Rhona W

Shattered Steel - An Ace Combat/Project Wingman/etc inspired aircraft-based RP

Scott Valentine

Scott's attacks had hit hard. One of the boats was completely destroyed, nothing left but debris and sinking wreckage. The other boat he'd hit with his gun was smoking and had not shown any interest in pressing the attack. Myk's attack on the remaining one with a JDAM blasted it apart as the 500lb warhead struck squarely atop the stern. The force of the explosion slammed the boats' rear down against the incompressible water and blew out seams in the hull. Pipes and feeds ruptured and as cold water hit the hot engines, steam blasted out and added to the explosion as the missile boat blew to pieces.
"Outstanding, Brightspark! Good hits!"
Then as Valkyrie dropped in to take on the second Corvette; duelling with it as the crew fought back admirably; but her second Maverick hit home, plowing into the Corvette's superstructure and leaving it smoking and burning. The surface combatants were all-but out of the fight, with crews abandoning ship on what was left, or trying to stabilise their sinking ships.
"All ships and vessels are out of the picture. Pivot to attacking the land-based targets, over"

Katherine 'Kitten' Kane

The Hind's air-to-air missile bore in toward the A-10, while Kat's AIM-9X sliced through the skies toward the attack helicopter. The Amazonian pilot hauled back on her stick, pulling up and right in a shuddering bank. Her radar warning receiver blared incessantly and she cursed under her breath as the G's pulled on her, pumping out flares as the jet pulled up and away.
The R-60 missile steered toward her plane, before the rooster-tail of flares caught it's attention and it exploded into the skies, giving her a narrow escape. The Hind wasn't so lucky, however; despite hugging the ground and wheeling away as fast as its' pilot could take it and pumping out flares, the hulking attack helicopter couldn't escape. The sidewinder intersected its' rotor disk as it homed in on the engine exhausts, and as the proximity fuse triggered, the explosion of shrapnel tore through the engines and rotors alike, the helicopter pancaking into the ground and breaking in two as it rolled onto its' side and burst into flames.
The rest of the helicopters were starting to react, taking to the skies and trying to flee as the Cobalt Haze jets picked them off, while tracers from the remaining pickups and their anti-aircraft guns criss-crossed the skies.

Meanwhile over the more built up of the two islands, the dogfights were already minutes old; an eternity in the timescales of aerial combat. Jefe, Calico and Peacenik had ripped the handful of aerial combatants from the sky with barely a flicker of difficulty, and then Sparrow's Typhoon had ravaged the ZSU's on the ground, leaving the island virtually defenceless. There was nothing left of any substance to hold them back or fight back against them, the Libyan transport planes on the tarmac below not even attempting to make a run for it, and no seeking radars sweeping for them high above.
"This is Skywatch to Cobalt 3; reading no bandits in your area and no hostiles. All targets are down or no factor, over" the AWACS operator reported, the displays from the powerful radar aboard the Hawkeye showing no remaining hostiles.
From Scott's position in the harrier, regrouping with the rest of his flight at a higher altitude, he listened in to the good news.
"Flight one, regroup on me and let's hit the last of these targets, and regroup on Flight Two. Cobalt 3; check for any further hostiles or targets of opportunity and hold over Lampedusa for the C-130's, over"

@Letter Bee, @Smike, @Finetales, @AvaP, @Damo021

Operation Daytrip- A Heavenfall Story

Erika Van Straaten

Hippo nodded in understanding as the answers came back, plain and simple with no obfuscation; just the way she liked it. It all seemed straightforward so far - or, at least; as straightforward as such things could be.
"I don't have any further questions right now - there's not anything else I can really comment on until we're there and looking at it as it happens. I'm sure that's when it'll all get a lot more complicated to the point there will be more questions from all of us," she said with a half-smirk. "Especially with all the groups you're talking about being involved with and having to coordinate with too".

Splintered / Reflections

@Rhona W

Okay, Google says 3-4 hours from where I'm planning, if by military jet, which is what would do the pick-up. It's just for my intro, though, so if that's not soon enough, I'll pick a closer location.

@FalloutJack

Nah, it's fine - it was an unexpected mission, so if your chars are that far away, they're that far away. I can write it in for the next reply I put up ^^

Splintered / Reflections

@Rhona W Hey, just so I know, how fast is a decent air transport in this day and age? (Determining how far out my characters can be in this GIJOE-style gathering montage.)

@FalloutJack

It'd be the same as modern-day air travel - that won't have changed that much as there's been no major advancements in that area.

