight with fire and fighting, as both sides struggle to force the other to give ground. Something must change, as each day, countless more give their lives on the frontier, in a vain hope of ending the war.
Enter Operation Checkmate. A trio of advanced carriers are given the assignment to pierce deep past the Red Line, and retake key strategic points in their territory, giving the people of Origin a foothold in their continued efforts to drive out the Shard, once and for all. The most powerful ships, the strongest weapons, and of course, the most skilled and capable Pilots have been called forth for this momentous undertaking- the first step on the path to peace.
You are one of these Pilots.
You're off the edge of the map now, explorers. Make us proud.
Welcome, one and all, to the official Here Be Dragons RP.
If you came here from the interest check, great! If you haven't, this is a mecha RP with horror themes, inspired by works such as Evangelion, complete with fucked-up relationships, killer aliens, body horror, and lots and lots of feelings you don't want to be having.
The players in this RP will, for the most part, be Pilots- bio-modded super soldiers who are bonded to mechanical creatures called Dragons; reverse-engineered from the metal flesh and plasmatic blood of the enemy of all Origin, the Shard, and the only effective weapon for halting their advance. All of you have been hand-selected to take part in Operation Checkmate, an endeavor meant to lay the groundwork for finally and decisively casting the Shard out of our sector, and will be stationed on the state-of-the-art supercarrier, the OAS Elysium.
Now, we shall need two volunteers for two very particular roles:
First, is The Veteran. The rarest commodity in the Red Line is a veteran Pilot. Against all odds, this character has survived countless engagements, aced themselves repeatedly, and generally just had a stubborn refusal to die in the face of overwhelming odds. A hard, battle-scarred operative such as this is the perfect candidate to lead the Virtue Squadron of Pilots that will be the key to Checkmate's success. That is, if all the stress of their constant state of almost-dying doesn't get to them first. Claimed!
Secondly, there is The Prototype. A rookie straight out of the Pilot program, there's something about this character that's special. Sheer force of will? Increased empathy with the AIONs that control the Dragons? Legitimate psychic powers? Regardless of the reason, this character has resonated with the most bleeding-edge Dragon, a powerful prototype codenamed the "Queen Unit." They are the secret weapon of Operation Checkmate- the most powerful one we have. Hope they can handle the pressure. Claimed!
Now, for the most important part. You can't have characters without character sheets. So:
Name: Self-explanatory. Callsign: Calling you by name in the heat of battle can be tricky. What's your snappy nickname? "Maverick?" (Don't call them "Maverick.") Age: Also self-explanatory. Species: Origin isn't just home to humans. Use one of the species listed below, or make up your own. Appearance: Description would be appreciated, but an image is acceptable. Personality: What is your character like? Biography: What led your character to this point in their lives? Favors: What do they like? Disfavors: What do they dislike? Affinities: Pilots aren't just defined by their Dragons. What is your character good at? What might they have done before this that led them to being identified as a Pilot candidate? Faults: What is your character bad at? Text Color: List what color your character will post in. The hex code, please. Theme Song: Optional, but it could give us more insight into the character. Up to you.
Name: Your Dragon's designation. Appearance: What does your personal abomination look like? Personality: Most Dragons are only of animal-level intelligence, but that doesn't mean they don't have feelings. What's your Dragon's temperament? Aggressive? Patient? Willful? A trickster? Classification: Are you a tanky bruiser of a Rook? A Bishop gunner or sniper? A sneaky Knight? Or an esoteric Joker, perhaps? Capabilities: What does your Dragon do? What weapons and powers will they carry into battle?
Now, the Origin Sector is big- it's space, duh- so here are some of the "friendly" types you might encounter during your stay:
Humans: One of the original inhabitants of the sector, from the Solaris solar system, otherwise known as Origin. Adaptable, genetically diverse, and determined, most Pilot candidates tend to be human, due to their flexible physical and genetic structure being very susceptible to the modifications needed for the procedure.
Arx: A reptilian spacefaring race first encountered near Alpha Centauri, that most say resemble "velociraptors." Most Arx spend their entire lives on their massive world-ships, or piloting their scouting vessels, never once setting foot on natural soil. Because their ideal conditions are ones of enormous pressure and a hearty volcanic atmosphere, Arx are never seen outside of their bulky encounter suits, except onboard their ships. Arx form the backbone of the Origin Armed Services' Air Force, being exceptional starship pilots.
Uplifts: A human experiment from the 3000's gone somewhat out of hand. Modified animal species, granted greater dexterity and intelligence than non-uplifted examples of their particular genus or species. In short, anthropomorphs. While originally they were merely a "science project," a long civil rights movement has led the various uplift species to be declared their own people, with all the rights and privileges that that implies. The most common Uplift types are Canine, Feline, Ursine, Avian, and Reptilian (do not confuse the latter with Arx- they take exception to that).
