Rhona W

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

The Mage - you're welcome to join in. I'm treating it as first come, first served and if we get CS's from everyone and they all stay, we'll be over my original cap, but still managable. I'd expect a few drop-outs based on previous experience though. Swift, your character looks fine. You can join in the IC right away, your character can be waiting for us on the aircraft carrier. The only thing I will add is a word of caution - Someone played a deliberately abrasive and snarky character in a previous version of GEARs, and they didn't do it especially well: they insulted someone's dead comrades in their first appearance and got punched in the face for it, and nobody bothered talking to them IC because they were so unpleasant, and their player 'didn't expect everyone to hate them', despite playing them as a dick. I'm not saying don't play them as snarky and sarcastic - but make sure they have some likable and redeeming qualities too, so they don't get left out or ignored and hated!

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

Sorry, Machine - I went ahead and posted as the 7-day rule came into effect. You should be able to follow it up quickly enough though. For everyone, do bear in mind that your aircraft will have been modified for carrier ops suitably; i.e. appropriate avionics and reinforced landing gear and tailhooks to permit launch and landing from an aircraft carrier. It just keeps things varied. Once everyone's down and landed, we'll get into a briefing and some face-to-face contact, and our first proper mission! I'll also PM all our prospective new players and see if they're still intending to join us or not...!

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

Chaos descended on the radio, as surviving ground, naval and air units all tried to establish contact with HQ and ask for clarification on what happened. Everything went silent as a stentorian, authoritative male voice cut across the channel. "This is AWACS Stormfront, I'm taking over traffic control while the tower gets back online. Everyone calm down and prioritise! The chain of command is still intact, and commanders will be in touch momentarily. Thunder Island avoided a direct hit - the Kinetic Strike hit the ocean a couple of miles off-shore. The resulting tidal impact and the concussion caused a lot of damage, but the water is already receding. Once damage crews clear the debris, we should be able to start recovering planes. The civilians are mostly fine - Civil Defence got them to the shelters as soon as the attack began, so we should be looking at low casualties for the civilians. Our casualties on the ground are still coming in. Now, all pilots pay attention and listen for your orders..." The AWACS controller began to direct and divert aircraft according to their situation, dealing with everything calmly yet swiftly. The controller was evidently expert at his job; he seemed to know the fuel levels of each squadron by heart, and was able to organize everyone effectively. Shortly, he came to deal with the Black Knights, and included Rodriguez in the conversation too. "Black Knights, Warrior Three. Spirit, Viper, and Viking; you are all directed to join up with the Black Knights as per your previous briefing - only now, it's at a bit more short notice. Rendezvous with them, and proceed on heading nine-zero for handover to the Stormcloud, which will be coming on station. Further orders will be forthcoming once you reach the carrier. Thunderbolt One will be there in person to deliver your orders, I've been assured" Scott glanced at St. Helen in the mirror, who returned the surprised look - Thunderbolt One was no other than General Dylan Thomas, the founder and head-honcho of Thunderbolt Black himself. If he had a mission to deliver, it must be important. "Roger, Stormfront. Wilco. Break. Spirit, Viper, Viking: welcome to the Black Knights. Shame it had to be under these circumstances. Your callsigns will be Knights Five through Seven. All aircraft, come onto heading nine-zero and altitude Angels Twenty. Slot into formation, and we'll head for the boat". Scott set the Super Tomcat into a gentle climb, curling the aircraft in a light bank toward the heading. He unstrapped his oxygen mask as he did so, taking a moment to get a sip of water from the small flask in his thigh pocket at the same time. Beside him, St. Helen did the same, leaning back from the radar scope and rubbed her eyes, looking out of the canopy for a few moments, before shifting in her seat too, as they waited for the others to join them in a strung-out staggered line formation. Miles passed under their wings, in the distance other islands of the Bahamas were visible, slipping away, until slowly but surely the wake of the Stormcloud, the giant trimaran aircraft carrier of Thunderbolt Black, and her escorting flotilla of support ships became visible. The deck was busy as aircraft orphaned by the attack on the base landed and recovered, while others refuelled from airborne tankers. The controller came on the channel and directed them into the pattern, and all too soon it was their chance to land. "This is Knight One," Scott announced. "I'll head in for landing, everyone else land in trail. See you on the deck". Scott set the ASF-14 up for the approach for the carriers' wide rear deck. The gear dropped and locked into place, the tailhook following suit. Brakes and flaps extended, wings fully out. All lights checked green, and everything prepped. Scott carefully rode the throttle and gauges, St. Helen serving as a second pair of eyes and a coaxing voice as he dropped the aircraft closer to the gently moving carrier deck in the controlled crash that was a carrier landing. Despite the relatively slow speed, the deck of the ship rushed up at his plane, and then with a jarring thump the plane hit the deck. The hook caught the second wire, and both of them were slammed forward in their seats with the sudden, jarring deceleration. Almost immediately the Tomcat was waved aside, and Scott fed power into the engines to taxi out of the path of the landing aircraft, the Tomcats' wings sliding back to full sweep as the big jet moved aside. Once the jet was shut down, the crew pulled and pushed it into place. Scott and St. Helen unstrapped and unfastened themselves with the help of the deck crew, before clambering down from the cockpit to the deck. "Let's hope the others make it down," said St. Helen, tossing her hair free of the helmet and tucking it under one arm. "Fingers crossed," Scott replied. "But given what we've seen out of them so far, I have no doubts they can all manage it. Although - I have no idea about Spirit and the other two. Let's see what they're made of. Good to have the others with us. After everything that happened, I was worried they might've been caught on the ground, or shot down". Both of them stood well out of the way, and trained their eyes toward the skies, and looked to pick out the shape of the next approaching plane.

