#back mounted robotic spider limbs

[random-iz-stuff]

Can I talk about how much I love the design and use of PAK legs? Because I’m going to talk about how much I love the design and use of PAK legs.

Even when you ignore their ability to shoot lasers and create energy shields, PAK legs are cool as hell and I love seeing them be used for everything from climbing to combat to faster movement to even fast dodging and launching the user in various directions in episodes like Plague Of Babies (with Zim using his PAK legs to launch himself to the ceiling and generally dodge things during the Giganto-Baby fight) and The Frycook That Came From All That Space (with Zim using his PAK legs to dodge out of the way of Sizz-Lorr).

We also see them be used for intimidation in Halloween Spectacular Of Spooky Doom with Zim using them to tower over Dib.

But best of all, best seen in Dark Harvest, PAK legs can be used for more delicate actions as well, like flipping a light switch. They aren’t just a mode of transportation, they’re mechanical limbs that can be used for everything that an Irken’s hands can do. Hence why I headcanon that the tips of the PAK legs can split into three smaller claw-like tips, able to be used as fingers.

And one thing I constantly think about is things like PAK legs acting in tandem with the user’s organic limbs, mimicking the actions of the user’s arms and hands, even using those mechanical claws to mimic the user’s fingers.

I also think about things like Irken locks that can only be opened with a PAK leg, requiring that someone insert a PAK leg into a hole and use the leg as a key, rotating and maneuvering the leg as needed. Or an Irken control panel where the user inserts a PAK leg and maneuvers it to control whatever the panel is attached to.

I also think about things like an Irken struggling to control a ship and then deploying the PAK legs to press buttons and flip switches in the cockpit around them while they keep their organic hands on the steering wheel trying to regain control.

Or an Irken using their PAK legs to attack something behind them while they keep doing something else. Like this one clip from Sonic Prime:

And once again, this is IGNORING the fact that PAK legs can shoot lasers and create energy shields and I headcanon they they can also be used as welding equipment or precision laser cutters and a bunch of other tools.

This has been my incoherent ramblings about PAK legs.

[cadenreigns]

Star vs the Forces of Evil: The Last Magic (part 2)

So here’s part 2 of my movie idea, which presents the driving force behind most of the remining decisions and events of the story. So enjoy.

6

Black screen slowly fades back into Marco’s POV, which shows Jackie kneeling over him with Tom and Rich Pidgeon looking over her shoulders. As the view becomes clear the repeated word “Muscles” changes into Jackie saying “Marco”

Marco: “Uuuugh.”

Jackie (while Tom lets out an exaggerated breath and Rich wipes his brow with his robot arm): “Oh thank goodness.”

Jackie helps Marco sit up while Janna pushes her way through Tom and Rich. We see that Marco now has a black eye.

Janna: “I’ve got ice!”

Janna practically punches Marco with the ice as she pushes it against his black eye.

Rich: “I’m terribly sorry, Marco. I guess I don’t always know my own strength.”

Janna (scowling at Rich while Jackie helps Marco hold the ice to his eye and stand up): “Strength?! You’re in a robot suit! The only reason his head didn’t explode is probably because his skull’s so thick!”

Marco: “Uh…what?”

Jackie: “She’s kind of got a point, man. Do you even need limbs that powerful for everyday life?”

Rich: “Oh dear” (holds robot hand over his cockpit) “Do you all feel this way?”

Tom (takes deep breath and holds hands together at the fingertips in front of his face): “Rich, maybe you should get out of the robot for now.”

Rich (hanging head): “I see. I’ll return to my dwelling henceforth and not bother you again with any future mechanical misfortune.”

Rich walks off towards the horizon, the camera following him for a few seconds before returning to Marco and the others.

Marco: “I’m not sure what all just happened, but did someone say something while I was on the ground?”

Jackie: “I said your name a couple times while trying to wake you up.”

Marco: “Oh, I thought I heard…never mind. Let’s...get back to class.”

Jackie (after exchanging slightly worried glances with Tom and Janna): “Actually, why don’t you let Janna take you to the nurse’s office. Tom and I will make sure the rest of the day goes the way it’s supposed to.”

Marco: “But-”

Janna (slides behind Marco and starts pushing him back towards the school): “No buts mister. She might not have magic anymore, but Star would kill us if we let you just walk around after that.”

Marco (sighing): “Fine.” (looks back at Tom and Jackie while still being pushed) “Just make sure no one eats anyone else, or steps on anyone else, or, and this is important-”

Tom (shouting): “Alright, we got it bud. Feel better!” (then more quietly to Jackie) “So how’s this feet ball game work anyway?”

Jackie shrugs.

7

Cut to the city hall exterior. The sun is setting and it’s much darker now. Star hugs Moon and River goodbye before River carries Moon home on his eagle queen. Star still has bags under her eyes. It gets a little darker and the streetlights come on one by one, eventually revealing Marco and Nachos waiting by the street corner. Initially Marco would be turned just enough to not show his black left eye.

Star (starting towards them): “There’s the best boyfriend in the world. I almost thought you were going to make me wait.”

Marco (trying to act cool): “You know me, just trying to make an entrance.”

Star (giggling): “Oh for sure, that’s the thing I know you for most. So how was your day?”

Marco (rubbing back of head): “Well, it had a bump or two.” (turns to face Star)

Star (horrified, grabs Marco by the cheeks and pulling him closer to look at his black eye): “Oh my cob! What happened to your eye!?”

Marco: “Well we were outside for the activity session and I thought football would be a good idea and, well…it turns out Rich’s robot arms are even stronger than they look.”

Star: “Well here’s something to make you feel better.” (kisses cheek)

Marco (pulling away and holding a hand over the cheek she kissed): “That does feel better”

Star (smiling): “Good. Ready to go home?”

Marco (mounting Nachos): “Actually, I was thinking we might stop somewhere else first.”

Star (tilting head slightly): “Where?”

Marco (smiling): “It’s a surprise.”

Star” “Oooh.” (jumps behind Marco and wraps her arms around him) “Well then lead away mister mystery.”

Marco revs up Nachos and they take off.

8

Cut to Marco with something bundled under his arm leading Star up a slightly wooded path while she holds her hands over her eyes, Nachos at the base of the hill they’re ascending.

Marco: “Almost there.”

Star: “I can’t wait I can’t wait.”

The camera, positioned so that it’s pulling back as Marco leads Star towards it, stops as they approach what looks like a cliff edge, then pushes in towards Star as he steps to the side.

Marco: “Alright, you can look now.”

Star removes her hands and her eyes grow wide and sparkly before the camera swings in place around her to be behind the couple as they look on over Echo Creek, the combined skyline sparkling beneath the mish-mashed like a reflection of the stars above.

Star: “It’s so beautiful.”

Marco (unfurling the blanket that was under his arm so they’ll have some place to sit): “I thought you might like it.”

Marco sits and gestures to the spot beside him. Star smiles and drops into her place.

Star: “You’re the best, Marco.”

Marco: “Only because I have someone so amazing to be my best for.”

The camera starts to pan down as it looks like they’re going to kiss, revealing that directly below their lookout point is a giant (as in big enough to house several trees) enclosed cage with a sign the reads “Spider Habitat: No trespassing.” Three shadows approach the cage, two revealed to be monster kids and the leader being Jeremy.

Monster kid 1: “Are you sure we should be doing this?”

Jeremy (waving him off): “Don’t go chicken on me. We’re just going to get a look at them. If they were really that dangerous they wouldn’t have gotten caged so quickly.”

Monster kid 2: “If you say so.”

Jeremy: “I do say so. Now keep quiet or someone’s going to hear us.”

The three kids go right up to the main gate on the spider cage, with Jeremy climbing a bit onto the gate itself and using the rusty chain keeping the gate shut as foot hold.

Jeremy: “Can you see anything?”

Monster kid 1: “No.”

Monster kid 2: “Told you we should have brought flashlights.”

Jeremy: “Yeah, because making it easier to see us is exactly what you want when sneaking around.”

Jeremy starts to climb a little higher up the gate for a better view, putting all his weight on the foot using the rusty chain as a foothold. “They’ve got to be here somewha-”

The chain snaps, the new ends wrapping around Jeremy’s leg as he goes tumbling to the ground, pulling the gate open a bit with him.

Monster kids 1 and 2 scramble over to him.

Monster kid 2: “Are you alright, man?”

Jeremy (cringing): “Yeah, fine. Just help me up.”

The monster kids attempt to help get him to his feet, but can’t seem to pull or untangle his foot from the chain. As they continue to try and get him loose, several sets of eyes in the cage start to light up in groups of eight. A clicking follows, causing all three kids to slowly look up. A long, hairy spider leg reaches out of the shadows. Then another, and another, and another until the first of many giant spiders is revealed. All three kids start screaming as the monsters continue to try and free Jeremy from the chain, but all their struggling just pulls the gate open farther.

The camera pans back up as they continue to scream, returning to Star and Marco as they appear to have just pulled away from their kiss.

Star (eyes narrowing as she looks around): “Do you hear something?”

Marco (also now looking around): “Yeah, it’s like something shrill and annoying.”

Star inches towards the edge of the cliff and looks over, gasping and then pointing when she sees what’s going on below them: “Marco look. Something’s happening at the spider habitat.”

Marco (straining his eyes to see): “Are those kids? Is that gate open!?”

Star (standing up quickly): “We’ve got to do something!”

Marco (also standing) whistles for Nachos, but Star doesn’t wait. In an instant she’s jumped off the cliff edge.

9

The camera zooms back to the children just as the first giant spider slams the gate open the rest of the way. This throws the monster kids away and pins Jeremy between the gate and the side of the cage. The spider looks between the three kids and just before it seems to decide which to feast on first, Star comes down boot first into its head. Two more leap through the open gate, but are intercepted as Marco comes falling down on them. An exciting fight scene would follow where Marco and Star beat the spiders back into the cage, but just when they think they’re done the first one wakes back up and starts to strike. At the last moment Nachos zooms down and smacks it with her tail, sending it flying back into the cage. Marco grabs the gate and pulls it (and Jeremy) back closed while Star grabs a branch that broke off during the fight and jams into the slot the chain had been wrapped through.

