Open Resolute Dawn: A Nova Story

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Ghostly

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As I was lying there in the hospital with a hole blown clean through my life, I started having dreams of Sentry - of home.

I was free.

Sooner or later though, we all have to wake up.



RESOLUTE DAWN

The year is 20 AR. It has been twenty years since the Empire “reclaimed” our worlds. We hadn’t heard from them in over a hundred years, we thought the last lights in Sol had flickered out when our grandparents left during the exodus - but then on the borders of our systems we saw their cruisers, all flying the same flag.

I can’t remember much from before the Empire arrived, but I do remember when my parents and brother left to fight. I remember a baby - a sister, maybe. When I was a kid I’d think of them for hours - wondering where they were and what adventures they were on. But now it seems the more I think of them the more blurry the images become.

Within only a few years, the Royal Empire had taken hundreds of colonies. Anyone that didn’t submit to their rule was crushed under their heel in the name of imperial expansion. “Expand or die.” My home - Sentry, was one such case. Our defenders managed to resist the Royals twice before being obliterated by orbital bombardment. I was just one more orphan among millions after the Empire began to establish themselves, and like a lot of them I ended up shuffled around the foster system - the rest is history.

Under the rule of King Roderick, the Empire has claimed most of the known galaxy - with only the strongest alliances and rival races halting their march forward. Most people say it’s a dangerous time to be alive - but me? I say it’s incredibly lucrative.

My name is Haigen - I’m a mercenary.

My family - like many others, fled Sol and the violence there. They dreamed of peace and a new start for their people. Before she left, she told me to live to defend that dream. But when the empire destroyed my home, there was nothing I could do. When I was old enough to understand, I knew I needed to learn how to fight - to be ready to defend the people I care about.

Still, mercenary work wasn’t my first choice of employment, but I wasn’t about to take orders from some Royal jackoff, and my family needed money. Despite what proper Royal nobility will say about the prosperity of the Empire, times are tough for the people who live on the bottom, and my foster parents' protein farm barely scrapes in enough to feed their kids.

So, when I was old enough to shave I packed what little I owned, said goodbye, and set on my way to support the people who’d given me everything. Child-soldiering is tough work, but the consensus is the same no matter where you go.


Best to teach ‘em young. Ever heard how you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Well, the same goes for mech pilots. The physical and mental strain of driving thirty tons of heavy artillery into battle can break an older pilot - aneurysm, stroke, heart failure. But studies find when trained at a young age, these pilots perform much better and typically survive far past their “prime” - typically considered to be between the 18 to 35 range, minus the years of training.

Mech warfare was something new to the colonies when the Royal Empire arrived. Sure, on Sentry we had loader frames and exosuits, but they were like sticks and stones compared to the massive battle engines of the Royal Armored Forces. We only survived the first two invasions because of recovered suits, reverse engineered and put into service for the good guys. Still, it wasn’t enough to survive nuclear fire from orbit.

It’s been ten years since I joined Cirrigal Risk Control, and in that time I’ve been all across this galaxy. I've fought with the best against the worst and vice versa, such is the life of a mercenary. Now, they're sending me and a handful of pilots out to Phalanx - the Empire's production center this side of Sol. They've turned their guns on the Empire and using the factories there to pump out an army. You'd hope they'd learned from what happened to Sentry, but no dice. Maybe this time the Royals won't turn the whole planet into a crater.

- - -


Hey everyone! I'm back with another space thing for my RPF friends. I've put a lot of work into this one and I've got some big plans, so I can't wait to see what you all think and see where this goes! First, a few things to remember.

1. Like I’ve done with a lot of my previous games, I love to give you a lot of freedom when it comes to creating your character and the lore around them, including stuff like - race, homeworld, technology, powers. So when it comes to creating a character, the only requirement I have is that they have a reason to join this mission - money, revenge, power, whatever. Also, this game is basically a soft-reboot of Nova and my other stuff, so if you wanna bring anything from those games, feel free!

2. The focus of the game is the fun characters we bring to the table and how we develop in a meaningful way, so interacting with others is an essential part of the game. Make sure you bring a character you find fun and special.

3. If you have a crazy idea for how you want the story to change for your character or something crazy you want to do, let me know! My favorite part about RPing is how the story is built by everyone.

