Lemons

The Things We Fight For

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As the introductions carried on down the line, Aissi found herself still paralyzed under Antares' poison gaze, and she couldn't help but meet it. It was only her peripheral vision that bore witness to the next; the blue-haired Alto, the stoic Lictor...she was choking on the scorn.

...And then he looked away.

Released of the near-physical pain that was meeting her eyes, Aissi sucked in a sharp breath as it felt like her lungs worked again, and then shifted so she could actually see the people she'd be working with as the introductions proceeded further. Zhejiang Erica...uh...Teteh...the blonde woman with too many names. The white-haired Iona Smirnov, the anxious Kyra. These were the Important People that she would be spending the incoming bloodbath with.

So how appropriate that the bloodbath was rapidly approaching, as the engine noise cranked up. “Look alive! Get ready to depart! I want Pilots in their mechs and everyone else prepared to move out as soon as that hangar door opens!” Pilots. Like Kyra, or Alto, or the man sitting next to her--

--Aissi realized that he'd not introduced himself. She'd seen his face before, knew he was a pilot. Perhaps she'd read the briefing after all? She'd seen it, she knew that. But his name escaped her. T-something. Something kind. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. She wanted to say something to him. Thank him, perhaps. Ask him...ask him...

...Ask him what?

She wasn't quite sure where that thought had been leading. What she'd ask him. What else she might do. So after staring at him for a few seconds, eventually she just settled for an awkward nod and an even more awkward "Thank--thank you," before she needed to hurry off.

Despite the dire situation, Aissi couldn't help let out a sigh of relief as she rose and, with a little shake, flared the Wingblades into a more comfortable position. Not wound quite so tightly up against her back, but rather displayed openly to either side of her body. Not the almost predatory position they'd be in as soon as combat started, but more than enough to be fully visible now as the weapons they were. Though...as she did so, she felt something odd. Like something was...loosening inside of her. A contorted knot coming undone that she hadn't known was there.

Then, with a gentle fwoosh from her internal engines, she glided down towards the hangar door. As she went, she looked about at those that had introduced themselves, tried to learn their faces and remember the little bit that she knew now.

The wick of blue hair that she passed by was Alto Valenti, 'Eight Ball.' He was an apprentice pilot...oh, that was right, she had read the briefing, she remembered now! She'd had to ask Jacob to explain since she didn't know what 'Eight Ball' meant and it had taken him an exasperated couple of minutes to explain. He seemed confident and excited. A feeling that Aissi wished she could share; her stomach was wrapped up into a tight tangle, and as she tried not to think about her test run, or rather her first test run, her head filled with a discordant anxious buzzing. She twitched a bit, and shook her head to try and clear the static, but it remained unabated. So distracted was she as she coasted without a sound that she barely even took notice of the horrific violence unfolding on the monitors. Not only was she anxious, she was hungry too. Very hungry. So hungry.

'Lictor' was the one with the ominous sword almost as big as her own, she thought as she tried to focus past her nerves as they dug fishhooks into her exposed skin. The sword, and the somehow incongruous standard-issue rifle--which she found herself wondering at the purpose of. Constellations were there to fight the high-ranks only, right? That's what she'd been told, that they fought the Bishops and above, and the pilots took care of the chaff. What use would a gun be? He seemed quiet, though Aissi obviously didn't have the closest grasp on human nature to make any more guesses; like talking was enough effort and energy for him to keep it to a bare minimum. White Dwarf were Constellations that had stopped fighting, right? She thought she remembered that. So what had brought him back to the front lines like this?

A moment later, she arrived right by the hangar door where the rest of the Constellations were gathering, letting her momentum slow. Iona was there already, and Zhejiang too-many-names as well. Nobody needed that many names. How did she even remember them all?

Aissi slid in between the two of them, passing into their fields of vision as she slowed to a stop. With some regret, she pulled her Wingblades all the way in right next to her core again, and as the craft continued rumbling around her, she waited in unnatural gravity-defying stillness and silence. She stared at the monitors with glazed, inattentive eyes as she wrestled against herself. Against the fear and anxiety. And against something deep within the underside of her mind: a vague, faint undercurrent of...elation that felt so terribly alien to touch.

And yet, so natural too.

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_{@Supermaxx@Raijinslayer}

Lem's Stash

SETTING SUN

K O I Y A Z E
K O I Y A Z E

^{"Hey. I'm watching the sunset right now. I'm busy. Fuck off and die."}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R D A T A C H A R A C T E R D A T A _________________________________________________________ True Self Igarashi Ryuuko - 五十嵐 竜子 Persona Koiyaze - 来いやぜ Pathos Sikth Role DPS Weapon of Choice Odachi and Kodachi Domains Fire Lightning Enhancement Manifestation Playstyle & Attitude Melee pure DPS split between magic and physical damage; Real Angry Burnout™.

