Welcome to Gaia! ::

During the early 21st century the world was facing a crisis which ultimately lead to World War III and resulted in nuclear stockpiles being depleted forever removing future threat of nuclear war and in the process costing over 3 billion people their lives, almost a half of the worlds population. With such a loss people and order quickly broke down and refugees of the destroyed cities had no where to go to protect themselves. Governments collapsed and it was left to the military to protect the people which resulted in the first world wide military dictatorships. Soldiers from nearby areas united and aside from looking after the people which didn't amount to much continued to fight against other powers. All the while a number of corporations, large enough to survive on their own watched as the world crumbled into a state of anarchy. Six of the worlds largest remaining companies met together to discuss what they should do. The military was so busy fighting each other that the people were being destroyed as well as the land.

It was a perfect chance for them to gain the control that they had always dreamed of, and in the process make themselves look like heroes, maybe even gods to the people who remained in the world. Through planning and draining most of their standing resources, the first step to corporate control of the world came in the form of machines called MWPs (Mobile Weapon Platforms) about the height of a 2 story house (6m) A use of robotics and military weapons, they allowed a single person to control what would normally be seen on a tank or warship that would require years of training multiple people. They were more then a match for most of the weapons used by the military forces at this time and with only five models, the ACF (Allied Corporate Forces) attacked the main Headquarters of the North American Forces and destroyed them without a single loss.

To the people it seemed as god himself had come to save him, the corporations offered everything the people needed and took almost no time at all setting up a massive base and creating the largest city in this 'new world' that would be known as New Sanctuary. The military forces of the other parts of the world were left wondering what they should do. Had they moved then, they might have had a chance, but one by one each HQ fell and the corporations took control of the world in less then a year and were in the process of cleaning and building a new future for humanity with they as the leaders and gods of this world however things would not be so easy as they first thought. The military did not curl up and die, but instead became UMF (United Military Forces) not nearly as powerful as they could have been they still fought on bravely but it was clear that they could not win against these MWPs and as quickly as the resistance formed it vanished. The corporations spent a number of years trying to find them but failed and eventually gave up and began to focus on bringing humanity back from death.

Working

HMDs

Humanoid Mechanical Dreadnoughts
Humanoid shaped machines that can do the work of an entire army by themselves. Typically standing around 15m-20m with 17m being the average(think height of office building), it has allowed the corporations to take warfare to a whole knew level and if it were not for the UMF gaining some HMDs from pilots who supported their cause, these craft would have surely resulted in the total destruction of humanity. Even now they are very dangerous. The only thing to take out another HMD would be another HMD. With the wide range of weapons they can use, they can handle any situation or threat that comes there way and it is all at the hands of a single pilot. HMDs can have also quad, hover, or tank based legs allowing for different forms of movement. Hover models can't use cannon weapons and tank models are notoriously slow much like the tanks they are based off of. Quad legs are a mix of mobility and tank stability but are easier to disable. All HMDs are equipped with boosters that allow for rapid bursts of speed or a temporary amount of flight.

MWPs

Mobile Weapon Platforms
Precursor to HMDs, these machines stand between 5m-8m tall(height of a two story house) and mount weapons similar to HMDs but no where near as many nor as powerful. Some of the newer models can do considerable damage to an HMD but overall they are inferior and can not survive a prolonged engagement with one. (Typical survival chance/time of a MWP with an HMD is around 10%/a few minutes) Against some of the old weapons, MWPs are more then a match for them, but with some of the newer models, they are finding it more difficult to keep up. They are produced by the corporations for how easy it is to make them and how few people it takes to maintain them and the fact it requires only a single man to control. Bipedal in design, they consist of legs and a central body piece/head that contains the pilot and ammo stores for the weapons. Some MWPs have similar shape of HMDs but typically they have hands removed in favor for some form of missile launcher and a back mounted cannon.

Tanks

If you compared tanks of now to tanks of old, these beasts are larger, more powerful, and still a deadly force to be reckoned with. Thanks to Heinrich Von Daufen the tank can take on and destroy not only MWPs but even HMDs(He is a high ranking target for ACF as he has credit for 3 HMD kills, something that even the more skilled HMD pilots had difficulty doing). Heavily armored and armed, they have more then enough to take on these new foes, the biggest issue however is mobility. Tanks are slow and the turrets can't keep pace with the much faster HMDs. They can take the hits but often it is like trying to kill a fly with a howitzer. Tanks are usually equipped with a HMD cannon of some kind, typically a rail gun for its energy based effectiveness and high damage rating. They are also equipped with machine guns(not very effective against HMDs) and missile launchers(usually vertical that fly straight up and then arc down to the target area saturating it with heavy fire. Another common feature of tanks is a high powered energy field or shield system. While it draws heavy power it has proven to increase tank survival rates by over 50% but is know for being difficult to maintain and prone to shorting out even under light but steady fire.

