Slamurai

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

Cecilia glanced down at the screen of her C3 suite. She could see that several Panthers had already made contact and engaged FRAMEs on other streets. She groaned when she saw Ryder a good distance from the main body, lone-wolfing and fistfighting - again. On top of that, the C3 indicated her FRAME had taken a number of hits, mostly negated thanks to the reactive armor. Still, it was preferable not to be a target at all, a habit that Cecilia swore she'd yank out of Ryder's head one day.

"Ryder! You're overextending yourself! Pull back, now!" Cecilia pushed forward, down Highview, to try and back her up. "Sarah, on me. We're going to take the heat off Ryder." She ducked behind a building adjacent to Sarah at the end of Highview, preparing to turn the corner and clear the next street.

-----

"Dammit!"

An explosion rocked the building Shāyú-Èr had used for cover, sending debris on-top of his FRAME. The monitor turned cloudy from the dust, and without a clear visual, he skirted backwards. That spot had been compromised, clearly. He ducked around another corner, finding cover and hoping his initial shot had made its mark on Sarah's FRAME.

"One of the rats nearly tagged me. I'm re-positioning."

"Copy, Èr. We've ran into another; bitch knocked my cannon right out of my hand. We're advancing on the loner."

Shāyú-Yī and Sān recomposed themselves, the former retrieving his autocannon from the street. They'd put some rounds into that Panther, they were sure, but it appeared its reactive armor gave it a get away free card. No matter. It was isolated from the rest of the Panthers now, and the two of them would swoop to deliver the final blow.

The two of them drifted to opposite ends of the street, rolling towards the structure Ryder had ducked behind. Yī went wide left, looking down an alley at her position. Sān approached from the front, back to the wall.

"On my mark. Yī... Èr... Sān... Mark!"

Shāyú-Sān swiveled his Barghest around the corner, autocannon braced against his shoulder. Yī did likewise at his end of the alley, and the two of them pulled their triggers. AP rounds spat from the barrels at Ryder, forming a deadly crossfire between the pair.

-----

The gunfire alerted Cecilia, who swore and zoomed forward to aid her teammate. She was caught short by a muzzle flash from the periphery of her vision, to her left. She leaped for cover across the street, nestling into a position behind a garage as she fired back for supressive effect.

Shāyú-Èr cursed. He narrowly missed the Kirin as it passed by, and the gunfire was sure to give away his position. He hoped the rest of Alpha Team was having better luck. In any case, Beta Team should almost be in position to flank the Panthers' south now. The sooner the men inside retrieved the HFI, the better.

-----

"Sorry I'm late to the fray. What's the situation?" asked Edward's voice.

"Multiple contacts north-west of Highview," Cecilia responded. "And possibly more from other directions. Keep an eye on your flank. We need to break through and advance towards Cradle; how-copy?"

Time's a Changing - a Steampunk NRP set in a Psuedo-Earth

WIP

Salodonian Social Republic

Territory:

Description of Government:
Salodonia is a single-party state governed by its Salodonian Nationalist Party, also known previously as the Revolutionary Alliance. Its constitution asserts the party's role in the administration of all areas of government and politics. The General Secretary performs critical administrative and executive functions, including the national organization of the party, state appointments and establishing policy. Political organizations must have the endorsement of the Nationalist Party to participate in elections. The President of Salodonia is its titular head of state and nominal commander-in chief of the military. The Prime Minister of Salodonia is the head of government, and presides over a council of ministers who represent over 25 ministries and commissions within the state. Below him are three deputy prime ministers who oversee these organizations.

Head(s) of Government:

• General Secretary Danilo Abelli
• President Carlo Battiato
• Prime Minister Cornelio Segreti

Description of Economy:
Salodonia enjoys rich agricultural opportunities presented by its geography. Barley, garlic, salt, turnips, soybeans, pears, apricots, peaches, apples, pomegranates, jujubes, rhubarb, hazelnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, walnuts, yams, and taro make up commonly-grown foodstuffs, and grains include sesamum, legumes, wheat, and panicled and glutinous millet. Meats commonly consumed by Salodonians are chicken, lamb, and pork, along with more exotic tastes - sea otter and bear being a few. Beef is discouraged, on the account of bovines being valuable working animals. Seafood is regularly consumed as a staple along the coastline, and jellyfish, oysters, squid, horseshoe crabs, swimming crabs, shrimp and pufferfish are oft-eaten creatures. A respectable sum of Salodonia's agricultural products are exported elsewhere.