I G A R A S H I R Y U U K O: B R O K E N B I R D I G A R A S H I R Y U U K O: B R O K E N B I R D ________________________________________________________________________________________ Ryuuko had a fairly typical early and adolescent life. School, friends, family, and so on and so forth, in a suburb of Nara. Perhaps the only thing truly exceptional about her was her talent at singing and impressions; though her voice was naturally a bit low and husky compared to her peers, she could contort it into whatever she wanted with a startling degree of accuracy. Then everything changed at 18 years old, during her first year of university. An innocent and innocuous phrase from a friend: "Ryuuka, you're so good at this! You should be a voice actress!" Well, she thought, maybe she should. Her auditions may not have gone well the first time or the second time. Even the third time. But as more time passed, she eventually learned what she was doing, and at 19, she finally made it into the world of the voice actress. In her first bit part in a show, she was very well-received; again, despite her husky voice, she was abnormally skilled at a super high-pitched cutesy one. Before too long, she was once again a part of a show. Though this time, not a bit part, more of a side character. This went on for a few years until she was 23, when she got her first real breakthrough role as the main character in a cheerful slice of life that ran for three years, and by the time it had finished, she was fairly known as a VA now. It was about this point where she started asking about other roles. She didn't mind what she was doing, she thought, but she'd been hankering for a more serious role where she could use her actual voice. That wasn't so much to ask, right? Yes, apparently. Her next major role was for a more serious character in a movie. And yet, "more serious" still called for the same voice. It was at this point that Koiyaze found her first root: an idly-described character the type of which Ryuuko would most want to play created for fun, with more detail added over the years when she couldn't. A few more years passed of this. A few more games, movies, shows; and she became quite well known, to the point where people might recognize her on the street now and then from interviews. And every time, they were disappointed that her voice wasn't the one that she'd ALWAYS done. Not only that, it was starting to hurt. She'd grown quite successful now, successful and in demand, which means her workload kept increasing more and more and more. Free time became a thing of the past; there was only work and sleep. The voice that she was always forced to do had been fine up to now; but she'd always kept it limited. It was so far from her normal voice that generally, she was careful to not strain herself. But with her agent ramping her roles up, the strain was starting to become audible. More vocal strain meant more retakes; more takes meant more vocal strain. The first time her voice cracked and broke entirely in the studio, the stares were deafening. So, she gave her agent an ultimatum, hoping it'd be taken seriously. One more chance. One more role. One more cutesy voice. The second her contract was up, she cut ties with the entire community and burned every bridge. If she needed to put on that voice one more time, she was going to be sick. She moved back to Nara and found a little place; from years of success, she had a substantial nest egg built up. Now she could finally take a break from her chokingly demanding career, spend time with her... ...Friends? It was only then she realized that she'd been so obsessed with her job that she'd forgotten to make friends outside of work colleagues, and if she tried to make them online, people who shared her interests would undoubtedly figure out who she was and she'd be forced to scramble to avoid the awkward conversations that would ensue. It was then that she discovered the New Big Thing: VRMMO. A way to completely evade her reputation, and make friends with people who would never know. Well, hey, couldn't hurt to try, right? K O I Y A Z E: D R A G O N ' S D A U G H T E R K O I Y A Z E: D R A G O N ' S D A U G H T E R ________________________________________________________________________________________ It worked. It worked very well. Ryuuko's avatar Koiyaze is in Pariah a lot as she jumps from group to group, making friends with them and never being recognized from the sheer differences in appearance and personality: almost a foot higher at 178cm, slim, with long white hair and elaborate tattoos that she's had magically transferred into her skin. Blazing brilliant red eyes. Nothing like how she looks back in the real world. She's a grumpy and embittered woman in game; and not just because of the direction her career went. Though she's kind of bitter and frustrated IRL, it's not nearly as prominent. No, she sees it (whether consciously or not) as another chance to act, and this time, to act whatever character she wanted to. And the that character is a rough, foul-mouthed, coarse woman, almost piratical in attitude and bearing. The opposite of what she'd been made to act for so long. It's a form of freedom, certainly. But it can also be somewhat counterproductive. It takes a certain kind of person to tolerate who Koiyaze is. Many people simply don't want to deal with her constant bile. So though she first joined Pariah out of a desire to make friends, there's still a sense of loneliness that pervades her much of the time. It becomes a paradoxical push and pull; joining groups of people or guilds, getting comfortable around them, then being kindly asked to leave because she's just...really hard to get along with. Not everyone, she does have a few fast friends here and there that enjoy her unfiltered approach to life. But she still remains lonely.

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Spells & Spell-like Abilities

Koiyaze doesn't use many organized spells; or rather, she uses a few very heavily. Consequently, the catalogue of spells in her pocket is quite limited.

Dragonbolt
The primary driver of her magic damage is this, brought to life by enhancement and manifestation. An alloying of fire and lightning magic creates a remarkably destructive breed of red lightning. While it's rather powerful and useful in a number of situations, the main way Koiyaze uses it is to shroud her blades in auras of searing light to cut through whatever stands in her way.

Lightning Step
The purest form of lightning enhancement magic, Lightning Step allows Koiyaze to cover ground absurdly quickly, resembling nothing so much as a bolt of lightning in motion. While she can't keep it up for a long distance, it allows her to zip around battlefields, slashing through several enemies in only a few moments. This can be applied to very limited things as well; she can enhance only her arm, for example, turning a stroke of her sword into a nigh-untraceable gleam of light

Sunset
Noteworthy in how infrequently it's used, Sunset is the most powerful magic that Koiyaze can bring to bear. A pair of phantasmal dragon wings forged of Dragonbolt spreads from her back and she ascends into the air as she draws both weapons and the empowered Dragonbolt from her wings gathers upon them as well in a lengthy windup. Then in a single motion a boom rings out as she dives at a target fast enough to break the sound barrier, shearing through them before they can even begin to blink and and leaving a trail of blazing devastation in her wake.

Character Feats

Slivers of Sunlight
She may have some impressively dangerous magic, but most of Koiyaze's arsenal can't be used with any competency if she's not also skilled in the use of weapons. Luckily, she is: the proud wielder of an oversized odachi-kodachi daishou, she has all the conduit she needs for Dragonbolt. She generally reserves the use of her large odachi for larger and more powerful threats and bosses, leaving the kodachi for general use as it's much more agile and easier to use in tight corners. A particularly impressive aspect of her swordplay is how fluidly she's able to swap between them; even while her odachi can't be sheathed in a normal fashion, she still seems to make it look easy.

