Keen
Lethal At Three-Thousand Paces
Bloody Reign of the Pirate Queen
Ninety years ago Piazzi Station was the most ambitious project in human history, an unprecedented collaborative effort between a dozen space industrial companies and the Trans Celestial Coalition (TCC), Sol's most powerful political entity at the time. The station's purpose was twofold; Provide a comfortable, self sustaining habitat for up to 15,000 individuals, mostly temporary off-world workers, and serve a preprocessing depot for freighter drones bound for Earth and Mars. The project took only ten years to complete, built in LEO before being towed to it's final place in the asteroid belt where most off-world mines existed.
The decades took their toll, with advancements in space technology getting only faster Piazzi station was soon rendered obsolete and practically abandoned. Only a handful of permanent residents left were aboard in order to maintain the station just enough to that it may safely be towed back into LEO where it would be disassembled and its parts recycled for newer works. That was the plan at least, when the Colonial Rebellion took hold and rocked the system displaced workers and outer colonists fled to the station. Piazzi was stuffed to more than double it's original intended occupancy, 33,000 souls in total, and barely able to support them. At first order was maintained, but once people realized that neither the TCC nor the newly federated New League intended to relieve them chaos took hold and out of it rose a woman named Melissa Provan.
With a force of power armored thugs at her back and smuggled weaponry at her disposal Provan took the station by storm, violently putting down anyone who stood in her way. The chaos lasted only a month, but by the end only 25,000 remained with Provan at the top as self appointed 'Queen'. Piazzi became a haven for a new breed of criminal, space pirates.
Even now, nearly fifty years later Ol' Queen Mel still runs Piazzi, the passage of time doing nothing to soften her black heart. She holds the asteroid belt in a tyrannical grip, the TCC and New League only tolerating her existence as a buffer zone from one another. Hope still persists in the hearts of the oppressed populace; Recent offensives by the Freerunners, the latest insurgency group, have have won them control to the main docking bay. Now controlling access in and out of the station they sent out one message, 250,000,000 freecred to anyone who kills Queen Mel. They'll need an army, or a crack team of elite contractors to take her down.
Unfortunately, all they got was Easy Money. Consisting of only a single dropship, a handful of power armored contractors and a smattering of support crew to keep them all functioning they aren't exactly what the Freerunners were hoping for. What were they expecting for a quarter-billion freecred? Only the mad, stupid or grievously indebted would take on Queen Mel in her own station. The fine men and women of Easy Money just happen to have a healthy amount of all three.
Power Armor
All of Easy Money's contractors are equipped with power armor that they supply themselves. As such, here's a 'quick' primer on available power armors so you can get busy making your own!
Variants:
There are seven variants of power armor within four distinct generations of development.
*Note that the attributes aren't set in stone, mercenaries are well known to tamper with and alter their armors to their liking. If you want to add or alter the attributes to armor to better suit your whims run it by me and I'll confirm whether it's reasonable or not.
**No, these are not supposed to be particularly balanced. These are here to help provide a framework and set a level of expectation for just what characters are capable of. Trying to 'cheese' the system will get you nowhere fast.
Gen.1, Industrial: Pressure resilient hardsuits originally designed to protect those working in mining facilities nestled within gas giants. While innately clumsy, suits like these offered incredible protection from the small-arms of the day and the tool-mounts were easily modified to accept weapons. Suits like these led the vanguard of the Colonial Rebellion and quickly caught the eye of militant organizations all over the system. Nowadays power armor of this generation is quite rare, notable specimens are displayed in museums and war memorials while others have either been left to rot in abandoned stations. Occasionally one will have been passed down through generations of mercenaries, having been repaired and modified so much in the past century as to be nearly unrecognizable.
- Defense: Good, effectively immune to small arms fire and offers good protection from high-power lasers and smaller cannons. The reliable nature of the design helps prevent component failure from damage sustained in combat.
- Mobility: Poor, clumsy and slow. Difficulty turning around in tight spaces.
- Manipulation: Poor, if arm is not taken up by weapon it will most likely have a crude hand or manipulator claw attached. These are capable of perform simple tasks such as picking up objects or opening doors, but not much else.
