Rhona W Member

> Wait, are you saying my posts are borderline advanced? Because I've always pegged my skill at low casual, if not super high free. Because if so, I could always excuse myself from other RPs and focus solely on GEARS and this other one. Though I'll have to learn a TON of pilot lingo and how it all works. I know a bit from my planetside 2 piloting, but I felt I didn't know enough to be worth anything, and also I didn't feel my writing skill was high enough. Your writing is fine by my standards in the least. It's certainly a lot better than a lot of others I've seen. And calling yourself high free? Wow, that's just insulting to yourself (though, that's my opinions of Free, and the hideous things I've seen there creeping in). I think people seem to have this idea that Advanced is flowery shakespearean language and novel-length paragraphs, whereas I think it's as much about the depth and prep of the roleplay and its' characters as it is about the language standards. Your posts, and your characters, are detailed and in-depth, and you write more than one or two lines, plenty more, actually. Plus you actually know how to spell, punctuate and construct sentences. Not to mention things like tenses, and descriptive language (as in, setting up scenes and descriptions of surroundings, mood etc.) Same with more or less everyone here. The RP I'm trying to get running is going to be no more complex in 'level' (which is an arbitrary idea anyway) than this one is. The only difference is the setting, of course, and that will have the same level of reference materials I've provided for GEARs. And you've seen how I run that stuff. Plus, this has the benefit of my previous ten years-worth of running it behind it. And regarding the piloting lingo stuff, it's not like I'm testing anyone :P I will provide copious references, as I keep them for use when I'm writing anyway. I don't use it always myself - it tends to end up being a mess of jargon if there's too much of it, and sometimes I just forget, or plain don't want to in favour of just saying what needs to be said.

Actually, the original version of the game was a furry one, as it was for a group of my friends who were also part of the fandom too. It went long enough that we actually started building a wiki and everything. As for the level - I consider GEARs to be bordering on advanced anyway, considering the amount of time and effort that's gone into the background, plot, everyone's characters and the fact we all actually have back-and-forth discussion about the setting, tech, characters, world, etc. I wasn't planning on making it any more demanding than that. But if it's a time issue then I completely understand - I wasn't sure about starting it in the first place myself, but I thought why not, and see if it gains any traction. I'm hoping I get a few bites at least.

Cool. Well, as long as you get a post up then it's cool. As I've said before, I'm going to keep things moving if people don't post, to keep the momentum going. In other news, I'm not sure if any of you will be interested, or how much you've got on, but I've decided to bravely start another RP. It's a reboot of a game I used to run off-site, to see if I can get something going out of it. [Thunderbolt Black](http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/75514/posts/ooc)

I'm thinking I might attempt a new version of a play-by e-mail game I ran off-site. That incarnation of this game ran for almost ten years, and a key point of that was players who were dedicated, alongside a strong plot and background that all of the characters and players were involved in. I would love to try and re-create that on RP Guild, and hopefully get a game that runs as long. Thunderbolt Black is essentially a story told in an alternate version of our world, post a World War Three in the 1990's, after the cold war persisted for longer, and eventually went hot. A lot changed, and - to cut a long story short - mercenary companies and mega-corporations become commonplace and powerful (all of this will be explained in a much more detailed background if I get enough interest). The players will be part of a tactical fighter squadron (though it would include multi-role and attack aircraft) that is part of the most well-known and well-respected PMC, Thunderbolt Black. They are fighting a secretive war against the mega-corporation MultiCorp, which has plans of its' own for re-building the still fragile world. My hope is to involve the characters' backgrounds and personal storylines with the larger story, and weave things into a somewhat epic adventure. I didn't get to run the full plot I had planned for the original version of the game in the end (it only came into being as I realized the game was actually getting somewhere), and I'd like to use elements of it in this version. In terms of the 'mood' and 'feel' of the game, it's a blend of sci-fi elements with military thrillers. So, there will be things like killer satellites, genetic engineering and minor cybernetics, etc. The kind of thing that would be theoretically possible, if money was no object, or one or two breakthroughs in the right area had been made. Othwerwise, there will be a strong element of realism to the aircraft - no Ace Combat or otherwise 'super planes' like the X-02 or Morgan or whatever, and no 80+ missiles or backflipping your jet at five times the speed of sound. A good knowledge of aircraft and their systems would help, but isn't essential. Willingness to learn, to be corrected, and to do your own research is kind of essential though. A sense of humour and the desire to actually make a goddamn post is absoultely 100% vital to joining in. I'm looking for about 4 - 8 players. The game will be high-level casual - primarily due to the story/plot content, but decent writing standards would be nice too.