Grumpitude
Owing to everything that her life has been up to this point, Koiyaze is a fairly grumpy individual. Not angry, per se; just generally a bit of a grouch. She can keep a lid on her proper temper most of the time; it's extremely rare that she really loses it and starts screaming in anger. But what she will do is grumble about it for the next hour and a half, really let it smolder in her, and not be subtle about it. Letting things go is...not exactly one of her great life strengths.

Trying Her Best
Like I mentioned, it's hard to really get Koiyaze properly angry past her general grumpy baseline. She'll sound mad and tell you to fuck off, but on the whole, she can be kind of toothless unless she's really disturbed. But not only is that all true, but she actually tries her best to be supportive when she can. She thinks, or at least hopes, that she's a good person; and perhaps the biggest evidence of that is how she tries to comfort people and such. Operative word being tries, as her emotions are a bit out of whack. But try she does.

Low Battery
And part of the reason why it can be so hard, her emotions are so out of whack, is simply because Koiyaze is tired. Not physically, necessarily; but she's mentally and emotionally exhausted from over a decade of stressful work growing only more stressful as time went on. As time goes by, perhaps that exhaustion will begin to abate, and she might come to resemble what she was like before everything went sour again. But until that chance comes to pass, she is exhausted, and will remain as such.

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Lem's Stash

R.I.S.C. Dossier

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_Name

Kelly Anne Makai

_Age

19

_{Physical Evaluation}

Kelly certainly looks younger than she is, which has gotten her some questions regarding her participation in a Savior corps before. Short at just a bit above five feet with a slender frame and round, heart-shaped face, her height and overall build makes her look more like a younger adolescent. Her short hair, dyed pink, only furthers this impression. Still, she is nineteen, and though she may not look it at first glancee, she is perfectly physically capable. The baggy clothing she tends to wear conceals a fairly impressive athletic physique, and she is startlingly coordinated. Though her looks may be deceiving, she is every inch a pilot.

_{Psychological Profile}

Kelly is quiet and reclusive much of the time, highly introverted and preferring her own company. There are, however, additional notes to her character that can come out in certain situations. For example, though she is generally a fairly kind and easygoing person, she is highly competitive; especially in physical contests, where some insecurity about her youthful appearance can prompt a strong urge to prove that she's perfectly capable of keeping up with anybody else. This competitive streak is generally harmless, but on occasion it can yield to out-and-out aggression if she feels she isn't being taken seriously. In addition, she grows aggressive and potentially violent when people mention her family in any kind of derisive tone (which she is hypersensitive to).

As may be surmised from that, she is particularly proud of her skill as a pilot, and though she does take her job seriously, she also has a tendency to show off from time to time when she considers the situation handled.

_{Background Information}

Born in a small town just outside of Queenshand, Kelly grew up on the coastline and spent a vast amount of time in and around the water. Her parents, native of the small town Hovvi, had maintained a small vacation home there that they headed to on occasion. One such time was during RISC's recent and disastrous showing there. She was spending time on the lakeshore when the second singularity manifested; and, being an extremely strong swimmer, she jumped into the lake and swam as hard as she could away from shore.

She was found shivering and hypothermic in the middle of the lake during the emergency search the next morning, having watched from a distance as Hovvi was destroyed and Dragon fell. As yet, she bears a distinct, if misguided, grudge against St. Senn, a loose childhood acquaintance of hers; if she'd dropped earlier, or been down in Hovvi to begin with, Kelly's parents and a town that she'd spent a fair amount of time in could very well have remained. Immediately upon being rescued by RISC, she asked--demanded, even--to be made a pilot, so that what happened to Hovvi would never happen again, and so she could take her own form of vengeance.

Savior

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_Designation

Elya

_Body

Unusually tall and broad, Elya is built like a brick wall. A much larger proportion than is typical is armored in silver modium metal, masking the black beneath and making Elya fairly resistant to damage. The fingers are long and end in vicious talons. At the pilot's request, a blue diamond has been stenciled directly over where the Savior's sternum would be.

_Weapon

Kelly's weapon is an enormous, vicious flail. Made entirely of solid modium, it is remarkably heavy even for its size, even compared to other Savior weapons. While it may appear cumbersome at first glance, it becomes apparent watching her fight that it's essentially an extension of Kelly's body

While she has a fairly slow phase, when she does her flail gains the unique and powerful ability to arrest molecular motion, superchilling anything that it touches to truly frigid temperatures approaching -200 degrees Celsius.

