Letter Bee

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Erisse Augusta Narrativia

Finally activating 'Narrative Role of Familiarity', Erisse conjured up two objects; one was a mundane apple, but perfectly red, sweet, and crunchy, and the other was an apple made of gold with leaves of silk. She handed the first one to Mina, saying, "Here, as a gift; it's fresh."

As for Suzakura, she handed the second gift, which had the words engraved, 'To the Strongest', on it, over to his hands. She would rather have handed the golden apple to Michael, but alas, the Gods and fate had other plans. She at least hoped to gain some goodwill from the two of them with her gifts, even as her sympathies remained with Michael and Andras. At least I can give Michael his Relic soon; I'm thinking a paintbrush which can supplement his own powers and change the colors of the 'paint' to add elemental effects. For example, 'red and orange for Fire', 'yellow and green for Earth', 'blue and indigo for Earth', and 'violet for Death and white for Healing Light'...

Yes, all of those would work out nicely.

@Dezuel@Scarifar@AtomicNut

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Freedom of Devils

"Thanks!" Martyn said as his Man Rodi began to shoot at the Graze Scwalbe's legs, still hoping for a nonfatal hit. He then continued to say over the comms, "Keep hammering at him and make sure that he does not reach his booster pod! In fact, blow the latter up if the guy doesn't surrender!"

The Graze Schwalbe's pilot was clearly skilled enough to avoid his shots and the maneuvers of his - Well technically Holly's - team. As it fired back at the foes ringing it, Martyn moved a little closer, earning a jab by the Graze's lance. As he pulled his Man Rodi back, the young man, barely out of boyhood, glanced at what his team was doing, before shouting through the comms, "Familiar Three - Kurt - Do what Holly said and destroy that pod! Familiar Five, fire your anchor wire when ready; we'll try and herd the enemy to your position."

He then pushed his Man Rodi forward again, before telling Familiar Two, aka Theo, "You're right, I am thinking of myself. But if I'm right, all of us can get what we want as well. So follow me, Soldier; I haven't led you wrong, have I?"

Martyn was banking on the fact that he had known Theo for years, and observed him and the others for that long, to try and get Theo's agreement to follow his orders.

The Graze Schwalbe, somehow sensing Theo's indecision, was now rushing at the latter's Graze, trying to impale it with his lance. To him, Theo was the weak link in the ring of foes, a weak link to be broken and shattered. Martyn, seeing this as well, threw caution to the wind and rushed at the Schwalbe, before shouting to Fox, "Fox, Fire your wire anchor now! Hit the Graze Schwalbe!"

Hopefully, it would all go perfectly. Hopefully, the Graze Schwalbe and its pilot would be captured or at worst, the latter might be killed. But Martyn had made his calculations; he can and will apply for amnesty whatever happened, even if the process for applying for amnesty meant accepting the prospect of being watched and thus not being able to implement his plans...

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Ken

Ken was greatful for being saved. He owed this girl, and while he didn't normally believe in a life debt, he knew he wanted to pay her back as many times as he plausibly could. But now, as the other two assaulted Nightman from above and below, Ken analyzed what she said about her powers and Nightman's duplicate of them.

It was a powerful package of Gifts the girl had shown already; the ability to manifest a Spirit Guardian, teleportation (implied), resistance to mental Gifts, resistance to lasers (well, Magic lasers), and enhanced physical capabilities. And did she imply that Nightman's cloning was originally hers'? So add cloning to the list of Gifts she had. But what was the unifying theme of these various powers, which were hinted at to be merely the tip of the iceberg?

Wait... The Spirit Guardian the girl had manifested; was that the central link in what seemed like a random set of powers? A plan formed in his head, but it could potentially endanger Reverio and the girl herself, at least in the short term - Said plan was to pull back the energy he was channeling into Rev and the girl and pour it into the Spirit Guardian, but that would put Rev in danger and he could not risk that.

But what he could risk was the prospect of talking to Nightman, of talking to the person who had managed to lull him into revealing his flaws and fears and weaknesses of psyche. And he could sense instinctively that Reverio had gotten something wrong about his analysis of Nightman and that to assume that the latter was driven by a 'void' in his heart was... a huge leap.

