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Prologue icarushasfoundyourunicarushasfoundyourun.

The Flagship Lyur shuddered as it dropped out of the Nexus and transitioned into real space. The ice world Broxa hung in the viewport of the bridge, an ashen pearl, amidst a sea of shadow.

Admiral Aitelka of the Balthasian Expeditionary fleet allowed himself a rare grin. This would be the defining moment of his career, the execution of the notorious traitor Elephus Maddodon.

“Sir, our sensors have pinged a key-ship, it's appears to have landed on the surface, near a Gasbar mining colony” a young communications officer said.

“Elephus would not have abandoned ship,” he mused, “ensign can you confirm that the key-ship we have detected is the Ezrah?”

The communications officer furled his brow. “The mass and overall shape is consistent, and I'm picking up some sort of radiation leak. This indicates recent battle damage.”

“Thank you ensign.” Aitelka pressed a button on his command chair, and opened up a secure comm-channel with the rest of the fleet. “All hands, man your battle-stations. We are about to engage renegade forces above the seventh planet, all pilots report to flight decks immediately, and all escort captains, prepare for unlatching.”

Their quarry had eluded them many times this past year. Their luck would not hold this time around, fleeing to Broxa was foolish, the Nexus barely existed here, in the distant corner of the Katar system. There would be no escape.

“Alpha Four, you are cleared for launch. Activating catapult in five.”

“Control this is Alpha Four, all systems green.”

“Acknowledged, Alpha Four, catapult primed, you are cleared for launch.”

Captain Zedek's vision greyed slightly as he was shot from the Lyur and sent hurling out into space. How strange, in his cadet days the feeling both exhilarated, and frightened him, now he simply felt nothing. When had launching into battle become routine for him? He oriented himself as soon as he was clear, and came into formation along side the rest of Alpha Squadron.

What was left of Elephus's fleet moved to intercept the Lyur as they neared the planet. A squadron of Mechs, and a badly damaged corvette. How many of his fellow fighter pilots, his friends, had given their lives to against this seemingly invincible warlord? It was strange to think that the final push to finish him off wouldn't be one final, climactic battle, but a massacre.

“Enemy spotted” said the voice of Alpha Leader, over the radio. “This is it, men. Charge weapons, break on my mark. Avoid engaging the corvette directly, the Lyur's main batteries will be taking care of it.”

The enemy mechs held their fire as they moved into range. At this distance, Zedek could tell they were older models, surplus from the second inter-system war, perhaps?

“Mark” said Alpha Lead, his excitement breaking through his normally calm exterior.

Zedek broke formation and locked his targeting computer on one of the mechs in the bottom left quadrant. He made a slight feint to the right, then slammed his afterburners and scored a direct hit on the enemy craft's side armour. The pilot was slow to react, and Zedek annihilated him in his second volley.

His brief moment of triumph was interrupted by several shots to his rear shields. An enemy mech had locked onto him!

He flicked on his afterburner's again dived down towards Broxa. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the planet... burning.

What was that!? The Lyur wasn't in firing range yet, did Elephus self destruct? No, that... that couldn't be right. Half of Broxa's northern hemisphere was gone. No mere key-ship could have done that,

The pilot on his tail stopped firing; he pulled a tight roll lined up his sights... and then he saw it.

Key-ships are the only class of vessel large enough to mount the biological symbiont. They are used to transport entire fleets through the Nexus, the smallest ones are over a kilometre long. The Lyur, the pride of the Balthasian fleet was roughly four and half kilometres long. The ship that lay in front of him now was easily twice that. Easily.

For a moment, Zedek just stared at it in awe, then his hand reached for the communicator, radio silence or no, he didn't know what else to do.

The channel was dead. All his sensors equipment was being jammed.

For a moment, both sides just floated in space, unsure of what to do. That blissful peace was interrupted by a single blast from the ship's main cannon. It neatly bisected Lyur. Bulkheads and crew were vaporized.

This was insanity! The pride of the fleet... just gone, just like that! What was going on!? Without the Lyur, they were all trapped here. There would be no escape.

Katar System Overview icarushasfoundyourunicarushasfoundyourun.



There are seven planets in the Katar System. Only three of which possess a breathable atmosphere. They are:

Abaddon
A tidal locked world near the primary sun. A network of highly advanced satellites fire at any passing ships, no human has ever set foot on the planet. Probes that have survived long enough seem to indicate that these satellites posses a construction similar to the Bythos generators. Do to the intense heat and lack shielding from radiation, it's speculated that no life can survive on Abaddon for long.