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

Scott had been backing up Jan and Zhenya's fire with his own as they advanced. He heard the BMD at the same time as Jan called it out, and threw himself behind cover as the infantry piled out, and the vehicles' low, flat turret began turning, the cannon sniffing them out as targets. Cursing to himself in a mutter, Scott slid the Carl Gustav off of his shoulder, along with the backpack of rounds. Swinging open the tube in a super-fast reload, he swung the nozzle shut and slapped the catch home. He shouldered the heavy recoilless rifle, and squinted into the high-powered, modern scope. The BMD swum into focus as he came up on one knee. He tracked the crosshair to his left, sighting on the boxy flank of the little tracked vehicle. "Fire in the hole!" he yelled out, and then pulled the trigger. The weapon fired with a crashing, rolling boom that echoed off of the forest and the ruined base, rolling around. The projectiles' impact was marked with a roaring blossom of flame and smoke; and the IFV came to a stop abruptly. He was all ready to load a HE for the second round, but then the order to stand down came through, and he hesitated. Almost in an instant everything started to unravel. He slung the Charlie and followed Jan, MP5 in hand once again. An uneasy feeling grew in his gut as they moved on. Russians were swarming everywhere. Balaclava-clad and moving with fierce intent and purpose, they looked like the stereotype of the Cold War baddies bought to life - and there were here, in the middle of their mission. Like Jan, he felt a growing sense of unease, and that something about the situation was squirrelly, but he didn't have a chance to mention it before the Pole spoke his mind, angrily and rightly so. Zhenya's reaction was typical Zhenya: the man was almost robotic at the best of times (both of them were, he thought to himself wryly), and now he didn't even portray a reaction other than simple acceptance. "This is bollocks, mate," he said chiming in quietly as he pulled the scarf off of the lower part of his face and slid his goggles up onto his helmet. "The captain's right, something about this doesn't add up. It's all too bloody convenient, and we're being frozen out of whatever's going on here. I know our orders are to return to base... but if we missed out on something that we'd get in the shit for later because we didn't look into it. Well, 'we were ordered to' is a bit of a crap reason for it, isn't it?" He shook his head. "Not my call to make though," he said after a moment. Rolling his shoulders, he looked to Jan and nodded. "Sir," he said, meeting Jan's eyes evenly, and hoping he got the silent message: I'm with you, whatever happens.

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

Hopefully we can move on a bit though before repeating a 1 week wait just to finish debrief

I'm still waiting for some people to post. While the majority of players have made one, there's been some noticeable silence. Also, how do people feel about the mission? I have a whole story that will flow out from it planned, but if no-one's interested in it, then there doesn't seem like much point in pressing on with it. Is that something that's putting people off of posting? Is there anything else people would like to see added, removed, or changed to make the game more interesting? One thing I am aware of is that the game is called GEARS and currently there's less focus on the titular robots - especially as two of the most active players aren't even GEAR pilots :P

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

Machine, just waiting on a post from you, don't worry too much though - I'm down with illness right now, so I'm in no rush to post. We should have some new players joining shortly too, if they follow through and make characters. My last attempt at bumping the int-check got some responses. I will also update the first post in the OOC with a list of current characters and links to their sheets for ease and convenience.

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

I'll try and get a post up shortly - I was out all day yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty ill today, so not really up to it. Should be something soon, though.

Thunderbolt Black - Aerial Combat, Near Future

Absolutely you can

Thunderbolt Black - Aerial Combat, Near Future

Great to hear it! As above, follow the link to the OOC in my sig or the post above, and ask if you need any assistance at all, we'll all be happy to help out. :)

Thunderbolt Black - Aerial Combat, Near Future

Awesome! The link to the OOC should be above, if not, it's in my sig anyway. Feel free to ask as many questions as you like, either in the thread or by PM. Glad to have you with us! Still room for more if anyone else wants in!