FYI for everyone, I've added a blurb to the 0th OOC post that explains the rank system SPEAR units use (because we're special snowflakes, so we get to have cool titles)

Splintered / Reflections

Just as an FYI for everyone - I tend to go with a 14-day turnaround on posts, giving everyone a chance to get a post in before the next GM post.
If you miss out, you'll be 'elastic banded' to be with the rest of the group; having assumed to be there all along.
If you drop out, then reality will be - as much as possible - retconned to be that you were never there - based on experience with other RP's where making a plot point out of it utterly derailed and delayed things.
If you don't post with no answers or explanations for it after two or three rounds and me asking you about it, then you'll be assumed to have dropped out as well.

Splintered / Reflections

Joint Services Base Jacksonville
Florida,
United States of America
North American Continent
Planet Earth
July 17th
2030
14:00 Hours

Before the 'Zero Day' incident, the US Navy bases at Jacksonville had been an air station and a naval port. Following the 'incident' and then the battle of the Monolith so much of the city had been devastated, that NAS Jacksonville, or 'NAS JAX' had been rebuilt and expanded, along with the base at Mayport.
Jacksonville had seemed like a natural choice, due to being on a Mirror 'nexus', and with the risks of Totality resurgence through the Mirror rift, and the research ongoing there, it had become the unofficial hub for research, as well as defence, for the international - and even interplanetary - community that had built up around the Mirror portals. JAX was the main base, while Mayport remained a homeport for the larger vessels and shipping, with logistics routes that fed back to JAX.

While there were other places that had advanced technologies in place, research and development, and even off-world people living and working there, Jacksonville (and North Florida, by proxy) had become the focal point. The city was still being rebuilt in many places, with a new layout and new buildings occupying the area that had been obliterated by first the 'Zero Day' event and then the following battles. What had remained still showed a lot of scars from the apocalyptic battle, but some areas had regenerated faster than others, driven by the prospect of money to be made and new opportunities. Those looked almost too new, like the paint and glue were still drying.

Among this growing bustle, the headquarters for the SPEAR teams was located on the sprawling base beside the river. Located well for access to both the Mirror network, as well as travel and transportation, and a broad variety of other resources and information as needed, it had numerous runways, piers for water transportation, storage and training facilities, armouries, laboratories, workshops, barracks and accommodations and all the other things that were needed for a modern base of any kind.

The leader of that organization's 3rd Tactical Operations Team was currently tentatively enjoying what had turned out to be a vanishingly rare free day. He'd somehow completed the majority of his daily chores and routines, and had got off-base for once.
He'd utilised his recent US driving Licence and driven his equally relatively new truck a little out of the city and found himself a spot in one of the more quiet, natural parks that had been put aside, bringing a picnic and drinks with him, and a book to enjoy himself with and get lost in.
The parks that had been close to the center of the explosion had been, sadly, razed and destroyed. But the further out one went, the more there was to see and enjoy.
The vulpine-like canuss settled under a tree just off of the walking trail he'd followed, away from the bustle of construction, industry, and the bustle of military life and routine.
He settled down, letting the peace and quiet fill his senses, the natural scents and sounds embrace him, even closing his eye and leaning back against a mossy tree trunk behind him, whiskers twitching to the vibrations.
Incoming priority message
Silverwind growled out a groan at the intrusive, sub-aural notification from his comms implant, reluctantly opening his eye and sighing as he gave the mental command to accept it. Two fingers pressed to just behind his ear, aiding the sub-audio communication and sub-vocalising as the two way audio came in.
"This is Captain Blade, go ahead"
"Captain, this is a priority communication. Your unit has been recalled for an urgent priority mission. A full briefing will be provided when you return to base. Return as soon as possible, and head to your units' ready room for an urgent briefing. The rest of your unit has also been summoned as well"
"Roger that," he replied with a grumble, gathering his possessions and returning them to the backpack he had with him. "Any more details you can give me on what to expect?"
"Wait one, sir," the young-sounding female voice on the other end said, and he took the moment to fasten the bag and sling it back over his shoulders. A moment later, she came back on.
"I can't give exact details over this channel, but I can tell you that it's an off-world mission and time is a factor, sir"
"All right; I'm on my way back. Hopefully the rest of my unit will be as quick off the mark and in easy reach too..."

@Cozure, @Chevaleresse, @FalloutJack, [@DragonMahteru], @Lovely Bones, @Foster, @Smike

Splintered / Reflections

Updated a little bit in the Gennari description about how their psionic abilities work, how others react and can cope with them, and also about their horns and how they function anatomically.
Other things with the other races will probably get updated as questions get asked over the course of the RP, and I'll update the OOC accordingly and put notifications in the OOC and Discord when I do make any changes as a result.

Operation Daytrip- A Heavenfall Story

Erika Van Straaten

Erika listened to the briefing attentively. Her eyes flicked between speakers and faces in the room, and she nodded at the right points, or as things jogged her memory. She's heard of San Borondon in passing; her own curiosity and reading about the world and places in it had covered the small island nation, as well as sporadic news stories through the years. Ultimately, she wasn't overly surprised that the N/UN had their eyes on taking the government down and ending the dictatorship that was in place. It had been growing more and more notable, and with the expanding contact and interaction with powers hostile to the N/UN, it wasn't surprising that it had been pushed up the list for a 'quiet' change of government, by way of a 'nudge' from outside parties.