- Computing/Communication: Poor, limited to basic communication and encryption.
- Armament: Varies. At best can equip a primary weapon on each arm and possibly one on the shoulder. Secondaries are free game, some specimens of Gen.1 armor have been found to be mounted only with a dozen machine guns.
- Mobility: Poor, clumsy and slow. Difficulty turning around in tight spaces.
- Manipulation: Poor, if arm is not taken up by weapon it will most likely have a crude hand or manipulator claw attached. These are capable of perform simple tasks such as picking up objects or opening doors, but not much else.
- Computing/Communication: Poor, limited to basic communication and encryption.
- Armament: Varies. At best can equip a primary weapon on each arm and possibly one on the shoulder. Secondaries are free game, some specimens of Gen.1 armor have been found to be mounted only with a dozen machine guns.
Gen.2, Militant: Mass produced combat variants of industrial hardsuits. With private contractors and militant organizations alike purchasing their industrial hardsuits sole to be modified for combat manufacturers quickly started to produce dedicated military variants. With in-built weapon systems and a communication/computing suite more aptly designed for the needs of soldiers these 'Militant' suits saw great success. Even now Gen.2's are the most common and popular variant of power armor in the system, their hardiness, reliability and wide availability of cheap replacement parts making them quite appealing.
- Defense: Good, same as the industrial variant.
- Mobility: Poor, same as the industrial variant.
- Manipulation: Poor, same as industrial variant.
- Computing/Communication: Fair, limited to basic communication and encryption, but can handles advanced recognition and targeting systems.
- Armament: At least two primary weapons, either mounted on arms or shoulders. Some variants have up to four primary mounts, but these often suffer from weight or overheating issues. Up to four secondary weapons are installed on the chest, head or 'wrists'.
- Mobility: Poor, same as the industrial variant.
- Manipulation: Poor, same as industrial variant.
- Computing/Communication: Fair, limited to basic communication and encryption, but can handles advanced recognition and targeting systems.
- Armament: At least two primary weapons, either mounted on arms or shoulders. Some variants have up to four primary mounts, but these often suffer from weight or overheating issues. Up to four secondary weapons are installed on the chest, head or 'wrists'.
Gen.3, Specialized: Original designs built from the ground-up for combat. With Gen.2 being a massive success companies found it economical to develop and and manufacture power armor from scratch, scrapping the baseline industrial framework. Three different standard models developed from this: Urban, Combat and Siege armors.
- Urban armors are significantly smaller than their predecessors, slimmed down and shortened so to easily fit into average doorways and offer a significant increase in agility, some models even improving their pilot's natural abilities instead of hampering them. This smaller frame doesn't come without consequences though, Urban Armors do not offer as much raw protection as earlier designs and are incapable of mounting as many weapons. In fact, many Urban armors do not have any mounts and instead carry hand-held weapons as common infantry. Urban armors have seen widespread use and are only beaten in popularity by the ubiquitous Gen.2's.
- Defense: Poor, protects well against small arms fire, but focused or extended attacks can compromise the armor. Little protection against heavier weapons.
- Mobility: Good, effectively the same as wearing no armor at all.
- Manipulation: Good, hands function as human hands and can perform all but the finest tasks.
- Computing/Communication: Good, can install advanced encryption as well as signal trackers, advanced targeting systems and any hacking software.
- Armament: Up to four secondary weapons mounted on shoulders, chest or wrists. Can wield a primary equivalent hand-held weapon.
- Combat armors were designed as a more modern replacement for the 'outdated' Militant Gen.2. While featuring more advanced standard computing systems and overall more battle-friendly design Combat models lack the reliability and hardiness of their predecessors as well as a less economical price tag.
- Defense: Good, effectively immune to small arms fire and offers good protection from high-power lasers and smaller cannons. Lacks the reliability of Gen.1 and 2's.
- Mobility: Fair, not as good as an unarmored human, but certainly not clumsy.
- Manipulation: Fair, assuming arms are not taken by weapons. Can effectively wield hand weapons and clumsily perform most tasks.
- Computing/Communication: Good, can install advanced encryption as well as signal trackers, advanced targeting systems and any hacking software.