4. This game is obviously anime-inspired, meaning that a lot of the characters and plot are going to be outlandish for the sake of fun and spectacle. The rule of cool is king here, don’t get hung up on the scientific details and just have fun!

5. Mecha are part of the game, but not the focus of the story. They’re here to make battles interesting and to give you the ability to go crazy with what kind of powers your character has in combat. I love seeing how far people go with these ideas - if you have a cool idea for what your mech does, just go for it! You basically have access to a robot super hero with any ability you think is cool.

6. Battles are going to be fast and flashy. For the most part, you can do whatever you like and kill any bad guys you’d like - unless they’re explicitly named as being like a mini-boss.

7. As you can tell with how much I wrote for this thread (don’t ask me how much I cut/rewrote) I’m really passionate about seeing this story play out with everyone. That being said, I don’t want to see it die because people fall behind or get bored waiting for other people, so I’ll be taking a note from Pirates - this game will go fast and if you fall behind I won’t slow things down to wait for you. If you do fall behind, you will have a chance to rejoin later, but I won’t risk the game dying waiting for you.

8. Most importantly, have fun! This is supposed to be a good time with friends.

Character Sheet
If you don’t want to follow this exact format, that’s fine - but these are some of the things I wanna know about you from the sheet.

Name: Go crazy.

Race: I haven’t put any aliens in the game yet, you can create whatever you want or just be human.

Gender: Pronouns and such.

Age: With advanced medical technology this can be pretty high.

Affiliation: Do you have a faction/group you belong to? If so, put it here.

Appearance: Please provide a picture or description or both! I’ll be using mostly anime-style characters but use whatever you’d like.

Personality: What is your character like to be around?

Skills/Powers: What are they good at and what can they do? This can go wild as long as you’re not too overpowered.

Biography: Who are they and where do they come from?


Mecha Sheet:

Callsign:
What do we call you/your mech?

Specialty: What is your role on the battle-field?

Appearance: Same as above

Weapons/Tech: What powers/weapons do you carry into battle? This can be as crazy or down to earth as you like.

Origins: Where did you find your battle machine?

Character Theme: The most important piece! What is your character’s theme music if they were doing something cool?
 
Name: Haigen Shaitan
Race: Human (Colonial)
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Cirrigal Risk Control
Appearance:
Stark white hair and olive skin, common traits for settlers from Sentry. His physique is well-maintained although he bares impact scars, souvenirs from time as a foot soldier before piloting. He has tired eyes that have seen too much, and a nicotine addiction.


Personality: Haigen's two greatest values are strength and loyalty - whether that be for family, friends, or a team. He will always put himself in the line of fire for people he cares about or has given his word to. He holds no love for the Royals and their Empire, and makes a point of demonstrating that whenever in their presence. Haigen has a soft spot for kids, pretty girls, and his foster parents.

Skills/Powers: While Haigen does not appear to possess any augments or abnormal abilities, he does seem to have a very high drive to resist and endure pain - as well as survive and heal from serious injury. Aside from that, he is also a highly skilled soldier - trained by CRC special forces in the art of mech piloting, covert operations, and guerilla warfare. Although he is young, he has proven to be a very effective commander and attained the rank of Major within the CRC. When outside his mech, his preferred loadout is a high-caliber handgun and a reliable combat knife.

Biography: Haigen doesn't have any record of his life before the destruction of Sentry, he doesn't even know his last name. He was just a child, and when the planet finally fell to Imperial forces he was evacuated off-world - alone among a million other orphans and refugees. For about two years he lived in an orphanage before being adopted by a couple - the Sheitans, who took Haigen in as one of their own children out of the kindness of their hearts. For the rest of his childhood, Haigen lived on the Sheitan protein farm alongside six other children.

However, once the Empire took hold of Bounty, his family's wellbeing began to falter under the weight of Imperial tithes and drought brought on by war and development. To alleviate his adoptive parents and provide them with some money, Haigen chose to enroll into the Cirrigal Risk Control Youth Corps. Over the next few years, he was taught along with a hundred other children in tactics, piloting, and commando skills - emerging the top prospect of his group.