Industrial developments reached a new height during Salodonia's transition from monarchy to socialist state. Crafts like textiles, ceramics, paper making, tea-leaf processing, and metallurgy have become increasingly pronounced. Salodonian metallurgy is famed for its intricacies and the quality of products. Salt mining is another well-regarded industry within the country. Its major imports consist of metals, chemicals, oil, minerals and production machinery. In return, it exports machinery and vehicles, mineral fuels, petroleum, lead, marble and stone.

Description of Culture:

Description of Military:

Republican Army

The Salodonian Republican Army has seen a massive influx of volunteers in recent years as a result of a growing patriotic phenomenon. Prior to the expulsion of the country's monarchy, Salodonian soldiers had been drawn by conscription, with service terms of three years. Afterwards, conscription had been done away with and the military began recruiting volunteers - men with the passion to sign up arguably made better soldiers than those slogging through compulsory service. Nowadays, Salodonian line infantry is known for high morale and enthusiasm, even in undesirable conditions.

The division is the largest unit of military organization next to an army; one infantry division consisting of 24,000 men. They are comprised of two infantry brigades, each containing two 4,583-strong infantry regiments. These regiments are further broken down into two 1,057-strong battalions each. A battalion contains four 263-strong infantry companies, a 80-strong machine gun company, a 180-strong non-combat labor company, a battalion of cavalry, a 1,959-strong field artillery regiment, military police companies, and engineer battalion, a medical company and a supply company.
A cavalry division contains two cavalry brigades, further divided into two 657-strong regiments each. One of these regiments is comprised of four 141-strong squadrons. Cavalry divisions also contain a horse artillery regiment and non-combat personnel.

The standard infantryman's uniform consists of a grey-green tunic and matching trousers. Black marching boots are worn in wet weather, whereas a more traditional Salodonian-style shoe is worn when it is dry. Grey greatcoats are worn in cold weather, or otherwise rolled up in a soldier's pack. Ranks and units are marked by the piping of a uniform's shoulder straps and collar. Soldiers wear peaked caps, lined with the color denoting their branch. The standard service rifle is a straight-pull bolt-action rifle chambered for a 8x50mm cartridge. It combines a respectable rate of fire of 30-35 rounds per minute with great reliability.

Details of Salodonian soldiers and officers

Republican Navy

WIP

Republican Air Force

WIP

History:

Other:

I've got a bit of work to do, but I thought I'd post my WIP to tease some ideas out. I was thinking of setting up shop in what would be Spain and parts of France and Africa, or putting myself somewhere in Asia with a slightly different name.

That said, if anyone wants to chime in and help develop a shared history/culture, I'm game!

God's Shattering [Concluded]

I finally posted!

God's Shattering [Concluded]

Cecilia

“Guard this… now, go…”

Yggdrasil placed the orb into Cecilia's hand, which bathed the immediate vicinity in a spectacular, golden light. Although it was pleasing to look at and hold, it seemed like a rather mundane item for someone as decorated as her to protect. Cecilia surmised that the stone had to hold a magic of great importance, else Yggdrasil would not have bothered. Then a thought crossed her mind. What if the stone was a Legend Relic? One of the ancient artifacts said to empower the wielder with the spirit of the Seven Heroes? She'd never considered that the relics were, in fact, more than myth. Despite her curiosity, she waved her thoughts behind. Her superior had given her a simple task, and she was expected to see it fulfilled.

Cecilia tucked the golden stone into a pouch, secure under the folds of her robes. Although Yggdrasil's ever-so direct instructions told her just what she needed to do, she did wish the knight could put things into context for her once in a while. However, it became clear why the stone required her attention when a smooth-faced Intelligence officer arrived to elaborate on their duty.

"As if it would be safer in my care than under lock and key in a treasure room..." she mumbled to herself.

"...want me to look after it? If I put it in my pocket, it will be invisible too," Tori's voice brought Cecilia back to attention, to which she replied with a curt, "No."

It was nothing personal. In Cecilia's line of work, you learned to be suspicious, inquisitive. The number of individuals you could trust shrunk dramatically. Be as it may, she felt more comfortable having the stone where she knew she could see it. Not to mention Yggdrasil had given to her specifically.