Just as it seems like everything’s going to be alright. with Star checking on the monster kids and Marco reluctantly helping Jeremy finally get un-tangled, lights flood the scene. At first they’re too bright to tell where they’re coming from, but then a figure steps between the lights and it becomes clear they’re sets of headlights from several military vehicles. The initial figure that’s still approaching is joined by several soldiers that encircle Marco, Star, Jeremy, and the monster kids.

Marco: “Eh, this guy.”

The leader of the soldiers finally comes into view, showing him to be a high ranking military leader (I imagine him being played by James Woods for some reason, so I’m just going to call him Major Woods).

Major Woods: “Well, well, well. I’m honestly surprised that it took this long for one of you monsters to try something like this.” With a hand signal, Major Woods has the soldiers closest to Star grab the two monster kids by the collars and start to drag them away.

Marco (stepping towards the Major and leaving Jeremey still chained to the gate): “Major Woods, it’s pretty obvious this human (emphasized) kid-”

Jeremey (looking annoyed): “You know my name.”

Marco (ignoring him): “-was the one to open the gate, whether he meant to or not. And look at them, they’re just kids who wanted to see some giant spiders.”

Star: “Yeah, you can’t drag them away for being…what’s that thing cats are…”

Marco (eyeing her briefly): “Curious.”

Star: “Right, you can’t blame them for being curious.”

Major Woods (rolling his eyes): “Mr. Diaz, Ms. Butterfly, why is it that every time something happens you two try to get in the way of my job? That’s not actually a right your mis-assigned government positions actually affords you.”

Star: “Well we have to since every time something happens you act like it’s some monster conspiracy.”

Major Woods (looking increasingly terse as he turns his attention to Jeremey): “Kid, is what they say true?”

Jeremey: “Kind of.”

Marco gives him a death glare.

Jeremey: “Kind of certainly I mean. We just wanted to see the spiders and the chain broke when I was trying to get a better view.”

Major Woods makes sort of a growling/sighing noise then turns to the soldiers restraining the monster kids. “Find out their addresses and then take them home” (looks at Star and Marco as he says the next part) “And make sure their whole families are aware they might not get off so easily next time.”

The soldiers let go of the monster kids collars and start more genially escorting them to one of the military vehicles while another pair start working on Jeremy’s still chained foot.

Major Woods: “You two can go now, we’ll take it from here.”

Marco shakes his head as Star glares at the Major, then he whistles and Nachos, seemingly having been ready to pounce the whole time, rolls out of the shadows and up to Star and Marco. They mount her and take off.

10

Screen starts black, but a crashing sound (with a very subtle “Muscles” line beneath it) causes it to open and reveal that we’re in Marco’s point of view as his eye opens to see the clock next to his bed read some time between 2 and 3 in the morning. There’s another crash from downstairs and the camera switches to a view of him getting up and out of bed. Taking his sword-hand dance-stance, Marco quietly steps into the hallway as more rustling goes on downstairs. He makes his way down the hall, pausing when he comes to Star’s doorway and finds it open. He peers in, where a beam of moonlight reveals her bed to be empty. Looking confused and worried as another crashing sound comes from downstairs, Marco picks up the pace as he reaches the stairs and starts down them. At the base of the stairs there’s a glow from the kitchen and taking the corner its revealed to be the fridge faintly illuminating the kitchen, which is now a mess as half the fridge’s contents have been tossed all over the floor. Star, who is standing in front of the fridge and has obviously been the one making the noise and mess, grabs something else and squints as she looks at it. The bags under her eyes are even bigger than before.

Star: “Is this… (mouths the words on the milk jug label) “nope.” (tosses milk to the side with a sploosh sound effect)

Marco (dropping his arms and side-stepping tossed food as he approaches): “Star, is everything alright?”

Star (looks up and gives a kind of half smile, she’s obviously very tired): “Oh hey…you (emphasized). Do we have any of that brown goop?”

Marco (looking increasingly worried): “The pudding? No. You finished it all. Remember? We talked about it yesterday.”

Star (turning back to the fridge): “That doesn’t sound right…and I could really go for some brown goop. You…you know I like my goop.”

Marco (places hands gently on Star’s shoulders and turns her to fully face him): “Star, what’s my name?”

Star: “What (draws out word), that’s a silly question.”

Marco (places hands on either side of her head to keep her focused as her eyes start to wander): “What’s my name, Star?”

Star’s eyes close tight as it’s obvious she’s trying to think of Marco’s name really hard, but the more she tries to think of it the more the corners of her eyes start to water. When she finally opens them, she can’t stop the first tear from rolling down her cheek.

Star: “I…I can’t remember.”

[ellieaelious]

Ellie Aelious }{Multiverse OC}{Post Fire Crisis

A/N: Finally complete!!! It was a long road, and took way too long, but it is finally finished! I ended up cutting a lot of things from it that did not have to do with her character, which helped a lot. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to DM me. I’ve been working on her for about fifteen years, and I still don’t have all the kinks worked out, but it’s been a fun road to get here!

This is Ellie after she gains control over the fire realm and the element of fire, all the way through her worlds Armageddon. Ten years pass in the human realm, while over 5,000 pass in the elemental realms. You have the option of choosing what stage of her life you interact with her, or I can toss her at you during a time I believe will best suit our roleplay.

So when you see an x-z that means that depending on the time frame, is dependent on when she looks or acts like X or Z. She will also change and grow in the threads we have.

Credit: Big-Ass Character Sheet by Character-Resources This is going to be what I use from now on for all of my muses, regardless if they are OC or canon. Everyone can get a good idea of them, and it will also help me when it comes to writing, since I won’t have to explain every single thing over and over again.

Verse: Realms series (book series I’m writing) Date: 7/18/2019 Full Name: Ellen Sebastiana O’Donnelly Pronunciation: El-en Sea-bass-tea-ah-na Oh-Don-el-ee Nickname/Alias: Ellie Aelious Meaning: Ellie-Pet form of Ellen or more commonly Eleanor, which itself is of Hebrew origin and comes from the Hebrew element 'el' meaning 'god' and 'or' meaning light, so the name means 'God is my light' or 'God is my candle'. Aelious-The Realmain form of “Aelius” which is a Roman family name which was possibly derived from the Greek word 'ηλιος (helios) meaning "sun".  Origin: Not going to lie. I thought of the name and then the meaning just worked. That’s usually how I pick common names. For other languages, I research them. I seriously thought I made up Aelious, until Google said “Did you mean Aelius. Title: Ruler/Commander, Healer, Priest Pet Name: Aelious is actually a surname and nickname given to her by Cynbel (jfc I gotta do him too). ID Number: AR-24601 Signature: She’s ambidextrous, and before the loss of her left arm was left dominant. She still wrote with her right hand, but her handwriting is very elementary school level. Her robotic prosthetic could write perfectly, however after her arm regrows she is left with a limb that trembles and twitches when she goes to write. It makes her signature almost illegible, and she prefers to initial with her right hand. Gender: Female Gender Role: Very femme and lady like. Orientation: Pansexual/Polyamorous Real Age: Although she was born in 1983, because of the time differences between the human and element realms she is between 137-268 post arm loss, and can be anywhere up to five thousand after her arm regrows. Age Appearance: 21 Birthday: March 10th, 1983 Deathday: Armagaddon, exact date unknown. Birthplace: New York, New York, USA Astrological Sign: Pisces Zodiac Sign: Water Pig Immediate Family:  Legal Guardian: Earnest O’Donnelly (deceased) Mother: Tonalnan (deceased) Father figure: Cynbel Uncle: Dante (DMCverse) Half-Brother: Nero (DMCverse) Adoptive Brother: Peter Jason Quill (GotG) Mother figure: Marina Udonta Distant Family:  Father: Aluk Mal Tuk Grandfather: Shin Kage Grandmother: Eveelyn Ardelian Species: Realmain (I will be posting separately about this race.) Ethnicity: Celtic and Hispanic Blood Type: Formerly O+. She no longer has blood, and instead bleeds a silver liquid. Preferred Hand: Left Facial Type: Diamond Eye Color: Dark brown. White or red when using air and fire abilities respectively. Hair Color: Black Hairstyle: 

Skin Tone: Pale White when using air powers. Dark tan when using fire. Complexion: Clear Makeup: Very light make-up during special occasions. Has started wearing winged eyeliner. Build: Body claim is Samantha Wright

Height: 5′3-5′8 Weight: 538lbs - 598lbs Cup Size: A-C cup Facial Hair: none Shoe Size: US 7 - US 9.5 Birthmarks/scars: A large scar going from her left shoulder, across her chest, and stopping half way to her right. It goes from the base of her neck to the beginning of her cleavage, around to her back. It stops at the nape of her neck and right before her shoulder blades on the left. It’s from when she had her left arm ripped off, along with a good portion of her skin.

After her arm regrows, the scar mostly heals, only leaving a faint outline around her left shoulder.

She has a mole/beauty mark on her left side, right under her bottom lip.

Many faint and small scars pepper her body, visible under a blacklight or bioluminescence given off by plants and insects.

In an alternate timeline, (DmCverse), she has half of her face scarred by an angel’s attack. Her eye is red, and it goes into her hairline, all the way to the back of her head. Distinguishing Features: Her eyes are her most distinguishing feature, able to convey a thousand emotions at once. Because of her empathic ability, if she looks someone else in the eyes, she is not only able to read their emotions, but also alter how they see her.

As she grows older, her eyes convey less innocence, and more of someone who is weary. Although the light has not gone out behind her eyes, it has dimmed significantly from when she first became a ruler.

She always has an innocent appearance about her features, usually appearing dumbfounded by the world around her. It’s not a true reflection of herself, but something that most people see at first glance. Health: She’s very healthy and her diet consists of mostly meat. She works out daily and although she loves sweets, limits them to once a week. Energy: She generates, at the minimum, enough energy to keep two realms and their inhabitants alive. That is around 6-9 billion per realm. This energy is all in reserve, and not accessible for fighting.

Aside from that, in her home dimension she generates enough excess energy to command both air and fire. She is one of the eight strongest beings, aside from angels or demons, and ranks somewhere in the third or forth strongest. Her max power level sees her generating enough energy to destroy a planet the size of her largest realm, twice.