When the brief came to an end, the other man she'd determined was a 'hired gun' like her introduced himself in an amicable, if somewhat stiffly formal way. She smiled at his comment regarding South Africa, and nodded to his greeting.
"And to meet you, Sir Le Mariner. I'm glad you got a good impression of South Africa". She'd picked up on his Scottish accent and her smile remained in place as she continued, her own distinct accent a good match for his. "And I'd guess from your accent you're from Scotland; a place I've never had the chance to visit so far, but I've worked with a good few of your countrymen - all of them dependable, and characters larger than life. I'm sure you'll live up to the image well".

The call for questions or comments came as they were handed the tablets. She skimmed over hers; a lot of it was a more in-depth dossier of the countries' history and concentrating on the ins-and-outs of the government hierarchy and succession, from what she gathered. Her interest was more around the tactical considerations and operational realities, and she looked up from the tablet as questions formed in her mind.
"The background info seems fairly solid, and I think I've got the jist. But as far as the op goes - who out of you all are coming with us?" she said with a jut of her chin toward their contacts. "I assume at least one or two. Equipment and TO&E; are we taking stuff with us on the plane, or will it all be in place?"
She glanced across to Le Mariner, giving him an opportunity to say anything he had, and wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue before she spoke up again.
"And one last question; will we have official ID's while in-country, or are we completely deniable and shadows? Smuggled in, and non-existent while we're there; no or minimal contact with the public?"

Splintered / Reflections

</snip>

@Smike

OFC, I've already seen them thanks to Discord, so happy to approve them both if you want to move them over to the characters tab.

I'll start working on the IC intro post soon, hopefully to get it up at some point tomorrow.
As I said on the Discord, for the benefit of those that aren't there: If you would like your characters to already know one another, feel free to work that out amongst yourselves.
I would suggest that - in general, for everyone - the characters are at least known to one another as a result of being assigned to the same unit, and it can be assumed there have been at least brief introductions and some standardised training together, if not any opportunity to socialise or get to know one another beyond the most basics of name and appearance.

My idea for the opening will be having everyone being about their day, doing something that gives an insight into their free time and personality, before getting a message to report to HQ, as we've got a mission to go on. But I'll come up with the specifics when I write the post.

Shattered Steel - Armoured Fist. An RP about modern armoured vehicles in an alternate world- ON HIATUS

Maddy paused and listened as Hex's voice came over her headset, confirming with a 'roger, wilco'. She looked on as T-rex moved off to the right, and turned back to give a wave of assurance to Anakin and the rest of the PzH's crew as the Osorio rolled forward, taking up position along with Belladonna and the comparatively sleek and low-slung shape of Achtung Trottel.
Grimacing at her lack of machine-gun, she ducked into the hatch a moment.
"Genie - I'm borrowing your SAW!"
"No problem boss. I keep it in good working order, and I promise to drive straight so you can hit what you're aiming at".
Maddy smirked at that as she recovered the light machine gun and unfolded the bipod, keeping it close at hand along with a spare box mag on the roof of the turret. The loader's hatch opened alongside her, and Leaky came up, checking over his M240 and sliding his dust goggles down over his eyes as the town loomed closer. Maddy's eyes flicked between the shapes of the angular, flat-roofed buildings that were so common to this region of the world with it's precious little rainfall and even less snow to be concerned about and need sloped roofs. Yards were enclosed by walls instead of fences, leaving numerous areas hidden from view, but conversely; the streets weren't paved and there were no sidewalks and little street furniture and only sparse, scrubby vegetation. Cars were parked up alongside the road here and there; older models mostly, most of them looking European and pre-Heavenfall, covered with dust from the environment and baking in the morning sun.
Everything seemed almost unnaturally still, save for the grinding of the armoured vehicles' engines and the sounds of her crew and the radio net as messages went back and forth - and then it was broken by the pop and crackle of gunfire in the near distance as one of the other crews engaged the hostiles.
The sudden sound was like a switch had been flipped, and small-arms fire started to lash out at the advancing trio of armoured vehicles.
"Shit!" Maddy swore as she ducked down, rounds pinging off the tanks' armour. Speaking quickly, she tucked herself in behind the M249 braced on the roof of the turret and opened fire as she yelled orders.
"Incoming fire from the two-storey building at our two-o-clock, and from the residential buildings to our 11 and ahead. I caught movement in the cross-alleys to our left and right, too! Disperse and engage at will; Belldonna, get some fire on that upper floor. Trottel, engage to the left!"