Rhona W

Splintered / Reflections

Name: Silverwind Blade

Nickname: Silver, Silv

Age: 50

Species: Canuss; Vulpine

Appearance:

Pending an updated replacement

Silverwind is a vulpine-looking canuss. His coloration mostly matches that of a red fox. He has grey creeping in around his muzzle and through the thick, brown hair atop his head, and his fur is growing more shaggy and unruly with age.
While he is not especially tall, topping out at 5' 5" (not including his ears), he has quite the 'presence' of personality and appearance, not least due to the scars he carries on the left of his muzzle, the chunk missing from his ear on the same side, and the patch covering his missing left eye, hints of a scar showing from beneath it. This is all also completed by the cybernetic replacement left arm, made of black-and-white plastics and composites. His remaining eye is a warm, deep brown.

Silverwind carries himself with military bearing and experience, and this is reflected in his practical military-style clothing at all times; BDU-style pants, boots, and practical T-Shirts, often accompanied by a flight jacket.

His voice - despite being from Canuss, and not at all Earth or the United States especially - has a rough and gruff tone to it, and an accent somewhat resembling a 'southern drawl' from the Southern US states.

Personality:
Silverwind often comes across as gruff and closed-off when first meeting him, but it is simply a case that he has a combination of awkwardness with small talk, and of not believing in 'wasted words'. He does, in truth, have quite a depth of feeling and character, but it takes a while to crack this hard exterior, and find the warmth of the person below. Though, it is often expressed in smaller gestures and actions towards those he has a fondness for.
He has had a difficult life. His early years was pleasant, but it quickly changed as the Totality came to Canuss. At first, the war was something that happened far away, but it quickly grew to take over the world and his life along with it. He lost friends, family and lovers to the Totality and the war that came with them, and fighting them became his life - and it turned out, he was an excellent soldier. But he can't help but think what else he could have been, given the chance to have a different kind of life.
Given his experience, he has little patience for ignorance, wilful stupidity or other such distractions. Mindgames and manipulation or other kinds of messing with people and their lives or emotions will result in scathing disregard and utter contempt for said person, and even violent retribution if it leads to others - especially if they are loved ones or innocents - coming to harm.
Silverwind is definitely more on the side of morality and justice. He very much tends to stand up for those who are unable to protect themselves, or are downtrodden and oppressed, and will always fight against anyone who forces their will on others.
He has quite a sense of humour, although it definitely skews more toward the acerbic, sarcastic, ironic and quick-witted or smart-mouthed than the kind of 'goofy' or 'obscure' and outlandish humour.

History:

• Born in remote town of Northhome in Western Continent of Canuss
• Grew up during early years of Totality invasion
• Enlisted in military as soon as old enough; passed training with ease
• Parents killed in Totality attack on Northhome
• Sister missing after Totality attack on her home
• Fought in several notable battles, before fall of Canuss government
• Heavily injured during fall of Xerxes; Canuss largest city
• Recovered over next six months as part of Resistance
• Fitted with cybernetic arm, returned to Resistance fighting
• First experiences with command role, gained some minor notoriety
• Contact with other Coalition races, first joint operations, first off-world experiences
• First successful raids against Totality forces
• Operations with Human forces as part of Coalition
• Took part in the Florida battle, received recognition for his contributions - but plays this down.
• Joined SPEAR after fall of Florida monolith, selected for command position.

Key Skills & Abilities:

• Experienced Marksman
• Trained in use of heavy weapons
• Command experience
• Trained in operation of VTOL attack and combat aircraft and their weapons

Special Abilities:
Despite missing his left eye, Silverwind still has exceptional spatial awareness and perception. His depth perception seems only minimally affected, and he is still able to pilot aircraft and use weapon systems with few disadvantages.
His age is likewise seeming not to slow him down as much as would be expected. If anything, his ageing seems to be slowing down. His reaction times and sensory perception have dulled somewhat, but not to the extent one would expect for his age, and his injuries.
His health - other than effects from lasting injuries, such as recurring aches and stiffness - is in excellent condition otherwise - despite being a regular drinker and smoker.
He of course has a cybernetic replacement left arm. It does not enhance his strength, being a prosthetic replacement rather than an enhancement. However, he has had it 'modified' over the years. It is built of reinforced composite materials that make it very durable and sturdy, making it useful to block melee strikes, and to perform hand-to-hand combat strikes. It has a built in contact taser, as well as a holdout single-shot 12 gauge shotgun that is hidden; the arm needing to split open to fire it through the palm of his hand.
The arm is also more fireproof, and electrically insulated than his organic body parts.
Given his extensive military background, Silver has opted to have communications implants, as well as a tracking/distress beacon/vital signs monitor implant installed.

Personal Weapons:

• Stoner SR-25 Semi-automatic sniper rifle with suppressor, bipod, vertical foregrip, telescopic sight and laser aiming module (in desert camo)
• KnightWerx Master Pistol (aka, KMP) - a Canuss military sidearm; it is capable of both semi-auto and automatic fire, and has extended magazines, a threaded barrel (for a suppressor) and a mounting rail for a light, laser, or other accessory. Silverwind's one has been rechambered to use .45 ACP ammunition, due to the lack of readily available Canuss rounds.
• Contact taser built into cybernetic arm
• 'holdout' single-shot 12-gauge shotgun built into cybernetic arm (has to be manually reloaded; arm all-but splits apart to fire it)
• Combat/survival knife
• Combat/Survival tomahawk (with a monomolecular edge)
• Frag, Smoke & Plasma grenades

Personal Equipment:

• Pebble
• Hip flask containing Alerian Fireroot Spirit (basically, Canuss Whisky)
• Multi tool (the Canuss equivalent of a Leatherman or a Swiss Army Knife)
• Hydration pack (3l water, built in filter and purifier)
• Canuss Harmonica equivalent (he's actually quite good!)
• Personal body armour (which has MOLLE-like load-bearing) & harnesses, holsters, etc
• chemlights
• flex-cuffs/cable ties
• duck tape/sniper tape/100mph tape (you know the stuff, it's ubiquitous)
• Canuss 'smokes' (cigarettes) and a lighter (they don't smell as bad as human cigarettes, cigars or weed, and have a calming, stabilising effect on the nerves. Like a very mild high)

Splintered / Reflections

@Rhona W

When was the Dranfel home world rendered uninhabitable relative to the start of the game? Would a younger member of their species have no concept of a home planet at all? Or was it a more recent thing?

@Neziul

I had in mind it was many generations ago, and their original world is something of a passed-down tale among the current generations. Maybe some of the very oldest Dranfel might remember it, but the younger ones would see it only as a story and something that exists in pictures. Their 'home world' would be the world(s) that the Dranfel settled on subsequently.

@Rhona W
Here is my character sheet. Let me know if anything needs changing to fit the lore, anything that I might've overlooked.
(/snipped)

@Cozure

All looks good to me so far - you don't need to have any special abilities necessarily if you don't want to. Happy to Approve him if you want to post in the Characters tab - although, please format the sheet accordingly when you do.

The MAS sounds like ye olde Scopedog.
-I'll need to remember to make a note to pack a spare change of clothes (or at least a field-cloak) in storage in case she needs to abandon the MAS.

Felix is probably going to be biased against elves for reasons unmentionable in polite company, but will 'tolerate' augmented paranormal humans to the point of defending them.

As for herself, she'll likely be the result of anhur attempts at genetic modification to combine the best traits of multiple races, but largely inherited none of the positive traits aside from being the black-fur covered swan of the batch. That and being nearly wingless. Whether that story is true or not is another matter, but it's the one she sticks to when questioned on it; and listing her as an anhur makes it easier to tick a checkbox than to list her as 'other' and write a whole first-contact form.

@Foster

The Scopedog was definitely an inspiration, although I have never seen any VOTOMs anime or read the manga, I am well aware of it (as any good mecha enthusiast should be).

I'm fine if your character is biased against elves, but do let me know as GM why, so I can be aware of it and incorporate it into the narrative appropriately.
The genetic manipulation background is fine too; there's certainly enough precedent for it given the amount of it going on in the setting as a whole.

I have also updated the Oth post with details on the standard MAS Suit your characters will all be used, and the options for their loadouts.

I'll put together a character sheet for myself as soon as I can soon - but every time I've sat down to do some writing for this so far this weekend, I've been hit with 'could you just help me with...' of course xD

Splintered / Reflections

M9 Gernsback; SPEAR Team MAS Suit

Overview:
The Gernsback is the most advanced production and in-service MAS Suit in the world to date. It has been designed from the ground up specifically with missions that SPEAR teams are tasked to take on. As such, it incorporates the best proven and reliable technologies available, as well as many advanced features and systems that are improvements over previous models of MAS Suit.
The Gernsback is also the first MAS Suit that has been designed, procured and produced with the full intention of standardised issue to combat units, rather than an ad hoc urgent requisition from an R&D program comprised of several experimental systems. This greatly increases qualities such as the reliability, along with things like supply of spare parts and support for the system, as well as integration with existing systems and technology, both in terms of logistics, but also with such things as standardised communications, data links and other such mundane qualities that are nonetheless advantageous.

The M9 is the base production model, with the M9A being the command unit, that has an expanded communications suite for better battlefield control. The M9B is the operational trainer version. More variants are expected as the M9 is used in the field more often and put through operational service to find out any advantages or shortfalls it may have.

Serial Number & Designation: Ambrull Industries M9 Gernsback

Operational Role: Special Operations use Mobility Augmentation System Suit (MAS Suit)

Height: 12 feet 6 inches

Operational Time:

• 12 hours at normal operational level
• 18 hours in reduced operation mode - minimal movement, sensors and communications

A higher activity rate and excessive use - and abuse - of the MAS Suit's systems may reduce the overall operational time.

Power System:
Ultra high-density solid state graphene battery. Rechargeable through adaptor system from a variety of power sources.

Motive Systems:
Artificial muscle fibers driving all limb movements in combination with actuator motor network.
Wheels embedded in each foot for rapid-speed ground movement over even or paved surfaces, also enable on-the-spot turns.
'jump jet' rocket thrusters in on back and in lower calves, enable high/long jumps, as well as braking descents. Also allow propulsion over short distances in Zero-G environments. Can be replaced with hydrojets for aquatic propulsion. Sufficient fuel for numerous jumps, but insufficient thrust/power for sustained flight or hovering under normal Earth-standard gravity and atmospheric conditions.

Communications Systems:

• Secure and encrypted HF/VHF/UHF Radio
• Laser link transmission/reception
• Satellite communications link

Sensor and Targeting Systems:

• Laser rangefinder & targeting
• Multifunction LIDAR (targeting, surveillance, reconnaissance and exploration/scientific functions)
• Thermal Optics
• Night vision tied to infrared emitters on suit exterior
• Millimeter-wave 3D radar (active and passive)
• 8x Optical zoom in all vision modes

Utility Systems:

• Storage container for personal items, firearms and survival equipment
• Computer interface jack built into left/right forefingers
• Onboard water supply (5 liters)
• Spotlights with IR Filters
• IR identification strobe
• Full record and playback of all sensory input and data telemetry
• External microphones
• External speakers; can be tied into communications and computer system
• Onboard computer system fully integrated with Pebble. Computer system capable of fully accessing and displaying a variety of commercial and specialised programs and information.

Control Systems

• Combination control system; leg movements controlled by mimetic exoskeleton assisted by input from MAS Pilot suit.
• Arm, head, and torso positioning controlled by feedback from MAS Pilot suit and inner lining of pilot compartment.
• Utility, Sensor, Communications and weapon systems controlled by combination of voice, eye-pointing, jaw movements, and hand controls.
• Fully articulated manipulators controlled by waldo-type gloves

Weapon Hardpoints:
4 x Total weapon hardpoints:

• 2 x forearm hardpoints for light - medium weapon systems and equipment (left/right arm)
• 2 x back hardpoints for medium - heavy weapon systems and equipment (left/right side)

Additional 'firmpoints' or 'stowage points' for additional ammunition, 'holstered' hand-held weapons or tools, or storage containers and other equipment.

• 1 x rear waist
• 1 x left/right hip
• 1 x left/right calf

Standard MAS Suit Weapon Systems

An MAS Suit has no fixed weapon systems - other than its' own physical strength and bulk.
As such, the Exo suit can be configured and loaded with a variety of weapon systems and equipment depending on the needs of a mission or operation, and these systems can be swapped between missions, via the use of the hardpoint systems on each forearm and on both sides of the backpack.
The MAS Suit can also carry additional weapons in its hands, like an oversized soldier.
Any mounted equipment can be ejected from hardpoints when it is empty, damaged, or unneeded. A hardpoint can only carry one device at a time, and can carry any combination of weaponry, but weapons and devices are not interchangeable between arm and back hardpoints.

Hand-Carried weapons

These weapons can be carried by an MAS Suit in its hands (or manipulators, if you prefer). Some require only one hand, some require both; this is explained in their information below.
Hand-carried weapons - in most cases, unless they are exceptionally large - can be stowed or holstered on the MAS to free up both hands. Single-handed weapons are usually stowed on one or the other hip, while dual-handed weapons are stowed at the lower back horizontally.