Lem's Stash

Angelus Errare

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx B A S I C I N F O [Name] Celes Lucia Raptúre [Callsign] Seraph [Gender] Female [Age] 36 [Rank and Designation] Pilot, E-7, CPO; former 68W [Place of Birth] Chehoa Station [Official Statement] "Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing; all the 'thanks, Doctor Cel!'s and lives I saved are etched into my heart forever. But every time I wake up hyperventilating and screaming at the darkness, it reminds me why I left." C O M B A T A B I L I T Y [Mech Model] ARCHANGEL Hyperlight Combat Frame ARCHANGEL [Type] Lightweight skirmisher exoframe [Size] 13 ft tall. 3 tons. [Core] Delta. [Armaments] Main Cannon: The most powerful payload that Celes can bring to bear is the monstrous HEAVENSENT Superheavy Plasma Cannon. Hooked to the left side of the ARCHANGEL, she can and often does use it as a standard gun. But that's not its most defining feature. It's been retrofitted with powerful drone tech linked to the ARCHANGEL's control system, and so it's now a remote-controlled cannon that she can maneuver however she wishes. It takes a bit of thought to command, so it's generally piloted by her when she's out of the direct line of fire. Right Arm: When the HEAVENSENT is impractical or dangerous to use, it's mounted on her suit, and out comes her general close-quarters workhorse weapon, the OPHANIM Variable Plasma Rifle. Able to swap between single blasts for sniper-like precision, burst-fire for medium range, or a sustained beam of annihilating light for cutting through swarms, the OPHANIM serves in most situations where the HEAVENSENT can't. Celes is well-practiced with it by now; while it doesn't have the raw destructive yield of its big brother, the versatility more than makes up for it. Back: Though this is less a weapon or gadget and more a part of ARCHANGEL, it's noteworthy enough that it warrants listing. As you might be able to tell by the structure of it, her exoframe, lightweight as it is, is designed for flight. A series of powerful rockets allow her to move at high speed on the ground or take to the sky with limited flight, allowing her to draw a bead on a target from a much larger distance than she might otherwise be able to, since her mech isn't 50 feet tall like many.