Attack Helicopters

If any machine is nearly dead, Helicopters are a dieing breed. Unable to carry heavier guns seen on Jets and Tanks, its not that they have difficulty avoiding or being able to unleash decent attack power, its a matter of how easy it is to target and destroy them. Even a simple HMD pistol can take down a helicopter in one shot. Their ability to hover does give them some strengths, but their rockets or missiles and light machine guns make them very similar to bees attacking a bear. They just aren't powerful enough anymore to get the job done. They are more often used as a first response to try and slow down attacking forces while the more powerful tanks and jets get into position. They are also used as transports and supply craft as they can get around easily without using a large amount of resources.

Fighter Jets

Fast, advanced, but still lightly armored. Jets are sort of a blessing and a curse depending on how you look at them. They can handle large numbers of missiles and rockets with enough power to damage even HMDs and are equipped with a decent main gun giving them good fire power. They are also fast enough to keep pace and even avoid HMD fire but the real issue is their light armor. Like helicopters, it takes only a single shot to destroy a jet, unlike tanks that can take many. If they could make a jet that could fly and have the armor of a tank, UMF could beat any HMD but that is beyond possibility. As fast interceptors, bombers, and distraction tactics, Jets are far more useful then their copter counterparts.

Trucks

As useful as they were a century ago, they are used heavily by UMF as transports. Some trucks are made with offensive purpose in mind. They are smaller height wise but with greater length, the most common offensive truck is a missile truck that carries a number of vertical launch missiles that can cause trouble for MWPs and anoy most HMD pilots

Half Tracks

A spin off of a tank, they are very similar to those used by old military that mount various old weapons which have little if any use anymore. The reason for their use is that they need vehicles and weapons. (Any weapon can damage anything, but in a simple rating, these vehicles rate F)

Automated Defenses

Used by both the Corporations and UMF they are an effective weapon against anything they are programmed to attack. They can range from missile launchers to laser cannons.

Weapons

Rifle: Useful when held by infantry and equally useful when used by MWPs and HMDs. Rifles are either shell or energy based with the differences between the two being shell rifles have ammo to worry about and are shorter range but carrying of more ammo is not overly difficult and they do not draw any energy from the machine itself to use and can be normal rifles, rapid fire, or burst. Energy are long range and more powerful but reduce a machines operation time as they draw from the main generator to operate and tend to have a slower firing rate then shell rifles. Depending on the model, energy based rifles have more cons then pros. (Shell rifles average a range of 400m-500m while energy range between 600m-700m)

Heavy Shell: Include weapons such as rocket launchers, missile launchers, bazooka's, guns once used on a warship, artillery guns, grenade launchers and any other shell based heavy gun you can think of. Limited by the amount of ammo they can handle(usually a handful of shots on basic models) and the weight that greatly reduces mobility they are deadly in their own right and it does not take much for even these guns to get through an HMDs armored plating. They are not overly accurate and can easily damage the surrounding area as easily as they can damage the target machine. They are long range(usually around 700m-900m.) Rockets and missiles tend to be mid ranged (around 500m-600m)

Shoulder mounted launchers: While listed in heavy shell, those are hand held based missile launchers, these launchers are mounted on the machines back and shoulders and hold several times more shots then their handheld counterparts while keeping damage and range about the same. The missiles and rockets come in small, medium, large, spread, cluster, and usually more effective as a means of bringing missiles to the field. The only downside is they are far heavier then their hand held counterparts and take up valuable slots that are used by the powerful shoulder cannons.