No, far better to guess that this man was driven by greed, venality, and a little ego. That this psychopath wanted power for its own sake to make himself feel important, something Ken could empathize with, even sympathize a bit, all the while knowing it was wrong. But Dr. Nightman didn't actually care about human standards of right and wrong; thought them artificial and therefore illegitimate. Arrogance driven by a sense of perceieved and technical superiority... Ken can try and use that.

But how? As the fighting raged, Ken went through several potential retorts and invective at speed, trying to find the perfect line to make Nightman listen, to distract him for even a split-second so that Rev and the girl can prevail, with the full knowledge that the enemy 'doctor' knew he'd do something like that and had prepared accordingly.

Nightman thought that he was on top. He wouldn't be backed by a conspiracy or various influential people without finding a way to ensure that he was the spider at the center of the web and no one else. Assuming that he had backers, of course; he could truly be acting alone or with his small cabal of subordinates, but that was unlikely. Either way, he had the time, space, and cool mindset needed to analyze what Nightman was doing and what the man's psychological state probably was.

In short, he was acting like the psychologist. And then it hit him, and he visibly grinned, a grin Nightman could probably glimpse from where he stood.

"Oi!" Ken shouted out, trying to get Nightman's attention, "Are we actually your first victims?! You'd be manifesting powers we don't know about if we weren't! Or do you give up your stolen abilities at some point? Maybe to someone else? After all, even those above it all need help to set this up!"

"I know who you are, Nightman; someone who thinks that everyone below you, especially children, are pawns and dupes. That your own self-image relies on being on top not just in brute force, but in smarts." Ken then pursed his lips, preparing to drop the bombshell. "I can use that."

He then smirked as wide as he could, the overdramatic gesture deliberate. "Why don't you have me as your client for real? I'll grant you all the respect and bowing and scraping you want and make you feel like you're manipulating me into thinking I was manipulating you? You know what I confided in you back then; you know my plans and ambitions. You can rule through me while gloating about how I am one of your dupes, who himself thinks I successfully manipulated you. In short, we can play mind games all day, and all it takes is the low, low price of listening to a foolish boy's stupidity..."

Ken planned to meet Nightman's eyes if the latter ever so much as glanced at him, and the boy planned to say just one word to the man if he managed to get his attention for even a split second.

Ken's word.

"Sucker."

@Dezuel@Lewascan2@KillamriX88

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Erisse Augusta Narrativia

"You're barely legal and you have a girlfriend," Erisse bluntly said to Suzakura. "And my role in this drama isn't part of your harem. That said, to clear up a potential misunderstanding, Michael here isn't my... Actually, I'm not sure if he's legal as well, but I'm not touching him anyway. I'm just here to provide him romantic advice, which you clearly don't need as you're a paragon of maculinity anyway."

Yes, that last phrase had a sarcastic bite. Then she decided to play on Suzarkura's assumption that she was a teacher at Kiburi's and continued, "Also, I am a teacher, yes; Lord Kiburi's employment policies are pretty lenient - They allow me to work for all three other Schools as well."

When someone already believed her cover story, Narrative Role of Familiarity would work even better than it normally would. And as she can theoretically apply for official employment and make her cover story true at any time, this meant that she might not need to use it right now. After all, Narrative Role of Familiarity's main weakness was that it does not affect anyone who knew that said cover story was a lie, and if it wasn't a lie, well...

@Dezuel@Scarifar

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Freedom of Devils

Martyn nodded and said, "Roger!" through public comms before saying in a lower tone, one meant for Holly and the others even though the lack of private channels meant that the others can listen in as well, "A Schwalbe and the accompanying Ace Pilot would only be sent here if Gjallarhorn thinks there's something worth looking for in this hellhole, and it clearly ain't pirates no matter how much they say they want to get rid of them. There must be a treasure somewhere, considering the fact that they won't send a lone machine, no matter how good, just to take us down."

It wasn't out of the question, considering how even today, people still dreamt of finding Calamity War tech. And if so, Martyn could see an opportunity for freedom, but he had to be decisive, even to the point of foolhardiness, in taking it - And make sure that none of them died.