Profile [Surface-level Impression] I wonder if you're still allowed to create a psychiatric profile for a patient if it's for you. I feel like it might be in violation of some medical regulations. Then again, does anybody really care if I slightly overstep medical bounds while I'm no longer actually practicing? Ahem. The patient Ms. Celes Lucia Raptúre is a 36-year-old woman, chiefly presenting with chronic mixed insomnia, difficulty showing a broad range of emotion either positive or negative, and intermittent flashbacks to traumatic events. As a result of this combination of sleep deprivation and emotional distress, she can appear irritable and high-strung at inappropriate times. Consequently, she has the additional problem of being somewhat lonely in her life, because the resultant affect on her personality can seem prickly and unfriendly, even though she desperately craves compassion and companionship. As might be surmised by that observation and a few of the patient's other markers, Ms. Raptúre is very much an extrovert. She really would rather spend more time around people than she does, but as mentioned, that can be difficult for her. As a result, according to her own words, she's 'had to become an introvert by force.' Despite her personality defects, or seemingly actively to spite them, Ms. Raptúre has frankly surprising bedside manner. Since she became an actual medical doctor pre-military instead of going through the usual channels, she places a greater emphasis on such things than other combat medics seem to, the tactless bastards. You can be kind and respectful to your patients AND efficient, those aren't mutually exclusive! Regardless, the utilization of good bedside manner was something that was hammered into her during medical school and residencies, and it's something that she's managed to hold on to. As another outcome from the same source, she is excellent at remaining calm under pressure, because if you aren't then you'llcut open the aorta and then goodbye patient and goodbye license!Not to mention the stress of triage and emergency treatment while there are lasers being fired directly over your head! The last major note of the patient's psychological profile is a sense of chronic guilt. Because she got certified as a pilot halfway to escape being the boots on the ground, and because she was a very good combat medic, she is keenly aware at all times that there are a thousand percent people dead because she couldn't handle the strain on her emotions. This is one of the main thoughts that leads to her onset insomnia, certainly; was what she did irresponsible and selfish? As can be seen, the patient... Alright, yeah, okay, we're done here. It was strangely therapeutic to write it out as one of these, maybe I'll start doing it more often. It's easier to talk about awful things when you're trying to project being impersonal. Anyway. Hope that's enough for you. [Personal History] 3rd District, Vianno, Planet Willowit - Warrant for Cherri Lily Cade's Arrest WARRANT OF ARREST FOR DOMESTIC TERRORISM, VANDALISM, ARSON, CRIMINAL USE OF EXPLOSIVES AND FIRST-DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER To: Vianno 3rd District Arresting Officer Zhiti Ayajjai, ID MLE4136, 423rd VLE Unit YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve the herein Warrant of Arrest to seize and take into custody the accused person named below: Cherri Lily Cade, ID GZM4442, U88 Olympus Building And bring forth said person before this court before the next day following his or her arrest. A handwritten note is scrawled at the bottom of the document in meticulous red pen: I swear to all that is holy, Zhiti. You have ONE JOB. You'd better actually stick this one, I don't like being embarrassed. Police Report - The Telluride Building Incident Case No: 18462 Date: 12.04.382 Reporting Officer: Ewelyn Tyvee Incident: Massive property damage and loss of life via explosion on floor 233 of the Telluride Building Detail of Events: At 22:23 of 12.04.379, there was a sudden explosion near the support beam on floor 233 of 240 of the Telluride Building. According to witness reports, there was the smell of smoke prior; that, as well as the presence of scorch marks near the damaged area, shows that the explosion was likely set off using fire. My unit was dispatched to assist those in danger and investigate the scene of the crime. The top five floors of the Telluride Building are used exclusively for press conferences, of which there were none; however, the 234th floor had several people working in it. Luckily, the building didn't collapse; however, the explosion itself killed two people in the floor immediately above it. Directly beside the damaged support beam, we found an unconscious Ms. Cherri Cade. Upon regaining consciousness, she seemed confused, asked why we were there. Likely concussed. However, there is explosive reside on her fingers, and a damaged, now-nonfunctional pink lighter bearing her fingerprints was found near her on the scene. She is currently being medically assessed before questioning. Excerpt of Police Log - Cherri Cade's Questioning Case No: 18462 Date: 12.06.379 Present Officer: Ewelyn Tyvee ET: Do you know why you're here, miss Cade? CC: I have no idea! I know I've been accused of something really bad, but I don't know what! ET: On December fourth, you were found unconscious next to a heavily-damaged support strut on the 233rd floor of the Telluride Building with explosive residue on your fingers immediately after an explosion that killed two people. CC: WHAT? But...but that...I would never! ET: I'm sure. Do you have an alibi? CC: Huh? I...no, but of course I was there, maintenance of floor 233 is my job! I just--I would never--I couldn't-- ET: Please state for the record that you do not have an alibi, miss Cade. CC: What? That's not fair! ET: Will you or will you not state it for the record? ET: Is this your personal datapad, miss Cade? CC: ...Yeah. Why? ET: Do you know what your search history is? CC: Yes. ET: Could you explain why your search history includes information about explosives? CC: My sister Apricot was a pyrotechnician for a few years. I got interested in explosives through that. I swear, I never hurt anyone! CC: ...By the way, what explosive residue did they say they found on my fingers? You keep saying that, but you won't go into any detail. ET: I'm not at liberty to say. CC: *Sigh* Mayoral Resolution Draft, Never Published Fellow citizens of Vianno, of Willowit: I know you're all afraid. An attack has been waged against the very heart of our city, our very soul. Who wouldn't be afraid? I know I was. But thanks to the tireless efforts of the VLE, the culprit has been apprehended and convicted. The Telluride Building coming under attack is a grievous blow to our city and planetary pride, and that will never be forgotten or forgiven. The criminal charged with the crime used homemade explosives that she created at home following instructions that she found on the 'net. And that's not all; in fact, it's just the beginning. Preliminary research has shown that a huge amount of people have begun searching for information on building such devices recently. I hate to do this, I truly do; but the safety of our people is paramount. Because the lives of those in our city are at clear and obvious risk, I mean to implement ways to keep people from accessing such information, and tracking down those that already have. Never let it be said that the people of Vianno aren't always at the forefront of my mind. Remember: we fight for you! Handwritten Note We're probably pretty good. She doesn't have any good excuses. But for appearances' sake, give her a plea deal. Just find something nobody would ever agree to. Public'll eat it up. Plea Deal, Cherri Cade Case No: 18462 CITY OF VIANNO V. CHERRI LILY CADE Plea Deal The defendant and the defendant's counsel, Cherri Lily Cade and Atty. Mia Tyler, and the prosecution, Jerring Vesslain, have entered into an agreement outside of court, pursuant to Rule 11 of the ICC. The terms of the agreement are as follows: The prosecution agrees to waive prosecution and accept a plea of not guilty from the defendant for the crimes of Domestic Terrorism, Arson, Vandalism, Unlawful Use of Explosives, and First-Degree Manslaughter. All charges will be dropped, and they will not receive a major mark on their criminal record. In exchange, the defendant agrees to report for seventeen years of service into the Aberrant War, arranged into training and combat as necessary but not to include fewer than ten years of active service. As of now, the defendant has not been enlisted; so they are still considered liable. She has one month to arrange her affairs on Willowit before she is required to be off-planet. As long as she has been enlisted before the designated time period has expired, the defendant will not be prosecuted upon their return to Willowit given that one of the following requirements has been met: 1) The defendant has served seventeen full years in the military and all other terms have been met; 2) The Aberrant war has concluded and all other terms have been met. The defendant has also asked that a note be added to the record along with her signature: 'Oh my GOD, this is TOO FUNNY! I was planning to enlist soon anyway if I could find an excuse to get me away from my job! And now I get to spit in your stupid corrupt faces too! Like, how could this get any better?' Frustrated Memo Dellan, don't you dare try and blame this shit on me. I did my job, I got her right into the palm of your hand for god's sake. Why the fuck did you try to give her a plea deal? For appearance's sake? The appearance was FINE, do you have any idea how long this took to organize? Fuck right off. Certification to Pilot This document serves to certify that that the pilot trainee Petty Officer Third Class Cherri 'Cherry Bomb' Cade, has undergone the requisite five years of training necessary, and been authorized to pilot a mech in the war against the Aberrants. Per Audacia ad Astra. Home World [Planet Description] A technological utopia. A metropolitan marvel. The jewel of the Soha Binary System. Willowit has many names, and most of them are flattering. And, at least to appearance, it lives up to them. From space, it seems almost more like an enormous space station than a planet at first glance; the entire planet is covered in vast cities, right up to the coasts. Powered almost exclusively by solar, they take advantage of the fact they orbit a binary star to harvest massive amounts of power from it, fueling their grand dreams. From the air, the enormous superstructure skyscrapers of Willowit come into focus. The tallest of them, the Telluride Building, has 240 floors, containing everything one could require. The skyscrapers of Willowit are, for all intents and purposes, microcities in themselves, and there are thousands across the planet. Thus, Willowit can comfortably support a population larger than one would think for a planet its size; 25 billion people live in these great spires. Finally, we droop to ground level, to the 'undercity.' Those unfortunate enough to be kicked out of their building--one typically has to commit a crime, though the severity of the crime can vary depending on the district they live in--typically are required to live for a certain amount of time outside of the superstructures. While there's food to eat, it's certainly not a comfortable existence. The skyscrapers block almost all of the light, and unlike the buildings, the surface isn't climate controlled; so it's incredibly cold down below. Typically, ganglike organizations form, as there's little to no oversight outside of the skyscrapers. Once their tenure on the surface is finished--as long as they survived--they are once more allowed to reenter their building, or any other building that might catch their fancy; after ten years, property is repossessed, so they won't have any place to go back to if more time than that passes. One might wonder how Willowit is able to maintain this strange living structure. The answer is simple: owing to the particular resources that can be found underground and some closely guarded industry secrets, they are historically one of the known universe's greatest purveyors of holographic technology. Many resort worlds find themselves with Willowit-made holograph projectors; many military training sims have a Willowit stamp on them as well. Useful both in peacetime and in war, Willowit's holographic and simulation technology will ALWAYS be useful. [Culture] Remember that bit about the 'technological utopia?' Well, the people of Willowit are completely convinced. Living in relative luxury from even the less fortunate upwards, purely in terms of quality of living, Willowit is a very nice place to live. However, not everything about Willowit is so utopian. They bill themselves as a utopia with a firm rule of law that keeps things running smoothly. And they do have a very powerful law system. HOWEVER: their legal system, while very powerful, has very little oversight. As a result, the thing that plagues Willowit more than anything else isn't wealth disparity, or war, discontent of the populace. No, Willowit has a MASSIVE problem with corruption in governance. Because the legal system has so much power and so little oversight, the people who pay them the most money can effectively pick and choose which laws apply to them, and furthermore, which laws apply to other people. A great deal of propaganda keeps the general populace from realizing the extent of this corruption. But a lawyer, a police officer, a judge...they have to put forth EFFORT to NOT be hilariously corrupt, as bribes and quid-pro-quo are more the rule than the exception from even modestly well-off individuals. Notable Contacts Mia Tyler, Criminal Defense Atty. and Engineer [Name] Mia Tyler [Relation to Subject] Cherri's defense attorney, close friend, engineer, and post-op specialist. [Analysis] Mia was Cherri's lawyer during the extended and corrupt trial that threatened to put her either behind bars for the rest of her life, or put her in the ground. The two of them grew quite close over the years, and when it was decided that Cherri would enter the service (and specifically, would become a pilot), Mia immediately entered an intensive training course to get certified in engineering and maintenance of mechs. Possessed of a truly unreasonable level of willpower, she, well, succeeded, and now serves as the primary maintenance worker for <DEATH IN PINK!> As you may be able to glean, Mia does not like giving up. Filled with willpower and SPITE, she managed to become a dedicated attorney, despite participating in the corrupt games of her planet's legal system as little as possible. She is possessed of a wide streak of wry humor; appearing deadpan while cracking strange jokes is second nature to her, and Cherri seems to have a sixth sense for when she's not being serious. Speaking of Cherri, if you watch the two of them interact for more than a minute, it becomes blatantly obvious how much they care for each other. Yes, Mia is permanently exhausted and lives off caffeine; she picked up a habit of reading case law online in the middle of the night in law school, and somehow it stuck even when she genuinely has no time for it. But the two of them are pretty much inseparable. She won't maintain anybody else's mechs; and Cherri refuses to let anybody else maintain hers, unless there's no other choice.