• Assault Rifle
  In reality, a .50 Caliber heavy machine-gun reworked into a rifle-grip weapon carried and fired in both hands of an MAS Suit like an oversized infantry assault rifle.
  It has been altered for select fire - i.e. single shot or fully automatic - and the rate of fire lowered to aid in controllability and control ammunition consumption. Ammo is supplied in 50-round magazines. The weapon has no iron sights, and relies on the MAS sensors to be aimed. It has a good balance between range and power, and is effective against a wide range of targets, though is less effective against heavily armoured targets.
  The assault rifle can also mount an underbarrel, single-shot reloadable grenade launcher that can fire anti-armour, high-explosive fragmentation, incendiary, CS/Tear gas, smoke, EMP, chaff, stickyfoam ‘less lethal’, and buckshot 60mm grenades. The rifle can also be equipped with a sound suppressor.
• Sniper Rifle
  Firing 25mm shells as used in aircraft and armoured vehicle cannon, the sniper rifle is - by necessity - a two-handed weapon capable only of single shots, rather than burst fire. It has a very long range and high accuracy. It has magazines holding five shells each that can be reloaded in the field. There are several different types of ammunition, such as armour-piercing, incendiary, tracer, and explosive rounds. It has good armour penetration characteristics, especially with specialised rounds, against lightly armoured vehicles and has sufficient accuracy to target and exploit weak spots in heavier armoured vehicles. It is also very effective in damaging or destroying materiel targets, such as communications equipment, parked aircraft, generators, pipelines, and other such vital support infrastructure.
• Shotgun
  Essentially an oversized version of a normal pump-action shotgun. It normally fires 2-gauge (51mm diameter approximately) buckshot shells, but can also load slugs, flechettes, incendiaries, frag, EMP, and less-lethal ultra-low velocity riot control or taser rounds.
  Fed from an internal tube magazine, it holds 8 shots. The receiver has a shell carrier mounted on one side for an additional 'ready reload' of 8 shells. Additional shells can be carried in various places around the exterior of an MAS, usually in modular 'cassettes' that hold 16 rounds each, and can be clipped together to fit two onto a standard 'firmpoint'. They are colour coded for various types of shells.
  While it does considerable damage to light targets with its buckshot (and utterly horrendous damage to living things), it is less effective against heavily armoured targets, and has a comparatively short range.
• Assault Carbine
  A short, two-handed weapon that fires 7.62mm rounds from a drum magazine, the assault carbine is essentially a rebuilt and chopped down medium machine gun for infantry use, adapted into a hand-held weapon for an MAS Suit. It is not overly accurate, or especially long-ranged, but works well at suppressive fire and direct shots at short and medium ranges. It can also be fired on single-shot for more accuracy.
  It is especially effective against unarmoured targets such as personnel and light vehicles and structures, but is less useful against heavier targets like heavy vehicles, and has little effect on armoured targets or heavier structures or equipment. It is small enough to be stowed on a hip when not in use, and can utilise box magazines from standard M240 or FN MAG machine guns. It can be equipped with a sound suppressor.
• Machine Pistol
  The lightest caliber weapon an MAS Suit is equipped with, the Machine pistol fires standard 5.56mm rounds like those used in assault rifles and light machine-guns by infantry. It has a relatively high rate of fire on fully automatic, and can also fire single shots. It is ineffective against armoured or heavy targets, but is useful against infantry or other soft targets.
  It is a one-handed weapon and has large box magazines that are interchangeable with the M249 SAW or minimi light machine gun. It can be stowed on an MAS Suits’ hip for carrying, when not in use. It can be equipped with a sound suppressor.
• Auto Shotgun
  An unusual weapon, by MAS Suit standards. The Auto Shotgun fires different rounds to the above handheld weapon. Instead, it fires 8-gauge rounds. These are larger, heavier, and more powerful than standard 12-gauge shotguns. It has a variety of available rounds; standard buckshot, slug, incendiary (‘dragonsbreath’), flechette, EMP, frag, and less-lethal taser and rubber-ball riot control. It feeds from a 24-round drum magazine, and while ‘fully automatic’, it has a relatively slow rate of fire to promote accuracy, and it also has a single-shot fire mode.
  While versatile for the types of ammunition it can load, it is mostly effective against unarmoured and light targets. It is a two-handed weapon.
• Handgun
  A small, single-handed firearm, the handgun is based on an oversized revolver action. It fires a 14.5mm round as used by Russian and former soviet bloc heavy machine guns from a 4-round cylinder. It has good penetration against light and unarmoured vehicles and structures, and can even do some damage to lightly armoured ones. It is comparatively short-ranged because of the short barrel, however.
  As it uses heavy machine-gun rounds, it is capable of firing different types of ammunition, such as armour-piercing incendiary and high-explosive incendiary rounds. Speedloaders are available for quick reloads.
• Machine Gun
  Essentially the Assault rifle with a heavier barrel and a much larger magazine; this weapon is designed for a faster rate of fire for suppressing targets, as opposed to the short burst of automatic fire from the rifle. The Machine gun does not feature a semi-auto fire mode. In emergencies, it can use the same magazines as the assault rifle and it has a folding bipod under the barrel.
• Light Vulcan
  A triple-barrelled rotary (‘gatling’)-type automatic cannon, this massive weapon is able to lay down massive amounts of automatic fire. It requires both hands to use, due to the sheer size of the weapon.
  It is essentially a cut down and altered version of a larger, longer weapon used on attack helicopters, and has a massive drum of several thousand rounds of ammunition linked by a feed belt. The drum is mounted on one of the stowage points on an MAS Suit’s hips, and the weapon is too large to be stowed, meaning it must be carried by both hands.
  Not at all designed for subtlety or precision, the weapon is entirely intended for withering hails of firepower at incredible rates of fire. Despite the huge amount of ammunition carried, it is still sufficient for only around a minute of continuous fire, and instead, the weapon is fired in short bursts - this also avoids overheating the barrels.
  The 20mm ammunition normally used is the SAPHEI - Semi-Armour-Piercing High-Explosive Incendiary; which gives an excellent balance of effects. The ‘light’ in the name refers to the smaller size compared to the M61 6-Barrelled Vulcan cannon used on combat aircraft.
  The light vulcan is devastating against infantry and unarmoured targets, and quite effective against light vehicles, structures, and light armour, and can damage heavily armoured targets, especially in their weaker areas.
• Combat Blade
  An MAS-sized blade, somewhere between the equivalent size of a combat knife and a machete. Made of ultra-hardened alloy and sharpened to a monomolecular edge, it is incredibly sharp. The back edge has saw-teeth for utility purposes, and the pommel is hardened for use as a hammer or blunt impact tool. It is provided with a sheath that can be placed on a hip, or attached to the chest of an MAS Suit.
• Combat Axe
  An upsized ‘tactical tomahawk’ or survival axe; it features a single-edged axe head and long haft and handle made of the same materials as the combat blade. The head is weighted to increase the force of an axe swing. The head also incorporates a rear-facing spike that can be used as a pry bar. It can be stowed horizontally on the rear waist of an MAS Suit, or strapped into a holster on the back.
• Hand Grenades
  Hand-thrown or placed explosive devices. They can be strapped to the exterior of an MAS Suit and have an adhesive strip that can be optionally used to place them as charges with a timer, or a button-type trigger that can be pressed to set a default short fuse to use them as fragmentation explosives. Other kinds are available, such as incendiary, plasma, EMP, tear/CS gas, smoke, stickyfoam, flashbang, and less-lethal ‘sting’ rubber-ball.

Arm-mounted Weapons & Equipment

These weapons are mounted to an MAS Suits’ forearm hardpoints. They leave the MAS Suits manipulators free - unless otherwise stated - enabling them to still be used for normal tasks. They tend to be lighter or limited in shots compared to back-mounted or hand-carried weapons, though this is not universal. Some are designed or intended to be ejected or disposed of when empty or used, such as missile or rocket tubes

• Light Minigun
  An adapted version of the M134 minigun, this 6-barrelled rotary machine gun fires 7.62mm ammunition from a drum of several thousand rounds. Extremely effective against personnel and light targets, it is less effective against armoured vehicles or structures. It has a staggering rate of fire, though can overheat quickly if fired continuously.
• Heavy Minigun
  The ‘big brother’ of the above weapon, the heavy minigun is adapted from the GAU-19 .50 caliber minigun. It has three barrels, and fires the same .50 caliber ammo as the hand-carried assault rifle and machine-gun, as well as common M2 Browning heavy machine guns. It is thus devastating against unarmoured targets, and even a threat to lightly armoured targets and structures, however it is prone to overheating and has a limited ammunition supply due to the much larger size of the rounds and a ferocious recoil.
• Flamethrower
  Relatively short-ranged, the flamethrower is mostly effective against unarmoured targets, but is psychologically incredibly intimidating. It is also very effective in enclosed spaces, and the jet of flame can be ‘bounced’ off of walls and around corners. It uses a feed of jellified combustible propellant at high pressure that is electrically ignited on leaving the barrel, rather than a pilot flame that could be extinguished. Naturally, given its’ nature, the flamethrower only works in environments where there is air to combust.
• Semi-Automatic Grenade Launcher
  The Semi-auto launcher also features a dual-feed system that can be switched between for versatility in the field. It has a reasonable range in addition, and is quite accurate. As it uses a lower pressure to fire, it has a wider variety of ammunition available, including less-lethal rounds.
  It can fire any low-velocity US/NATO 40mm grenade type, as well as additional airburst, plasma, flechettes, buckshot and EMP rounds.
• Chain Gun
  The Chain Gun is a single-barrelled automatic weapon that uses a mechanically driven (by a chain, as the name suggests) loading mechanism. This makes it highly efficient and resistant to jamming, and capable of a high rate of fire. It is also quite accurate.
  The MAS chaingun is adapted from a prototype 20mm chain gun. It has a cut-down barrel and action to reduce the weight and size, but is still very effective. It has good armour penetration against light vehicles like APC’s, IFV’s, and other lightly armoured vehicles, and can damage some heavier armoured vehicles if weak spots are exploited. It is also highly effective against light structures. Standard ammunition is a high-explosive armour-piercing tracer. It is fed from a box magazine, with spares carried on the leg hardpoints of the MAS.
• Laser
  One of the more advanced weapon systems used by the MAS Suits, the laser is a continuous-beam high-intensity solid state laser weapon. It has a relatively good effective range, though the damage is limited to a small area with minimal secondary effects. It is very effective against unarmoured and light targets, but requires remaining focused on a target to burn through heavier armour or structures. It also makes an effective cutting tool, but again, takes time to burn through denser or heavier materials. Its power supply is provided by a battery pack that can be recharged in the same manner as the MAS Suit’s own power supply, but this supply is limited. As the laser fires a constant beam, it is less a number of ‘shots’ and more the ‘duration’ of fire that is limited.
  The laser can be tuned to a blue/green wavelength to make it effective underwater, but this is a modification that cannot be performed in the field.
• Rocket Pod
  A four-tube rocket pod that fires Hydra 70mm unguided rockets. These weapons are intended for direct fire against a variety of targets. They are less powerful than missiles, but have more area effect and can be used in saturation fire attacks, and there are multiple types of warhead available.
  Rockets are characterised by being longer range than grenades, and shorter range than missiles, and having more explosive effects and varied payloads than ballistic guns and shells.
  The four tube, box-shaped launcher is quite long, but can be discarded when it is empty, freeing up the MAS Suits’ arm and reducing weight and clumsiness of the arm it is mounted on, due to the length of the launch tube projecting past the MAS Suits’ hand.
  Types of rockets available are high explosive, incendiary, plasma, armour-piercing (useful against light and medium armour, or against weak spots of heavily armoured vehicles and structures), flechette, CS/Tear Gas and smoke.
• Anti-Armour Missiles
  A two-tube, box-shaped disposable launcher for two guided anti-tank missiles. The missiles in question are based on the Javelin anti-tank missile. They are very effective against most armoured vehicles and hard structures, and can destroy even heavily armoured vehicles if they strike at the right angle and hit a weak spot.
• Chainsaw
  An MAS-Sized double-edged chainsaw that has hardened ultra-alloy blades for cutting through armour and other hardened materials, making it useful as an engineering and rescue tool as well as a weapon system. The chainsaw can extend or retract past the MAS Suits’ fist to make it less clumsy when not in use. The Chainsaw is electrically powered from a built-in battery pack that can be charged in the same way as the MAS Suit’s main battery.
• Utility Tool Pack
  Not a weapon (though, certain items in it can be improvised to use as one, albeit very ineffectually), and instead a utility item. The tool pack is a suite of engineering and repair tools attached to an MAS Suit’s forearm. The pack contains the following:
  
  • Welding/cutting plasma torch
  • Powered driver with interchangeable heads for drilling, screws, socket wrenches, etc.
  • Piers/wire cutters
  • Work light
  • Powered saw
  
  The interchangeable heads for the powered tool are stored on a rotating carousel built into the pack and can be changed via selection from the suits’ operator.
• Shield
  Exactly what it states - a slab of layered alloys and composite armour materials thicker than the suits’ own armour. The back side of the shield can be used to store spare ammunition magazines and the bottom end is tapered and pointed for use as an improvised melee weapon
• 40mm Gun
  A semi-automatic, autoloading 40mm low-pressure gun, derived from the venerable Bofors 40mm gun. It has relatively decent armour penetration qualities, thanks to using armour-piercing sabot ammunition as standard. It is not overly effective against heavily armoured vehicles from the front arc, but can damage their systems and may penetrate vulnerable areas. It is highly effective against lighter vehicles, structures and other targets. It can also fire standard high explosive ammunition. It fires from 5-round ‘clips’ that can be stored elsewhere on the armour. Due to being heavily cut down for use on an MAS Suit’s hardpoint, range and accuracy can be an issue.
• Pile Bunker
  The pile bunker is a close-range melee weapon. It uses an explosive charge - fed from a revolver-style magazine of 6 shots and reloaded by a speed loader - to drive an ultra-sharp, ultra-hardened spiked piston forward at high velocity. This makes it exceptionally able to pierce armour and damage vital systems beneath. Its damage is extremely localised, and it does require getting close to use, but it is an effective armour-piercing weapon.
• Spear Launcher
  Useful primarily as an underwater weapon system, the spear launcher has short range on land. It uses, rather than compressed air, magnetic propulsion to launch its spears, which are tipped with an ultra-hardened alloy material. Even underwater, its range is relatively short. It has multiple barrels, and can fire three spears at once. Reloading is achieved by discarding fired barrels, and snapping on a new set of three
• Gyrojet Gun
  A weapon capable of being used both underwater and on land, the gyrojet gun fires rocket-powered shells of around 20mm calibre. They are, however, not exceptionally powerful and are ineffective at short range, due to the need to reach velocity after leaving the barrel. The standard shells are high-explosive, and it has a 6-round, replaceable magazine.
• Retractable Blades
  Though no one on the MAS Suit R&D and armaments team will admit to it, this weapon seems to have been clearly inspired by certain comic book and movie characters, given its look and how it operates. A pair of serrated, monomolecular-edged ultra-alloy blades that can retract and extend when needed.
• Sonic Gun
  An - ostensibly - less-lethal weapon, the sonic gun uses variable-frequency soundwaves to affect its’ target. Mostly only useful against organic targets, it is especially effective on the senses and can cause crippling nausea, disorientation and other effects. It also works well underwater, due to the properties of water amplifying sound waves, though in that case it tends to work more as a deterrent that ‘pushes’ its’ target around with physical force.
  It can, in theory, cause more lasting damage to a target if the right frequencies could be found, but the effects would be under the category of ‘cruel and unusual’. It has only marginal effects on anything non-organic, other than possibly shattering glass, unless a particular resonant frequency could be found, but this would likely cause as much damage to the wielder as the target.
  Due to the nature of its function, it has a relatively short range.
• Shock Gun
  Another less-lethal weapon, the shock gun is not unlike a taser, though it uses a different method to deliver voltage to its target. The Shock Gun uses a precisely tuned laser to ionise the air between the emitter of the weapon and the target and then launches a bolt of electricity over this distance. This causes the same effects as a taser or stun gun. It is only really effective on living targets and can paralyse them for a short time. It may also disrupt unshielded electronics if it is discharged directly into them, however.
• Spray Gun
  While not technically a weapon, the spray gun can be used as one if loaded with the right payload. The Spray gun is - as the name suggests - a device for spraying liquids or gases under pressure. The package affixed to the MAS Suits’ arm also contains a drum or reservoir for the payload of choice, as well as all of the necessary equipment to spray under pressure. The reservoir is approximately the same size and capacity as a mini-keg of beer; around 1.32 gallons, or 5 liters.
  Payloads could be anything from highly pressurised water, defoliant, fire suppressant, stickyfoam, CS/Tear gas, high-strength acid or alkali, and various other possible liquids. By its nature, the spray gun has quite a limited range, and does not work underwater.
• Mini-Torpedo Launcher
  An adaptation of the mini-missile technology to an aquatic environment, the mini-torpedo launcher holds six mini-torpedoes. They are relatively short-ranged by comparison to normal torpedoes and have a reduced explosive payload by comparison also, but are still effective against light targets. The mini-torpedoes home in on laser guidance or sonar, and have a plasma warhead. They do not work out of water.

