- Invitation Status
- Writing Levels
- Advanced
Six Months Ago...
Approximately thirty young, recently conscripted American soldiers stood or sat in a briefing room located in Fort Hood, the lights dimmed. They'd just barely gotten through their shortened boot camps; designed to spit out fresh blood as fast as possible against an unrelenting enemy. An enemy that has assaulted humanity in a war lasting nearly two years thus far. It is 2024, and Humanity has entered a staring contest with Death. Yet these new conscripts were not immediately thrown into the line of fire. But for what reason, they wondered?
The answer walked into the room in the form of a grey-haired veteran of multiple wars, his army combat uniform perfectly maintained. He approached a podium at the front of the room and addressed the crowd with an unusually quiet voice, "Welcome, conscripts. You are the lucky few who passed certain tests we gave you back in basic training, designed to test your intelligence, reflexes, and ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. You are unhindered by prior experience; soldiers whose eyes and beliefs are not stuck in the past. Because of that, we believe you are the future of this war. Humanity is fighting a losing battle, but I believe we are losing due to our tactics. We are fighting a new war with old weapons, much like our predecessors always have. I believe it is time we adapted." The veteran clicked something in his hand, causing a projector to turn on and cast an image onto the briefing room's wall.
Approximately thirty young, recently conscripted American soldiers stood or sat in a briefing room located in Fort Hood, the lights dimmed. They'd just barely gotten through their shortened boot camps; designed to spit out fresh blood as fast as possible against an unrelenting enemy. An enemy that has assaulted humanity in a war lasting nearly two years thus far. It is 2024, and Humanity has entered a staring contest with Death. Yet these new conscripts were not immediately thrown into the line of fire. But for what reason, they wondered?
The answer walked into the room in the form of a grey-haired veteran of multiple wars, his army combat uniform perfectly maintained. He approached a podium at the front of the room and addressed the crowd with an unusually quiet voice, "Welcome, conscripts. You are the lucky few who passed certain tests we gave you back in basic training, designed to test your intelligence, reflexes, and ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. You are unhindered by prior experience; soldiers whose eyes and beliefs are not stuck in the past. Because of that, we believe you are the future of this war. Humanity is fighting a losing battle, but I believe we are losing due to our tactics. We are fighting a new war with old weapons, much like our predecessors always have. I believe it is time we adapted." The veteran clicked something in his hand, causing a projector to turn on and cast an image onto the briefing room's wall.
He continued speaking, "Our engineers are calling it a 'Gunsuit,' a new weapon platform designed to combat the infestation. This is the Mark I, and if you are lucky, you will pass our training and be the first to pilot these new machines of war. You will be our retribution against these alien sons'a'bitches!"
Our Retribution
Welcome to the OOC of Our Retribution, a RP about a close-knit team of pilots who are attempting to survive an incredibly lethal, unknown, apparently alien menace humanity has never faced before, one that is constantly evolving and adapting to humanity's tactics. This RP is not for the faint of heart or mind, as swearing is entirely acceptable and will be used quite a bit by NPCs; gruesome, bloody deaths will be commonplace among NPCs; PCs may endure death, dismemberment, or injury in the event that things go horribly wrong or stupid actions are undertaken; and the enemy will use all means it has available to kill humanity. There is no glory in war, nor is there any here.
This RP is rooted in realism; insane actions are likely to get your character killed, just as they would in real life. The Gunsuits are nowhere near invulnerable and it is not recommended to get into close combat with the enemy. All equipment is standard-issue, including the Gunsuits. The military does not have the time or energy to customize anything for any one pilot, and every pilot has a role.
Military grooming policies apply, meaning no beards, short-cut male hair, and tightly bound women's hair. All pilots wear ACUs (Army Combat Uniforms) when on duty as well as ballistic helmets and vests when in combat, meaning they look like this guy. Your characters should also refer to one another and other characters by rank and last name if you're not on a first name basis with them, like Private White or Major Thompson. If you don't know U.S. Army ranks and who outranks who, take a look at a graph. Officers always outrank Enlisted as well, meaning a "lowly" 2nd Lieutenant (the lowest Officer rank) technically outranks a Master Sergeant (one of the higher Enlisted ranks) despite enormously different amounts of time in service.