"I will hold onto the orb, but I have something else for you to do that could make good use of your talents. Blend in with the masses. See if you can learn anything of the rebels that are supposed to take it. Report back to me if you hear anything. I'll preside over the execution with the soldiers."

Cecilia turned to leave when a dull KBOOM echoed through the hall. She doubled her pace, throwing herself out the door to the open air of the street. Above the city, one of the towers was coming down, crumbling upon itself where an explosion must have triggered the collapse.

"Shit!" The rebels may be making their move. Cecilia ran to the nearest soldier, pulling him around by the shoulder.

"What happened?! Are the rebels attacking?"

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

To be honest, it doesn't matter to me, so long as it follows what your characters have done in the IC so far, and makes logical use of the map. Go with wherever you visualize your characters being. The street names and so on were originally for IC depth and to give the city character.
Sorry I have't had a chance to post IC today; lots of things going on.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

So let me get this straight. Sarah is on the opposite corner of Mulberry and Highview. I assume she can circle around the mainstreet and flank them?

@DarkStar

Sarah and Ryder sure like lonewolfing it. If you're by that corner, then there's still the FRAME that Cecilia was suppressing right by you. However, he's about to move down the next street. But this also means you're pretty extended from the rest of the Panthers.

I'm assuming that Ryder's made contact with two of the new FRAMEs to the west. Technically, you could go after either, if you knew where they were. The only FRAMEs that we don't have any sign of is the second team. And yes, you could also target the FRAME that Foster rained debris on (However, he did manage to fire a shot at Sarah, while locked on, which I expect some kind of reaction to)

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

@Aristo
Mind you, there's also now squads backing up the mechs, with snipers capable of penetrating light armors, and joints.

Cause I threw that in the mix, as if we already don't have enough trouble on our hands :b

@WilsonTurner

Oh gods, what was supposed to be an elite, A-Team, precision operation has turned into a full-on invasion.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

I guess it's safe to assume there's a second mortar-team in the area.

For anyone interested in a rough map based on the IC goings-on:

Highview is the main-road and path of our advance, and appears to travel East-West, with resistance on the west-side.

Intersecting roads, from west to east:
Mulberry (where the lead elements of the enemy picket are pinned), Bembroke (where Cecilia is pinned), and 31st (Doesn't appear too significant, except maybe as a navigational-dogleg from Samigina [implying the Samigina is somewhere to the NE]).

OPFOR is engaged to our west, and is presently trying a north/south 30/70 pincer upon Bembroke.

Since YASSIR isn't too fond of engaging in the furball at Highview/Bembroke... will just keep skating south on 31st until I meet the two jokers trying to outflank from the south (implying I lobbed a mortar at a sniper to the north on Bembroke via an un-named street earlier).

The accuracy of this information may be questionable.

@Foster

Here's what we've got going on. One of the mooks was pinned by Cecilia on the corner of Highview & Mullberry. Cecilia and presumably, most of the Panthers, are on Pembroke. The three new mooks in the dialouge are approaching from the west (we've made contact with some). The second team has not been detected yet, but are moving somewhere to the east, attempting to loop and hit our south. We don't know there's a second team yet, so this should come as a surprise.
And the map is deceptive; this engagement is happening at night.

@OppositionJ
I'm not sure where Ryder would be in the scheme of things; the HQ is north-east of us, off the map. The enemies were originally in that direction, in-between us and the complex, but obviously they're moving now to pincer us. Since whoever's raiding the HQ is going for a fast, in-out attack and retrieval, there aren't too many defensive positions, like mortars, but those could be coming from the FRAMEs to our north-west.
The floors aren't tall enough to fit a FRAME from head-to-foot, so that's why they have infantry scouring the building.

In hindsight, the engagement is crystal clear in my head, but that's obviously because I'm creating it! I realize that others might piece it together differently than me, so I hope the visuals help.

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

@Silverwind Blade
Sorry, Silver; won't stop you if you're set on bowing out, but sad to have you go. As much as I enjoy working with you, it never does seem to last very long.
I was hoping we'd get to put that equipment we'd discussed to good use!
In any case, do you have any idea how we should handle your character if you take off?

FRAMEs (Mech combat, political intrigue & corporate struggles)

@boomlover
Aw, no worries. Good luck out there!