Outside of her dimension, her excess power is diminished by half, and she can only regenerate after sleeping twelve or more hours. Because of this, she uses physical attacks when outside of her own dimension. Memory: Her memories are tied to emotions. The stronger the emotion at the time, the more likely she is to remember the event in detail. She also remembers odd events, like someone mentioning rubberbands. Senses: Her eyesight is well enough she doesn’t need to use a mounted sight on a firearm. She can see for several miles, but cannot see in dim or low lighting.

She can feel vibrations and use them to navigate in the dark as well. This has helped since she began losing her hearing a century ago.

Her sense of smell and taste are better, able to recognize someone’s scent, and develop a taste signature for them as well. This also has the negative affect of smelling something horrible, and also developing a taste signature for it. Fortunately, her nose is not what she breaths out of, so she can avoid this most times.

Her sixth sense, if you will, is extremely high. She can read a persons emotions from the next room, feel the presence of demonic entities, and can hide her own presence from them.

Allergies: Strawberries, birch water, cut grass. Handicaps: 

With her hearing failing, it has been difficult for her to adjust to using vibrations to get around. While she can feel the vibrations of someone talking, she is still not fully able to differentiate between words.

After the loss of her left arm, she suffers from muscle spasms in her left shoulder. Even after her arm regrows, she has painful and powerful muscle spasms. They will often require her to take a moment to collect herself, as she’s almost blacked out from the pain.

Although she’s not mentally slow, because of her time being raised among humans, her actual brain deteriorates whenever she goes back to the human realm. This includes other dimensions that are heavily populated by humans. She will sometimes stare off into the distance or quit speaking, only to act like nothing happened. This is her healing factor attempting to repair the damage.

Highly prone to panic attacks. When she has one, she will find it difficult to breath and begin to disrobe so her lungs can have better access to air. These have lasted up to three days, and she becomes violent when people approach her during them.

She has grotesque visions of hell, and often hears demons whispering in her ear. This can cause her panic attacks, as well as send her into a temporary delirious  state. Dante and Cynbel are the only ones that can calm her down when she gets like this.

Medication: She usually chews on herbs and roots from the nature realm for ailments. She also eats ‘edibles’, a relaxant from the nature realm that has similar properties to marijuana. She eats them in marshmallow form, usually to get high. Phobias: Spiders, water, being alone, the dark, and whispering. Addictions: Salted marshmallows. She will do almost anything for them. Mental Disorders:

Humans call is schizophrenia, while Realmains call it ‘Heaven Sight’. This causes her demonic visions, auditory hallucinations, as well as her anxiety. These have been constant since birth.

She is severally depressed, often on the verge of crying. This is considered a serious mental disorder caused by her high empathy. There is no way to treat it, other than developing apathy.

Style: Ellie’s style is very modest. While nudity is common in the realms, and she is comfortable with it, she covers up completely when outside of her realm. Her military uniform changes, but usually consists of vests, cargo pants, and military boots.

Her formal attire as a ruler ranges from ancient Grecian/Roman robes, to something akin to Elvish dress. It’s the few times she wears dresses anymore.

When she is having a casual day, it’s leggings/jeans and a loose fitting shirt. She does enjoy dressing in flowing garments, and does have a personal tailor that designs her clothing to wear outside of the nine realms. In her later years, she wears more fun things, and sometimes will be seen in her brother’s hoodie and booty shorts if she’s woken up suddenly.

All of her military clothes are white, while her casual clothing changes in color. She does not wear black, as it’s against her vows as a sacred virgin. Grooming: Her hair is always well maintained and braided, only becoming messy in battle. Even then, she is quick to fix it.

After an encounter with a demonic entity later in life, she has kept her hair cut very short, only a few inches long. When questioned about it, she will change the subject immediately.

 As far as other hair goes, because she does not produce pheromones the same way as other mammals, she has little to no body hair to worry about. Posture: Her posture if usually back straight, chest out, chin up, and hands on her hips or crossed. If she is in a more relaxed setting, or not trying to be intimidating, she will let her hip cock to the side and slouch just a bit.

When frightened, she will hunker down and cower, making herself as small as possible.

Gait: She can’t help but have a very bouncy way of walking. Because she is usually just barely levitating off the ground, her motion is very fluid and swaying.

When approaching an enemy or upset, she will have a stalking manner of movement. Her shoulders will be forward, her steps heavy and deliberate, and fists clenched. Coordination: When in a fighting mindset, her reflexes and coordination are topnotch. Very little will get by her, and she is able to dodge bullets, as well as deflect them back to her opponent. It’s taken her almost two hundred years to perfect.

Outside of battle, she has tripped over her own feet. While levitating. She’s merely easily distracted, and doesn’t pay attention to her surroundings unless she has to. Habits and Mannerisms: 

Left over from when her time without her arm, she will often let her left arm fall slack, forgetting it’s her own. This will cause her to bump into things with it.

She wrings her fingers a lot when she is nervous, and bites her bottom lip.

When she is focused on a task, or trying to decipher something, she will whisper to herself, along with moving her fingers like she is slowly typing in the air.

When frightened, she will immediately bite her lips and make her eyes wider. It’s instinctive to attempt to bring out the nurturing side of whoever is frightening her.

She has a habit of lightly touching people without realizing it. It’s often confused for flirting, but it’s only because she is touch starved.

She will pull out a book and read when she feels she is being ignored, purposely ignoring the other when they try to get her attention.

Scent: Spring Jasmine by Wild Spirit Mood: Contemplative is her usual mood when you catch her off guard. She has a lot on her mind, and not a lot of time to herself. She acts happy around others, smiling and laughing, but it’s only because she is replaying old emotions to make other feels better. She is no longer ignorant to the world, and has seen and experienced the darkness it holds. It weighs on her heavily and makes her very tired.

Being an empath, her mood is also determined by those around her. If you’re mad, she’ll be mad. If you’re being rude, she will reflect it back on you. Although she is kind at the core, she will stand up for herself and give you a taste of your own personality. Attitude: She has a very positive and upbeat attitude, despite her circumstances. She always tries to get people to be happy and rally the troops.

She can and does do a 180, and will become angry, and ho boy, whoever is on the receiving end is in for it. She has been called merciless and monstrous in her rage. Stability: Her emotional spectrum is all over the place. As the strongest empath of her world, she is able to feel the emotions of every living thing all at once. As a child, it caused her attempted suicide. And while she has learned to cope, it does become overwhelming.

Her personal emotions can also be affected by someone else. This means, feelings of love may not always be hers. Expressiveness: She is always very open with how she feels. If she is choosing to be distant with someone, it’s a bad sign. When Happy: She will often hum a tune, usually a soft cover of a metal band. She may even do Tai Chi moves or spin if she’s really happy. When Depressed: She’s always in some form of depression, but at it’s worst she will hide herself away to cry in peace. If she does manage to break down in front of someone, it can make her feel worse. Although she no longer cuts herself, she is not above ramming her head into the ground in an attempt to knock herself out. When Angry: When she becomes angry, she will become quiet and stiff. Her movements are quick and deliberate. She is at her most dangerous when angry or upset. Current Residence: She resides in the air realm, but does spend time in the fire realm as she is now the ruler of it as well. Community: The air realms community is very calm and peaceful. Even the soldiers are seen smiling as they go about their day.As their main duty is to pray and rally the troops, it is a very calming place to be.

The fire realm is friendly, but they value feats of strength and often friends will spar in the streets. It’s all in good fun, but takes some getting used to. Family: Ellie’s only living family is adoptive or half related to her. She spends most of her time with either Cynbel or Marina, and then Dante and Nero. Friends: Beau is her best friend, and it’s rare to not see them running around together.

After going through training with Ansinna, she has become best friends with her, and appointed her as a personal guard. Enemies: Her father, demonic creatures, and those who would hurt the innocent. Bosses: She is her own boss, answering to no one but a higher ranking angel or the Lord. Followers: All inhabitants of her realms and army answer to her. Heroes: Marina, being a strong woman is one of her idols. Most of the women in her life she aspires to be like. Aside from that, mentors from other dimensions. Rivals: Her Dark Saer alternate, as well as the demon Heretic. Pets/Familiars: The last chimera of her dimension, and she managed to tame it with a stick of beef jerky. It’s a shape shifter, and is usually in the form of a snake with rabbit ears. It wraps loosely around her neck, or takes residence in her cleavage. Equipment:

Weapons-Air

Ellie’s main weapon is a grey staffed naginata. It has a wider blade on one end, and her dagger bladed fan on the other. She is able to separate it at the middle for two weapons. It is an extension of her soul, and so long as she has the will to live and fight, it is unbreakable and unable to be wielded by any other. When another does decide to wield it, they will begin to gasp for breath before the oxygen is pulled from their body.

For a time she used one of her mother’s desert eagles. After an understanding came about between Nero and herself, she let it fall into the lake of fire. After this, Dante had her customized guns like his made. She calls them Alpha and Omega. Over time, Dante has taught her trick shots, and her and Nero perform a similar move to ‘Jackpot’ called ‘Fragmented Reality’.

Her custom lever action rifle has a white body with silver, Celtic knot accents. The bullets fired are made by gathering matter, which means the farther the bullet travels, the bigger is becomes. It’s her preferred form of firearm, however she is only accurate within her line of sight. If an enemy is behind her, she is unable to accurately fire at them. Because she shoots from the left, the recoil to her shoulder makes her have to take frequent breaks.

She is trained in a wide variety of weapons, but refuses to use swords. She is also trained to use unconventional weapons, such as household items and the environment.

Weapons-Fire

When she’s finally able to control her fire abilities, her naginata reverts back to her bladed fan. She uses it for defense mostly, relying on her other fire based weapon for offense.

The chain whip allows her to keep enemies at a distance, and control their movement. Should one get too close, she will wrap her whip around them, activating the blades and using it as a medieval styled chainsaw.

Her guns are named vitam et mortem (life and death in Latin) while in her fire form. Vitam has the ability to raise an ally back from near death, while mortem can kill with a single shot.

Her rifle turns into a Day of the Dead themed lever action shotgun called Vespillo (Latin for Undertaker).

Technology-

The nine realms are far more technologically advanced than most other worlds. As such, she has some very useful equipment. One of which is her visor (I will provide references later). It’s a thin piece of crystal that forms across her eyes that acts to protect them, as well as provide an HUD with her stats, as well as information about the area around her. It’s linked to three micro bots that float around the area, allowing her to enter into a third person mode.