Cannons: Laser, plasma, grenade, pulse, linear-gun, and rail-gun. Cannons are mounted on the back and are probably the most powerful weapon a MWP and HMD can bring to the field. Effective at anywhere from short to long range they can tear even the heavily shielded battle tanks used by UMF or an HMD to pieces. The downside to these powerful weapons is that bipedal machines have to brace themselves and sacrifice their movement in order to use the weapon without being knocked over by the recoil of the weapon. Some handheld versions of these weapons exist but are usually very heavy, not so much in weight that slows down the suits, they can be very mobile with these slightly smaller weapons, but the real issue is that most machines can't handle the strain it puts on them. (It puts too much weight on the arms or legs) Regardless of what troubles they may have, the ammunition for the shell based cannons and the power used by the energy based cannons are often outweighed by the damage these things can do. Grenade and linear-guns are shell based, Rail, laser, plasma, and pulse are energy based. (Cannons range from about 600m to as far as 1200m)

Machine guns: Effective as always, they can unleash massive amounts of fire although are not as powerful as a rifle, make up for their rates of fire and how easy it is to get ammo and carry it. The most powerful of machine guns are chain guns that fire shells that turn what they touch into Swiss cheese. They come in back mounts(must be stationary) or hand models. The problem with machine guns is operation range. While they can reach mid range(400m), they are only really effective at short to point blank range(0-300m) as the shots have a terrible habit of spraying the farther you are from your target.

Heat: Heat based weapons include flamethrowers, ion, napalm, and other devices that when striking or touching something either cause it to melt, overheat, or fry. Dangerous to electrical systems, these weapons are usually mid to short range, in some cases close range, but if they manage to hit they can be as deadly as the cannons. Napalm is tricky in the fact that it uses an explosive contact that sprays its fiery jell that burns for a fair time before it goes out making it more deadly due to its lingering effects.

Energy contact weapons: Be they blades, axes, what ever you might want to call them, most HMDs are equipped with some from of energy based blade weapon. Running on its own separate power system it allows the weapon to be used as a last resort should other weapons run out of ammo or in some cases, serve as a main weapon or secondary weapon. Stored in a launcher on the left arm, when needed, a signal is send which launches the blades main energy device into the hand of the HMD and then activates the energy part of the weapon. Unless you can destroy the main energy device of the weapon(might be the hilt of a sword, the handle of an axe, shaft of a spear, so forth) the weapon will not go away. Close range combat is obviously the effective range of the weapon and in tight spaces, it runs less risk of destroying the surrounding area.

Sniper Rifle: Long range sniper rifles can be energy or shell based. Both are roughly the same power with the difference that energy based have no worry about ammo, although are more easily tracked or likely to give away a position. With the number of vital areas on an MWP or HMD sniper rifles are very dangerous if they hit the right place.

Shotgun: Taking a new twist when wielded by large machines, shotguns are usually solid based, however there are energy based ones as well. Both are deadly for their spray effect, while the shells strength is the damage it inflicts to areas of a suit, while energy based shotguns are known for causing heat as well as burning or frying critical mechanical systems. Short range is effective (200m) as anything longer either does not reach or the sprays effect is compromised

Pistols: Small and easy to carry, they can dish out fire similar to rifles(when it comes to rate of fire) but do it at a shorter range and at slightly less damage. The advantage is how light they are and how they make very effective secondary weapons or backup weapons once main weapons are exausted.

Orbital Weapon: Mounted on the back, it fires a number of small drones that shoot at what they are targeted to shoot at. They allow for a HMD to operate from a safe location and yet never have to worry about line of sight. The pods only have so many weapons in them and the weapons themselves can be destroyed making it a weapon that soometimes works well and others does not. Some use contact blades that can be very anoying for even skilled pilots.

Shield: Offering protection from either Shell or Energy weapons, a shield can make and mean the difference between life and death in a critical situation.

UMF

CAF

James always hated when he had to attend meetings between the sector leaders. Everyone always seemed to be openly hostile towards him. Well when you think about it, he was a traitor, he had turned against the corporations, that was good, but he still had turned against someone and they didn't trust him to remain on their side. Only Heinrich stood by him and kept the heat off the 'young boy'. It seemed to go on for hours and once it was over James grumbled. "Do they always have to treat me like I'm going to kill them?"

Heinrich chuckled. "They don't understand you mean good, ignore them." His accent was heavy German and it was a wonder how he could speak proper English with it. "Once you gather your fellow pilots, I will come to the meeting room in a little and discuss your mission... if you have anything person you want them to do, get it done quickly."