Back-Mounted Weapons & Equipment

These are the heaviest weapons and equipment available to an MAS, and usually the most specialised for particular roles or purposes. They mount to either side of the MAS Suits’ back, folding up over the shoulders to fire. Like other systems, they can be ejected when empty, damaged, or in other situations.

• Missile Pod
  A box-shaped pod of two heavy anti-armour missiles, based on the AGM-114 Hellfire. These missiles are relatively long-ranged and use laser and microwave guidance to home in on their targets after a successful lock-on. They are very effective against armour and hardened structures.
• Surface-to-Air Missiles
  A box-shaped pod containing two FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles. The missiles lock on through a combination of microwave radar and infrared and self-guide to the target once launched. They are mostly effective against low, slow-flying aircraft, and especially helicopters or drones, but can cause serious damage if not outright destroy larger aircraft with a good hit.
• Mini-Missile Pod
  A box-shaped pod containing 8 mini-missiles. They are relatively short-ranged, but pack a respectable punch and are effective against lightly armoured targets, and can damage heavier ones. They use a combination of optical and laser guidance, and use a plasma warhead as standard.
• Rocket Pod
  A cylindrical pod that contains seven 70mm unguided rockets that can be launched individually or all at once. They are most effective when fired in numbers, rather than individually, though it can depend entirely on the target. They are not overly effective against heavily armoured targets, but can damage them in some weak spots when fired in large volleys. There are a variety of warheads that can be fitted, such as high explosive, armour-piercing, flechette, smoke, incendiary, CS/Tear gas, EMP and plasma.
• Heavy Cannon
  The largest caliber ballistic weapon that an MAS suit can carry, the heavy cannon has a folding breech/barrel assembly due to its barrel length. It can only be fired from a kneeling position or braced position due to the recoil, but it has a long range and a high muzzle velocity when used in direct-fire mode. The cannon is a 75mm weapon fired from an auto-loading 4-round magazine that can be replaced - with help from another MAS-Suit - in the field. Ammunition types are Armour-piercing, Fin-stabilized, discarding sabot (APFSDS), High Explosive, Canister (anti-personnel) and smoke. The gun uses enhanced ammunition and a refined barrel, breech and other techniques to achieve high armour penetration, comparable to a 90mm tank gun, however ammunition is extremely limited, recoil is high, and the fact the MAS Suit has to remain immobile while firing are all things that make employing the gun a tactical consideration. It can also be used in an indirect-fire role due to the ability to greatly increase the elevation, though this requires a spotter to find targets, and the area effects are limited due to the comparatively small shell size. The magazines are also so large that they take up an additional hardpoint.
• Heavy Chain Gun
  The bigger brother to the arm-mounted chaingun, the Heavy Chain gun is an adaptation of the M230 Chain Gun used on the Apache attack helicopter. It uses the standard High-Explosive Dual purpose ammunition, fed from a box magazine, which cannot be reloaded in the field.
  It is a very accurate and powerful weapon, that is versatile against a wide range of targets.
• Heavy Gatling Gun
  While smaller in caliber than the light vulcan, the heavy gatling still fires a larger caliber of ammunition than the arm-mounted rotary or gatling miniguns. The Heavy Gatling uses 14.5mm armour-piercing incendiary or high-explosive incendiary ammunition at a ferocious rate of fire that is devastating to anything short of heavily reinforced structures and heavily armoured vehicles. It is prone to overheating due to the incredible rate of fire, and can also burn through its’ drum of several thousand rounds relatively quickly, and the ammunition cannot be replaced in the field.
• Heavy Laser
  A more powerful version of the arm-mounted laser, the heavy laser is more bulky as a result. Like all lasers, it has a very long range, but the effective range is down to atmospheric effects and the targeting systems of the MAS Suit.
  The Heavy Laser is more effective than its’ smaller counterpart against armour and ‘hard’ targets and uses a pulsed beam to avoid the problems of accumulated vaporised material disrupting the impact at the target point.
  It is most effective when used in precision attacks against key systems or points on a target, and especially against stationary targets, due to the need to keep a focused impact on the target to cause damage.
  Like the arm-mounted laser, it is a solid-state laser, and uses a dedicated battery pack that can be recharged over time. It is more limited in the battery capacity, however, due to the greater power requirements, and has less duration of fire than the lighter version.
  The laser can be tuned to a blue/green wavelength to make it effective underwater, but this is a modification that cannot be performed in the field.
• Automatic Grenade Launcher
  A relatively straightforward adaptation of the Mark-47 Striker automatic grenade launcher, the AGL that can be mounted on an MAS Suits’ back hardpoint varies primarily by having a multi-feed system that can select between two different types of High Velocity 40mm grenades for each burst or shot of fire. The AGL mounted on the MAS Suit can fire any type of US/NATO High velocity grenade, as well as plasma grenades.
• Recoilless Rifle
  Sitting between the rocket and grenade launchers, a recoilless rifle can often be mistaken for a rocket launcher, due to its’ appearance and purpose on a battlefield.
  Recoilless Rifles - while mostly out of use in favour of missiles and rockets - are very versatile in that they can load a variety of ammunition types, and tend to have a larger projectile for a comparatively low recoil. They also have no ‘minimum’ arming distance, unlike missiles or rockets.
  The downsides are a comparatively shorter range, and the lack of guidance - unlike missiles, which are also lighter than recoilless rifles, and tend to be better armour penetrators.
  The Recoilless Rifle that can be mounted on an MAS Suit is notable for its ability to choose from and fire multiple types of ammunition, via a cylinder-type loader that can load up to ten rounds of mixed types of 90mm recoilless shells.
  Types available are:
  
  • Anti-personnel flechette
  • High Explosive
  • Plasma
  • Incendiary
  • EMP
  • Smoke
  • High Explosive Armour-Piercing
  
  The rounds can be programmed via a built-in computer system to detonate in various patterns - i.e. with a delay or with a contact fuse - for added effects. The armour-piercing round is capable against armoured vehicles and structures at close range, when targeting their weak spots. They are not guided or self-propelled rounds, unlike missiles or rockets.
• Grapple Launcher
  The grapple launcher uses a compressed gas charge to fire an armour-piercing projectile that unfolds multiple hooks. It can either be fired to directly penetrate a target and the hooks unfold inside to brace it, or over an obstruction so that the hooks snag and catch on the object to anchor it. The armour penetration is relatively low, due to the muzzle velocity of the launcher, but it is designed for penetration against conventional building walls or thin-skinned structures, rather than against armoured vehicles or heavy structures like bunkers or fortifications.
  The grapple is attached to a high-strength line that can support the weight of an MAS Suit, and this in turn is attached to a powerful electric winch that can retract the line when the grapple is disengaged. The launcher can be used as a weapon, though its effectiveness is limited, and it is more useful as a tool for scaling defences, as a ground anchor, and for other such purposes and utilities.
• ECM/ECCM Pod
  Not a weapon in the conventional sense, but one that can be used to affect enemy systems, the ECM pod contains a suite of electronic jammers that are capable of disrupting, jamming, and spoofing electronic signals, such as radar, radio and microwave communications, and other such signals. It cannot ‘hack into’ computer systems, especially closed and secure ones, and has no effect on other electrical or electronic systems. It is especially useful in detecting and jamming detonation signals for emplaced remote-detonated explosive devices.
  The ECM pod also contains an ECCM system, Electronic Counter-Countermeasures, which can counter hostile jamming effects. The system is tied into the MAS Suits’ communications array, and is thus lower powered than aircraft or vehicle mounted systems, but is still effective over a moderate distance.
• Advanced Communications Pod
  The ‘sister’ system to the ECM/ECCM pod, the ACP is a suite of more powerful communications systems than those fitted to a standard MAS Suit. The ACP features higher-end communications gear, such as long range, high powered satellite communications, long-range, ultra-high and ultra-low frequency scrambled and encrypted radio, and other such systems that enable longer-range and more comprehensive communications than the standard battlefield ‘tactical’ comms suite found on the normal MAS. These features also include high-speed, high bandwidth data communication systems for transmission and reception of more comprehensive information with less loss of fidelity and higher speeds over longer ranges. The advanced comms pod also has software and hardware specifically dedicated to networking and managing communications systems and is better equipped for tying into a range of communications systems, allowing for greater overall awareness of the battlespace when working with multiple combined arms forces on a larger scale operation. This can help an operator manage an entire operation from a single MAS Suit and coordinate multiple air, land, sea and even space-based assets.
• Advanced Sensor Pod
  The advanced sensor pod equips an MAS Suit with a variety of additional sensors that are more specialised than those it carried. These include such things as a Magnetic Anomaly Detector, Seismic Sensors, Sonar, Chemical ‘sniffers’ and analysers that can identify particular compounds, and even exotic particle and electromagnetic analysis sensor systems that are useful in detecting and cataloguing the many unusual and exotic types of radiation and subatomic particles that are present around Mirrors.
• Remote Drone
  A disc-shaped, ducted-fan drone powered by an internal battery. About the size of a frisbee, it is nearly silent and has high-resolution cameras with infra-red and night vision modes, as well as a laser rangefinder and microphones and speakers fitted. It has approximately 15 minutes of flight time on a single charge, and can be recharged on the docking station fitted to the MAS Suit’s hardpoint.
• Underwater Maneuvering/Weapons Unit (UM/WU)
  The UM/WU uses both hardpoints on an MAS Suits’ backpack, as it is a large backpack unit that fits over the back of the MAS Suit. It features a pair of large fully rotating ducted electrically powered underwater propulsion units, as well several smaller maneuvering units, and extended life support equipment.
  Additionally, it features a sonar system for underwater navigation, and high-powered spotlights. On top of this, it also accommodates a pair of medium-range light torpedoes (similar to those carried on naval helicopters, and with similar striking power).
  It is very bulky, and thus of limited utility out of the water, but underwater turns an MAS into an enclosed diving and combat suit.
• Space Propulsion System (SPS)
  The Space Propulsion System is more or less a scaled-up version of the Manned Maneuvering Units (MMU’s) that astronauts use. Comprising a large backpack-like system, it covers both hardpoints on an MAS-Suit’s back, and utilises several cold-gas propulsion thrusters for movement in every direction, with computerised systems to automatically fire them according to the wearers’ input. It also features extended life support systems, including air recycling.
• Battery Packs
  A very simple system, the battery packs are just that; large banks of battery cells that add into the MAS Suits’ existing battery life and allow for longer operating times. Unfortunately, they are quite heavy and take up existing hardpoints, so are not often used - or often needed, due to the already existing battery life and ability for MAS suits to recharge in the field.
• Parachute System
  The parachute system is unusual, in that while it is mounted on the back hardpoints of an MAS Suit, it does not replace any weapon or other systems mounted there, but can be mounted in addition to them, via special fittings. A large fabric pack is attached between them, and also on the front of the MAS Suit. This contains both a main aerofoil-type steerable parachute and a reserve chute should the main one be damaged or otherwise inoperable. The system is rated and suitable for all kinds of parachute drops - HALO, HAHO, and other such drops - and features optional pre-programmed altimeters to open the parachute(s) at set altitudes. It can be ejected by a user override should there be danger of it becoming tangled on landing, as well as being able to be ejected once it is used.

SPEAR Ranks & Organization

SPEAR units are peculiarly organized and ranked due to their origins. As the coalition was formed of disparate groups of partisans with a variety of backgrounds, and many of them non-military, there were often few formal ranks. Despite this, due to the experience the Coalitions' non-human members had in combat, many of them were at least, if not more, experienced than the majority of their contemporaries and peers in the armed forces of the various human countries they were fighting alongside.
As such, during the initial months of the campaign against the Totality and during the Battle of the Monolith, the issue and question of ranks and organization was not given much heed, other than just to get people where they were needed and organise combat strategies and tactics.

Once that battle was over and there was something approaching some breathing space, however, the need for more formal organization was apparent, but a difficult thing to resolve.
As mentioned, there were a plethora of fighters and personnel with extensive experience in combat, tactics, strategy; weapons experience, and able to operate MAS, and other military vehicles and equipment - but no formal training and no ranks. And even among those that were, the ranks did not always directly equate to human military ranks, or they had been out of 'regular' service so long since their last promotion or review that they did not apply, and their responsibilities had grown or expanded wildly compared to their original scope.

As the SPEAR units were intended to represent a new organizational and operational paradigm and were operated, coordinated and managed by the interspecies Coalition rather than any one nation, groups, or force, there was room for concessions and compromises to be made.
With this in mind, the SPEAR teams adopted a unique system of rank titles: All SPEAR team members would go by the title of 'Operator'. Those who were more technologically, scientifically, or otherwise non-combat oriented - as their primary function, as all SPEAR operatives are expected and capable of combay - would be given the additional title of 'Specialist' and all commanding officers were simply titled 'Commander'.
If on the rare occasion that they were to deploy alongside or work with regular forces, SPEAR operators are considered equivalent to Lieutenants, while Commanders are equivalent to Captains, though situational and operational necessities may change this and SPEAR Operators - and especially Commanders - are expected and understood to be aware and flexible enough to adapt to such situations as necessary.

Splintered / Reflections

Ok. I've read the whole thing. I'll start thinking about character. I've got a few ideas rattling around while I'm working. But I'll refine it all later tonight.

@Cozure

Superb, I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with, and I'm always around to answer any questions if needed.

Going to update the OOC 0th post with the details for you teams' MAS Suit and the optional weapons, and I'll also post my own character in the Characters tab as well. He'll be acting as the team leader.

Splintered / Reflections: Near Future sci-fi with human, anthro, and other species characters and mecha.

@cozure, @Foster, @Byte, @Luluna, @FalloutJack, @Neziul, @ThatDeercat

The OOC with all the more in-depth information is up - roleplayerguild.com/topics/197010-spl…

I will answer any questions, as well as posting more info on the mecha and my own character tomorrow.

Splintered / Reflections

S p l i n t e r e d / R e f l e c t i o n s

“There’s that old saying; ‘Breaking a Mirror is seven years of bad luck’... I guess that’s what we’re living through now”

--ꮦꜧꬲ Mꭵꞧꞧꭴꞧ Iꞩ Ꞵꞧꭴꞣꬲꝴ--

Splintered Reflections is an RP set in a world where humanity has allied with a number of alien races from various worlds across the galaxy, in a fight to stop the ongoing expansion and domination of an interplanetary empire known as The Totality.
This situation came about after an accident tore open rifts in space between various planets across the galaxy that have since allowed Earth and these other worlds to interact with one another.
As well as The Totality, there are also other threats - hazardous environments, alien flora and fauna, extra-terrestrial contagions, as well as other threats from within and without.