Later in life, the visor is replaced by contact lenses that connect through micro wires into the user’s nervous system. This allows the user to non-verbally control what they are seeing, and switch between 1st person, 3rd person, night vision, and HUD.

Before her arm grew back, she had a robotic prosthetic. While it mimicked the look and feel of her original arm, it was still traumatic to use. It was able to detach and move independently to scout an area, attack, and shock an enemy.

If she’s not using her visor or contacts, she does use her IDA. Inter-Dimensional Assistant. It’s a small piece of crystal that holds a super computer, and is wired to her home dimensions mainframe. She’s able to make phonecalls, hack into systems, give someone a physical, X-Ray, produce holograms, and all kinds of neat Sci-Fi stuff.

Recently, after discovering their enemy has been using habitable planets to farm humans, space ships have become a thing. She’s still hesitant about using them, but her current vehicle is able to use collapsible technology to change into a fighter jet, or a short flight space ship.

Accessories:

Tattoos-

On her left arm, after it grows back, is a faint purple outline of her veins.

On her right arm, after retrieving the crown of thorns, it wrapped around her right forearm and embedded into her skin as a tattoo.

Her legs are tattooed with a black background encasing Celtic knots on her left, and Mayan ruins on her right.

Her back has a cross burned into it, going from the base of her neck to her tailbone.

Lastly, on her chest is a black hand print from her mother marking her, over her heart.

Piercings- Only one in each ear.

Trinkets: Star of David necklace and cross earrings. Will occasionally wear bracelets during formal events. Funds: Money has no value in the nine realms. However, the fire realm has diamond rain whenever a volcano erupts, and any gold farmed is used for trade with humans. Her actual wealth, like all other rulers, is immeasurable. She enjoys giving it away, as she does not like the idea of money. Lovers: 

The former ruler of water, Mick, was her first crush. She loved him deeply, and had to hold him in her arms as he died. This pretty much scarred her from developing feelings for men.

Right before the death of her first love, she agreed to marry someone for a peace treaty. After the wedding, she locked herself away and protected herself with a powerful storm. A clone of her was used to kill Mick, and afterwards a very bloody and very quick war broke out, involving the death of her husband.

Cetrion is a former lover. Because of their virtuous nature they both found comfort in each other. It was broken off by Cetrion at the behest of Kronika. It still hurts Ellie deeply.

She has a crush on Leon S. Kennedy, and chooses to stay away from him because of it.

Erron Black gives her confusing feelings. She isn’t sure if she likes him, or wants to shoot him.

Enchantress/June Moone. A former girlfriend while Ellie was coming into power. Although she loved her, the relationship was not good mentally for Ellie and she broke it off.

Jason Todd was a mentor turned boyfriend for a few weeks, before they both realized it wouldn’t work. They are still friends.

Marital Status: Multiship Sex Life: SACRED.VIRGIN. (But I mean...boop her) Type: She is accepting of many types, so long as you are not a bad person. Even then, if you redeem yourself, she can find you suitable. This is not to say she will only date a hero type. She wants someone that is true to themselves, whatever that truth may be.

She is very busy, and will not have time for you 24/7. If she is called off on a mission, it doesn’t matter if you’re cuddling on the couch, on a date, or anything else. Her duty comes first. She won’t want to leave, but she will and apologize later. Her lover needs to be understanding of this.

It doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you, but this is her lifes work. This is what she was created and chosen for. And when the final battle comes, you won’t see her for a long time, if ever again. Turn-Ons: She wants someone that she won’t have to worry about as much. It’s hard to love mortals, so someone that could live as long as her would be preferred. She doesn’t want someone that will worship her, as that can be seen as breaking the commandments of the nine realms, but will appreciate her. They need to be understanding that she is a broken person and not all of her pieces are there, and they’re not coming back.

If she can lay with you while you play with her hair, rub her back, and just be physically there to tether her to the world, it will mean everything to her.

Lastly, someone that will just be kind to her. That she can come home to after a long week, month or some extended period of time and be close to. She doesn’t need anyone that will get tired of waiting for her and leave, as her duties will always come first. Turn Offs: Someone that is cruel to her or others. Disrespectful, tries to change who or what she is. Just don’t be a moist bint. Position: Switch. Sub in her human form, dom in her true form Sub position: The Seashell. She loves to be on her back with her lover’s hands wrapped around her ankles, pushing them back behind her head and into the mattress. Dom position: The Amazon. With a set of hands holding her lover’s knees or ankles, another hand hold their wrists together above their head, and her free hand to explore or choke them. Fetishes: Human Form-

Reassurance/Praising. Either her reassuring her partner or vice versa. Punishment/Desecration. She has a deep seeded desire to be punished, and a dark part of her wants to be desecrated (i.e. her willingly breaking her vow). Biting/Clawing/Marking. Choking. Since she doesn’t have an air passage in her throat, it’s more or less the idea of it. Blood flow can still be cut off to her brain, giving the desired light headed effect. Submissive positions. She enjoys being put into submissive potions over ones where she is the dominate party. Voyeurism. She can turn and her partner invisible, allowing for public places to be a go. She also likes to be watched, and wouldn’t mind if her lover caught her playing with herself.

True form- Breeding. Her main motive is to become impregnated. She’ll want you to finish inside of her. Restrains. Having four arms now, she will want to pin and restrain her partner. Marking. She will bite, claw, suck, anything she can to prove that you are her’s alone. Dominated. Despite being the dominate one, if she is dominated in battle, she will present herself on her knees with her hands held above her head, butt raised to show she submits. Virginity: She still is one. 

Element: Air and Fire. Religion: Realmain, a mix of Christianity and Judaism. Morals: Ellie is a morally upstanding citizen, for her dimension. While her duty is to protect the sanctity of human life, she will kill those that seem innocent if she is ordered to. One of the messier jobs to perform is killing children that are blacklit for death. Because this is seen as holy work, she feels no guilt for it.

She is unable to willfully lie, but whatever someone tells her, unless she knows better, will be her truth. This causes her to be easily manipulated.

While stealing is a huge no, reclaiming lost or stolen goods is acceptable. By any means.

Outside of her dimension, humans are not protected. If it means obtaining her goal or completing her mission, she can and will kill an innocent person. This is only done as a last resort, and she does her best to avoid it. Motivation: From the time she learned of the prophecy, her goal in life has been to lead the virtuous life that would allow her to pass into the dark halls unseen by evil. She knows that she will go through horrible things (such as being raped, crucified, tortured and killed, only to be brought back) but in the end it is worth it. This will allow her to let the angels into the dark halls, and kill Aluk Mal Tuk, the half demon half Realmain that raped her mother. Priorities: The code of the realms is “For Realm, For Ruler, For God” and she lives by this code. She serves her God first, and the duties bestowed upon her by Him, and then her Realm. Relationships, friendships, and anything else are the last thought on her mind.  Philosophy: Ellie sees and feels the absolute worst that humanity has to offer. She feels the suffering of the universe, and takes pity on it. She believes that everything has a reason, even the worst things. In the end, it will all be worth it. Because it has to be, or what was all this suffering for. Etiquette: Ellie has very good etiquette. She was trained by Cynbel in the ways of royalty, and displays respect to almost all races. The more evil races, she will act more animalistic around, since they look down on kindness. Culture: Being from a Hispanic and Celtic background, Ellie enjoys celebrating the holidays and festivals of both. Within reason. She does not practice anything that would be considered idol worship. She practices mostly Jewish and Realmain customs as well.

Main Goal: Keep the world turning until Armageddon is upon her dimension. Even if it kills her. Minor Goals/Ambitions: Protect as many lives, human or otherwise, as she can. Desires: Ellie desires rest. She does not enjoy doing what she does by any means. It causes her great mental anguish to keep pushing herself, but she has to. For her reward, she only wishes to rest. Accomplishments: Freeing herself from her inner darkness, and having her left arm regrow as a reward. Greatest Achievement: Commanding both the fire and air realms. Biggest Failure: Her mother and first love had to die in order for her to begin to fight and defend others. Secrets: She is aware that Cynbel is her father. And while she was upset that he hides this from her, she doesn’t mention it. Regrets: Her suicide attempts. Worries: Failing everyone around her. Best Dream:  Being rewarded not just with rest, but someone that could make her happy. Worst Nightmare: Falling into temptations and being pulled into hell. Or living with her mother. Best Memories: The times she spent with Mick and her friends. Worst Memories: Having her arm ripped off during the battle for Hong Kong. Later in life, when the demon Heretic reveals they molested her, and the memories of the events come flooding back to her. Powers/Abilities: ~Generic/No category~ -Immortality. She can only be killed by a demi god, angel, or another ruler’s weapon. If she dies by other means, she will be reformed in the lake of life. -Super strength. She is able to lift up to ten tons with ease. Anything more and her muscles begin to break down. -Speed. Although not the fastest, she is able to move fast enough to dodge bullets. -Super reflexes. She can block most blows and react quickly to most attacks. -Stamina. Her body does not produce lactic acid, meaning she does not show signs of fatigue and has stamina for weeks. -Her senses are heightened to super human levels, allowing her to perform at her highest levels. -Empathy. She is the strongest empath of her world, emotionally connected to all living beings. She is able to take the emotions away from a being and put them in another, or store them for future use. She can easily read a room and someone’s intent before officially meeting them. She can also distribute and terrifying presence to stun and scare opponents, or produce a calming affect. -A healer by nature, she is a skilled surgeon with years of practice. With her speed, she is able to perform complex operations in little to no time. -She has a vast knowledge of herbal remedies, as well as traditional medicines. -She is immune to all forms of magic, but she herself cannot affect magic things in return. ~Air~ -Ability to completely control and manipulate the air. From creating tornado, to pulling the air out of the cells of a person. She is the embodiment of air, and it bends to her will. -Turn invisible at will. -Teleport by creating a small gust of wind. -Pull oxygen out of a specified area. -Flight and levitation. -Control other air based beings -Place her hand over someone’s mouth to administer CPR. ~Fire~ -Ability to control and manipulate fire and fire based things. Such as lava. -Encase her body is magma rock. -Breath fire. -Engulf her body in fire to protect her. -Command other fire based beings. -Generate enough heat to perform a super nova. Although not as hot, she will explode with enough intensity to destroy a decently sized planet. This causes her to black out for several weeks. -Heal those that have been injured by fire. She can take the wounds upon herself, allowing the person to be completely healed of fire based wounds. ~Holy~ -On touch, she can burn anything of demonic origin. This includes her brother and uncle, who are both part demon. -Using her right hand to calm the person, she can then use her left to reach into someone and pull a demon out by force. -Ability to see a demonic presence, no matter how it hides. She can also see angelic writing, directing her to hide or run. -Enter Limbo and Hell unseen. -Open portals to send demons back to hell. -While imbued with the power of the Lord, no one may sin against her flesh. This means that as long as she has her powers, she is unable to be raped or molested. -Light does not bother her. In fact, she can see perfectly fine in it. If a flash bang were to go off, other than the noise distortion, she would be fine. Origin: Bestowed upon her by the will of the Lord. Her dimension is Christianity based. Source: The source of her powers vary. While she can use hand movements, she mostly stands still and wills her abilities into use. Although some still require a source, i.e. breathing fire. Ability: While her abilities to control air is natural, it took centuries of training to finally accept and control her fire abilities. Later in life, she is adept in all of her powers. Weaknesses:

She is unable to survive in water. If it goes above her hips, she will begin to drown. Her powers do not work while she is wet, in the rain, or humid environments.