Haigen proved himself time and time again to be an inspiring leader and a reliable soldier, earning him respect and admiration while also pushing him into further dangerous missions for the CRC. This would find him leading a mission to quell rebellion on Phalanx.

Mecha Sheet:

Callsign:
Cazadore
Specialty: Search and Destroy
Appearance:


Weapons/Tech: Due to the low number of units within the CRCs armored division, the mechs that are available are typically medium-weight with as many weapons systems installed as the frame can handle. Cazadore is equipped with a Veldheim Linear Rail Cannon on its left shoulder while an Iscariot GMP rack sits opposite. Haigen's preferred loadout is a Schutzhund Energy Bayonet and a H&K G87 Heavy Rifle. The mech is also equipped with an extensive thruster system designed for evasion and prolonged airborne combat - at the detriment of additional armor for direct hits.

Origins: Cazadore was the original Nephilim Model-2 combat frame assigned to Haigen during his training with CRC, but in the countless hours of battle it has seen - Haigen has put nearly as many hours of tinkering into his machine. Even after being nearly obliterated during the ambush that nearly killed Haigen, the wreckage was recovered and provided back to him. During his talent search for this rescue mission, Haigen has rebuilt Cazadore into an even deadlier war machine.

Character Theme:
 
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Name: Alexander Emmerich Du Varn
Race: Human (Imperial)
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Affiliation: Freelance
Appearance: Alexander’s thin black hair and stark green eyes mark him as Imperial, while the frequent burn marks and scarring that dot his chest and neck reveal a past steeped in conflict. His permanent sneer is usually obscured behind a thick, padded sensory helmet linked to his mech's sensor array.

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Personality: A working persona of tactical stoicism covers for Alexander’s generally unpleasant nature. He has little to no faith in anything, and is casually rude to nearly everyone who has the misfortune to engage him in conversation. His Alexander values obedience and skill above all, and will gladly associate with all sorts of despicable types as long as he feels they live up to his standards of combat capability.

Skills/Powers: One of the perks of upper class life was a formal education in armored tactics and combined arms strategy, including seminars with Imperial commanders explaining the ins and outs of how to facilitate mech warfare and logistics on a larger scale. Alexander has had years of experience with modifying his own mech, and that know how has extended into a general familiarity of mech engineering. Outside of the cockpit, his physical competence is lacking, with very few personal combat skills save a propensity for handguns.

Biography: Born on the Du Varn family moon into a life of unperturbed luxury, Alexander's nonetheless inexplicably miserable persona has persisted since he was a child. Growing up, he was regarded by his peers as cruel and non charismatic, and had very few friends. At the age of eleven, he was gifted with a commission into the Royal Imperial Armor Academy, which put him into contact with the upper nobility of the Empire. Unfortunately, the upper nobles had even nastier personalities than Alexander, and he had frequent conflicts with his peers. As a result, Alexander remained deeply unpopular for the duration of his education. After graduating, he quickly packed his things and departed for the colony expansion zones, making his career as a deeply unlikable, yet undeniably skilled freelance pilot.


Mecha Sheet:
Callsign:
Seneschal
Specialty: Close Fire Support
Appearance:

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Weapons/Tech: As a fire support platform, Seneschal’s defining feature is a 102mm belt-fed rotary cannon integrally mounted on its right arm. The left arm sports a underslung grenade launcher for anti-infantry support, launching variable ammunition. The upper chassis mounts multiple vehicle obscurant systems which launch pressurized canisters of RSLO (Radar/Sonar/Laser Obscuring) smoke. Seneschal's distinctive “Winged” outline is a product of the mech's sextuple high explosive missile pods, mounted on its upper back for unobstructed field of fire.

Origins: Seneschal is built on a Yao-Jian A32P frame, a design known for its tensile frame strength, and ability to bear heavy weights without bending over time. The original A32P was gifted to him by his now estranged mother upon his graduation from the Royal Academy, but the family sigils painted on the hull have since been scrubbed off by years of damage. Compounded with the manifold weapons and attachments Alexander has mounted over the years, and Seneschal is nearly unrecognizable from its original form. Unfortunately, the metric tonnes of hardware leave little room for thrusters or movement systems, and the mech's mobility is greatly diminished as a result.

Character Theme:
 
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