"Familiar One," the young man said, "Allow me to give orders - We're going to need teamwork to take down this Graze Schwalbe without a single casualty; we're taking this 'Ace Pilot' alive so that he can lead us to the 'gold' he's looking for. If anyone objects, they can blow me up in the middle of a fight; just remember that you won't find a 'Space Rat' as good as I am for long years afterwards!"

He hoped that was the right amount of defiance, bragging, and appeal to greed mixed with factual truth to save his life. A moment for the others to respond as they neared the Graze Schwalbe, which by now was registering the presence of pirates in a variety of stolen Grazes, Rodis, and a Hugo and was readying its weapons.

Old habits died hard, it seemed, including foolhardy courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Martyn then moved closer to the Schwalbe, holding out his own Mech's 'Hammer Chopper' while shouting, "Familiar One, with me! Familiars Two and Three, come at the enemy mech to the sides! Familiar Five, you're the fastest, so try and get behind the enemy unit and use your Anchor Claw to yank out its thrusters! If all goes well, we're getting a Graze Schwalbe, a Pilot, and a lead to whatever they're looking for which most definitely aren't our little ol' selves..."

@Gisk@FlappyTheSpybot@Martian@Renny@Dezuel

Aces of the Void - Starfighter Squadron RPG

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

No offence taken at all, I just found it slightly amusing how it just went from maybe to can't so quickly was all. And especially after you asked so many questions too! But no worries.

<Snipped quote by kersel>

You're welcome to join, and I'm sure you'll hit upon an idea soon enough! Plenty of options.

At the moment, I'm kind of wondering where everyone from the Interest Check has got to, since I've only had one character other than mine so far.

@Silverwind Blade

Thanks for understanding!

Aces of the Void - Starfighter Squadron RPG

@Silverwind Blade

Sorry; I meant no disrespect - I really did want to join but, well... I was also starting two RPs on two other sites at the same time (and joining yet another site) and overestimated my ability to take more.

Please forgive me.

Aces of the Void - Starfighter Squadron RPG

It seems I might not find the time to join after all; sorry about this.

Aces of the Void - Starfighter Squadron RPG

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

There's a bit of info about that in the OP post, but generally speaking, nonhumans are treated as second-class citizens on all Imperial controlled worlds, with few civil rights and freedoms, and are, by Imperial definitions not even considered 'citizens', as they have no right to vote or participate in civil matters.
The only kind of work they do is essentially manual labor in poor conditions with minimal safety conditions and working long, gruelling hours. Housing is limited to ghetto-like conditions with minimal comforts and their 'pay' is via a series of 'vouchers' or 'scrip' that can be exchanged for limited goods. Nonhumans are also subject to searches and seizures without provocation or due cause on the whim of any law enforcement or military personnel, and can be taken away with little provocation. Nonhumans regularly disappear, and little is done to investigate their disappearances.
And that is on 'civilized' worlds with governors who probably believe they are kind and fair. On worlds with less 'caring' governors or personnel enforcing the Imperial Decree, nonhuman citizens may be housed only in shack-like shanty towns, have no access to organised education, computer network services, healthcare and even regular employment. They may be forbidden from meeting in groups, and even subject to regular sweeps for 'dissidents' or other troublemakers that a simply excuses to brutalise people and murder them.

Political or ideological dissidents that are human are often dealt with harshly. Depending on the nature of their actions, they may be investigated and monitored and then find that a lot of their options in life start to disappear, such as their accounts frozen, career oppotunities drying up, their freedoms to travel becoming limited and other such limitations being forced upon them.
If their 'problematic' issues persist, or even alongside these measures, their life may become a terrifying, mentally and emotionally draining cycle of random capture and interrogations at any hours or provocation from the Internal Security Forces.
Those who commit more serious 'violations' of Imperial decree may be 'permanently' disappeared, or even publicly made an example of, with propaganda spinning their deaths as being the elimination of deadly or dangerous terrorists and informants against the Empire.

@Silverwind Blade

I see. Hmm, I might make a dissident who joined the Resistance, then. It depends.

Note that I might suddenly find myself without spare time...

Aces of the Void - Starfighter Squadron RPG

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

A smuggler would work! After all, Han Solo was a smuggler!

@Silverwind Blade

So, another question:

How brutal is the Empire towards both Nonhumans and Dissidents?