The Things We Fight For

---

AIS S1's bright red eyes had been averted from everyone else aboard the transport craft for a good long while now.

After the first time she'd been stared at by the blond Constellation, she'd turned them away, hating the expression she saw there. It wasn't hate, exactly; nor was it fear. She wasn't exactly sure what it was called, but it was painful enough that she decided to stare at the planet beneath them and listen to the engine roar instead to try and distract her from it. It was almost beautiful, she thought. It was the first time she'd approached a planet from above like this, and watching all of the details resolve as they grew closer—relatively, of course, since they were still essentially in orbit—was quite an experience.

She tried to imagine what the planet would look like without the hateful gray stain across its surface. She couldn't quite.

There was a clicking, grating sound as her Wingblades, which were jammed somewhat uncomfortably behind her to fit in the chair, scraped and clicked together nervously. A lump was sitting squarely in her throat that she tried to ignore. This was her 'test run,' Jacob had told her plainly. This was what proved whether or not she was worth keeping around. She wasn't sure what the alternative was if she failed, but it was a pretty safe bet that she wouldn't like it. So she had to do it exactly right.

She was in the middle of envisioning what 'doing it right' might look like when the first of the two Constellations with them—the older one that didn't look at her that way—began speaking, and her whole body twitched as she turned back to the rest of the drop area and looked over at him. Bald, open-chested, eyes hidden by some kind of viewfinder? He seemed nice enough, she thought, as he introduced himself followed by a laugh. Rigel. Douglas Eorman. Her eyes were drawn to the way his almost comically huge gauntlet bobbed beside him. AIS S1 blinked. She'd read the briefing, she'd thought, hadn't she? Or maybe Jacob had read it to her when she was doing something else? She didn't recognize the name, and the memory ran together in her head. She frowned. That shouldn't be something she couldn't remember.

But before she could focus on that, the younger one who had looked at her like that started talking. Younger, tall, blond, carrying a slender longsword with an expression like disdain on his face. Antares, he was called. Or Maximus. Solignus. Or, Rigel...Douglas...? said...Max? Like Jacob was sometimes called Jay, she wondered? Sometimes he liked it, sometimes he didn't. But it certainly seemed like Antares did not. With all that having been said, he swung his predator's gaze over to her once more.

Our focus is to develop the talents we've brought along with us, and field test equipment that has just exited the experimental stage of development.

She cringed away just slightly from his renewed gaze, and her blades twitched and rattled again before she could still them. According to Antares, and probably the higher-ups in general, she was experimental equipment to field test. That was why she needed a test run, after all. Equipment... They kept speaking, but at that moment, her focus was shattered by being tapped unexpectedly on the part of her shoulder that was still uncovered flesh, and she jerked with a quiet sound of alarm, her head whipping around to the man who sat beside her.

"You ever notice how they all walk the same?"She blinked. What?