To fight back, after a series of battles and a crucial victory against the Totality, the Coalition - as the alliance of human and alien species has called themselves - formed new units, equipped with the best equipment they could bring to bear, and staffed by the best people they could find.
SPEAR - Special Purpose Encounter and Response teams. They are the first line in finding a way to not just survive.
But a way to win.

The Story So Far

In the early 21st century, humanity was given the answer to one of its longest held questions: Are we Alone in the Universe?
A runaway experiment at a university in northern Florida resulted in a sundering of reality, tearing open portals in the fabric of space itself. They looked like mirrors, floating in the air and oddly serene in appearance.

They spread across the surface of the planet, connecting Earth and humanity with other worlds across the galaxy - perhaps even beyond.
Within days, these worlds affected human life and safety. Hostile environments and life forms began to spread their influence, causing a danger to the lives and well-being of the people of the various countries and communities where the mirrors - as they had come to be known - had come to rest. The situation was already public knowledge, as the spread of the mirrors was random and had not been able to be tracked, and the sheer scale of the destruction wrought in the wake of the experiment gone wrong - especially since it was at a civilian facility in the middle of an urban area - had not been missed.

The worst was yet to come, as by the end of the first month at the original rift in space at the Florida site, the place becoming known as ‘Point Zero’, the fabric of space tore even greater. It became a yawning void that grew until it was large enough that it stretched high into the air.
Through this rift in space, marched an army. They quickly overwhelmed the forces in place, monitoring the area, and expanded into the surrounding cities, towns, villages and countryside. Their intent seemed obvious, as they stripped and consumed the surrounding resources, tearing buildings apart with automated drones and machinery, while bringing through more from the other side. Everything they consumed went toward reinforcing their positions and numbers. They started to capture and enslave the people as they spread out further, while building an ever increasing tower at the point of their origin, that seemed to have control of the rift, interacting with it and taming its’ wild energies.
Soon, within weeks, other mirrors in other parts of the world started to expand in the same way, and more of these same aliens emerged, acting in the same way.

It quickly became apparent over the months that followed that no one nation on Earth could hold them alone. While human weapons worked against them, the casualties taken in such efforts to fight them in both lives and materiel were unsustainable, and worked only as a holding action. Only overwhelming firepower and numbers seemed to do anything to hold them, and even then; it was to buy time - as there always seemed to be more of them, as they consumed resources, both non-organic and otherwise, to manufacture more of their own. Especially disturbing was the revelation that their ‘line troops’, their basic soldiers and fighting forces, were surgically and chemically altered, brain-washed beings and even humans that had been captured earlier.
As they advanced, the aliens, having absorbed many humans and their technology into their own ranks and forces, started to issue broadcasts of their intentions: the occupation of Earth and the integration of its resources and people into the Totality as part of their Empire, to serve their ‘beneficial expansion’. With them, the enemy finally had an official name.
Messages fitfully began to come from those trapped behind the advancing wall; the Totality had occupied the cities and lands they advanced, moving people into contained settlements and putting them to work as slaves in building more of their armies and producing more weapons, equipment and devices; processing the consumed resources, and other such menial tasks. Some were inducted into their occupation forces as police for the others, and seemingly indoctrinated by brainwashing, and by chemical and surgical alteration to be more ‘compliant’. And any resistance discovered was crushed, ruthlessly, and totally in brutal police actions.

As these hostile forces spread out further and further, the situation grew more and more desperate. It wasn’t long until the use of nuclear weapons came into the equation, and it was Russia that utilised theirs first, as the portal that had opened in Eastern Europe and the area occupied by these hostile aliens threatened more and more of their territory and people.
The nuclear strike halted the advance - for several weeks, at least… and then the invaders responded with their own powerful weapons, something that tore matter and reality itself asunder and obliterated a massive swathe of the opposing forces.

The first break came almost a year into the conflict, when through another of the portals, contact was made with other sapient, sentient alien races. It was a shock, and there was miscommunication at first. But soon enough, it was realised that they had a common foe.
This loose alliance of species called themselves the Coalition. Composed of races that The Totality had already invaded and either fought and defeated or were still fighting against, they were the interstellar resistance.
They were fighting to retain their very existence as independent races from the Totality’s empire, and their assimilation of their racial identity, culture, and individuality and reclaim their freedom from the oppressive and dominating influence and power of The Totality.
Their worlds having been stripped and processed for resources and their peoples having been enslaved and consumed to further the forces of the interstellar empire, working as cogs in their machine, components in part of the much larger Totality system. They had been fighting the same resistance tactics and striking minor blows against their oppressors for decades, or even longer. They had knowledge of how they worked; of their technology and how it worked, and of their weapons and their various troops and forces, and how to fight them effectively.



Humanity was still free; they still retained much of the control of their world, and were still able to manufacture weapons and technology en masse. They still had access to other worlds freely that were not occupied by the Totality’s forces, and had managed to slow down the advances of The Totality - even if briefly.
By combining their knowledge with humanities’ resources, as well as advanced aspects of their own indigenous technologies, they could forge more effective weapons and organise a strategy to fight back.
But all the while, the battle still ranged worldwide, and countries and governments had had to band together to even stand a chance, but constant frictions and disagreements made this difficult. Some powers and nations refused to work with others, or to co-ordinate their strategies and share their knowledge, or act on what had been shared.

Those nations that were allies and had made peaceful contact with the friendly extra-terrestrial Coalition carefully orchestrated a plan. Already, information provided by their new allies had given them more success in battle, managing to strike several critical victories with less loss of life, and even turn back assaults.
But this had all been buying time for new weapons and systems to be in place, and for plans to reach full fruition.
It took months of planning, but eventually; three years after the first contact with The Totality, and eighteen months after first contact with the Coalition, the operation commenced.
Utilising their new weapons systems and daring tactics and strategy, the allied forces co-ordinated a massive attack on the monolithic tower at the centre of The Totality’s held territory in Florida. The battle was tremendous, and involved members of militaries from numerous nations, and even races, as well as hundreds of non-military resistance fighters, people who had fought back during the spreading occupation.



The battle raged for hours, but the end result was that the Monolith at the centre of the occupied area was destroyed, collapsing from its tremendous height - much taller than any previously existing building or structure on Earth - in a massively destructive event. The resulting release of exotic energies caused repercussions for the rest of the portal network across Earth’s surface. Some opened wider, some closed, and some were altered and shifted.
The success of the attack, paused the advances of The Totality around the world. Some of them were cut off from their homeworld or other worlds, and the armies facing them used the opportunity to push back. In many cases, they regained territory, though others were not so lucky, and faced further defeat.
But in all cases, the expansion stopped. For the first time, an enemy of The Totality had stopped them in their tracks, dealing them a blow that they had noticed.
The world - and many other worlds - held their breath as they waited for the next step, the next act in the ongoing story.
And elsewhere, other eyes were drawn to this event, summoned by the energies unleashed by the disruption in reality, and the blow against such a powerful force. And they took an interest…

Humanity joined the Coalition in full; at least, the allied nations that had fought alongside them did. Some nations stubbornly and petulantly refused, citing all manner of reasons and excuses for their own self-interest. The presence of alien life became an accepted part of life - and many went on to try and find out how they could take advantage of it, and use it to their benefit.
All the while, many still lived under the oppressive regime of the Totality, in cities and communities still occupied by the empire and its’ forces, biding their time and communicating with the Coalition as they acted as a resistance - and avoided informants and the ‘Pacification Forces’ of the Totality.

It was clear that this situation couldn’t last for long. The Totality would always be expanding, and it wouldn’t be long before they went into action again. And while the Coalition had managed to catch a break, it had been by the narrowest of margins, with much loss of life and with a great risk and an even greater deal of luck.
If they were going to win, they’d need more than luck and risk. They would need more and better weapons, more information, more knowledge, and more advantages over their enemy. And besides The Totality, there were other issues: hostile flora and fauna that spilled through the portals, other alien races or organizations that were causing issues, and even internal conflicts to take care of. All of these were things that took resources from the bigger battle and issue at hand, but still needed to be dealt with.
The Coalition had to get organised, put to work its’ best people for a fighting chance for all their races to not just survive, but to win and defeat their enemies.

That was six months ago, and six months after operation: Shattered Mirror, where the tower finally fell.
Now, the first of the new units are about to take to the field, and that’s where this story begins, and the next chapter of history is about to start.

The World

Earth is the current front line in the battle, the contested ground where The Totality has been held in check for the first time in a long time, thanks to humanities’ perseverance, ingenuity and creativity. While the other races of the Coalition have fought long and hard, their worlds are already occupied or destroyed.
Earth and humanity have been comparatively lucky. Nations across the globe are still free, their people living day-to-day lives without the oppressive presence of The Totality hanging over their lives, dictating their routine and crushing their freedom to live.
Some have elected to work willingly with the aliens, turning on their fellow humans as enforcers, willingly subjecting themselves to alteration in exchange for some measure power, freedom, and quality of life and comparative luxury, while their fellow humans struggle under the brutal, repressive regime enforced by The Totality, worked relentlessly and endlessly, subjected to endless propaganda.

But even for those that are fortunate enough to be free, the world is irrevocably changed: humans know that they are no longer alone in the universe. Earth now harbours non-human residents, regularly interacting with them in their day-to-day lives. Non-human, advanced technologies have made their way into various aspects of life, changing the way that many aspects of life function. Human society and culture have benefitted from access to off-world resources and knowledge, relieving many of the pressures it faced only mere years earlier - despite the ever-present threat from the Totality and from other worlds.
Mirrors opened all across the world in the wake of the Florida Incident and the following conflicts which have been dubbed the Mirror Wars, and the alien flora and fauna that have come through have led directly to loss of life, or other hardships and struggles for those living near them, or affected by them.



The occupied areas still under control of The Totality are in Eastern Europe; centered on the region around Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. A large area of Central South China and bordering parts of Burma, India and Bangladesh and, a portion of South America between the borders of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. They had begun to open a Mirror rift in Africa, but it collapsed after the aftershocks of Op: Shattered Mirror. All of the occupied areas are notable by the towering monolithic citadels erected by the Totality at the centre of the occupation zones that enclose and control the Mirrors at their heart. Surrounding settlements seem to be slowly and methodically consumed and demolished to further contribute to the construction of these mighty edifices, and vast webs of power lines and other cables connect them to their surroundings, for unknown purposes. Pacification Corps personnel patrol the surrounding cities, that have become hollow, shells of themselves and turned into half-abandoned ghettos for those forced to work in Totality facilities, while their helicopters and observation drones patrol endlessly, monitoring for any signs of rebellion and uprising.

Mirrors are open across the world, and in a variety of countries. Not all of them are dangerous, and not every country has one - or more. Not all of them are in known locations - Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and several other countries have refused to disclose if any Mirrors are present on their territories, and there are possibilities that others remain secret, hidden away in remote locations, or kept secret by those that discovered them in an attempt to use them for their own gain. Such things have resulted in disaster before, such as when a Mirror kept hidden in a rural village in Mexico under the control of a criminal cartel resulted in an outbreak of a parasitic fungal infection that turned the villages’ residents into zombie-like creatures that spread the fungus further.
Other such incidents have come about, such as corporations trying to retain control over Mirrors to exploit the worlds on the other side for resources.

The various races of the Coalition have integrated somewhat into society as well. While they are not present in huge numbers worldwide, within nations that are part of the Coalition and work alongside humans, they have settled down. Others have been given space to live on Earth as refugees from the Totality, and started to work alongside humans and become parts of their communities, slowly but surely. Some people from these races have started to adopt human phrases, mannerisms, and culture, finding it fascinating and exciting. Often with somewhat comedic or amusing results for onlookers.
Some aspects of their cultures have in turn begun to influence humans - slang phrases, terms, and concepts - especially expletives - have started to appear in common conversation, along with the various technological innovations.

The Mirrors

Mirrors is the nickname given to the anomalies that appeared all over Earth in the wake of the Zero Point incident. They are so named due to their having a silvery colour that looks almost reflective, in most cases. Although, the one in the sky above the former location of the Florida incursion is a rift in the sky that looks almost more like the classical artists’ impression of a black hole.
Mirrors range in size from being the size of a doorway, to around almost five times this size. Manipulation by the Totality's technology can make them orders of magnitude bigger, but this seems to only be for short periods. Temporarily distorting to allow their forces to come through.

Most appear to be 'floating' a few inches off of the ground, usually requiring a step up or a jump to get through, or a ramp in the case of ground vehicles. They do not generally appear over water, and seem mostly to appear over solid ground - though, this is not universal by any means, and exceptions have been recorded.

Mirrors link two points in space and time together. They are linked in real time, and the lost time between one ‘side’ and the other is so fractional as to not be detectable to the senses. All Mirrors discovered thus far link two different worlds, rather than two points on the same world. Though, multiple mirrors on one world may be connected with multiple mirrors on another, and the mirrors on the second world may be closer together, allowing for faster travel. I.e.: Earth has a mirror to Planet Jeff in New York, and in Cairo. On Planet Jeff, the exits to those two mirrors are only a few feet away from one another, which makes travel much faster than even supersonic flight.
Mirrors also often do not link directly to a world of interest. For example, the homeworlds of some of the Coalition races are not linked directly with Earth, but transit through a number of other portals and thus worlds is needed.
Similarly, while there are mirrors that link directly with worlds occupied by the Totality, there are others that link to worlds one or more steps removed that then link to Totality controlled worlds.

The Coalition uses the Mirror network to travel between worlds in search of resources, and establishes bases, outposts and research camps or posts on various worlds. Mirrors do not all lead to hospitable worlds, with many leading to worlds with hostile atmospheres of various kinds. Some also lead to worlds with various non-sapient lifeforms and creatures on them.

Mirrors do not emit any harmful radiation, but are easy to track and locate by their exotic particle and subatomic particle signatures. They do not move and stay in fixed points, but are not always easy to locate immediately, as they can open in remote areas, away from any habitation.
An object of any kind entering a Mirror will retain the momentum and orientation it entered with - for example, entering one at a run, standing, will result in exiting in a run, standing. This is regardless of what is on the other side. Any object partially inserted into a mirror will be cut off, rather than remaining 'partially' through, which makes it impossible to send a tethered object - such as a camera - through. Light does not pass through, so laser communications cannot travel through a Mirror, and one cannot see through one to the other side. Gravity does not pass through a mirror, but radiation, subatomic particles, and electromagnetic waves on some frequencies can, allowing for some two-way communication, albeit focussed and over a direct point-to-point transmission.

So far, the mechanisms of how to permanently close a Mirror are unknown, and even temporarily disrupting one remains mostly theoretical. A powerful enough release of radiation might disrupt one temporarily or force its' exit point to change, but the power needed would be on a massive order of magnitude, along that of a strategic nuclear weapon detonation, something that is not done easily or carelessly.