Melchior
There's very little water on the surface of Melchoir, only a few oceans exist near the equator. The planet is the first of the three garden worlds, and possess the most advanced science and technology. Many of the Melcite Universities were destroyed or plundered by the Balthasian Imperial forces, and many secrets have been lost. The world is controlled by a religious theocracy that worships the Aeons, a race of celestial beings they believe to have been the original creators of the Bythos generators.

There are three main cities on the planet. Dakhm, the capitol, Adi, the port city, and Saghir, a centre of learning and knowledge. There are hundreds of other communities out in the desert that don't fall under theocratic control. Some are havens of outlaws and criminals, others are cities built by students and free thinkers, many of them escaped the the notice of the Balthasian invasion, and they have accepted many refugees from the main cities. The Bythos generator sits underneath the artificially created pyramid mountain range, the city of Dakhm was built to both protect, and study it.

The moon, Sha'ull is an artificial satellite, captured by a battleship almost a hundred years ago. Materials mined from it were used to make a space elevator, that facilitates commerce to and from the city of Adi.

Gasbarinou
There is only one super-continent continent on Gasbarinou called Jekus. The soil isn't very fertile, and most of the population lives in undersea arcologies. All Gasbar key-ships are equipped to function as efficient submarines. The planet was badly damaged in the Inter-System War, and the lingering radiation has rendered much of it's surface sterile. There has been an effort to Terraform Gasbarinou's only moon, Esau, but the project was stalled when the robotic labourers rebelled. A war between the two factions may be inevitable. The planet is run by a democratically elected assembly.

The Bythos generator is located underneath the surface of the planet, in a deep ocean trench.

Balthasar
The final garden world. An ice world with life only habitable on the equatorial regions. Cities are built deep into the crust of the planet, and draw power from the heat of the core. The world has a wealth of mineral resources, and has been mined extensively. The entire planet is controlled by an Imperial Order, that traces it's lineage back almost 5,000 years. They are extremely militaristic, and have the most powerful navy. Since the cease-fire, they've been steadily rebuilding their forces, citing the need to protect themselves from pirates and raiders, the other planets have been wary.

Jemimah was the first moon Balthasar colonized, three hundred years ago. Back then, the planet had nearly been torn apart in a violent civil war, and the Imperial Dynasty exiled the rebel people to prisons on the inner moon. Over the years, the rebels were changed, stellar radiation, combined with unstable minerals found within the moon caused them to be mutated. The resulting mutants, called the Nephilim are a lot larger and heavier than normal humans, the Balthasian mililtary uses them as their standard infantry unit. While the moon is no longer an Imperial prison, it's populated almost entirely by the mutants.

Keziah, the second moon, is controlled by the Balthasian Imperial Navy. Over the past century, the moon has been hollowed out, and now serves as their primary shipyards. The surface is covered in defensive batteries and detection equipment; ships of all kinds dock for routine repairs in the caverns of the famous Veyrf shipyards. Many veins of valuable minerals continue to be found deep within the moon, and excavation teams continue to supply the fleets. When the planet itself is threatened, squadrons of mechs can deploy quickly from the low gravity and get into space.

Keren-Happuch is the outermost moon. It's a tidal locked, the night side is too cold, and the sun side has no protection from stellar radiation. The city of Sumerki is the primary settlement, it's a bustling metropolis built in a ring formation around the terminator.

Metatron
A gas giant, it emits radiation that disrupts Nexus travel around it. There are a few settlements on it's terrestrial moons, but they're mostly isolated, and are rarely resupplied.

Asmodai
Scars from weapons fire, and pockets of lingering radiation dot the surface of this ravaged planet. Most modern scientists date the damage to have occurred sometime around four thousand, to six thousand years ago.

Broxa
The final planet in the Katar System. Though it has veins of rare minerals all along it's crust, it was never seriously mined. A mysterious explosion has destroyed a sizable chunk of it's surface, rendering it almost completely inhabitable.

It has a single moon, Raca, that posses little of value.

Rules icarushasfoundyourunicarushasfoundyourun.

Terms of Service
This is a simple one. Keep your language PG-13, avoid describing violence as much as you can and absolutely no cybering. I don't actually think this will ever become necessary, but we like not being banned here, so we'll be reporting any TOS violations as soon as we see them. Just a reminder, PM's are a part of Gaia too, so you aren't allowed to take any objectionable content there, instead of posting it in the thread.