"Legs all the way outstretched, struttin' so long they might fall over any second. Makes their whole upper body jostle around like a, uh, like a rooster. Y'know, bawk bawk." Another moment passed before...oh! Oh, he's making a joke! She was wholly unused to hearing jokes. And so, taken by surprise, even that caused her hand to fly up to her mouth unbidden to clutch back an open laugh, and she found herself a bit less tense. By the time she tuned back into what Antares and Rigel were saying, they were...asking about introductions. She opened her mouth, shut it again, looked around, looked back at the person who'd joked with her.

Then, unsteadily, shakily, she stood, putting her hands behind her back as her blades scraped and rasped again. She was quiet for a moment before her halting and slightly modulated voice emerged: "...Ab...I—I am...Aberrant...Aberrant Integration System. Subject One." She swallowed heavily at the eyes on her, including Antares' again, whose gaze she couldn't seem to look away from while she was standing. "...Aissi."

Then she twitched, then sat, then closed her eyes to the world. Five minutes. Maybe four now. A few moments passed in silence, then she whispered to herself, just loud enough to be heard the next seat over:

"Bawk bawk."

The Things We Fight For

Research Log: AIS S1

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx B A S I C I N F O [Name] Aberrant Integration System, Subject 1 - AIS S1 [Callsign] Aissi [Gender] Female [Age] Early 20s [Rank and Designation] Experimental Constellation, Stardust Rank [Place of Birth] Kepler-195 [Official Statement] "AIS S1—Aissi...I—I was...made—born—built...? Built to fight. Built—made to kill. WIN. KILL." C O M B A T A B I L I T Y [Anti-Barrier Sword] #236 - AB1 (Aberrant-integration Blade One) and #371 - AB2. But since they've been reforged into identical forms and serve as a single unit for Aissi, she refers to them much more personally, simply as her Wingblades. [Anti-Barrier Quotient]21% [Physical Description] It's no wonder the Anti-Barrier Quotient of the Wingblades is so low; after all, they're unreasonably large, and there's only so much AB material to go around. Matte black with gleaming red bevels, these double-edged blades are roughly as long as Aissi is tall (about seven feet), and mounted on winglike struts grafted directly into her nervous system through her back. This unorthodox arrangement allows her to manipulate the Wingblades as though they were a third pair of limbs, leaving her hands free for more typical swords used almost exclusively for defense that are sheathed along the struts. [Attributes] In order to supplement the low AB Quotient caused by their large size, the Wingblades have been retrofitted with laser technology. They can ignite their blades in red light, significantly increasing their cutting force; and, even further, they are able to fire powerful, though short-ranged, laser blasts. [Anomaly] Aberrant Integration System [Origin] Aberrant Research Laboratory A2 [Phenomena] Though it fills the same space as Anomaly typically would, this is quite explicitly very different. To put her on level with actual Constellations with Anomaly, Aissi's body is infested with an expansive suite of Aberrant technologies. From the system that controls her Wingblades, to magnetic clamps in her hands, her limbs more biomechanical than flesh now, antigravity systems in her feet, compact rocket engines in her legs along with stabilizers in her shoulders...and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Finally, it all connects to the most important of her modifications, the most powerful, and the most taboo: her core. A fully-intact Epsilon-tier Aberrant core harvested from a high-caste Bishop has been embedded into her back between where the Wingblades emerge, which powers all of her multifarious augmentations, coordinates them, and normalizes them in her nervous system so they feel as natural as whatever of her original body remains. [Limitation] The same way it doesn't function as Anomaly does, it doesn't have the same kind of cost on usage. What it does have, though, is quite an adverse affect on her mental state. The painful experiments that were done to her over the course of years, as well as the overtaxing of her brain as it attempts to manage far more than it was designed to and the Aberrant instincts that now lurk within her, have led to her being VERY unstable, especially during full-throttle combat where all of her augmentations and implants are working at maximum capacity. Perhaps not a clear-cut cost; but quite a cost nonetheless.