- Armament: Up to two primary weapons mounted on either the shoulders or arms plus up to four secondary weapons. Can wield a primary equivalent hand-held weapon if hands are free.
- Siege armors were designed with the intent to pack all the power of main battle tank into a roughly human sized form. Towering between 3 and 4 meters on average these monstrosities represent the pinnacle of raw power in a form that could still be reasonably called 'power armor'. They were not met with success, an ultimately niche role and an unfortunate price point leading to unsatisfactory sales with militaries and private individuals alike. Nowadays if a mercenary wants to get their hands on a suit of Siege armor they either have to make a special order with a manufacturer or find one used. Neither option comes cheap.
- Defense: Excellent, nothing short of dedicated anti-armor weapons will have a noticeable effect.
- Mobility: Awful, the armor's large size alone makes operating in tight spaces absolutely miserable and it takes time to accelerate to human running speed.
- Manipulation: Poor, most armors don't even bother with hands, those that do are large, claw-like and clumsy.
- Computing/Communication: Good, but the processing required to keep the large frame on its feet as well as effectively mange the power distribution and targeting is massive on their own. The remaining resources can only manage basic communications and encryption.
- Armament: Special, unlike most other armors Siege suits can take multiple heavy weapons. In place of usual heavy weapons the armor can be equipped with siege weapons, massive guns that would usually be installed on a tank. Due to their large size options for weapon placement is less limited than other armors, but there is still limits on the amount of hard points. They may take one siege or two heavy weapons and up to four additional primary weapons.
- Assassin armor is even lighter than Urban, little more than bodysuit of reinforced steel. The strength of this armor is not it's protection, but the abilities it grants the user. With the help of FNI, an advanced artificial muscle structure and a state-of-the-art sensory suite Assassin armor pilots are granted superhuman speed, strength and agility. They are often called 'ninjas' by people who think they're being witty. Like many of their Urban counterparts Assassin armors are limited to hand-held infantry equipment, some even carry hand-to-hand combat weapons in order to play up the 'ninja' aesthetic, though the effectiveness of such equipment is still under question. Unsurprisingly, Assassin armor is incredibly expensive and incredibly rare. Perhaps the rarest of any power armor in the system.
- Defense: Awful, armor can stop a few shots from small arms, but quickly becomes compromised.
- Mobility: Excellent, pilots are granted movement abilities far beyond the human limit and can even dodge slower moving projectiles such as dummy missiles.
- Manipulation: Excellent, equivalent to or even surpassing normal human manual dexterity.
- Computing/Communication: Good, can install advanced encryption as well as signal trackers, advanced targeting systems and any hacking software.
- Armament: None built in, can equip a primary equivalent hand hand weapon. Can have one additional primary or two secondary equivalent hand weapons on hand to switch to.
- Oni armors are multi-limbed monstrosities, comparable in firepower to Siege armors with a significant boost to overall usability. Exploiting FNI Oni pilots can control up to four additional limbs as if they were their own, allowing them to bring the immense firepower mounted upon them quickly and accurately. Manufacturers are hopeful these armors will prevail were the Siege failed, but an even less attractive price point and uncomfortable distrust in FNI technology have left potential customers sitting on their hands, waiting for someone else to make the 'big leap'.
- Defense: Good, effectively immune to small arms fire and offers good protection from high-power lasers and smaller cannons. Lacks the reliability of Gen.1 and 2's.
- Mobility: Poor, one of the larger armors to begin with and all the arms tend to get in the way in tight spaces.
- Manipulation: Fair, though arms are almost always taken up by weapons.
- Computing/Communication: Good, but similarly to it's siege cousin a significant amount of processing power is dedicated to balance, target acquisition and energy management. The remaining resources can only manage basic communications and encryption.
- Armament: Always between four to six primary weapons mounted on the multiple arms. Like the siege it's possible for Oni armor to take up to two heavy weapons, though they must sacrifice two primary weapons per heavy weapon. Four secondary weapons may be installed in addition. Not that they're needed.
Ordnance:
What's the point of power armor if it's not bringing enough firepower to level a small town? Probably something productive, like firefighting or construction... Regardless, you're gonna want some mean hardware if you intend on taking on Queen Mel and living long enough afterwards to enjoy those freecreds.