No problems - just as an aside though, you may want to edit your post so that Edward can direct the reinforcements to take the prisoners the rest of the squad has taken - it frees you up to get on with something else then. Also, you didn't reply to Blade's message in the post either, which would have quite easily answered the questions you're asking the prisoners ^_^

At Mike's command, the Pine Marten slowly and nervously followed his directions. He didn't show any signs of resistance, just obvious ones of fear. For the rest of Esailia's squad, outside of the protective and enclosing shell of the [i]Prowler[/i], the young mans' fear was obvious in his scent as much as his posture. As Mike asked him questions, he wrung his hands as he answered. "M-my name is Jed Whitefall, s-sir. I know the mine well, and I can get you to the cavern easily. A-and trusting me? I... just want to get out of here and go home. My mother and sister are there. It was my big brother and my Dad who made me come". He hung his head, and his ears went flat. "I just want to go home," he repeated quietly. The rest of the prisoners remained subdued. None of them talked, moving only to cough or otherwise shift their weight around, and were in no way showing signs of making a break for it or of resistance. As sounds from the GEARs of Blades' group in the cavern echoed back through the tunnels, they looked slightly alarmed and glanced to the rest of the fireteam out of natural curiosity, but otherwise made no threatening movements of any kind. At Ken's contact, the radio - still dogged by static from the local magnetic field interference hissed and popped a reply. "Roger, Maxwell. Just hail them for an ID check. Visual looks okay; no signs of anything untoward about the vessel, it looks like a standard civilian [i]Clayton[/i]-class light transport. No signs of any weapons either, or any unusual sensor systems. We can't get in contact with the rest of the Roughriders at this time, too much interference from the mine. Besides, there's nothing they can do. RTB once you have the radio contact, over" As Aidan and Edward wheeled Esailia on the stretcher towards the mine entrance, the shapes of a security team from the [i]Claw[/i] came into view. Clearly distinct from the shapes of the bandits by their helmets and combat gear, they froze for a moment upon seeing the pair with the stretcher, and then relaxed as their visors showed IFF tags. "This way," called the leader of the fireteam. "We'll escort you out. The [i]Claw[/i] has taken up position outside". Seeing the bullet wound Aidan was sporting, the team leader; a female rough collie and head of the land-ships' security team, directed one of her men to assist the wounded medic as he moved on. "Any more in there?" she asked Edward, keeping pace. "We've got the outside secured. I can send my squad deeper into the mine if the rest of your team needs support". In the main cavern, the hostiles were at the end of their rope. The two trucks were piles of smoking wreckage. The machine-gun team had surrendered after being mostly turned into chunky paste. However, the near-suicidal anti-GEAR troops had yet to be dealt with. Assailing Adrians' GEAR, they clambered onto the machine and placed charges, after the sniper managed to shoot out the machines' optical sensors with high-powered ammunition, moments before Irry hosed her with a burst of minigun fire. One set of charges detonated, before Blade and Irry both managed to knock the rest off of their comrades' machine. A second set detonated in close proximity, but were not, thankfully, close enough to cause serious structural damage. No further rounds came their way, and everything was still, at last, for more than a handful of moments. A thermal imaging scan of the cabin built into the corner revealed there were people inside, and Blade hit the loudspeakers on the [i]Harlock[/i] as he waved Irry and Adrian to take up cover positions. "You, in the cabin - we have three GEARs covering the structure, and infantry inbound. You are surrounded and outgunned, with no further allies or support. Surrender immediately." There was a moments silence, and Blades' comm channel sounded with the badly broken-up message from Aiden, the interference still doing it's best to hinder the operation. "Roger. We've got things pretty much secure here, no further signs of hostiles, and the last few are penned up in a mining office. Get the captain to the sickbay, we'll take care of this". Switching channels, he got through to the fireteam. He wasn't sure who'd take over from Sprinstream, but he had no doubt they'd do their part. That was why he'd asked for them in the first place. "Fireteam, this is Blade. We've got a building that needs breaching and clearing, reading four poss tangoes inside. The rest of the cavern is secured, and friendlies are moving in. What's your situation, over?"

Well, it's been 8 days since I made the last GM post, so I'm moving things on. Everyone's had a chance to post, so if you didn't make one and give me an acceptable reason why not: tough tits. Post will be up shortly. EDIT: Post is up, and the party is just about over.

> also if not sure what's going on with the pine marten, are you taking that character Blade, of am I/we? Eh, feel free to direct him about - you know where you've got to end up, and I think there's enough info in the posts to get you there. I'm just riding this one to the end, so we can get onto the next bit at this point. There's no big surprises until the debrief afterward. > Sent my post to Silver VIA Pms. Let me know what ya think before I post it I'll reply to it momentarily, Cart. Thanks for sending it over

That would be living the dream for me, too!

Woo, looking forward to it! And thanks for the good words too :) It's a big relief for me, and has given me a boost.