Formatting
Keep the default text alignment, size and colour. I want to keep everything nice and easily readable. No pictures either. Spelling and grammar aren't huge concerns for me. Try to proofread, but if the odd typo slips through it's not the end of the world. There's no restrictions on how to write your posts, so feel free to use 1st person, 3rd person, past tense, present tense, whatever is easiest for you. One line posts are fine, as are lengths that basically amounts to a doctoral thesis. Talking out of character is fine, just be sure to colour those lines green so nobody is confused.

God-Modding
God-Modding is allowed. Sort of. If two or more characters want to compete against one another (in a dogfight in outer space, tumb war, or basket weaving contest) just roll a D6 with your post. This does require the consent of all the players involved though. The consequences of refusing a challenge should depend on the situation, so for instance, refusing to participate in a space battle may result in being court martialled.

If you roll a 1, it's a complete loss. If you were trying something really dangerous, you're probably dead right now. Sucks to be you.
If you roll a 2-3. your opponent wins, but you manage to put up some resistance. Pyrrhic would be proud.
If you roll a 4-5, you win, but your opponent manages to put up some resistance. That'll show them!
If you roll a 6, it's a staggering victory for you.

This only applies to psychical challenges. Debates still need to be rolelplayed. Obviously this can lead to some... unexpected results, so feel free to get creative. Try to keep things within reason though. These rules haven't been fully tested out though, so if I get complaints, or any suggestions I may decide to either scrap this system entirely, or implement a few changes.

Participation
Try and post at minimum once a day. If you don't show up for a day or two, that's cool, if we don't hear from you for over three days, either someone in the thread will take over your character (until you get back, of course) or we'll just sort of leave you as is. It all really depends on how much you were involved in the meta-plot. If something comes up, and you're going to be gone for a bit, just send me a PM and let me know, and we can try and work something out.

Character Creation
I'd prefer if you stuck with one character, because it's easier for me and everyone else to keep track of that, but so far, there's no official limit to how many you can have. As long as your character fits with the lore (so no demons, vampires or super-heroes) you can be whoever or whatever you please. If you want to play a character, you need to submit a profile to the thread, this can be as detailed as you like, but all I really need is their name and occupation. If you're starting from the beginning, then your character must have some reason to be on Melchior (and have no ready means of leaving it), if you're starting later into the meta-plot, you need to find some way to weave your character into the narrative.

Artwork
If you plan on sketching out a picture of your character to show the thread what your character looks like, that's awesome. It's certainly not required, but if you want to, go right ahead. Just be curtious to everyone else, and only post your picture once. You can post a link to your character's image as often as you like, though. What I'm not going to allow is using any images that you didn't either create yourself, or you didn't get the artists permission to use.

I figured I might as well show off the dice system in my first post. I rolled a four, which isn't necessarily perfect, but things could have gone a lot worse for Kaius.

Kaius wasn't going to be able to win. The guidance systems on his Sora's homing missile launcher would be useless with the sun spots, and his Vulcan cannons didn't have the punch to win against a single enemy Mech, let alone three. As he pressed the firing trigger, he hoped that somehow, he would get lucky.

He got lucky.

One of his depleted uranium shells must have tunnelled through and hit the lead Mech's fuel supply. It didn't explode outright, but it burst into flames and fell to the ground.

The Iones IX's were caught off guard, and he dived off the road, behind a sand dune in the confusion. He'd have to leave the truck to fend for itself, his only hope was that the raiders wouldn't use their rockets on it, after all, they wanted the medical supplies intact, right?

The solar flares were only supposed to last for a few minutes. He just needed to buy some time, then he could call in backup from the Adi garrison. The only problem was that the brief element of surprise he'd had was gone. He could see two Mechs advancing, the third was probably still behind the dunes, maneuvering for a better position.

He needed to find a way to buy more time.

Then a thought struck him. It was a long shot, but his other options were fading fast. His missiles couldn't hit the broad side of a key-ship with all the EM radiation in the air, but what he could do is reprogram their guidance systems to hit a stationary target.

It took him a few precious seconds make the adjustments, and all around him the Mechs kept getting closer and closer.

Finally, he was ready to put his crazy scheme into action. He hit the launch button, and the missile shot up from it's tube, soaring through the air for a few seconds, before it plummeted down to earth, right on top of the still burning Mech that he had downed.