Technology

The technology level of the Coalition and Earth after their arrival is also somewhat of a collision of principles, influences and achievements.
With Humanity having the greatest base of resources and manufacturing and with much of their technology and equipment remaining effective and useful, as well as being versatile, it has been further enhanced and upgraded with knowledge and materials from the other Coalition races. These advances have been incorporated into existing designs, or retrofitted into them to increase their effectiveness or add new capabilities.
This has also resulted in the solving of some issues that human science and development had not yet managed to overcome, and led to sweeping changes or achievements in some areas of technology and science

Advances have come in leaps and bounds - more efficient superconductors, electro-reactive polymers that can be used as artificial muscles, high efficiency batteries, lightweight but high strength composite materials and alloys and other such advances have been embraced and have resulted in a virtual leap in engineering and development. Robotics, cybernetics, medical technology, armour, construction, and more have all benefited from these advances.
Despite the advances, many things remain the same: no hover-vehicles, forcefields, or advanced space travel have emerged; there are no teleporters, complete invisibility or other such fantastical science-fiction technologies that have emerged.

Computer Technology

Computing technology for personal electronics and devices has benefitted. Cell phones and other similar devices have been almost entirely replaced by the ‘Pebble’, a device about the size the name suggests; no more than a few centimeters long and across and weighing very little. It can be worn on clothing or carried in a pocket, and can be wirelessly linked with data networks, as well as acting as a personal communications device (audio and visual), camera (still and video), audio recorder and player and media player. Pebbles can wirelessly connect with peripheral devices to increase their capabilities and utility, and can be customised almost infinitely for a variety of roles, and are part of both personal and professional life, where they are essentially vital equipment for the number of other devices they replace and their ubiquitous versatility in interfacing with the operating systems of vehicles, equipment, information networks and more.
Pebbles are normally used with contact lenses to project their visual information for a single operator, and wearable ‘dot’ microphone/speakers that work through subvocal amplification and bone conduction. For presentation or accessibility to others, a pebble can be placed on any smooth, semi-reflective surface, such as a window, counter or table-top, mirror, or other such surface and then utilises this to project images, and play audio through resonance and vibration. Pebbles adhere to the surfaces they are placed on, but can be removed easily. They are powered and recharged by a combination of solar cells, the natural electrical currents of living bodies and kinetic batteries.

Weapons Technology

Energy weapons have become a reality, albeit somewhat less complex and efficient than those used by the Totality, but still respectable. As yet, they have not supplanted conventional projectile and kinetic weaponry, which is still more practical, reliable, and versatile; but laser and particle-beam weapons are starting to be fielded in some roles - specifically, anti-air, anti-missile, and as stun weapons (in the case of particle beams).
Railguns have been fielded, though the necessities of their power generation means they are restricted to being fielded on large platforms such as tanks, ships, or in fixed heavy emplacements as anti-armour or anti-ship weapon systems.

The miniaturisation of electronics has resulted in the adoption of ‘micro-missiles’; miniaturised guided missiles that still pack a punch comparable to a 40mm grenade and are around the size of a soft drink can at their smallest size.
They are effective against light vehicles, and in massed ‘swarms’ can overwhelm heavier armour. ‘Mini’ missiles up the size, allowing for an increased effective payload for military vehicles of all kinds, though they have comparatively short range as opposed to conventional munitions.
These too have been upgraded with advanced warheads, propulsion and guidance systems, increasing their lethality and effectiveness.

One big enhancement to explosive weapons such as missiles, grenades, rockets and bombs has been the introduction of plasma warheads. Using highly energetic plasma as a payload has resulted in a weapon that can heavily damage its' target through intense heat effects, essentially vaporising the material it comes into contact with.
Some ultra-dense and tough materials do not take as much damage, and plasma is not always the best solution for every mission, as it has a very brief effect with few collateral effects - such as no shockwaves or overpressure, and no secondary incendiary effect.
The plasma release can be shaped into a jet for greater armour penetration, rather than an spherical release and many armour-piercing warheads now rely on plasma rather than conventional shaped-charge explosives.
As stated above, plasma leaves little negative after effects, and is highly effective.
The downside is that plasma warheads are much more expensive, due to their sophistication and the effort involved in producing plasma for use in warheads, so they are used as a compliment to conventional warheads, rather than a replacement.

Melee weapons have benefitted from the continued advancement of materials science from the Coalition races. The introduction and adaptation of new manufacturing techniques for ultra-hardened alloys and composite ceramic materials has allowed for blades that can keep an cutting edge a molecule in thickness - monomolecular blades - that do not chip easily or are not as fragile as previous experiments into such technology. They still require considerable upkeep, and must be treated exceptionally carefully, due to the ease with which they cut materials, especially anything softer than them. However, the advantages are incredible. There are still some substances that require more effort than others, but the technology has been adapted in a number of inventive and useful ways, for tools as well as weapon systems.

Cybernetics

Cybernetic technology has advanced in concert with the development of microelectronics and improvements in artificial muscles and materials technology. Modern cybernetic limbs and implants can be powered by combinations of the bodies’ natural electrical field, kinetic batteries and solar power.

While the most fantastical extremes of cyberpunk have not yet been realised - such as full-conversion cyborgs and complete brain replacements - augmentations such as replacement limbs that enhance strength and stamina, eyes or ears that increase the visual and auditory spectrum and enable things like playback and increased magnification, implants that enable wireless and subvocal communication and direct access to data and information, and even things like subdermal or dermal armour plating, skeletal reinforcements, implanted drug injectors for medicines and other types of stimulants and compounds, and even implanted weapons such as retractable blades, or even small, ‘holdout’ projectile weapons.

Cybernetics has also greatly increased the quality of life for many people who have suffered debilitating injuries. New and more sophisticated cybernetic limbs and organs have allows them to regain full functioning limbs, and return to a fully independent life in some cases. Cybernetic arms, legs, eyes, and other organs that require considerably less physiotherapy and other treatment courses to fully master and have a similar if not identical range of motion and capacity to their original limbs have helped many people, and will continue to do so for even more, separately from the concept of 'enhancing' abilities above the baseline function of an organic body part.

Medical Technology

Related to Cybernetics is medical technology as a whole.

Nanotechnology has advanced medical technology, though has not yet reached the levels of ‘miracle machines’ that can do everything, or create things from nothing. The current level of nanotechnology is mostly limited to medical applications, where they can accelerate healing and repair of damage by significant degrees and are applied mostly in the form of ‘nano-bandages’ that are applied like a ‘cast’ or ‘dressing’ over the affected area, where they bond with the skin after a short time, and mimic the bodies’ antibodies, as well as deploying medicines and compounds that promote healing, speeding up the process. Applied as a gel-like form, they can also aid with cleaning up skin conditions or other minor issues.

A similar product is ‘biofoam’. The foam is a liquid inside a compressed air can, and when used expands into a foam. When sprayed, it dissolves hair - or fur - cleans the wound and disinfects it, and acts as a binding and clotting agent and a minor painkiller. It dries quickly and hardens into a covering that protects the wound site from further infection or damage. The foam dissolves naturally as the wound heals, and is waterproof as well, but can be cleaned or removed with the application of a dissolving agent which can be brushed on and works in seconds.

Cloning organs is a new technology that is growing more widespread. Thanks to the knowledge of the Coalition races, understanding of genetic manipulation has advanced enough that cloning 'blank' organs that can be implanted into a person's body to replace their failing ones is something that is starting to see fruition. While it is not flawless yet, in combination with new and improved anti-rejection drugs and therapies and the new nanotech, it is seeing greater success. More complex organs such as eyes, brains or entire limbs have yet to be successfully cloned, and the brain is especially a difficult one. The time it takes to grow organs successfully is also a bottleneck to the process, but it has significant potential for the future.

Adjacent to this is the improvements in transplants - the same treatments for anti-rejection can also be applied to the transplantation of organs or other body parts from one individual to another, and more complex transplants are becoming a steady reality with more frequent successes as time goes on.

While it has not yet been fully employed, gene therapy related to the advanced understanding of genetic engineering is also starting to take greater effect on treating long-term inherited or genetic issues in many people, and has a real potential to eradicate a large number of hereditary or other conditions that are caused by malfunctions or issues with a person's genetics. This is, however, meeting resistance and under heavy debate, as it is a point of contention about how much this constitutes engineering of a 'perfect person' and the creation of 'designer children' and removing what makes people unique or different, as it could be taken advantage of in the name of morally and socially questionable ideologies.

Similarly, new treatments and advances deriving from the increased level of technology overall are providing greater understanding of human brain composition, function and chemistry and is leading to greater understanding of effective treatment for mental health and psychological issues and how they can be treated and managed for those who suffer long term. However, this is a tricky area, as there is much ethical and moral debate on how much this constitutes personality alteration and mind control.

The MAS Suit

One of the most unexpected developments has been the introduction of robotic vehicles. The most common are military variants known as Mobility Augmentation System Suits - or MAS - but otherwise known as Exo Suits, Exo Frames, Exo Armor, Powered Armor, or even just ‘mecha’, thanks to their prevalence in pop culture.
While they are used mostly in military and paramilitary roles for combat, and especially by the SPEAR units, they are also coming into wider use in civilian industries and by emergency services as well thanks to their versatility and usefulness.

The first MAS suits were a combination of technologies. The concept was pioneered by human technology, but was never quite workable due to issues with power systems, control systems, and materials. When united with the various technologies of the Coalition races, the concept became workable, albeit a hodge-podge, bootstrapped and improvised rigging of things to work together. These first generation MAS Suits were used in the assault on the Totality Monolith in the USA, and were seen as the key weapon system that resulted in the success of the operation.
Revised and purpose-built models followed, refining the design and purposefully integrating the systems with new builds. The current generation of MAS are effective, efficient and reliable, albeit complex and maintenance-intensive machines that are very versatile.

An MAS stands at an average of ten feet tall, not inclusive of any additional equipment or antennae, though a variance of two or three feet is not uncommon due to the wearer and adjustments of fit. An MAS is quite modular, with swappable and adjustable internal components that adjust for different species, and even external modules that can accommodate tails for those that have them. The legs are digitigrade as standard, regardless of the wearer's species. This is due to the manner in which the suit is worn. The wearer’s legs slide into ‘gloves’ in the thighs of the suit, with their crotch resting in line with that of the suit. Their torso, arms, and head are entirely within the torso of the suit, where they are fully enclosed. Their hands have access to a variety of context-sensitive controls along with a pair of joystick-like hand controllers.
The suits’ controls integrate with their Pebble and a variety of customisable and adaptive learning systems to manage the suits’ other onboard systems.

The pilot suit and helmet worn by the operator are integral to the control of an MAS; the fabric of the pilot suit is interwoven with pickups for the operators’ electrical nervous impulses that aid in fine control. The helmet incorporates a visor that projects the suits’ external sensor feeds, and overlays information onto a built-in HUD. The helmet also has incorporated speakers and microphones that aid in communications.

As standard, an MAS - for military use - has encrypted microwave and laser communications, night and thermal vision, optical magnification, recording and playback external microphones and speakers, laser rangefinders and targeting, and LIDAR.
Encrypted network and data communications are fitted as standard, and an MAS can - through a pebble - patch into standard data networks, and utilise and interact with programs and software.
MAS have fully articulated and mobile hands with force feedback to the wearer’s hands that allow them to manipulate even relatively small objects with a fine degree of motor control, though due to their comparatively larger size, fine tasks are difficult to approach, and they cannot use - for example - infantry weapons or any tools that require complex manipulation.

The internal structure of the MAS is composed of an ultra lightweight, high-strength alloy ‘skeleton’. This provides a frame and structure around which the electro-reactive fiber ‘muscles’ are woven, along with the essential cabling and wiring that acts as a ‘nervous system’ for data feedback and integration with other onboard systems. The various other onboard systems, such as the controls, sensors, and other equipment are also mounted onto this frame. The outer shell also provides strength, and is composed of sandwiched layers of ceramic composites, polymers, and lightweight, non-conductive alloys, that also provide armour against small arms, shrapnel and slashing weapons, and are resistant to all but the strongest of acids and alkalis.
The materials are also very thermally resistant and insulating for the wearer. They are also highly resistant to impacts, and provide armour against direct hits from anything less than a 30mm armour piercing shell, and provide some protection against glancing or reduced impacts from even that caliber.
An MAS is also hermetically sealed, and provides up to eight hours of life support. There is an onboard water supply.

MAS do not have any built-in weaponry as standard, other than their own strength. However, they are equipped with mounting points on both forearms, and one on each side of their back. These hardpoints are enabled for carrying equipment of various kinds, including weaponry.
Most often the arm and back points are used for carriage and mounting of a variety of weapons and equipment of various kinds, such as machine-guns, missiles, cannon and systems such as additional communications equipment or sensors.
Additional ‘firmpoints’ or ‘latches’ on the hips, thighs, and calves provide stowage or carrying points for holsters for hand-carried weapons, ammunition magazines, cargo containers, and other such useful equipment.
As they have fully mobile hands, an MAS can utilise hand-carried weapons like oversized rifles and other such weapons, as well as melee weapons and other equipment. These can be stowed on their hips, thighs, or back when not in use as well. The same thing also makes even the most combat-oriented MAS useful in combat engineering and logistics, and gives them a great deal of versatility and adaptability, simply by being able to pick up things and use improvised weapons or other equipment, as long as their larger than human hands can manipulate it.

MAS cannot fly, and they lack the ‘jump jets’ seen in media and used by many similar fictional mecha or armor. They do have built-in wheels in their feet that allow them to ‘dash’ at high speed, or cruise for longer distances. External maneuvering units can be attached to their firmpoints and hardpoints to allow for underwater or zero gravity movement.

Power for an MAS is provided by an ultra-high-density solid-state battery that is built into the lower back of the suit. This system provides up to 12 hours of operation at normal levels, but this can be depleted faster by extensive action and operation, or can be put into ‘hibernation mode’ to draw out the power with minimal systems that extend it to 18 hours.
The battery is also able to provide power ‘take-off’ to power external equipment and devices in the field.
It can be recharged in a variety of methods, though the charging time varies due to the changing efficiency of these methods - it can be plugged into domestic power grids and take several hours, and a portable solar charger is also available, but this will take longer still. Additional battery packs can be attached to the hardpoints as well, which will provide additional battery life for long-duration missions or self-transportation, but this - naturally - restricts the amount of other equipment or weapons an MAS can carry.

MAS can fold up into a ‘travel configuration’, which allows them to fit in a convenient, small package for transportation or storage that will fit in the back of a medium-sized van or the bed of a pickup truck. Lightly loaded, they weigh so little that they are capable of moving through the interiors of most buildings without causing too much damage, though due to their height and width they do not fit through many doors.

As standard, with no additional cargo containers added, an MAS has a compartment on the lower back above the battery that can carry a small amount of personal items and gear, such as a personal weapon - shotgun, rifle, light machine gun and a sidearm and a handful of their related magazines- a load-bearing body-armour vest, over-clothes (such as field jackets, boots, etc) and associated equipment, a small personal ‘daypack' and its’ contents, and other such survival, field or personal items and equipment.
The ‘cockpit’ is so enclosing, that an operator is unable to wear much other than their bodyglove-like suit and helmet, though a ‘first-line’ belt with pouches, holsters and other such low-profile equipment will fit.
The pilots’ suit - as mentioned above - has an internal layer that picks up nerve impulses, and the helmet incorporates the HUD and communications. However, the suits internal layer helps regulate air against the skin or fur, wick away sweat and odours (to a degree; long-term MAS operators tend to be somewhat 'nose-blind'), and also is slash-and-stab proof, and protects against splinters to a degree. It is also fire-resistant, and splash-proof for acids, alkalis, and other corrosive agents. It is not bulletproof, but is a good underlayer for ballistic armour. The helmet is combat rated, and is wirelessly connectable with other optical devices and the visor can be flipped up to enable normal sight.