Profile Surface-level Impression [Surface-level Impression] As mentioned, the experiments have left Aissi not quite in full control of herself at all times. Twitchy, relentlessly high-strung, and never overly far from fits of violent hysteria, Aissi's personality alone is proof positive that making a large amount of Constellations in the same way she was made isn't necessarily a good idea. Still, she's not always obviously unstable, clearly. Though during combat she veers way into the erratic, outside of it, she's a notably sensitive and anxious individual. Keenly aware that she looks very strange, and even more keenly aware that the reason she looks strange is that she's essentially half-Aberrant—the thing that's trying to kill everyone and everything—she's constantly fretting over the image that she has. When people look at her, do they see a Constellation? Or a monster? And really, even she doesn't quite know. Paradoxically to her appearance and her position, Aissi knows very little about the world. All she really remembers is being in the lab. Granted, she was told something like what to expect when she went into the field. But being told what the world is like and actually living in the world are two very different things. She only has experience with the first of those two. She knows plenty about Aberrants and how to kill Aberrants...but that's mostly ALL she knows. Personal History [Personal History] The first thing Aberrant Integration System, Subject One remembers is waking up in the lab. What age was she? Teenaged? She isn't sure, and she doesn't remember. What was her name before? Did she even have a name? She's not sure of that either. Only A.I.S-S1. That's it. Well...she remembered how to speak, and how to listen. She remembers language. That's something, right? The second thing A.I.S-S1 remembers is pain. Her first implantation was almost immediately after she awoke. She doesn't even remember what it is anymore; all of it has blurred together in her mind by now. Was it her leg engines? Her neuralware? Perhaps the magnetic clamps in her hands? it all feels so far away. Time went on. Every so often, the procedure would repeat: she would be given an implant though a painful procedure. Then the technicians and scientists that handled her would monitor it. Sometimes, her body would reject the implant, and the pain would come back. The doctors would remove it, put it aside, and try and give it again later. They never gave up. If her body didn't reject it—if it accepted the Aberrant technology as a part of her now—then she'd have another few days, just to make sure. And then another implant would be brought to her, and the wheel would turn again. But it was fine. She'd volunteered for this, according to the doctors. This was what she'd wanted. To let herself be turned into something greater, even at sacrifice to herself. So she simply clung on. But there was one great mercy. Because during all of this, she wasn't alone in the lab. There was another girl undergoing a similar—if much lesser—augmentation, and the two became something like friends. Hope, her name was. And that got A.I.S-S1 thinking about names. Every time she saw that designation emblazed near her, she would look at it, and think of names. And then one day, when she was still woozy from sedation, she saw it with blurry eyes, and she misread it. Not A.I.S-S1. AISSI. Aissi. She would be Aissi. Time went on more. Further. Hope left, and she was once again alone. More implants. More connections. And then the most prominent: the Bladewings. She rejected them three times before her body finally let them settle, and each rejection was more painful than the last, resulted in a longer wait. And then, after all that was done...she'd been in the lab for how long now? She didn't know, and she still doesn't quite; several years, at least. But now that all of the implants, all of the cybernetics, all of the prosthetics, were in place, it was time for the piece de resistance. The Core. There is nothing Aissi can remember, before or since, that hurts as much as suddenly having every one of her augmentations fire into her nerves all at once. Sheer, gut-wrenching, mind-warping AGONY. And the pain, the nerves, all of it firing at once...it changed something in her. Turned from a sweet, sensitive girl to something where...well, sometimes you can see that underneath her. But not often. Not anymore. And once it was finally over...she was finished. More machine now than woman. And, really, more Aberrant than woman. Perhaps not even human at all anymore. Another year went by. She had to acclimate, of course. Not only did she have so many new modifications and augmentations working all at once, but she had an entirely new set of limbs to figure out. It was around this time that she started running sims, to get her used to what combat might be like on a world being invaded b the Aberrant. But then, recently and finally...it was done. She was prepared. And now, the test runs begin. Home World Kepler-195 [Planet Description] Kepler-195 was a dry, arid moon, largely desert and scrubland broken by salt seas and crisscossing braided streams. One of—and the smallest of, in fact—numerous inhabited moons orbiting the gas giant Pele on the far frontier, it wasn't exactly well known, especially compared to its larger and more outgoing neighbors. Small and inconspicuous, the people enjoyed a fairly peaceful existence; though a select few eked out a nomadic lifestyle on the surface, most people lived in vast cities deep underground instead, so they felt quite insulated and far from any issues that might plague topside. ...And then the Aberrants came. The multifarious moons of Pele were in possession of a great deal of resources, and many different varieties. They were hungry. And Kepler-195 was the first they came across. And they glassed the entire moon. Though the Constellations came, only a scant few refugees escaped and fled far away from their desolated once-home as it was consumed. Many of the other moons around Pele were also ground to dust and ash. Only two escaped the grisly fate, and afterwards, they were so desolate that they could no longer support life. In the span of barely six months, the entire moon system of Pele was wiped clean of all human life. [Culture] While Kepler-195 still existed, it had two 'factions' of people. A very few lived nomadic lives on the surface. Because water on the surface was a precious resource, they wore stillsuits, and traveled with their lives on their back to set up around any temporary watering hole that may emerge. The grand majority of the populace—which, mind you, wasn't large to begin with, only about 500 million people across the entire moon—lived in vast underground cities, tunneled out of the bedrock. Water was much more prevalent due to the presence of deep aquifers, and the native plant life grew readily. They lived a comfortable existence; though they were held in contempt by the surface nomads, they were largely happy to simply live in comfort underground. But, of course, this moon no longer exists, and Aissi has no memories from before the lab, regardless. Notable Contacts Doctor Jacob Tobias Brake, Medical Coordinator [Name] Jacob "Jay" Tobias Brake [Relation to Subject] Aissi's "Medical Coordinator and Caretaker" (In so many words, her handler) - Checks for malfunctions in and maintains systems, performs routine psychiatric checks and monitors her sanity, serves as a point of stability for her, practiced at talking her down and reigning her in if she's starting to go sideways. [Analysis] Jay is tired. So very, very tired. Essentially badgered into his position through only having the lowest standing at the laboratory that modified her, Jay is grumpy and world-weary middle aged man who firmly believes that he's not paid NEARLY enough to manage someone as unstable and chaotic as Aissi is. While it's obvious that he does have at least some measure of care for her—if he didn't, then he probably wouldn't still be doing this job—it tends to get drowned out in how overworked and overwhelmed he is, having to keep Aissi on as short a leash as she demands alongside everything else. Theodore Howser [Name] Theo Howser [Relation to Subject] Older and sympathetic 'safe' person. [Analysis] As Aissi's freakishness tends to put off those around her and she knows it does, she finds great value in those who aren't put off, or at least don't let how off-putting she is stop them from relating to her. Granted, she's met very few people outside of the lab at this pint; but of them Theo happens to fill a similar place to Jay. As an older, stabilizing influence that can help calm her down, at least up to a point, she tends to stick nearish to him when he's around, ESPECIALLY if she's already feeling unstable. Theme [Theme]

Five of the Sky (A Portal Fantasy Adventure)

@Izurich Oh yo my man

Five of the Sky

Oh, no worries at all, I getcha. I'm still in, never fear!

A Stellar Tomb

Ooooohooohoooooohoo

Pariah Online

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