Her empath abilities become overwhelming, and it makes it hard for her to function in large groups. The more evil a person is, the harder it is for her to function around them.

While in other dimensions, she is able to die, since she is cut off from her main power source.

If someone drop kicks her in the gut, it will stun her for an extended period of time.

Demi god weapons, angelic weapons, fallen angel weapons, and another ruler are able to permanently kill her.

She cannot see in dim light to darkness. She will be completely blind, and greatly weakened.

Her hellish visions weaken her over time.

Despite feeling someone’s ill intent, she is usually willing to give them a chance.

Immunities: Fire and air based attacks have no affect on her.

Alternate Forms: ~Air Form~ Natural Ellie. This is the form she is always in, also referred to as her human form. She has a more Celtic appearance, pale skin, red lips, dark hair and eyes.

~Fire Form~ Taking on a more Hispanic appearance, her eyes are red, skin a deep tan from being burnt from within, and her hair sprouts red roses. Her attire changes as well, wearing a red cloth corset, dark red jeans and boots, and usually Dia de la muerto make-up. The more she uses her powers, her skin will burn to a crisp, cracking open and revealing the fire burning at her core. She will often have smoke coming from her pores, and cough up lava.

~True Form~ After entering her final life cycle, she gains her true form ability to mate/reproduce. Her skin becomes a light grey, her veins visible and a dark silver underneath. She grows another five inches, and her arms become longer. Her nails are black and pointed, coated in a paralyzing poison.

Her face is more pointed, teeth now sharp and look like they’re made of a silver metal. Her eyes are a swirling mix of greys and white, hair slicked back and bristly. Black and fluffy antenna come from her forehead, like a moth. Black stripes are along her sides and neck, opening up to reveal pheromone producers.

She grows another set of arms under her original, usually holding her staff weapon.

Extra Anatomy: Her lungs are actually pockets attached to the underside of the skin of her torso and back. This means that she breaths through the pores of her skin.

Favorite Colors: Greys, whites, and pastel shades of blue and pink Favorite Animals: Dogs and large wild cats Favorite Mythological Creatures: Chimeras Favorite Places: She has a pocket dimension that is a library, filled with endless books. Other than that, Greece and quiet beaches. Favorite Landmarks: Acropolis Favorite Flavors: Leather, sea salt, and cotton candy Favorite Foods: Shrimp mee hoon and salted marshmellows Favorite Drinks: Blackberry wine, coke, and sarsaparilla. Favorite Characters: Mal and Zoe from Firefly Favorite Genre: Romantic horror Favorite Books: Where the red fern grows Favorite Movies:  Westerns Favorite Games: Chess, even though she’s not that great at it. Dodge ball. Favorite Shows: Firefly, Star Trek, Telanovellas. Favorite Music: Heavy metal, hard rock, classical. Favorite Bands: Asking Alexandria, All That Remains, In this Moment, Flyleaf, and Les Fiction. Favorite Songs: This probably won’t end well by All That Remains, Hopelessly Hopeful by Asking Alexandria, ME!ME!ME! by Teddyloid Favorite Sports: Soccer and the Realmain gauntlet. Favorite Stores: Realmain market places Favorite Subjects: Math and art Favorite Numbers: 100, 34, and 7 Favorite Websites: Doesn’t have any Favorite Words: Bueller, bumble bee, amor Favorite Quotations:  "Lastly, waging war against good people is bad for the soul. This may not seem important to you now, but it's the most important thing I've said."— Joshua Graham Least Favorite Colors: Oranges and yellows. Least Favorite Animals: Domestic cats Least Favorite Mythological Creatures: Nagas, gorgons, Minotaurs, and Pans. Least Favorite Places: Anyplace with a dark history. Least Favorite Landmarks: Eiffel tower Least Favorite Flavors: Fermented tastes, rotten, too sweet. Least Favorite Foods: Eggs, liver, and hot dogs. Least Favorite Drinks: Beer, whiskey, lemon lime soda. Least Favorite Characters: Aeris from FFVII. Any character, male or female, that is overbearing about relationships and tries to force themselves on someone. Least Favorite Genre: Reality Least Favorite Books: Self help books Least Favorite Movies:  Ninja Mime 4 Least Favorite Games: Puzzle games, because she’s not confident in her abilities. Least Favorite Shows: Reality shows Least Favorite Music: Rap/Hip Hop, R&B Least Favorite Bands: Modern hip hop and rap bands. Least Favorite Songs: Dance (A$$) because it’s always playing at strip clubs Least Favorite Sports: Cricket and blood sports. Least Favorite Stores: Outlet malls Least Favorite Subjects: Wood shop, economics. Least Favorite Numbers: 6 Least Favorite Websites: Doesn’t have one. Least Favorite Words: Curse words Least Favorite Quotations:  “I’ll rid the world of each one of you,” he whispered. “Every single one…” ― Zoe Cruz, Beastia Languages: English, fairly good with Mandarin, Greek, Enochian/Realmain, learning Japanese, Yiddish. Accent: She has a heavy Southern accent when she speaks quickly, which is why she’s trained herself to speak slowly and hide her accent. Voice: Low and quiet Speech Impediments: Forgets words easily and will use gibberish as a replacement. Greetings and Farewells:  “Give me you.” -When it’s a close friend she hasn’t seen for a while. “Ellie Aelious, rank ruler, part time healer.” -Military greeting “May your path be illuminated and never darken.” -Formal farewell “I really hope this isn’t a real goodbye, ya know?” -leaving a dimension, possibly for good. State of Mind: “I’m just really tired right now. I can’t really rest, but it’d be really nice if I could.” Compliment: “Wow, you’re really pretty/beautiful!” “You look like you could take me in a fight, to be honest.” “You’re tall. I like that.” Insult: “I hope you have the life you deserve.” “God loves you, even though you make it a might difficult.” “You’re an X.” (often randomly insults people with a noun they’ve just used.) Expletive: “Oh fiddle sticks.” “Gumdrops and holograms!” “God bless America...” “What in the nine realms!” “I’m sure -person- is off somewhere, disappointing the Lord with their actions.” Laughter: She will start with a sputter, and then go into a deep laugh, sometimes even snorting, which makes her laugh even harder. Tag Line: “This is fine. I accept this.” Signature Quote: “I have to do this. I need to do this. I can’t worry about either of our wants, desires, because this is so important. My entire life is leading up to that moment, and I’m not throwing it away because we love each other. If I do, then what was all this suffering for?”

Role: Her role as a ruler means that she is responsible for tens of billions of lives, as well as protecting humans from the evils of the realm of darkness. It is a heavy burden, but if one is to suffer it, why not it be her? Fulfillment: She devotes everything to her position, and has found favor in the eyes of the Lord. She has been blessed that no creature may sin against her flesh, so long as she is imbued with His power. Significance: Because she practices self sacrifice, in her words Armageddon, she will play a crucial role that will determine the outcome of the battle. Aside from that, she has inspired many of her counterparts to go on. Her determination to live and overcome has proved invaluable. Alignment: Lawful Good “The needs of my Lord, outweigh the desires of myself.” -Ellie Comparison: The wind. Ever changing, gentle, but destructive. Symbol: Handprint Song: Under Denver by Asking Alexandria Vice: Carnal desires and blood lust. Virtue: Ellie has taken the vow of Sacred Virgin. This means she will forgo her sexual desires, romances, and pleasure so she may enter into the dark kingdom unseen

Humility and compassion are often associated with her as well. She doesn’t feel she has a very important role, and takes pity on the suffering. Defining Moment: When she crawled her way out of hell, just to bring her mother’s dead body back for burial.

[vagrantblvrd]

Burn the Stars (1/1)

Summary: Trevor meets Alfredo when he’s having one of those pesky out of mech experiences. (The kind preceded by being dropped into a combat zone as support for a Federation Militia squad who is just incompetent enough to lead them into ambush.)

Notes: This video gave me Ideas. I also borrowed elements from Titanfall 2 in this because I love that universe a lot. /o\

(Read on AO3)

Trevor meets Alfredo when he’s having one of those pesky out of mech experiences.

The kind preceded by being dropped into a combat zone as support for a Federation Militia squad who is just incompetent enough to lead them into ambush.

========

While Trevor does love a good I told you so, protecting the squishy humans under his protection comes first. He covers the squad as they retreat into the underbrush and engages in good old-fashioned fisticuffs with the other pilot who has the gall to cheat by using missiles. (Uncouth.)

The Consortium's mech he goes up against is all shiny and new, most likely just off the supply ship that  arrived a few days ago.

And that’s another I told you so right there, since the Militia commander in charge on this planet hasn’t been taking their warnings seriously. Seems to think a bunch of low-life mercenaries know fuck all about war. (Ironic, really, when you think about it.)

“Well now,” Trevor says, information about the mech he’s facing flashing up on a screen for him thanks to the onboard AI. Vanquisher-class combat mech, its key weak points highlighted in red. There’s...not a lot red to speak of really, which is far from ideal.  “This ought to be fun.”

========

Trevor wins, on a technicality.