While the MAS Suit can run for up to 12 hours and the pilot suit is designed to be as comfortable as possible, the reality is that operating an MAS Suit is physically strenuous and requires the operator to be mentally switched on and alert. It is also highly confining and restrictive, and the suits are not designed or accommodating for the sheer broad variety of body shapes throughout the various Coalition species. As such, while they can be operated and run for long periods, it can become uncomfortable for even the most skilled and accustomed of operators after more than a few hours, and pilot suits often end up somewhat… funky after long periods of use - as do their pilots.

The Coalition

The Coalition itself is a military and political alliance between certain nations of Earth as well as several non-human species.
They are united in their aim to stand against The Totality and secure freedom from their oppression and control, and for the people and worlds under their control. This is part of the military aspect, with members of all races involved fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in mixed units and formations, with a mix of technology and equipment jointly produced and utilised by all involved.
The organization behind the ‘active’ side is also composed of all involved; with joint research and development, intelligence, planning, logistics and other aspects all being through joint planning and collaboration.
As humanity has the greatest resources and ability to contribute, they currently hold the deciding vote in most affairs, and in the allocation of resources. However, this is a point of contention at times, especially with how much the other races have suffered and how much they have already lost.

The Earth nations involved in the Coalition are (though, this is not an exhaustive list):

• The United States
• The United Kingdom
• Canada
• Mexico
• Brazil
• Bolivia
• Argentina
• Peru
• Chile
• South Korea
• India
• Australia
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• The EU Countries
• Israel
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• The Phillippines

Some other nations have not become full members, but supply materiel and logistical support, or contribute small numbers of personnel in limited capacities.

SPEAR Teams

Following the end of the Mirror Wars, much of the analysis of events and operations carried out pointed to the fact that the majority of effective operations were carried out by small, flexible teams of operators that were well-armed and equipped, with a variety of skills and specialities. While there were absolutely situations where heavier firepower and large formations were invaluable and turned the tide, the nature of the war and the enemy and the way that Mirrors have become so essential to the nature of the conflict and of the Totality and Coalition are effected, that conventional forces and the manner in which they are employed is not as effective.
As such, a new approach was needed. The manner in which Special Operations forces were structured was taken as a base. Small, mobile, well-armed and highly-trained forces with a lot of individual responsibility and a great deal of flexibility. This was considered essential, as these new teams would have to have a firm grasp on science, technology, anthropology, biology and other disciplines as well as pure martial prowess and effectiveness - though, this too was clearly important.

Incorporation of the MAS was considered to be essential as well - the exoskeletons had proved their worth, and the versatility they offered was impossible to ignore, as well as the compact firepower.

Similarly, it was natural that such teams would be composed of all the races from the Coalition; their experience and knowledge would be too valuable to be wasted, and they had suffered alongside Humanity, if not more, and they have as much of an investment in the fight against the Totality as any human being.

The new program was dubbed Special Purposes Encounter and Response - SPEAR. The acronym was seen as fitting, as they would be the front line against the Totality and any other threats or challenges the Coalition would face; the proverbial Tip of the Spear.
Notable professionals and experts from a variety of fields were approached for roles in the new teams. Military and paramilitary operators, scientists, engineers, and other such personnel. All were given additional training to bring them up to a similar level of understanding and expertise.
As well as their professional credentials, their psychology, attitude, and general knowledge and experiences were all taken into consideration - imagination, ideology, morality, and other such intangible but vital concepts were all part of the consideration. They had to be able to operate with a degree of independence, but also be able to work in a team. To follow orders and act with initiative, but also follow orders and codes of conduct. To be imaginative and creative, but also understand discipline and know routine procedures.

Each team consists of as few as four, but up to eight individuals from a variety of backgrounds, able to draw upon MAS, as well as conventional weapons and equipment to carry out their missions and operations with as much flexibility as needed.

SPEAR operations can take place in offworld locations operating solo, or escorting other personnel on a variety of missions, such as scientific investigations or other missions. They may take place in conjunction with conventional forces on Earth, or offworld, or even in conjunction with law enforcement or intelligence agencies. They can be dismounted and on foot, or in MAS, or any combination of those. Missions vary wildly, depending on the necessities of a situation and can change rapidly.

Non-Human Species

The non-human Coalition species are all quite varied. However, the most unusual thing that has been noted about them by both their scientists and human ones, as well as various anthropologists and other scholars of psychology and culture is how human they are in so many ways. All of them are bipedal, warm-blooded, carbon-based life-forms. Two lay eggs rather than give birth to live young, but are otherwise familiar in many other ways.
While there are cultural and societal differences, their psychologies and emotional responses are understandable and relatable to humans, and vice versa.
They do have adaptations to their worlds; many of them have different elements and compounds in their blood and tissue, and some of these are what contribute to their differing physiologies and other-than-human abilities, along with the differences in their anatomy. Though, they can share and derive nutrition and sustenance from many human foods and survive in Earth’s atmosphere and gravity with few complications and some adjustments.

These similarities and the fact that Mirrors connected to their worlds in particular has not been overlooked, along with the fact that the Totality has attacked them and assimilated them into their empire. Many see this as too much similarity to be a coincidence, but how there is a link, what it is, and the nature of it, are all mysteries as yet unexplored and unexplained, despite the best efforts of many. Conspiracy theories are, of course, rife and plentiful, with both human and non-human contributors engaging in endless debate and speculation.
How much of it is true, however, is anyone’s guess.

Interaction between humans and the various non-human races has been quite frequent, with them working side by side in a variety of roles to begin with, and even starting to live side-by-side. As such, many have formed friendships and bonds with each other, and have started to understand each other quite well.
There has been a particular surge of interest from certain parts of the human race; with so much of human entertainment devoted to science fiction and fantasy, the realization of alien beings that look so much like some of those characters and beings from such works has been a moment of celebration and excitement, and many have come to worship and adore them - though, the reality has often been shocking and surprising. Although, for some in some situations, there have been mutually shared interests - though, no interspecies relationships have yet been seriously documented… but a few jokes have been played for certain.

The Felness

The Felness resemble humanoid felines. They have fur all over their bodies, cat-like ears, tails, and walk on digitigrade paw-like feet. They are mostly relatively light, slight, and lithe, though some sub-species are larger, heavier, and stronger.
As a whole, however, they tend toward being agile and light-footed. They have exceptional reflexes and sense of balance, to the point of being almost uncanny. In addition, they have exceptional low-light vision and a superb sense of hearing. Cats, Caracals, Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, Cheetahs, Leopards, Lynxes; people among the Felness all resemble these species and other various earthen felines, big and small, in some ways such as their colouration, fur patterns and builds.
They are mammalian, with two biological sexes (though, some occasional intersex individuals) and reproduce sexually, giving birth to a minimum of one, but up to four children. They live as families, but with extended family often contributing to raising the children.
Felness tend to live in small groups, and only have close connections with a very few people, rather than large groups. This is not to say that they do not have empathy or care for others, but they tend to be more solitary and independent and show their affection only to particular individuals, and often in subtle ways.
The thick, soft coats of fur they have are an evolutionary adaptation to their home world, much of which had a cooler climate than Earth, with long winters and cooler summers. As such, they do not cope well with hot temperatures, and can sometimes overheat if they exert themselves too much. Like most furred animals, they do not sweat, and it is difficult for them to shed excess heat. In extreme circumstances, this can lead to serious complications.
They additionally have a carnivorous diet and require high levels of particular compounds and minerals in their food to remain healthy, many of which are not found commonly in foodstuffs regularly consumed by humans or other Coalition species, and as such, they must consume supplements to remain healthy.
The Felness, like the other Coalition races, had a well-developed technological base before The Totality arrived on their planet. Their advances in robotics and the development of exoskeletons were far beyond what many others could achieve, but their materials science and power generation capabilities were not able to keep up with the demands.
When the Totality came, they destroyed the delicate balance of the ecosphere of the Felness homeworld as they ravaged it for resources. The Felness themselves were among these resources; their impressive reflexes and agility were valuable, and were integrated into their biotechnological synths.
Felness survived, many of them living under the oppressive reign of the Totality, their species slowly going extinct as their world was stripped of what made it hospitable, and their very bodies assimilated as resources, turned into biological machines to work the Totalities’ factories, processing plants, and maintain their machinery. Others have become parts of their armies, ‘uplifted’ into their soldiers as part of the interstellar union.
Many still struggle as part of the resistance, operating as double agents and working from within, while others live free and work alongside the other races and species of the Coalition.

Canuss

If the Felness are like cats, then the Canuss resemble the canine family of species. Wolves, jackals, coyotes, foxes and dingoes; various sub-races of the Canuss resemble these and other canid-like species in a lot of ways.
Much like the Felness, the Canuss are humanoid canines with fur all over their bodies, with mobile ears atop their heads, functional tails, and digitigrade feet that have paws. They are also mammals with two natural biological sexes (though, engineering by the Totality has increased the birth rate of intersex individuals) and reproduce sexually, giving birth to live young.
While Felness have exceptional reflexes and excellent night vision, the Canuss are known for their sense of smell, and their endurance. They have incredible reserves of stamina, as well as being spectacularly psychologically resilient. In fact, they are the least affected by Totality attempts at mind control and brainwashing, something that has caused problems for the interstellar empire in dominating the race as a whole.
The key they have found to doing so is taking advantage of another aspect of the Canuss as a race - their loyalty and dedication. Canuss form strong bonds within their families, and in social groups. They make friends quickly and place great importance on trust, loyalty, and dedication to one another, to family, friends, and comrades of all kinds. As such, the Totality use these bonds as leverage to ensure compliance by way of threats to loved ones, or by blackmail and shame; striking bargains and preying on those senses and emotional bonds to manipulate the Canuss to do what they wanted.
However, this can only work so much, and for so long, and the Canuss have been an enduring enemy to the Totality, showing how vicious, tenacious and - appropriately - dogged fighters they can be. If the Felness use guile, stealth, cunning and subterfuge while fighting against the Totality, the Canuss turn campaigns of war into a gruelling slog, wearing away constantly at their enemies through persistent actions over time.

This is very reminiscent of their technological approach. While their devices and machines are not especially ingenious or unconventional in their approaches, the amount of redundancy and the layers of reliability and durability built into their tech is impressive.
Canuss are particularly sociable, loving to be part of groups and included with everyone and everything, as is in keeping with their inherent senses and inclination towards loyalty and dedication to others.

Their homeworld has been invaded and the majority of it is under Totality control. Some remote areas and settlements remain free of their influence, and networks of trails, tunnels, and other such forgotten areas form an underground railroad that links the Resistance across the face of their planet with a number of Mirrors that lead to both other Coalition worlds, as well as other worlds untouched by the Totality, where other Canuss settlements have been established.

The Mustarl

The Mustarl have some of the greatest variety among their subspecies when it comes to size and form, beaten only by the Dranfel. While they are generally somewhat ‘stocky’ and ‘solid’ even in their bigger subspecies, the difference between those and their smaller ones is quite exceptional. They look like the mustelids of Earth - Mink, Otters, Ferrets, Weasels, Stoats, Martens, Badgers and Wolverines - the latter two being among the biggest, strongest, and most resilient. They also are plantigrade, while the other 'anthro' species - other than the Selachii - are digitigrade.

Their resilience is a particular characteristic of the race as a whole. While Canuss may have the endurance in terms of energy reserves, Mustarl have an incredible endurance and resilience to injury and pain. While part of it is their tough skin, they also have incredible dense muscle tissues, skeletons, and even flesh. This, coupled with their quick wits, stubbornness, and dexterity make them difficult opponents - especially for the Totality. Their resilience to injury and pain were something taken from them as desirable for the Totality, incorporated into their synths and by augmented uplifted Mustarl as shock-troops and soldiers in their armies.

Mustarl live in small family units, much like human families, albeit with larger numbers of children per birth. They form large and gregarious, busy communities that are very active. Mustarl are innately curious and highly physically active and energetic - although, they sleep remarkably deeply, to the point of being mistaken for unconscious, or even dead by non-mustarl friends or colleagues not familiar with them.
Their ability to resist pain is also coupled with a sort of natural ‘supercharger’. Their bodies produce excess amounts of adrenaline when in dangerous situations, that allows them to push through fear, pain, and injury to defend themselves and others. This has been known to result in individual Mustarl surviving battles and defeating opponents in the face of all reasons, only to then die of their injuries sustained during the fight as their adrenaline wears off, and they succumb to the damage sustained. This can result in some Mustarl having an inflated sense of confidence in themselves or their abilities, and is something that can be used to manipulate them into losing situations by taking advantage of this confidence and ego.

The Mustarl homeworld is a stormy, cool, wet world. Reminiscent of parts of central Europe and the steppes or tundra in its northern and southern areas, it has a lot of mountainous terrain, which is home to much of the planets’ wealth of mineral resources.
Mustarl engineering and technology coupled well with their industriousness, and their naturally dextrous hands and quick, sharp minds. They produced some of the most ingenious microelectronics and complex systems in the Coalition, before their world was ravaged by the Totality. The empire stripped their world of all its resources, rapidly turning it into a blasted wasteland. The Mustarl scored one of the only victories against the Totality; they managed to insert a destructive computer virus into their systems. However, the unexpected consequence was a complete loss of control of the Totalities resource extraction and processing systems, and the resulting cascade of failures spewed pollutants into the ecosystem, utterly destroying the atmosphere, water, and all natural life. The remaining settlements occupied by the Totality are under enclosed domes, and the few free Mustarl hide deep underground in networks of tunnels, caves, and abandoned subway systems, using them to sneak into the Totality-controlled cities.

The Selachii

Unlike the other Coalition races mentioned so far, the Selachii have no fur at all, and are one of the very few non-mammalian races among the Coalition. Adding further to their differences, they are amphibious.
The Selachii have similarities to sharks, having pointed muzzles full of very sharp teeth, gills, and long tails that act as their main propulsion in the water. Their hands and feet are webbed, along with fins on their forearms, and a dorsal fin. While they have no hair elsewhere on their bodies, they have head hair. They also, unlike the other 'animalistic' races are plantigrade rather than digitigrade. Selachii are unusual in that they have three biological sexes, though this seems to have not always been the case, and is a result of the extensive genetic engineering within the species as a whole, as a counter to the Totalities’ destruction of their natural environment.
Selachii reproduce sexually. Gestation is a long process, and the female eventually gives birth to at least two live young. Normally, they are raised in a creche with other infants, with parents providing communal care. Young Selachii are entirely dependent on living in water for their early years, and this is an important stage of their development both physically and mentally, and the presence of particular mineral and chemical compounds in the natural water composition of their world aid in the development of their body chemistry.
As they age, they become able to spend more and more time out of the water, developing more to be able to work, live, and otherwise thrive. Their work and life is split between rest underwater, and days spent on land.