This is quite close to modern day, and the militaries of the world have ultimately been forced to fall back on older technology, even if they made advances in the decade that has passed since today, due to supply shortages. So expect to see things like M4 carbines or potentially older weapons, even weapons scavenged from the civilian population to supplement military reserves. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
With all that said, there are some other rules, some of which should be common sense:
1. Follow Iwaku's Rules.
2. A single well-written paragraph post is the minimum. The more you can write, the better. It would also be good for characters to develop and change over time.
3. No first-person writing.
4. Your characters are not insanely intelligent bad asses. They are above average people chosen for their somewhat above average intelligence, reflexes, ability to adapt, and psychological stability, who have not yet seen live combat yet.
5. No God-modding. Every fight is a fight for survival. Your NPC buddies will probably die horrible deaths, it's to be expected. PCs have a certain amount of plot armor, but as said before, will get injured/dismembered/brutally splattered if things go to shit or they do stupid stuff.
6. It should be clear that this is a pretty hardcore, brutal, mature RP, but sexual acts are not to be written here as per Iwaku rules. Follow Iwaku rules if this kind of thing develops.
7. GM's word is law, 'nuff said. Differing opinions can be given and I will consider them if you're nice about it.
8. Don't bicker in the OOC. Your characters can certainly hate each others guts IC, but I doubt that will happen when all they have is each other.
9. One character at a time per player. In the event of character death or permanent knock-out, a player can submit a replacement and receives priority over players who want their slot but were not already a part of the RP, assuming their character died for RP reasons and not because of some OOC action.
10. Player knowledge does not equal character knowledge.
11. You should try to post at least every two to three days or at least keep us informed of when you might get around to it. Players who suddenly go AWOL for an extended time period will have their characters either dragged along, killed, or dealt with in some other way. I would like to keep the RP moving at a steady clip, please.
I will be assembling accepted characters into a roster.
Character Sheet:
Name: Last, First
Age: (From 20 to 26, older people are considered too set in their ways or slow for becoming Gunsuit pilots, and the too young are considered too immature to handle the Gunsuits.)
Gender: (Male or female doesn't matter; the military achieved full gender equality in most roles a number of years before the war broke out.)
Rank: (You are all Privates [PVT] initially. Promotions will be handed out based on time in service and exemplary performance.)
Role: Assault (Jack of All Trades, Multiples Allowed), Suppression (More Dakka, Only One!), Designated Marksman (Long-Range, Only One!)
Description: (Appearance goes here, if you use a photo, try to have it be a real person, and add to it beyond the photo)
Personality: (Obvious.)
History: (Keep in mind all new characters are Americans and were recently conscripted and have spent only seven months in service; one month in basic training as well as six passing through the Gunsuit pilot course. Everything else before conscription is fair game.)
Equipment: (Command has seen fit to allow Gunsuit pilots to have a sidearm of their choice in case they have to abandon the Gunsuit. If they do not have a personal one, they may be issued an old M9 or M11 pistol. Unfortunately 9mm ammo tends to be damn near useless against most forms of the enemy. Other equipment is allowed according to GM discretion but keep in mind pilots are extremely cramped in Gunsuit cockpits.)
Gunsuit Model: (Leave this blank initially, you'll be issued a Gunsuit if accepted. This is more for others to keep track of, and will change as the RP goes on.)
This RP is rooted in realism; insane actions are likely to get your character killed, just as they would in real life. The Gunsuits are nowhere near invulnerable and it is not recommended to get into close combat with the enemy. All equipment is standard-issue, including the Gunsuits. The military does not have the time or energy to customize anything for any one pilot, and every pilot has a role.