James nodded and with a salute he left Heinrich's main command room and wandered down the dark stone bunker hallway. Outside a massive crack of lightning and echoing boom of thunder, which shook the whole facility was an easy sign that another European storm was going on. Ever since the war, from what James had heard from people who knew of the 'old europe' the weather wasn't bad. Now most everything was underground due to the intense electrical storms. As the lights faded for a moment James looked up at a large steel door and sighed. "Best get this done..." As he entered the room it was empty and he groaned. "Oh damn it.. why must you people torture me!" Once again his pilots had dispersed among the bunker doing their own things. Equipped with machines to repair craft, training facilities, a caffateria with alright food, numberous bunks and places to sleep safe from any type of attack, bathing areas, when they made a bunker in the past they made them quite luxurious to some of the recent makes of UMF and even ACF.

He walked over to a small pannel and hit it with his fist. "All pilots report to the briefing room immedately for mission! Emmett that includes you and don't make me come down and get you! This is serious!" Removing his hand, all he had to do was wait. He had no clue what his pilots were doing and sometimes wondered what exactly it was they did in their spare time.

(Use this chance to reveal some of your 'personal' life and interests and note that we are in a special command bunker and the main center base for Heinrick. Your in Europe by the way, in what was once known as Paris France.)

Meanwhile as the UMF planned for its next move, in North America at CA headquarters Richter was pacing as a rather nervous looking Crom and Mathew watched. It didn't take long for someone to be brought in, cuffed and beaten up. "So you worthless dog.. you going to speak or am I going to have to.... make you talk?" Richter grabbed the man's shirt and lifted him off the ground. From his shoulder a large tarantula about the size of a persons fist started to walk across his arm and the man began to scream and tried to struggle. Richter laughed as the spider moved closer and closer and was soon drowned out by the mans fright as the spider crawled onto the mans face and something came out of it. A mechanical pet that he built himself, the spider was a mascot for Rickter, not the Black Widow, which he loved but it served its purpose. The screams were suddenly silenced as the now blood stained spider crawled back to Richters shoulder and he let the man fall.

"These UMF are all the same, they fight for something that doesn't exist... yet they never talk... Crom!"

Crom shot to attention and saluted. "Yes Richter!"

"With the desertion of James and his... friends.. were down a number of pilots and the corporations haven't sent us replacements... why?"

"I... I... d..don't know sir..." Crom swallowed and was to the point of almost shaking.

Richter clenched his fist and growled. "What ever.... as always, put the pilots through a... loyalty test to make sure they understand their place in the grand scheme of things! Get a report on James last site of attack and the last few ones as well and send it to my room, I want to look them over to see what he's thinking..."

His eyes looked down into the warm and black liquid in his cup surely it was some kind of futuristic drink. That however wasn't the case, it was coffee, something that had remained the same over all the many years. Alex looked down into the cup staring at the coffee in reflection like one would a reflection pond. He was thinking about the first time he had met all the other pilots or better yet, his friends. They sure were quite the group considering they were all considered traitors.

The only reason as to why Alex decided to become part of the UMF was because of James. He believed stronglu enough in the ideals of the UMF and sof for him, it was a real easy choice. Following James was always something that he would do, they had become quite close over the years and Alex was willing to follow his every word. Despite being mostly a follower of James he still had a mind of his own. Fighting in order to stop the fighting, it was tough but, somebody needed to do it. It had been far too long since they had peace and so, Alex had hoped that this would be the answer.

Alex was lost in thought about a few other things as well, like the condition of Death Blossom and thinking of anything that might possibly be upgraded or recalibrated. Anything to perhaps improve his already deadly accuracy. He reached for his cup and took a sip and as he was going to put it back down James' voice came over the loud speaker. The distraction caused him to drop the cup onto the table spilling the coffee, luckily away from himself before the eventual smash of the coffee cup on the ground. He blinked slightly and laughed weakly at his blunder as he slowly got to his feet. Looking around suspiciously he saw that nobody else was within earshot of the cup smashing and he exited the cafeteria.

After a couple minutes of walking he made it to the room with James as well as Blaise in it. He looked toward James and saluted casually knowing that after a meeting he probably wasn't worried about formalities. "Hopefully the meeting went well." He looked toward and empty seat before sitting in the chair and glancing toward Blaise. "I'm amazed you made it here first, that's usually never the case, you must be itching for something important to do." Alex was one of the younger UMF pilots but, that didn't mean he didn't know what he was doing. Either way, he enjoyed making any kind of conversation with the other pilots. If he knew a lot about all of them it would hopefully help them get even better as a team.