The pollution of their world by the Totality in attempts to harvest the natural resources of the planet resulted in massive illnesses, deaths, and complications across the species, and a rapidly and drastically dropping fertility rate and successful birth rate.
Having always been adept in the management and engineering of genetics including their own, the Selachii turned their prowess in this to combating the problems, but this only served to create tension and division among their species, resulting in civil war, as well as the ongoing conflict against the Totality. Attempts to use biological warfare against the Totality backfired, and has resulted in greater problems among the Selachii population, something they have been unable to fix.
Along with the increasing damage to their world, the Selachii are in an extremely difficult place, and unless they can reverse the damage done, they are potentially only a few generations away from total extinction.
The Selachii’s prowess in genetic engineering and biological sciences and chemistry have contributed greatly to the Coalition, but likewise to the Totality, aiding and augmenting their own efforts to produce biotechnological creatures that are used in their forces and their continuing drive to force their own evolution and strive toward their ideas of perfection.

While the Selachii have suffered tremendous damage to their genetics and biology due to the effects of the Totality, they have a perfect sense of three-dimensional positioning and navigating in three-dimensional space, due to the naturally occurring sense of electromagnetic and electrical activity generated by all living things, and many non-living ones. They can pinpoint living creatures and trace and track electrical and electromagnetic fields, which is a particular advantage in many situations.
As they are an amphibious species, they need to return to the water on a regular basis to remain healthy. They need to do so at least once every 18 hours, though the more often they can do so, the better it is for them. Selachii away from ‘home’ and working alongside other species often wear ‘encounter suits’ that keep their skin moist and cover their gills, helping them remain more comfortable during this period. If a Selachii does not return to the water, they will quickly start to show signs of deterioration - they will become sluggish in thoughts and actions within hours. Soon after, they will start to develop respiratory complications. Their skin will rapidly form dry, irritated and flaky patches that will develop into sores and their soft tissues will start to rapidly dry out, causing further complications. Delirium and extreme confusion will follow after two days without immersion fully in water, in concert with the breakdown of their organs and ultimately heart failure after massive seizures. The effects can be reversed up to twelve hours after by immersion back in water and with sufficient rest. Any time after that, extensive medical intervention is needed to recover, and even then; the closer the line gets, the less likely the chance of recovery becomes.
To maintain their health and well-being, Selachii must also have access to the particular elements and chemical compounds they find in the natural waters of their homeworld.

The Dranfel

Like the Selachii, the Dranfel are also non-mammalian. They are reptiles, albeit ones with a warm-blooded metabolism rather than a cold-blooded one. Like certain earthen reptiles, they have an extremely long lifespan, living for hundreds of years compared to humans. Dranfel, due to their long lifespan, mature slowly and are considered to be ‘young’ well into their fifties. Their true mental maturity does not begin into their eighties, and they are considered experienced when in their mid-hundreds.
The unfortunate downside of the Dranfel’s long lifespan is that they reproduce very slowly, and in small amounts. Additionally, they lay eggs and these are very sensitive to external changes in the environment, which further causes complications for their reproductive cycle and population. Over the long timeline of their species, they have experimented heavily with genetic engineering and alteration of their base genome, which has resulted in a vast diversity of genetics and traits, and their species has many different combinations of physical features, leading to gender and sex being broad expressions and terms. While some features remain consistent - mostly scaly and/or plated skin, horns, a muzzle, a long, strong tail and clawed fingers and toes - often, someone might be with two Dranfel, and they may look quite different from one another visually, but be part of the same species genetically.
Dranfel have very formidable immune systems, due to this engineering. as well as a highly resilient genome that makes them especially resilient to disease and illness.
However, the centuries of tinkering and alteration have also led to fundamental flaws that are inherent to the species as a whole, building up over generation upon generation of genetic drift. Adding the interference of the Totality to this, and the compounding issues have proven difficult to overcome with medicine or genetic engineering, and instead increasingly the Dranfel are turning toward technological solutions such as cybernetics, as more and more of the medical issues become harder to overcome.

The Dranfel's great lifespan gives them extensive time to learn, develop, build experiences and knowledge. While they are physically quite powerful; especially having naturally armoured hides (though, far from bulletproof, but very resilient nonetheless), they are equally a race of philosophers, scholars, scientists and thinkers and many of the greatest innovations and breakthroughs of science and technology that the Coalition use have come from them.

The Dranfel have suffered the most damage to their world. With their great intelligence and knowledge, they had an extremely advanced base of technology. When the Totality attacked and invaded, they were taken by surprise, but fought valiantly, albeit in vain.
With so much damage done, they unleashed a tremendous weapon; once composed of elemental particles. It completely destabilised the portal network that the Totality used - but the side effects and consequences physically damaged their world, devastating the atmosphere and rendering the planet uninhabitable. They emigrated to other worlds, but the Totality have sought them out, as well as still holding many of their people as slaves.

Anhur

The Anhur are a very unusual species, by human standards. They are egg-laying mammals, like the platypus and echidna, and like the platypus, they have features that appear to be a combination of other animal traits and characteristics. The creatures they resemble most strongly appear to be mythical griffons (or Griffins, or Gryphons), with their combination of what seem like feathers, fur and scales. Their faces have beaks like those of a bird-of-prey and forearms that are very similar to talons, while their lower limbs are more feline, strongly resembling those of the felness, along with their tails, which are very feline.
While they cannot fly, or even glide; they do have - comparative to their body size - small wings that are an important part of their body posture, balance, and weight, as well as aiding in regulating their body temperature. Anhur that lose their wings - due to injury, sickness or for other reasons - often require extensive physical therapy to regain full balance and mobility, and will require additional measures to maintain and regulate their body temperature.
The different types of ‘hair’ across their bodies are all different expressions of keratin that have developed to help regulate their body temperature, as well as for various other reasons, such as better ease of keeping clean, manipulating their food, and protecting their sensory organs. Feathers on the head especially help channel sound, and reflect light, though are often styled and worn somewhat like hair in other species as a form of personal expression. They are also important in secondary communication of expressions and body language.
Due to their size, Anhur generally only lay a single egg. This develops within the body over months after successful fertilization, and is laid after reaching a particular size. Once laid, the egg hatches after several months of incubation.

The most unusual aspect of Anhur biology is that their bodies maintain a symbiotic relationship with a type of fungal organism that lives within their digestive tract. The animal life that most Anhur eat; herbivorous animals, consume vegetation that is high in compounds that would otherwise be dangerous and toxic to the Anhur. The symbiotic fungi filter these compounds as part of the Anhurs’ digestive process. The fungi infecting the Anhur spread to other Anhur - such as offspring - by transfer through spores in their mucous membranes that exit the body in normal respiratory action. The fungi is so adapted to Anhur biology that it is unable to exist outside Anhur bodies, and likewise; Anhur cannot survive without the fungi in their system.
The other advantages this gives them is a particular resistance to various forms of parasites, toxins, poisons and other hazardous chemicals and materials. The fungi acts as a kind of secondary immune system to their bodies’ natural one.

When the Totality invaded their world, the Anhur fought fiercely. Their technology was particularly advanced and their military forces well developed, and they were able to hold the alien empire back.
However, the Totality exploited the dependence of the Anhur on the symbiotic fungi in their bodies and introduced a toxin into the ecosystem that didn’t simply attack the fungi, but altered it and mutated it, changing the relationship between the Anhur and the fungi. This led to many crippling and degenerative conditions running through the population. Forced into a crisis, the Anhur fell back on their technology, many of them cybernetically augmenting their bodies.
This caused complications of its’ own, and is not long-term sustainable for them as a species at their current level of technology, especially as the degenerative conditions are increasing and the birth rate is falling - along with the dwindling population in general, due to the enslavement and eradication of their population by the Totality.

Elves

Unlike the previously discussed races, the Elves - as they are known by humans and coalition species their actual name almost impossible to translate easily into other languages - are very human looking. They have similar smooth skin, and hair in the same places as humans do, though it is much finer and is minimal by comparison. They are mammals, with two biological sexes and give birth to live young. Their organs and physiology are otherwise very similar to humans as well.
However, they have significant differences in their skin colours, eye colours and hair colours, often reaching shades that are not found in humans.
The other obvious physical difference is their pointed ears, which are many times larger and more prominent than human ears, and are somewhat mobile, communicating their expression and mood to a degree. They also tend toward being much more lithe than humans, and are physically weaker on average, with a more delicate skeletomuscular structure. Nonetheless, they live longer than humans and most other Coalition races, having similar lifespans to the Dranfel. As such, they deteriorate physically much slower, and retain their intellectual and physical capabilities for much longer, making them great intellectuals, scholars, philosophers and scientists.

They are not especially physically powerful fighters, due to their physical weakness, but they make up for this with a particularly unusual set of abilities compared to Humans and other Coalition species.
There are two distinct sub-species of Elves; Light Elves and Dark Elves.
Both sub-species have abilities that are dependent on the presence of a uniquely occurring mineral on their home world that are integrated into their bodies, and work with their nervous system, along with their bodies’ electrical field and specialised organs developed to channel the electromagnetic fields and electrical charges of their bodies. These are amplified extensively by these specialised organs



In Light Elves, this allows them to generate and control electricity, even to the point of generating bolts of lightning, ball lightning, and even generate electromagnetic fields. These electrical fields can cause painful shocks and even burns to other life forms, as well as disrupting electronics and electrical systems. The fields they can generate do not deflect bullets, for example, but can disrupt sensors, communications, and other such things. Light Elves tend toward paler skin colours, hair colours, and eye colours.



Dark elves possess a different adaptation of the same organs within their bodies. Rather than generating and channelling electricity, they can use the electromagnetic fields of their bodies to warp and distort the electromagnetic fields around them, allowing them to bend and refract light around their bodies for short periods of time. Dark Elves tend to have darker hues of skin, and hair. Their eyes are also much better adapted to living in the dark, and they have a similar level of night-vision to a Felness, Canuss or Mustarl. However, their eyes are much more sensitive to bright lights, and they often wear sunglasses in normal daylight. Similarly, their skin is much more vulnerable to burning from UV rays, despite the darker pigmentation.

In both cases, elves can exert themselves to extend or amplify the effects. Like anyone pushing their body and its abilities, exertion uses more energy and is draining, and can in some cases cause injuries, especially if done repeatedly.
The elves' home world has long since been destroyed, rendered inhospitable by a catastrophic series of incidents during their war against the Totality. The actual physical world was all-but destroyed and they relocated to other worlds. The element common to their homeworld that gives them their abilities has been successfully synthesised, but by comparison to their former abilities, they are by all reports much weaker. This unique ability was what the Totality were in search of, along with the unique mineral itself.

The Gennari

The Gennari look almost like demons to human eyes, or some other kind of fantastical species from fantasy, myth, or legend. Humanoid in build, they have smooth skins, and heads of hair, and are mammals, like humans are. However, their bodies have horned heads, very varied skin and hair colours, long, thin tails with a spade tip, and cloven hooves at the end of digitigrade legs. Very strikingly, they have eyes with black sclera and brightly coloured irises and pupils. This is a consequence of their ability to see into the ultraviolet and infra-red spectrums of light. This is linked with the ability of their horns to perceive and interact with the electrical and electromagnetic fields of their bodies, and those of other living creatures to an incredible degree.
This is to the point that they can perceive the thought patterns of other living beings, and have the ability to read them and interpret them. This is instinctive with other Gennari, and with some training they can do so with other sapient races.
Reading surface thoughts and emotions takes little effort, and can be picked up with ease. But perceiving and reading more complex thoughts requires more effort, and can be noticed - with practice and experience - by the subject. More experienced Gennari may be able to do so less obviously, and combine their abilities with use of conversation or coercion to get the information they need by steering the thoughts of their subject.
Among the Gennari themselves, social etiquette and customs apply of not reading thoughts without invitation, though using ones' psychic abilities is a part of the spectrum of communication, much like body language, expression, tone and other such cues are among other races. Sometimes Gennari unfamiliar with non-psychic races (and vice versa) may find understanding the nuance of communication and emotions of others somewhat confusing, or stilted, and may accidentally overstep boundaries.

Gennari, like other sapient races, have some subspecies. The difference visually is in the shape of their horns; with those who possess telepathic and empathic abilities having horns that sweep back from their foreheads and the top or sides of their skulls. The other distinct sub-species have horns more like rams, that curl and spiral back and up alongside their faces. This change in the shape of their horns and the organs within them that conduct the electromagnetic and electrical impulses is what changes the nature of their abilities. Those with spiralling horns have the ability to utilise telekinetic abilities. While these are not apocalyptically powerful, they can be used to manipulate small objects with a level of impressive dexterity from a distance. Some individuals with training and practice can affect larger objects, and there are legends and tales of Gennari from long ago with incredible abilities, able to lift massive objects, or affect whole crowds of people at a time. In the case of current Gennari, however, they must maintain visual contact with what they are interacting with and must be close to it, seemingly within under a hundred feet, though the effect is weaker at longer distances and with more materials or objects in between, and varies with the size of the object.
The effects can be shielded by some materials, noticeably certain types of metals, and powerful electromagnetic fields.
There is some crossover between the subspecies, and with training they can mimic one anothers' abilities, but there will always be a stronger natural affinity for one over the other, and a 'telepathic' Gennari will never be as 'telekinetic', and vice versa, due to the natural predisposition for one over the other due to anatomical differences.
Surgically removed a Gennari's horns is possible, but would be like removing someone's eyes or deliberately deafening them, or even more like a partial lobotomy, due to the deep integration of their horns and the organs and nerve fibers within them with their brains and nervous system. Some Gennari have survived the loss of horns, but they do not live as long and have a much reduced quality of life.

Gennari also have a need for particular atmospheric gases and elements that are not native to Earth’s atmosphere, or those of other Coalition worlds. While oxygen, nitrogen and other gases present in Earth’s atmosphere are also part of their own, they also have significant concentrations of sulfur dioxide, ammonia and methane. They can survive for short periods without those gases, but it will restrict their abilities. As such, they require supplementary breathing equipment to add those gases into the mix of air they breathe. Gennari are also particularly sensitive to bright light, and ultraviolet light in particular.

Humans and Paranormal Abilities

While Humans did not have any innate abilities at the beginning of the Mirror Wars, it seems that the developing and changing nature of them has led to a number of unusual developments in biology. Some humans, since the formation of the Mirrors, have started to show unusual abilities. Precognition, Retrocognition, empathy, telepathy, rapid health, increased strength and stamina, increased visual and auditory spectrums, and other such abilities. While they do not appear to be ‘super powers’ as such, this increasing occurrence of individuals with ‘parahuman’ abilities has been recorded and noted.
Humans are also especially receptive to enhancements, compared to other species. They are much more compatible with cybernetic implants and augmentations than most other species, and it is not uncommon for those in combat or other high-risk occupations to augment themselves to a degree. Though, extensive augmentation is unusual and uncommon, and can lead to physical and psychological complications.