Military grooming policies apply, meaning no beards, short-cut male hair, and tightly bound women's hair. All pilots wear ACUs (Army Combat Uniforms) when on duty as well as ballistic helmets and vests when in combat, meaning they look like this guy. Your characters should also refer to one another and other characters by rank and last name if you're not on a first name basis with them, like Private White or Major Thompson. If you don't know U.S. Army ranks and who outranks who, take a look at a graph. Officers always outrank Enlisted as well, meaning a "lowly" 2nd Lieutenant (the lowest Officer rank) technically outranks a Master Sergeant (one of the higher Enlisted ranks) despite enormously different amounts of time in service.
This is quite close to modern day, and the militaries of the world have ultimately been forced to fall back on older technology, even if they made advances in the decade that has passed since today, due to supply shortages. So expect to see things like M4 carbines or potentially older weapons, even weapons scavenged from the civilian population to supplement military reserves. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
With all that said, there are some other rules, some of which should be common sense:
1. Follow Iwaku's Rules.
2. A single well-written paragraph post is the minimum. The more you can write, the better. It would also be good for characters to develop and change over time.
3. No first-person writing.
4. Your characters are not insanely intelligent bad asses. They are above average people chosen for their somewhat above average intelligence, reflexes, ability to adapt, and psychological stability, who have not yet seen live combat yet.
5. No God-modding. Every fight is a fight for survival. Your NPC buddies will probably die horrible deaths, it's to be expected. PCs have a certain amount of plot armor, but as said before, will get injured/dismembered/brutally splattered if things go to shit or they do stupid stuff.
6. It should be clear that this is a pretty hardcore, brutal, mature RP, but sexual acts are not to be written here as per Iwaku rules. Follow Iwaku rules if this kind of thing develops.
7. GM's word is law, 'nuff said. Differing opinions can be given and I will consider them if you're nice about it.
8. Don't bicker in the OOC. Your characters can certainly hate each others guts IC, but I doubt that will happen when all they have is each other.
9. One character at a time per player. In the event of character death or permanent knock-out, a player can submit a replacement and receives priority over players who want their slot but were not already a part of the RP, assuming their character died for RP reasons and not because of some OOC action.
10. Player knowledge does not equal character knowledge.
11. You should try to post at least every two to three days or at least keep us informed of when you might get around to it. Players who suddenly go AWOL for an extended time period will have their characters either dragged along, killed, or dealt with in some other way. I would like to keep the RP moving at a steady clip, please.
I will be assembling accepted characters into a roster.
Character Sheet:
Name: Last, First
Age: (From 20 to 26, older people are considered too set in their ways or slow for becoming Gunsuit pilots, and the too young are considered too immature to handle the Gunsuits.)
Gender: (Male or female doesn't matter; the military achieved full gender equality in most roles a number of years before the war broke out.)
Rank: (You are all Privates [PVT] initially. Promotions will be handed out based on time in service and exemplary performance.)
Role: Assault (Jack of All Trades, Multiples Allowed), Suppression (More Dakka, Only One!), Designated Marksman (Long-Range, Only One!)
Description: (Appearance goes here, if you use a photo, try to have it be a real person, and add to it beyond the photo)
Personality: (Obvious.)
History: (Keep in mind all new characters are Americans and were recently conscripted and have spent only seven months in service; one month in basic training as well as six passing through the Gunsuit pilot course. Everything else before conscription is fair game.)
Equipment: (Command has seen fit to allow Gunsuit pilots to have a sidearm of their choice in case they have to abandon the Gunsuit. If they do not have a personal one, they may be issued an old M9 or M11 pistol. Unfortunately 9mm ammo tends to be damn near useless against most forms of the enemy. Other equipment is allowed according to GM discretion but keep in mind pilots are extremely cramped in Gunsuit cockpits.)
Gunsuit Model: (Leave this blank initially, you'll be issued a Gunsuit if accepted. This is more for others to keep track of, and will change as the RP goes on.)
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