The Consortium mech goes down, but his own is so badly damaged he has to abandon it. Pulls the AI datacore, and tucks it away all nice and safe in a handy pocket in his pilot suit. Waits until he’s at a safe distance before setting the self-destruct to make sure its chassis doesn’t fall into enemy hands.

From there -

Well.

They were dropped far behind enemy lines and Trevor’s armed with a pistol and a survival knife.

Also, he’s bleeding. (Just a little, because believe it or not, mech battles are brutal things.)

Still, he’s got all his limbs and while they’re a bit battered and bruised, they work well enough to get him started o his way back to base.

If he’s lucky, he’ll run into the militia squad. If not -

Well.

========

Trevor is not lucky.

Not lucky at all.

========

No, Trevor runs into a Consortium patrol instead.

Couple of ground troops perched on the shoulders of a Strider-class mech.

Lightly armored, it’s mostly used by civilian law enforcement agencies since they’re perfect for navigating city streets. The Consortium’s adapted them to support patrols on heavily forested planets like this one.

Nimble little things, really.

Terrifying when one’s coming after you, and you become so very aware of how soft and squishy you are in comparison.

Back to a cliff and the Strider looming over you with all it’s shiny weapons primed to fire, when you suddenly remember you never quite got our affairs in order. (Whoever will take care of your precious collection of leftover condiment packets from all those scrumptious MREs now?)

Trevor’s hands are in the air. He’s considering taking his chances with the drop behind him when his earpiece crackles and a voice he doesn’t know reels off a set of numbers.

Coordinates.

He has no idea what he’s supposed to do with that, when a gunshot rings out – and the Strider’s canopy spider-webs around a neat little hole just about the height where its pilot’s head should be.

There’s a moment where the Consortium troops don’t seem to know what just happened, looking around for the source of the gunshot. Haven’t realized the mech pilot is dead, that their major advantage has been taken out of the equation.

And then the sniper fires again, taking out the patrol commander and scattering the others giving Trevor the chance to escape into the forest.

========

The coordinates takes Trevor to a nice little cave where by a gently babbling brook where a group of mercenaries hold him at gunpoint until the sniper makes an appearance.

The mercenaries lose interest in Trevor when the sniper ambles over with a wide grin on his face as Trevor gives him a betrayed look.

“Yeah,” he says, looking Trevor over. “I probably should have given them a head’s up about you.”

It would have been nice, yes, but -

“I mean,” Trevor says. “You did save my life. It would make me seem ungrateful if I held that against you.”

========

Alfredo’s friends are more hospitable when they recognize the patch on Trevor’s shoulder, realize what he was doing out there. (Which squad he must have been with, what with chatter about it being all over their comms.)

“Your squad made it back to base safely,” Alfredo tells him, a little too casual and nonchalant. “No casualties.”

Booked it straight back to base, didn’t bother looking back, which is part and parcel with this whole war thing.

Stings a little bit more sometimes, though, when you’ve got your militia soldiers on one side of things and mercenaries like them on the other.

People fighting for their homes, their loved ones, all nice and noble. Honorable sorts, not like those dirty mercenaries. Cutthroat bastards with no loyalties to speak of to hear some people talk.

Come in with their guns and mechs. Their fancy little ships, and help the militia with their war out here.  Thrown into the thick of things and expected to give their all, and treated like they have no stake in the outcome.

Like most of them are from colony worlds the Consortium has a stranglehold on, like their families aren’t involved. Like they don’t give a damn if the resistance falls, how many friends they lose, because at the end of the day they’re just chasing a paycheck.

“That’s good,” Trevor says, light and carefree. “I’d be annoyed if they hadn’t.”

Alfredo hums, and Trevor nudges him with his elbow as he pulls out his lucky coin and rolls it across his knuckles.

“Want to see a neat trick?”

========

Alfredo’s group gets pulled out a week later, and Trevor goes with them. Hitches a ride here and there until he gets back to his base and Geoff yells at him for being a goddamned idiot for ten minute straight. (Trevor times it.)

He’s put on medical leave – something about injuries and parasites and tap dancing all over Geoff’s last nerve.

Gets drafted to deal with Geoff’s paperwork that piled up in Trevor’s absence because Geoff was too busy trying to get answers out of the militia about his whereabouts. (Very secret, hush-hush, mission that needed a mech to them take out a weapons depot before they walked right into an ambush.)

“Trevor,” Gavin says, sidling up to him with this gleam in his eye that means trouble. “What do you thing would happen if we - “

And Trevor, who’s been eye-deep in paperwork and red tape for days now, turns to him and grabs him by the shoulders.

“I have no idea, Gavin,” he says, very much aware he sounds a bit unhinged. “But whatever it is, let’s do it.”

Gavin blinks, clearly expecting more of a fight to get Trevor to agree.

“Are you sure? You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

There is absolutely no doubt in Trevor’s mind that whatever Gavin is up to is a terrible idea.

The worst.

And yet -

“Yes!” Trevor is going to lose his mind if he has to deal with the mind-numbing tedium any longer. “Yes I am.”

“Okay then,” Gavin says, and pulls out a datapad. “We’re going to need - “

========

There’s a fire.

A tiny, one really.

Certainly not something that necessitates another bout of yelling from Geoff, but he provides it anyway because he’s a generous soul when it comes down to it.

========

Trevor gets a shiny new mech off the assembly line, and decides it looks like a Billy.

“’Billy’,” Ryan says, like he’s not sure he heard Trevor correctly, which is fair as the hangar’s always noisy the day before a mission. “You’re going to name him Billy.”

Trevor grins, sitting pretty in the cockpit of a forty-something ton Titan-class mech. Missile pods on its  shoulders and sweet chainguns mounted on its forearms.

It’s not really a done thing to go around naming a mech chassis when they’ve got AI partners, but Trevor thinks it’s a little rude not to.

“Billy the Murder Robot, yeah.”

The basic AI from his previous mech has been loaded up and it’s getting a feel for the new chassis.

Running diagnostics and poking around like the new tenant it is. Smoothing all the rough edges in the coding and unnecessary redundancies. Making room pretty little bits of code and protocols the engineers back home still haven’t caught on to. (Don’t realize how vital they are no matter how many times Trevor sends a data packet back detailing the reasons why they’re so important.)

A window pops up on the screens in front of Trevor with an ASCII thumbs up.

“See? Hector approves.”

Ryan sighs, but there’s a faint smile on his face as he moves back to the catwalk and to watch Trevor finish running initial checks on Billy with Hector’s help.

========

Geoff worries, Trevor knows.

In charge of a bunch of assholes he sends into combat and wondering when one of them won’t make it back.

A hell of a position to be in, but there’s no one else any of them would trust with it.

“Geoff - “

“Look, asshole,” Geoff says, rubbing his temples and looking a hell of a lot like he'd wants to kick Trevor out of his office on his ass. “The last time I sent you on a mission, you blew your mech up. You think those things grow on trees?”

Well that’s just ridiculous.

Everyone knows that when a mommy mech loves a daddy mech very much -

“Trevor.”

Trevor looks at Geoff, who is using his Serious Voice.

“Geoff.”

Trevor is an asshole.

Geoff scowls at him, because he is very much aware of that.

“I’m cleared for duty,” Trevor says, and does a little spin to demonstrate how uninjured he is. “And you can’t keep sidelining me when you need everyone out there.”

“I know that!” Geoff snaps, but it’s less anger at Trevor and more at the entire situation, this ugly little war.

Trevor waits, because this is Geoff, and after a few moments, he sighs.

“Talk to Ryan, he’s leading the next mission.”

========

It’s a retreat, plain and simple, and Trevor and the others have been called in to back up the Militia’s forces. Protect the dropships as they ferry troops back to the forward base and various outposts.

It’s loud and chaotic, Billy’s filters and scrubbers working overtime to pump clean air into the cockpit, Trevor can still smell the smoke, taste it.

Hector sends up a warning trill before a new voice comes over the cockpit speakers.

It’s Alfredo, and he’s in trouble. Squad pinned down and there’s not much a heavy sniper can do up against the armor plating on a Harbinger-class heavy, but there he is anyway.

Trevor reaches up to tap the pair of fuzzy dice Lindsay gave him for luck, and goes to help. (He’s got a debt to repay after all.)

========

“You know,” Trevor says, when everyone is back at base. “It takes a tank to bring a Harbinger down.”

Or a Titan-class combat mech, not to toot his own horn.

Alfredo gives him a look.

“Hey, you just stick with your mech, and I’ll stick with my sniper,” he says, but there’s laughter in his voice and an easy smile on his face he does.

And to be fair, he has a point.

In a fight everyone’s focus is on the mechs in play. Tend to forget about the squishy human running around with their heavy sniper. Powerful enough to punch through the plasteel canopy of most mechs, and a small enough to go unnoticed in the thick of battle. Slip behind enemy lines unnoticed to take care of enemy commanders and high-value targets.

The base is still in a bit of an uproar, mechanics running around barking order as they race to get damaged mechs back up to fighting speed. Militia soldiers waiting to be ferried back to their own bases, and the odd displaced mercenary like Alfredo just loitering about.

“Alright,” Trevor says, and pulls out that lucky coin of his again, because they’ve got time to kill and everyone loves a good magic trick.

[page-of-tales]

Rough Draft: Funeral for a MUEL

Genre: Science Fiction, HFY 

Based off of roomba empathy and EOD robot attachments.

3k words, feedback appreciated

This is a short story from a larger universe I am developing.

The Tok’ro system was a non distinctive system within the Jik’an Empire. A Class F star, with a few moderate sized exoplanets in orbit with an asteroid belt hovering at the far reach of the star. Named by an explorer nearly a century ago and nearly completely forgotten. Unexceptional in every way it still had one planet within the habitable zone. And thus it was secretly colonized by an independent faction of the Jik’an Empire some 60 standard cycles ago. The Lassarn as they called themselves were something of a spiritualist convent of the minimalist nature. They rejected the doctrines laid out by the Empire and often suffered persecution as a result. Seeking to explore freedoms heavily restricted under conventional rule the Lassasrn colony led a quiet and simple existence. The simple lifestyle were only a threat to those who deemed it.