The explosion wasn't big, but it was enough to kick up a small dust storm, which is exactly what Kaius had wanted. They were both blind in this weather, though that suited him just fine. He got up from his hiding place, and fired his vulcan cannons wildly into the direction of the enemy. He wasn't going to get another lucky hit like he got before, but maybe, just maybe he could force them to back off?

Dumb-fire rockets exploded all around him, but not struck. That worked for him, they were only going to make the sandstorm larger and larger. He pressed his luck, firing his cannons off into the general direction that the rockers were coming from.

It was working! He could barely make it out, but off in the distance, the two Mechs were retreating, he was winning!

Then his Sora exploded.

He'd completely forgotten about the Mech behind the side dunes. It must have got a clear line of sight, and when it saw Kaius's muzzle blasts, the pilot took his shot.

The damage was bad. The rocket blew out one of his cannons, and knocked out most of his electrical grid. Worse, the blast knocked his Mech off it's feet, he still had control of the cannon on his right hand side, but his options were vanishing, and fast. His heart was pounding against his rib cage, and his arms were beginning to shake. Adrenalin surged through his system as he pulled down on the firing trigger.

He was a sitting duck, but he wasn't going to make anything easy for them. The sandstorm must have offered him more protection as his Mech lay on it's side, he heard explosions all around him, but they all failed to connect. He just kept holding down on the trigger, lights began to flash, warning him that his guns were just about to overheat, but he just ignored them, and kept spraying bullets into the air.

Then his ammo ran out, and everything went silent.

What was going on? Did the enemy Mechs run out of rockets? No, no that didn't make any sense, the newer model Iones IX's had huge ammo chambers, and the rockets were each only the size of his fist. They couldn't have, but... then what had happened?

He knew it was stupid, but he had to chance it. His cockpit's hatch was jammed, so he slammed the emergency release button. Outside, he could see the sandstorm was just about ready to wind down, the road was covered in small craters and he could see the wreckage of the Mech he destroyed strewn about the area, but he couldn't find any trace of the surviving three.

Then he hopped out and saw them. Melchiorite Gunships, an entire wing of them. The smoke must have attracted their attention. As soon as the enemy Mechs saw the approaching aircraft, they must have ran.

Out in the distance, he could see the truck was still intact, a stray shot blew out it's front tires, but the crew module was still intact. Perfect, he not only survived this ambush, but he was still getting paid for it too.

Now, just how much of his fee would have to go towards getting his Sora repaired?

One of the gunships had landed, and some men had jumped out, they looked surprised to see him get out of his Mech. Must have written him off as KIA.

A soldier ran up to him. "You the pilot of that escort machine?"

"Yeah, that's me." Kaius responded, his voice betraying just how tired he felt.

"Whoa, hold on there pal, you better have a medic check you out."

"What are you talking about? I'm..." Then Kaius noticed the blood soaking through his flight suit. He wasn't sure what had got him, some shrapnel? A jagged piece of metal when his Mech fell?

All the strength drained from his legs, the soldier caught him just before he feel to the ground, and walked him up to one of the gunships. Off in the distance, he could see a team of men using plasma cutters to burn their way through the melted hull of the truck.

A medic gave him something for the pain, and started bandaging him up. They couldn't get the truck moving, but the gunships were going to secure the area until the military could send a gravity sled that would take both the truck and his Mech back to the Adi, Melchior's only port town.

I think that's a fairly good start to this RP, don't you? Feel free to introduce your characters anywhere on Melchior. If they happened to be in Adi, it would make having them meet up with Kaius easier, but if you've got an idea of your own, feel free to run with it. Don't worry about your length, if you're comfortable writing out posts that are close to mine, then cool, but if you only have time for a short post, that's also fine.

Name: Aya Nakajima
Occupation: Mechanic
Age: 22

The sun's scorching rays beat down on the desert and reflected off the smooth sand to create an intense heat like no other. While most would avoid direct sunlight, Aya paid no attention to it. She had grown up here her entire life, and thus was accustomed to the blistering heat and lack of water. Besides, her occupation did not require her to fret over such insignificant problems.

Being a woman, many people would consider her to not have the occupation she possessed, but those people, in Aya's opinion, were idiotic and sexist and could quite frankly kiss her behind. Her true passion was not with paperwork or writing. Hell, she could barely write her own name, for crying out loud! No, Aya Nakajima was a mechanic, and a damn good one at that. People from all over the galaxy came to her. That was how she made her living.