The Totality

The Totality are an interstellar empire. They are not a singular species, but a union of numerous beings, all of whom have specific roles or ‘castes’ within the greater whole of the Totality, and with a chain of command or seniority among these various beings.
The ultimate head of the Totality where the power is wielded is unknown, with few of their highest-ranking members seen. They appear to rely highly on Artificial Intelligence and computer systems to organise their forces, and this is in concert with extensive use of cybernetic implantation.

The variety between the different species ‘utilised’ by the Totality is vast. At the base of the organization are the wholly mechanical drones used for tracking, observation and surveillance. They work in concert with other units as part of their operations as a whole; though have little to no offensive ability themselves.
Above them are the least augmented and most basic troops; the Pacification Forces, or Pacification Corps. A form of internal police force, they are minimally augmented and enhanced, primarily only to enable them to connect with the Totality’s networks, but otherwise retaining much of their personality and character. However, these augmentations and implants slowly brainwash and alter their minds and personalities. The Pacification Corps have little access to heavy weaponry and are primarily for riot control and urban pacification, using small arms and other such crowd control weapons, lightly armoured, utilitarian vehicles, as well as faceless, intimidating riot armour.
As personnel advance throughout the ranks of the Pacification Forces, they receive more and more augmentations, until they are thoroughly under the sway of the Totality - at which point, they enter the ranks of the Suppression Forces.

The standing army of the Totality, the Suppression Forces are bonded with their armour for life support and enhancement of their physical abilities, along with integrating communications and other sensory systems into them. Suppression Forces soldiers still retain some individuality and personality, but their compliance is assured by the extensive alteration of their bodies and minds. Suppression Forces soldiers have access to military-grade weaponry and heavy vehicles and aircraft, adapted from designs and equipment from the races they have suppressed and dominated, while incorporating other advanced technology such as energy weapons and other devices.

The other side of this augmentation, however, is the brutal and horrifying process of creating Drones. Such beings are mere functionary creatures, carrying out menial tasks like robots. Drones have much of their body crudely amputated and replaced with crude cybernetics, with their brains and organs being supplemented or supplanted by technological devices. They have no individual personalities or character, and very little reaction to external stimuli, seemingly being controlled by the Totalities’ AI. Sometimes when heavily damaged or subjected to accidents, this control slips, and the creatures express nothing but visceral, instinctual emotional reactions, primarily in the way of pain, due to their horrifically crude augmentations.

The majority of the heavier, more powerful and elite forces though are Synths. Somewhere between machines and living beings, the line is hard to determine. They are technically by definition cyborgs, as they have living organic tissue that is intertwined with artificial systems and components, and neither can function without the other. However, the organic part of the biotechnological beings are engineered specifically for the role they inhabit, extensively modified and engineered from creatures long ago dominated by the Totality, their original forms long lost to time, and now part of the ‘functional’ ranks and organization of the interstellar empire. Synths serve particular roles and functions, much like particular vehicles, weapons, and equipment are devised and employed for specific functions in other cultures and societies. Their individual intelligence is hard to determine, as they are so heavily intertwined with machine components and thus the Totality’s networks and control systems.

Above those Synths are the Supervisors; the most alien of aliens encountered. Non-humanoid, slug-like beings that are covered with cybernetic implants and capable of imposing and terrifying feats of mental power, such as telekinesis and telepathy. Their cybernetically enhanced bodies can project forcefields, and the cybernetic limbs they have are powerful enough to crush limbs, while their telekinesis can crush metal and tear apart structures.
Fighting a Supervisor relies on a lot of co-ordination and firepower, and a healthy dose of planning and strategy, or blind luck and daring.

The number of planets under the control of the Totality is unknown, as is their point of origin. Whether they have a fleet of space vessels is equally unknown. Their ultimate goal, beyond ‘expansion and sustainment’ of their Empire is also unknown. Much of their language used for orders, doctrines and strategy treats the Empire as a whole like an ‘organism’, with threats as ‘infections’, further reflecting the blurred line between technology and biology within the Totality as a whole.

Their level of technology is much in advance of Humanities’ in many aspects, but it is hard to put a firm cap on it, as they use such a variety of technologies.
While they possess access to energy weapons, forcefields, and the control and regulation of Mirror portals, as well as using exotic power sources and generation; they also use recognisable technology, devices and machinery. Gunship helicopters, boats, tanks, armoured vehicles, projectile weapons and robots.
Their ability to manipulate genetics and meld the technological and biological is incredibly advanced, yet at other times seems incredibly crude and brutal, such as in the case of Drones.
This use of technology seems to be in a tiered system of proportional response to external threats and challenges, and the greatest and most advanced types of their technology are as yet unknown.

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OOC Information

Rules

• 0: Don’t be a dick.
  This means; don’t be unnecessarily argumentative, contrary, or otherwise… problematic for no reason or ‘because it’s funny’. It rarely is, and it doesn’t make things more enjoyable for everyone.
• 1: Follow and adhere to the RP Guild rules and code of conduct at all times.
• 2: It is not the GM’s job to chase you. If you’re interested enough to join the RP, then I will assume you are interested enough to post regularly and check the site. I will remind when a GM post goes up, but I will not chase you to post. If you are ‘too lazy’ to do so, it’s not my problem, especially as it shows just how interested you actually are.
• 3: An exhaustive knowledge of modern weaponry or hard science is not at all required, or even necessarily welcome. The ‘rule of cool’ will always win, as the narrative trumps everything else. But at the same time, things will remain somewhat grounded; just so there is something to use as a reference point and to connect with or touch base on, and to look into and research to help with understanding for those less knowledgeable.
• 4: Embrace the setting and the themes of the RP. Yes, there are anthro/furry characters. Get over it, they aren’t going anywhere, and such kinds of characters have long been part of fiction as a whole.
  You are not mandated to play one, there are humans and other races. But playing a character that ‘hates all anthro species’ will be treated as highly suspect and trolling. Embrace the sci-fi ideas and concepts behind the idea of multiple races in the setting, they are extremely common in fiction. If you cannot see past ‘ugh furries’, and that’s the only thing ‘stopping you’ from ‘enjoying’ the RP, then I feel sorry for you.
• 5: If you disappear without warning or communication for several ‘rounds’ of posts in a row, I will assume you have dropped out. Taking breaks or not being able to post because of IRL and outside issues is completely understandable; it happens to us all and we all have regular lives where things come up. But I find it rude not to at least inform the GM, if not the group, of anything that has stopped you from joining in when it does happen. Even if it’s after the fact, I can still retcon your character to have been part of things and just ‘in the background’ of a scene.
• 6: You are perfectly welcome to play a character who is somewhat more ‘anti-social’, in that they are more grumpy, gruff, harder-edged or otherwise not all sunshine and flowers. But bear in mind that, ultimately, the point of the narrative and the RP is to work together, and to combat a hostile and evil power. If your character is a nihilistic, miserable, disagreeable twat, don’t be surprised when no-one wants to talk to them, or NPCs treat them like the arsehole they are. Also, make sure that it does not spill over into OOC, and that no player is being singled out and treated poorly and unfairly to the point it affects their enjoyment of the game and its’ story.
• 7: Your characters may have ‘secrets’ or multiple facets and aspects to their histories and personalities - as long as they:
  a) do not contradict the setting as it has been laid out, and
  b) the GM has been informed about them and approved of them, and they are a good fit for the setting and the canon. If you suddenly pull a whole backstory out of nowhere, expect it to be ignored or discarded.
• 8: Quality is always better than quantity. While there is a minimal standard of spelling, punctuation and grammar, and I expect a certain amount of writing prowess, one succinct paragraph that is well written is always better than three that are full of bloated descriptives that get very little across.
• 9: Players may have multiple player characters, but a limit of no more than two per player, to avoid entire scenes of players ‘talking to themselves’ as it were, or just setting themselves up with the exact characters and cast they want and writing their own fic in my setting.
  If the group becomes especially large, this may be limited to one character each just for convenience and to speed things up and make them manageable.
• 10: Please do not write in ‘script fic’ format. I.E.
  
  Rhona: We shouldn’t write like this
  Jeff the Capybara: No, it reads really badly.
  
  Instead, please use third-person narrative:
  
  Rhona read back over the previous post, and nodded in approval with a satisfied smile. It was much more immersive and far less clunky. Jeff snuffled in agreement and munched on a carrot.
• 11: I do not follow a ‘posting order’. I tend to - as mentioned above - make a GM post that sets up a scene for the other players to respond to. Once every player has responded once, I will make another GM post that resolves their actions and moves the scene on. The order of replies is irrelevant, as long as everyone has posted. Sometimes I may post as GM or an NPC in direct response to a particular players’ questions or interactions, but this will be clearly stated.

Character Sheet

Once your character sheet is completed, please post it in the OOC for review and approval.
Once it has been approved by the GM, please post in the Characters tab.
Please follow the formatting as shown below, and remove any comments/tips/etc after the heading titles.

Name: The name of your character

Nickname: Any nicknames they may have acquired (optional)

Age: Minimum early 20’s. Maximum equivalent of later middle-age
(Optional - date of birth)

Species: Human, or one of the other Coalition species.

Appearance: A combination of an image and a short text description is preferred. Anime or illustration-style artworks are preferred, rather than realistic photography.
If you cannot find an image, a ‘close enough’ with a more elaborate text description is fine.

Personality: A short paragraph or two that describes the way your character relates to others, and their general emotional and psychological outlook on life. This is important for how well they will fit in with the rest of the group. This does not need to be exhaustive, more an overview.

History: A short personal history of key events that explain or illustrate their experience and suitability for inclusion in a SPEAR team. Does not need to be extensive or exhaustive in detail; a bullet-pointed list of key events is ideal.

Key Skills & Abilities: What makes your character useful to the SPEAR Team; are they an expert marksman, a leading scientist in their field, a gifted mechanic or engineer, a demolitions expert, a master hacker, or some other such unique function and talent that is beyond or aside from any 'special' abilities they have.

Special Abilities: If you character possesses any abilities above the norm (for their species) or any cybernetic enhancements, they can be included here. If you are unsure about abilities, please discuss it with the GM and other players, as this is a tricky area to determine how much is too much.

Personal Weapons: Any usual weaponry your character uses. Their MAS weapons can be listed elsewhere; this is only for personal arms. Real-world weapons are preferred, and you may list their attachments and modifications too. Nothing too obscure or vintage - they are meant to be practical fighters. And they do not need to be a walking arsenal. Obscure and bizarre melee weapons will also be rejected.

Personal Equipment: anything else they carry that is relevant to their potential tasks on a mission, or that you think is notable. Note that mission-specific equipment does not need to be included here - this is just personal things that they carry on a normal basis. Some assumption is also expected, such as standard-issue gear like body armour, holsters, spare ammunition, field rations, a personal medical kit, water supply, and so on and so forth.

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MAS details:
An MAS has - as discussed above - modular weapon systems, that can be equipped on its’ hardpoints.
These can be swapped out between missions. A list of all options will be provided in the 0th OOC post, along with the basic details of the MAS Suit that is used by the SPEAR unit.
Your loadout can be posted in the OOC for each mission. This also extends to hand-carried weapons, which can be swapped in the same way that your character can carry different weapons in their hands.

Every character will use the same base model of MAS with different weapons or equipment depending on the operators’ preferences and the mission objectives. However, characters can customise their MAS’ appearance with personal logos, colours, or other such ‘tweaks’ and customisations - within reason.

There is a Discord server I run, where we may discuss out-of-character details, if you want to join, please send me a DM for an invite.

Splintered / Reflections: Near Future sci-fi with human, anthro, and other species characters and mecha.

Everything can be an alien if you want it badly enough. :P

Anyway, thinking I'll be sticking with a regular old humie. @Rhona W I might've persuaded a friend of mine to join in on this RP as well once the OOC is up. We've already been sparring on characters, so if there's room for one more...

@Byte

All good; ideally I'd like some hooman characters because it balances things out and fits the setting well.
I should have the OOC up within the next few days, all being well. Had some internet issues and some other stuff that stopped me from making as much progress on it as I would have liked.

<Snipped quote by Rhona W>
Like I said

better images are available

Or as one person put it, it passes the "Yep, that's an alien." test.

@Foster

Yeah, that would work too. I'd say they'd probably work as a Dranfel sub-species. If not, maybe they can be a one-off from some other race that no-one has met any more of as yet, but were liberated from the Totality. I'm sure we can work something out one way or another easily enough.

Splintered / Reflections: Near Future sci-fi with human, anthro, and other species characters and mecha.

@Rhona W @FalloutJack

Oh, so we're staking out art claims already?

Yeeeesh! why didn't you tell me?

I actually waited to confirm interest until I found some good character art for what I thought a Drafnel would look like

@Neziul

The main mental image I have of them is 'humanoid dragon', like Dragonborn from D&D mostly, as an easy example.

Mostly like this lass

@Neziul

I dunno about art-claiming. I was checking because I had characters inspired by that particular look and I wanted to see if they fit.

@Rhona W

That makes sense. And yeah, the artist really did good work on this piece. I plan to use these two as siblings.

I've had a chance to read over the RP, and yeah, this looks interesting. Actually, the theme running through my head at the moment is Exosquad. The mechsuits are about that size, and the backdrop - apart from the inclusion of aliens - could be similar to the show. And considering that the show focused alot on war, race, loss, intrigue, vengeance, romance, and even a bit of terror, that's a good parallel to draw from, I think. Anyway, I like this.

@FalloutJack

Yeah, I must admit; I did realise that there was a bit of Exo Squad in there too, albeit unconsciously - another one to add in to my inspirations I suppose...!
I'm glad you like the idea, and I'm looking forward to getting started on it too. I'm working on getting the full OOC up as soon as I can.

... Alright, I'll probably find the time to dust-off Felix. Probably see if there's better art available (there is).

Will probably pair them off with another human played by myself and whoever else wants to try tolerating their antics.

@Foster

Yeah, you'll probably need something a bit more... anthro than the art you used there, as the animal-ish races are a lot more 'furry' than 'nekomimi'.

Just with no furry cliches

Be glad to have you with us as well though, if you think it's your thing.

Splintered / Reflections: Near Future sci-fi with human, anthro, and other species characters and mecha.

Just happened to be looking around before I hit the hay, probably read this more completely when I'm not tired, but one thing caught my eye. Would these two qualify as Dranfel? The picture was originally from Wildstar's Draken race.

@FalloutJack

No problems, feel free to read up when you have a chance.
As for the image - it could be said that they're different sub-species of Dranfel, so they have a little different looks to some others of the species, because they're from a different region of the planet. I'd certainly be fine with allowing them as Dranfel.
I like the art style as well.

Splintered / Reflections: Near Future sci-fi with human, anthro, and other species characters and mecha.

Also still interested.

I do miss some of the old vibes from the first iteration. But the expanded details are cool, the mirror theme is quite fitting, and "The Totality" is a way better name than "The Overlords".

@Neziul

Glad you're still onboard too!
And it won't be too different; the premise is still mostly the same - just more refined and better presented this time around.