It was only a matter of time before the colony was discovered by the Jik’kan EMpire. The small colony would come under fire as the Jikan Empire moved to crush the dissidents under the guise of ensuring national security. As the military forces moved into the system one of their first targets was a small mining base on the outer fringe of the system. To their chagrin this tiny base lodged in a random bit of floating space rock resisted the invasion forces. Successfully, hiding itself in the dense ring of asteroids. Placing asteroids to block out the bigger capital ships so that their mining frigates could pounce on fighter craft. The losses were small, and it was the delay that was vexing for the Empire. It was after the miners had cored several capital ships with mining laser drones that reinforcements were called. Elite Jik’kan shock troops swarmed the base in a frontal assault. Easily overwhelming the defenses and reaching the elusive mining base.

It was only after they stormed the base, slaughtering everyone aboard, that they realized their mistake. The crew of this mining base was of mixed races. Most notably several dozen humans.

Even though the system had been blockaded, news of the massacre got out. The outcry from human held sectors was immediate and loud. The abuses of the Jik’an Empire had long been a contentious point in the interstellar community but as it was an internal matter outsiders could only voice discontent. Yet the massacre of the miners provided the humans the excuse to do something about it. Proclaiming their intent to protect human lives in Tok’ro the humans made a declaration they would support Lassarn independence.

Battle Leader Luk’Ta was well into his yellowing years. Patches of yellow scale an indication to his age. He was a Lassarn, his scars from his removed cybernetics a sign of his faith, as well as an indication of his past. Of the people on this planet he was one of the fewest, and certainly the oldest to have military experience. Though his experience only cumulated to that of a First Follower he had been given the position of Battle Leader to lead in the defense of the Lassarn. It had been a losing battle. The Jik’kan soldiers were better trained, better equipped, and more numerous. The only advantage Luk’Ta knew they had was to disappear into the lands they knew so well. Fighting from shadows. But now it was time to emerge and strike back.

WIth that thought in the back of his head Luk’ta looked on at the blazing wreckage of a Mech. What had been a hulking nightmarish entity pursuing his troops across the mountains now burned fiendishly after being brought down in a hail of rocket fire. He would normally feel proud about defeating a war machine of the Empire but the victory wasn’t truly his. If it weren’t for the arrival of the humans and their weapons they would never had brought down the mechanized terror, but rather been hunted to the very last.

The humans, there were only seven of them, had distributed over a dozen dumbfire rocket launchers to his soldiers, most of whom were volunteer civilians before all this, before leading them to where the Mech had been lying in wait. Surprising it in an ambush the barrage of firepower quickly destroyed the monster. It was entirely thanks to them that the Mech had been destroyed with no losses. Letting go of his wounded pride he turned to his First Follower Kil’Ro.

“Where are the human’s?”

“They say they are burying a comrade.”

“They took a casualty?”

“No… it seems one of their robots was destroyed.”

Luk’Ta looked over to where the humans had gathered. He didn’t know much about their culture but as a fellow warrior he wondered why they seemed to mourn the loss of a machine.

SRT 3 was a specialist recon tactical squad of seven soldiers who were trained in conducting ground recon and hunting high value tactical targets. On Tok’Ro that meant hunting down Mechs. Mech designs varied from species to species. But in general they were large advanced war machines of significant tactical value. The Jik’kan Mech was a standardized 2 story machine with it’s own shield generators and weapon platforms capable of striking targets in orbit. It moved by a mix of thrusters and spider legs, though it moved at a low speed. It’s design was meant to facilitate an ability to drop small fortresses from orbit onto an enemy territory capable of withstanding counter attacks while at the same time supporting reserve forces.

The Jik’Kan empire had deployed over a thousand 2 story war machines across the planet. Spreading them out to cover all parts of the planet. Given the risk the Mechs posed with their ability to strike targets in orbit, Command had decided that specialist teams would have to create a gap in the defensive net before they could bring in the fleet for support.

A couple of the alphabet soup squads were picked for the job. ODSTs, SRTs, and even some companies of VSTs. Now the odds of sending infantry behind enemy lines were historically very low. Paratroopers of the old era faced many of the same problems the modern drop troopers did. Even with exo suits, infantry could only carry so much gear. And they often burned through what ammunition they carried quicker than a firecracker. Resupply was difficult and without fire support infantry squads could only do so much on their own. Yet a problem of this scale merely breeds an innovation to match it. The logistics of sending an infantry squad deep behind enemy lines to destroy heavily armored and defended Mechs was one solved with a pack animal. A mechanical pack animal.

The MUEL or Mobile Unmanned Equipment Loader has often been referred to as a mule. Like it’s earthly counterpart the MUEL is small cargo carrier. With 4 walking limbs that move a frame capable of carrying a heavy payload and a 12 lb sensory box unit on one end it strongly resembled a creature from the Equidae taxonomy. Designed as an infantry support unit it is often described as the most sophisticated supply crate R&D could come up with.

Despite its inglorious status the MUEL has a number of features that have kept it in production. It can move smoothly over uneven terrain, sprint quickly through open ground. On smooth ground the MUEL is able to extend wheels and reach speeds of up to 90 mph able to keep pace with mounted infantry. It lacks any offensive armaments. For defense it has a couple inches of ceramic armor and a Tier 4 neural net tied to it’s sensory receptors. It’s net is just advanced enough to understand verbal commands and counter basic ECM. While normally it functions on an autonomous mode it can be controlled with either voice command, or a PAD. The MUEL’s significance was in its performance of a singular function unaided with no complex training required to operate.

SRT 3 had started calling the MUEL assigned to them as Shrek. An inside joke, but the moniker stuck and the MUEL adapted to respond to it. Shrek was a constant companion to the squad. It followed them around base like a faithful dog. And on missions it would trot up to them after they had landed, ready to go. And at night it could help stand guard, electronic sensors cutting through the darkness. After missions they maintained it, changing out broken parts and damaged components. Giving it a wash to clean it of mud and grime.

Over time the squad had come to empathize with the dumb bot. They had hacked the OS so that it could play music and it would play tunes while they traveled to missions. They would pet it’s sensory unit. Taking turns to ride it like a horse. In a firefight Shrek would sprint up to them, dispensing ammo or providing cover. More than once they had loaded a wounded soldier onto Shrek to ride back to a medic.

Once while in retreat Shrek had taken 2 AP rounds through its body crippling both back legs. Unable to move the squad had been forced to leave Shrek behind. This had surprising effects on the squad who were lucky enough to retreat unscathed. The squad later joined the push to take back the area and after some searching found Shrek hiding in a bombed out garage. They had made repairs on the spot and brought back Shrek like a returning hero.

But now…

After unloading the extra rocket launchers from Shrek to the local militia it had been considerably lighter and practically prancing alongside their march. The Mech had been easy to find without unpacking the sophisticated equipment they brought with them, boldly broadcasting on an open frequency with hardly any masking. After scouting out its location the SRT and militia had prepared an ambush to catch the Mech.

The attack had gone off without a hitch. The Mech had burst out from cover when they painted it with a laser, it’s point defense had taken out most of the high flying missiles but the ones positioned below struck true.

Rocked by explosives it had toppled over onto the pre placed minefield which erupted in gouts of fire. Even with all that damage the crew of the Mech began emerging like insects from an agitated hive.

Most were killed within seconds, but one managed to get ahold of a hull mounted gun and open fire. Bullets that would shred a tank had spewed forth like fire. A pair of militiamen exposed to the fire line.

It was Shrek who saved them. Dashing the distance to intercede directly. It’s armor was instantly shredded, and it collapsed to the ground. The gunner had been taken out and the militiamen saved. But Shrek was gone. Its neural net components had taken several hits, it’s sensory unit detached by a round. It’s servos whined as some part of it’s programming tried to make it stand, but it was unable. The damage so complete and devastating.

SRT 3 had convened around Shrek. But the call was clear. The squad had offloaded the remaining supplies to the militia. A somber mood befell them as the squad leader held an incendiary grenade. Final words and memories had been shared, a can of oil poured over Shrek. First a spark and the a burst of flame as the remnants of Shrek caught fire. To prevent the technology and information from falling into enemy hands it had to be destroyed. A somber silence fell over the squad as they watched the flames devour the robot.

Shrek had upheld the mission, the least they could do was follow that through. With that the squad turned, more resolute than ever. The leader of the militia approached, now that the ceremony was over.

Luk’Ta glanced behind the soldiers at the burning robot. What remained was rapidly melting into slag. The humans seemed somber. They gave a nod to Luk’Ta as he approached. Luk’Ta approached the soldier in charge. These humans battle armor made them all look practically identical but Luk’Ta had learned to pick out the leader by his stance. The leader turned to the others and gave a few instructions and 5 of them walked off to perform their duties. The human soldier and companion turned to give Luk’Ta their attention. Luk’Ta glancing again at the flaming robot spoke slowly so the translator would pick up.

“I am sorry for your loss.”

The leader barked, a gesture of humor. Humans seemed to find humor in many things, even in war.

“I guess it must look like that.” The human leader, paused looking back. “It was just a bot.”

“It saved my people.” Luk’Ta pressed.

“That was lucky. I’m glad they are alright.” The human leader said waving the matter off. He spoke to his companion who held a projector to the ground. A map of the region was displayed with a number of markings. Luk’Ta was still unfamiliar with most of the designations humans used but he had learned a few. He pointed to a cluster of triangles.

“This is us correct.”

The human leader nodded, then catching himself spoke, “That is correct. So far all targets have been cleared, which makes for about 70% of clearance. The fleet will be arriving soon to take advantage of that.”

The projector flashed to another image of the system. The human leader drew a line from a point in space to the region some distance south of where they were on the planet.

“The landing zone is approximately here. Command doesn’t expect there to be any complications in engaging with the fleet in orbit. But we still have to clear out the remaining Mechs in the AO, area of operations.”

Luk’Ta shook his head in acknowledgement, this was all review. The human paused briefly before continuing, the display flickering to the continental map again.

“We also have reports that the evacuation corridor has been set up so you can start ordering your people to evacuate.” The human leader drew two lines in the dirt indicating the safe path created by the ODSTs. “Command has suggested that the militia would be best suited for helping civilians evacuate.”

“What about the remaining Mechs?” Luk’Ta knew from experience that even a few Mechs could wreak havoc on the landing forces and the evacuation.

“We’ll hunt them down, Command has made evacuation a priority and we need to do it quickly.”

Luk’Ta shook his head this time in agreement. The presentation disappeared as the soldier pocketed the projector.

