Personnel Dossier
NameMox Holiday (Alias)
Age23
Physical EvaluationMox is an unassuming person, average in height and weight, though a fairly strict and rigorous training regimen has kept her in excellent physical health. It’s rare to find her without a smile on her face, or that same smile in her step, and just about every aspect of her demeanor. She prefers simple, comfortable clothes, but likes branching out to be a bit more fashionable when means allow—which, considering the Gamblers’ records, isn’t all that often.
Psychological ProfileWarm, energetic, with a penchant for harmless fun, Mox is someone who could find sunshine at the bottom of the ocean. Lose big at the card table? Problems with the exoframe? Mission didn’t quite pan out for you? Keep that chin up! You’re only really lost when you admit it to yourself.
Ceaseless optimism might not be the best way to make friends amongst down-and-out mercenaries, but that’s alright—Mox loves a challenge.
Maybe she’s compensating for a dull childhood, or maybe this is just who she was the whole time. Either way, what’s the point of a clean slate if you stay the same, dirty person you always were?
Background InformationMox was born on the far reaches of the Arcturus system on a planet called Gefallen. Being in the empire’s periphery, one might expect loyalty to be thin, but in fact the opposite was true. It was precisely because Gefallen was neglected that it found itself swarmed by opportunists from both the Sol Union and the North Star League. Trade was bottlenecked by privateers and unsanctioned levies, dissenting guilds and merchants were shot out of the sky, the people lived with steel boots pressed to their necks. Gefallen cried out for aid, and was unanswered; to the people this was the fault of the enemy, not the empire.
Bringing Theden justice to Gefallen and its tormentors was a dream shared by many, but few had the drive and discipline to chase it. Mox, however, had just the right blend of talent and dedication. As a waise-child working menial jobs, it wasn’t as though she had much else to do with her time but study. By the time she was old enough to enlist, her test and sim results laid a myriad of prestigious paths before her. Having always had a twinkle in her eye for folktales of knights in shining armor, she chose to specialize, and set her sights on an elite unit of melee-centric exoframes known as the Nullritter.
As a novice pilot, Mox doubled-down on her efforts. If she wasn’t studying, she was running sims, if she wasn’t running sims, she was in physical training, if she wasn’t doing any of these, she was on assignment or asleep. Repeat ad nauseum for three years until the Minsky Station Massacre gets the cold war boiling. Times have changed, the Chancellor says, the empire must be strong—the emperor, of course, gives her his full and fervorous support. Mox is among the battalion tasked with rooting the enemy out of their hitherto “unnoticed” encampments in the outer worlds.
Mox’s mind fogs. A handful of weeks sees four of the empire’s furthest tributaries utterly sacked by empire forces. Finally, they depart for Gefallen.
In the span of three days, ninety-seven major cities and countless towns and independent settlements are reduced to smoldering ruins. Sol Union and North Star casualties are in the low ten-thousands, civilian casualties remain in estimation. Mox Holiday’s exoframe is discovered two months later in the possession of an independent trader who claims he doesn’t remember who sold it to him.
A few months after that, Vox Fortuna acquires a new pilot with a very brief background.
Exoframe
DesignationSonder
Weight ClassMedium
DescriptionBought with the money Mox made selling off the empire’s exoframe after her desertion, the Sonder is just about the last thing she truly owns. The base frame is standard enough, a sleek model from the last gen of Dainslief Heavy’s “Galahad” line, only its armor has been stripped down drastically for the sake of speed and maneuverability. Having piloted and encountered a modest variety of melee-focused exos in her few years of service, Mox had the benefit of knowing exactly what she liked, while also needing to avoid creating to stark of a resemblance. The result is a unique if sub-optimal series of modifications and additions that she nonetheless managed to acquaint herself with before joining the Gamblers.
Equipment and ArmamentThe Sonder is built for disabling targets through fast, close-quarters strikes; it wants to get in, stab whatever needs to be stabbed, and then get the hell out. While it excels in smaller-scale skirmishes and melee-engagements, prolonged fights against multiple, well-armed targets are its downfall. Thus, the Sonder works best in and often even requires a team. It’s loadout includes:
PR Reactionary Recharge System: The “Parry-Riposte” energy system serves as the backbone to most of the exoframe’s capabilities, as well as its shield. Upon activation, the PR system sends out a “pulse” of receptive energy which, if timed correctly, can draw energy from another source when contact is made. In essence, this allows for the absorption of lighter-arms-fire and smaller-yield detonations. However, the PR system is merely a pulse and cannot be “held” like most shields, making it useless against sustained volleys of fire, and it can still be easily broken by high-powered weaponry.
Elliptical Engines: Standard to most melee-oriented exoframes, elliptical thrusters prioritize agility and are designed for providing evasive bursts of speed to close distance or maneuver against targeted projectiles. However, they fall short in protracted runs and won’t be winning Mox any marathons.
DH-25 Beam Falchions: A Dainslief Heavy classic, apparently, as the design has gone unchanged for nearly three generations. Simple and to the point, the DH-25 emits a blade of energy similar to the type utilized in projected hardlight shielding. Rather than rely solely on short-life battery packs, Mox has modified the pair to allow powering via direct-connection to the Sonder’s core—which would result in a devastating level of energy-consumption without proper utilization of the PR system. By channeling the PR system through its blades, the Sonder can draw in energy via the heat emitted from slashing through targets, or even clashing blades with other exoframes.
OS-22 Thermo-Damascus Side swords: The only part of the Sonder’s arsenal not reliant on its PR system, the “Old School” side swords are mounted hilt-forward on either shoulder. Hard steel with a single super-heated edge, the side swords cut well, but their edges cool quickly and require sheathing in order to recharge, making them an unideal holdout weapon, but still better than nothing.
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