Even now, she had half of her body shoved into a space carrier, yanking and withdrawing wire after wire. It was the yip of her white Pomeranian Hana that made her pop out. A woman stood before her, a look of worry on her face. Aya grabbed a rag and wiped the grease from her hands before approaching the woman.

"Hello," Aya greeted, Hana walking to her side and setting down beside her foot, hassling heavily.

"Good evening," the woman said. "I work for the Balthasian government. Are you Aya Nakajima?"

"Not interested," Aya retorted, throwing the rag back onto the table beside her and returning to her previous work. The woman tried to approach her, but Hana flashed her white teeth and let a threatening growl rumble within her throat.

"You haven't even heard me out!" the woman said, cautious not to set off the dog anymore than she had.

"I don't have to," she growled, taking a wrench from her toolbox to tamper with one the screws holding the engine in place. "I don't work for the Balthasians. I've made it clear before, and I don't know how much clearer I have to be."

"We're willing to pay you," the woman tried to convince her. "You name the price, and we'll pay it."

Aya glanced back at her with her burning icy blue eyes. "No amount of money could ever make me work for you people." She reached over towards the radio she rarely ever used and flipped to a random station, maneuvering the nob on it to the loudest volume possible to drown out the woman's pleas and offers.

Finally, she gave up and left the little shop that lay on the outskirts of Adi, and when Aya was satisfied that she was gone, she began to let the tears fall from her eyes while she worked. Never would she work for the people who led the attack that killed her parents...

Meh, I'm not really satisfied with my entry, but *shrugs* it'll do. Apologies for any misspellings. ^^"

Feeling a little better, Lucetta set off at a fast walk down the path to the right. She past by more shops, a few people shouting their wares, and yet more beige buildings. Things here looked so similar, Lucetta could tell it would take her a while to get used to things.
Luckily, as she turned another corner, what looked like some sort of important entrance loomed in front of her. The pillars around the small sand-covered courtyard had small carvings of animals, bits of maps, and other science related things winding their way up to meet an arched opening in the dome in front of her. It wasn't a very large structure, but the one thing she had learned in her short time on this planet was that the buildings on Melchior were like icebergs. What you see on the surface isn't all that is there.
She saw the shadowed figure of a man enter the archway. Well, if anything, I can ask that guy if this is the science building. Lucetta quickened her pace and ran to the entrance as well, passing under the structure's large shadow just as a large breeze kicked up more sand behind her.

I would normally try to write more, but I have notes to take today so I had to cut it short.

Kaius Aves was being watched.

He wasn't the strongest warrior, he wasn't the sharpest tactician, but through his brief military career, he'd become something more important. A survivor. He couldn't explain it, but he'd just gotten a sixth sense for that sort of thing, maybe it was simple luck, or maybe it was some unexplainable form of extra-sensory perception. The 'hows' and the 'whys' weren't important to him, pilots lived in the moment, and too much introspection wasn't something he thought was very healthy.

All that really mattered was that someone was paying close attention to him. But who? What did they want?

He was just about to open the thick brass doors of the Science Academy when he turned around and scanned the market crowd.

Merchants squabbling over water prices, a group of soldiers patrolling in their APC, a Nephilim in a black robe making his way across the street, some dog chasing a cat or something through rows and rows of sand stone buildings... There. That Gasbar woman he'd seen earlier. That didn't make any sense. Why was she shadowing him?

Then he figured it out.

He couldn't help himself, even with all that extra discipline they drilled into him in his cadet days, he couldn't help but chuckle a little. That battle must have shaken him up a lot worse than he'd thought. There was no assassin following him down a crowded market. Some tourist was just checking him out.

He turned down from the steps and walks towards her. He'd wasn't sure how thick the foot traffic would be this time of morning, so he'd left his hotel room a little earlier. The interview could wait.

"Excuse me, miss" he said, playing dumb. He let a little bit of his Balthasian accent slip into his voice, he'd learned to cover it up years ago, but he thought it gave him an air of mystery. "Is there something I can help you with?"

No, this wasn't the classiest way of getting our two characters to stop and talk to one another. But seriously, I could not think of anything else that wasn't either silly, or contrived. Oh, and if you're curious, I sort of picture a Balthasian accent sounding sort of little like a Russian or German accent.