“We can lead you to the rally point, we should march in 10 minutes.” The human leader turned to go. Luk’Ta watched them leave, behind him he heard his First Follower approach.

“Can we trust them?”

It was a question that had lingered on the Lossarn’s mind ever since the humans had declared their support for their cause. It seemed absurd that the humans would risk going to war for strangers over the death of just a few miners. To be accurate there were humans on Lossarn as well, but the lengths they were going to were far beyond a simple rescue of their own kind. The humans were no friends of the Jik’kan, but that didn’t make them friends of the Lossarn either.  The logical conclusion was that humans shouldn’t be helping the Lossarn so there had to be some reason.

Some had suspected the humans wanted the system itself. But the plan they proposed was an evacuation of the colonists to human space, to entirely abandon the system. They would be resettled far from the Empire once a suitable home could be decided on. It was an entirely gratuitous action. The Lossarn had no wealth, or valuable technology that the humans would have wanted. Nor had there been any significant contacts between the two. It was a conundrum that had stoked some resistance to the human’s plan. And Luk’Ta had heard some of the whispers behind closed doors among his men.

The flames of the robot pyre had died down, the smell of molten metal blended with that of the smoking Mech wreckage. Luk’Ta had come to realize something in that moment. The humans had exhibited grief for their robot, as though it were a living comrade. The ceremony had struck him as familiar because it reminded him of a military funeral. But for a robot. A bot, a dumb inorganic machine. A machine was a tool. To become attached to a tool seemed like the act of madness. Yet the humans had done so quite naturally. That was a level of empathy completely alien to Luk’Ta.

Empathy. The ability to understand another. Luk’Ta wondered to himself it that was why the humans were willing to commit themselves in defense of an entirely alien species. Why the human squad of elite soldiers had managed to ingratiate themselves with most of the men. Why trained killers laughed at Lossarn jokes, and managed to raise the mood from dire straits. Why they played with the children in the village, and joined them for meals. It seemed absurd. It would be absurd if that was the case. He decided to keep that conclusion to himself for now. Turning to face his First Follower he made a non committed gesture. What Luk’Ta didn’t know that he was largely right, though the background political motivation was to stick a hot poker in the eye of the Jik’kan military under the guise of a humanitarian action.

[mylifeatwar]

Book 2, Chapter 4, Page 23

Archived Text Follows:

Hey Everyone,

It appears that if you throw enough light at a Dragoon’s camo system all at once you can cause it to glitch out. That helps level the playing field some.

Thanks for reading,

– Luther out

Comment Text Follows:

killercow - Knuckledusters oughta’ give that armor a run for it’s money.

nweismuller - Well, that explains Lawman-Actual’s unusual weapon. I was wondering about that.

tkg - interesting I notice a dead patch on the rear left side-shield/armor area near where the dragoon was hit earlier…do the areas auto compensate? for knocked out areas within reason?

nweismuller - I’m not sure that’s a dead area- I think that’s a portion of the shoulder blown away.

Madorakas - I just (naiv) figured the camo system let the light trough. Turns out it just mimics whats behind it and shows it in front. Also i want to know more about this “Knuckdusters”.

Keith - Good lateral thinking. Even in daylight more light makes stuff show up and illume will provide a localized change in viewable spectrums. If memory serves radar doesn’t see them when cloaked either. I wonder how well it stealths against UV…which I’ve long thought they need to switch NVG’s and scopes to, why arent’ they using thermal? You can’t hide heat.

Sazuroi - If it was the light deflection cloaking system I described in one of my comments on the last page, it could potentially deflect all electromagnatic waves, each with a specified set of nanoscale “hairs” (I’m not sure how broad the range of wavelengths is that can be deflected with the existing technology). Heat radiation, which is largely in the infrared spectrum, is actually “larger” than visible light, so the light deflection material could potentially also deflect that, possibly enabling near-perfect heat managment and direction if used internally. That would at least make it exceedingly hard to find a unit cloaked in this way with infrared. Going by this it seems to be the fairly simple projection system, or something more complicated like a hologram in the air created by lasers (which has also been done, like the light deflection material, but in a very basic form, just balls of light hovering inside a laser cage, not sure if the cage was even filled with normal air). The laser hologram seems more fitting since the damaged parts are also hidden. This system could potentially also duplicate a heat signature (yes, there also is a system to duplicate heat signatures, why are you even asking? XD) but it would be more likely for this functionality to be integrated into the armor because the existing system for this is applied to the outside, like ERA. So, basically, if in 50 years we can’t build something like the Dhuvalian Limbs in reality, somebody really needs their butt kicked.

CaptEndo - Except that limbs and other mecha are totally and completely unworkable on any scale much larger than a human exoskeleton suit ( like the Bulls). Ground pressure is the real deal breaker, never mind complicated drive trains and high silhouettes. Even wheeled armored vehicles are severely hampered by high ground pressure. That’s why they were marginalized by major military powers after WWII. Heavy wheeled vehicles have too much ground pressure to do serious off road mobility. This means they get caught in the kill box more than tracks. Mecha would be lucky to move around even on pavement. Add the huge logistical drain of maintaining a walking machine that size and the huge hulking targets they would make, and it’s a pipe dream. 

tkg - Not quite a pipe dream john deere did make the plustech forestry vehicle which did walk on six legs and was fully functional. Here is an image as proof:http://indulgy.ccio.co/iF/d6/o5/futurefuturisticWalkingRobot2robotics9.jpgFootage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2V8GFqk_YThe issue was the price tag and a lack of interest by buyers but I suspect bipedal mechs would not be as plausible as most might think. Quad and hex designs are a totally different matter.

Sazuroi -  In my own writing I also only use exosceletons, but note that I did not say “actually deploy” or “make useful”. I said “can build”. We can probably build a walking machine that size already, no matter how bad it sucks. And the technology seen here is not completely implausible, though it will likely end up going in a different direction. Though there was that concept design wheeled tank with full visual cloak a few years ago. For actual applications though, some kind of spider is probably better, and even that would likely be a niche product. I do have some hopes for that four-legs-with-wheels mecha some japanese guy builds for about 2 million a piece (he introduced the one he built at an expo a while ago, pictures float around), but it’ll probably be too costly and risky. Like that canadian nutcase with the anti-bear armor who also designed a infantry armor nobody wanted to buy despite him offering to tank a full assault rifle clip while wearing it… which proably didn’t convince people of his sanity. Those slabs he made the armor out of seemed to work fine though, back when I came across the story I saw a video where one stops a 7.92 sniper round. That can be faked, sure, but the potential was intriguing.

Keith - Oh good someone else pointed that out. There are mechs and having dealt with armor for many years. It’s a matter of engineering, not scale. The big deal breaker is power to move and to power camouflage. It appears they use multiple small scale emitters as shown by the less than perfect camouflage on the leg that was hit.

Jack McCrary - Ground pressure is not the issue most people think it would be. if you do a volumetric issue for most mecha, their lower legs/feet are typical proportionately at least three times larger than a comparable human limb and then benefit from the dramatically larger surface area. It’s not uncommon for a mecha to end up with a static ground pressure of 0.5 psi or less per ton. So a 20 ton mecha will have around a 10 psi ground pressure (less than a modern MBT) where as an average human male who will have one ranging between 25-30 psi.

Sazuroi - I think the problem with the ground pressure is that a Mech of comparable power to a current MBT would need to weigh a lot more than the tank to be as resistant to fire, since most terrain does not offer cover a Mech would be able to hide behind. To deal with that much added weight, the feet would need to be either even more disproportionately large, which would make it difficult to maneuver in places even a tank can get around – which kind of defeats the purpose of building a vertical combat unit in the first place. Either that or more feet, which would admittedly also require more space to move around. In the few settings I thought up which did indeed utilize Mecha on the ground, I basically had two main directions I tended to go: One option was to make the Mechs extremely large support units – replacing a whole battery of AA missiles while carrying other weapons as well, basically a land warship, though smaller since the crew doesn’t need to be on board constantly. I think Armored Core has something similar as a boss fight. The other option was making them small and mobility-focused, often able to jump quite far, with many legs, “assist legs” or special dampener systems to avoid cratering when landing. Those weren’t terribly armored, and occupied a role between IFV and Helicopter, that is, near fire support. Those were typically single-pilot, and either built around a weapon or at least very focused on their weapons, and mainly defended by keeping a distance and dodging, in cities typically standing on the buildings. Stand-up-and-fight mainline combatant Mecha I never managed to justify to myself, even in space where the ideal small unit is a cube there are reasons against Mecha (why make it look like a human if you can leave out the joints and shave off more weight if you don’t? Why give your attack unit a large frontal profile when the front is supposed to point at the enemy?). On the ground, the main advantage of the vertical shape is essentially the same that led to us evolve in that direction – oversight, and a small “footprint”, as well as being able to mount effectors with a higher range of movement. That is useful – helicopters became one of the main weapons against tanks because a tank can’t spot them very easily, and a Mecha can have an easier time spotting them – but they are also dreadfully easy to hit up close, and easier to spot. Mecha may be harder to immobilize than a tank (opinions diverge, joints can be armored but are out if damaged, tracks are out if damaged and can’t be fully covered from all angles), but mobility is potentially their greatest asset, and it is at odds with MBT-grade armor. Hence, either a light maneuver combatant or a beyond-the-horizon asset. The horizon is reasonably good cover in most situations, particularly if Laser or Particle weapons proliferate and indirect fire becomes less available.

MasterFALE - Just back-up on the Thermal Camo, BAE has a system applicae panels, as noted: like ERA, which provide active camo vs thermal imaging. Hell, they can camo a moving tank in the open while displaying insulting messages.

CaptEndo - Fair arguments. A Mecha as light as 20 tons ( in the range of an APC or light tank, or the Stryker armored car) would suffer from the same liability as all light armor: it’s too thin skinned to take heavy weapon fire, and a high silhouette vehicle like a Mecha would draw fire from every conventional unit on the field long before the Mecha could target them. Not to mention mounting it’s weapons up that high would make it top heavy and enhance recoil. Using smaller multi legged walking machines for industrial purposes might have a real future, but not as an upright armored combat vehicle, which is what I have understood the term Mecha to refer to. There is likely a future for the prototype “pack mule” legged robots, and possibly as low slung mobile missile or gun mounts as well. Those could be practical in the very near future.