Pilots: Volunteers. Draftees. Veterans. Broken people wanting to be whole again. Humans, Arx, uplift. It doesn’t matter what you start as. Once you’ve made your way through the Academy and their procedures, you’re nothing but a Pilot. Modified down to the cellular level to be one half of the perfect weapon. Isolated, ascended, beyond mere mortals, the life of a Pilot is one of loneliness and pain... but the power they possess is indisputable.
Shard: The enemy. Mechanical organisms from outside the Galactic Rim, who devour and destroy all in their wake. Metallic insectoid creatures with plasma for blood, their weapons and numbers have destroyed countless worlds all the way up to the Red Line. Comes in three varieties: Locusts, the foot soldiers of the Shard forces, Leviathans, their living starships, and Patriarchs, their most powerful units, upon whom the Dragons were based off of, and designed to counteract.
Any and all suggestions for other species will be taken into consideration.
More information will follow in the following posts, but I think we're at a pretty good place to start! Welcome to the nightmare, ladies and gentlemen!
@Gisk Dragons usually heal, at an accelerated rate when out of combat, no less, when they have an opportunity rest.
As for training/tuning them? The answer is both. You can modify your Dragon to some extent, as long as you're not hurting it too much, but they can also grow new weapons and capabilities over time. Most Dragons are treated with some combination of the two, to reach their peak performance.
@Cultural Titan@Lucky Depends on integration rate, for Dragons’ speed. On average, a Pilot will have anywhere from 60-70% integration with their AION. At that level, think of controlling it like a very tightly-controlled video game; some input lag, but very little. At 100% integration, it’s completely 1:1. The Dragon moves just as fast, just as reflexively as you do.
Going above that, there are added benefits, but also downsides. The higher you go above 100%, the more integrated with the Dragon you are, to the point you suffer “synchronization,” experiencing the same injuries on your own body as your Dragon does. Get above 200%, and you’re exceedingly powerful, but you also risk suffering “terminal integration.” You cannot be extricated from your Dragon anymore, or worse, you’re consumed instantly, forever a part of your machine, alive or dead.
Integration rate rises the farther you push yourself. Going past the bounds of exhaustion, overusing your Dragon’s powers, trying to force it to do something against its will, high stress levels- all of these can increase integration past safe levels.
And I don’t think I need to mention, after everything I’ve said, but Pilots are onboard with their Dragons in most engagements. Since they’re living beings, however, they can be ordered via remote command by their Pilot, for independent actions. They’re simply much more effective with a Pilot onboard.
@Cultural Titan@Lucky Dragons have their weapons built in, but there’s some variation in abilities and capabilities. There’s a few handy classifications for Dragon archetypes:
Rooks are close-combat specialists. They either have powerful short-range weapons, increased durability compared to other Dragons, more powerful shields, and so on.
Bishops are best at range- laser or particle beam batteries, a powerful breath weapon, enhanced vision and targeting, things like that.
Knights are tricksters, assassins. Camouflage, stealth drives, increased speed, anything that helps them be a better scout/assassin.
Then, breaking the chess metaphors, there’s Jokers. These are the “wild cards,” the ones whose abilities can’t be easily categorized into the other three archetypes. A well-known example is the Dragon codenamed “Sakura Blossom,” whose presence greatly increases Metalflesh regeneration in its vicinity, thus acting as a sort of “healer” Dragon.
@Cultural Titan The smallest Dragons are roughly 20 meters tall, with the average height being around 40-50, and the largest being around 90 meters tall.
@Inkjar No problem, happy to help, and happy for your interest. And yeah, a cocky go-getter would be fine as a character. It just makes it all the more fun when they break later on~
@Inkjar Welcome to the RP! Don’t worry about not having played much of this ilk before, we’re here to help. Now, to answer your questions:
Dragons are cloned from salvaged Shard bio-material. The AION is an artificial intelligence each Dragon has, to give them activity and autonomy, since plugging them into the Shard hive-mind is all sorts of bad. You’d basically just be cloning more enemies, whereas with the AION, you now have your own personal robo-kaiju.
Anyone from the Red Line to the Origin knows who the Shard are in theory. The accuracy of what you know, however, is greater depending on how close to the frontier you are. Most information in Origin is heavily filtered through propaganda, to keep recruiting up. If you’re on the Red Line, you don’t need propoganda to motivate you- you’ve seen them burn enough worlds to know they must be stopped.
No one really knows why the Shard do what they do, only that they are bad news. From the foot soldier “Locusts,” to the living supercarrier “Leviathans,” to the “Patriarchs” that the Dragons are based off of (and built to counter), the Red Line has their hands full, keeping the boundary where it is until they can start pushing back.
This is indeed a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s gonna be a wild ride.
GubGar