Armaments
For our purposes weapons are split into four categories: Primary, Secondary, Heavy and siege.
Primary Weapons are main armament for most power armors. As a general rule they are powerful enough to threaten other power armors as well as lighter armored vehicles.
Secondary weapons back up the main weapons. Generally they are powerful enough to threaten infantry and unarmored vehicles.
Heavy weapons are special primary weapons. If a set of armor can accept at least two primary weapons it may give up all of them to equip a single heavy weapon. There are exceptions to this, see Armor Variants below. For the most part, heavy weapons are just oversized version of their primary counterparts.
Siege weapons are a special option for Siege armors. These represent the largest armament that can be reasonably mounted on power armor, rivaling that of a main battle tank.
For our purposes weapons are split into four categories: Primary, Secondary, Heavy and siege.
Primary Weapons are main armament for most power armors. As a general rule they are powerful enough to threaten other power armors as well as lighter armored vehicles.
- Autocannons in the 20mm to 30mm range.
- Heavy machine guns or miniguns.
- Heavy lasers.
- Plasma guns or plasma throwers.
- Missile/rocket launchers with a multitude of payload options.
Secondary weapons back up the main weapons. Generally they are powerful enough to threaten infantry and unarmored vehicles.
- Light machine guns.
- Shotguns.
- Small lasers.
- Flamethrowers
- Mini-missiles or grenades. Payloads generally limited to fragmentation, concussion and incendiary.
Heavy weapons are special primary weapons. If a set of armor can accept at least two primary weapons it may give up all of them to equip a single heavy weapon. There are exceptions to this, see Armor Variants below. For the most part, heavy weapons are just oversized version of their primary counterparts.
- Autocannons in the 40mm-60mm range.
- Rapid fire autocannons in the 20mm-30mm range.
- Laser cannons.
- Heavy missile/rocket launchers or swarm missile launchers.
Siege weapons are a special option for Siege armors. These represent the largest armament that can be reasonably mounted on power armor, rivaling that of a main battle tank.
- 100+mm cannons.
- Gauss guns.
- Just, bigger laser or plasma cannons.
Defensive Systems
Raw armor will only get you through so much, if you really want to survive you'll have to make use of defensive systems. The systems available are vast, so I'll provide just a few prominent examples.
Raw armor will only get you through so much, if you really want to survive you'll have to make use of defensive systems. The systems available are vast, so I'll provide just a few prominent examples.
- Smoke screens. Obscure position and decrease the effectiveness of laser weapons.
- Personal Shields. Old school shields either attached to the arm or held in hand offer extra protection.
- Flash bangs. Blind and deafen those without protection, launched from tube or released directly from the armor.
- Active defensive system. Small laser that identifies, tracks and destroys incoming rockets and missiles. Or it tries to at the very least.
- Electric field. Charged electric field covering the surface of the armor, stunning people and frying delicate electronic systems that come in contact.
- Invisibility field. Bends light around the user, rendering them virtually invisible to the naked eye. Most artificial sensory equipment is unaffected
- Deployable cover. Usually a large pavise or some sort of inflatable wall that can be deployed to provide cover.
Support/Utility Systems
An extremely broad category of systems including everything that is neither a weapon or means of direct defense, the examples listed here are simply the tip of the iceberg in what's possible.
An extremely broad category of systems including everything that is neither a weapon or means of direct defense, the examples listed here are simply the tip of the iceberg in what's possible.
- Hacking suite. A set of programs and a physical interface device that can be used to gain access to damn near everything that it can connect to.
- Advanced sensor suite. Could include many things, such as infrared or heat vision, radar detectors, heart-beat sensors... ect.
- Healing nanites injector. These tiny robots flood the bloodstream, patching up injuries sustained by the pilot. Not going to bring the pilot to full health by any means, but will keep them together long enough to receive proper healing attention.
- Field repair suite. An inbuilt system for repairing other systems, be it power armor or otherwise. Does a fine enough job, but nowhere close to a proper stint in a shop.
- Breach hammer. A powerful hydraulic hammer intended to smash through locked breach doors. Can be used as a weapon, but isn't very effective against anything not big and heavy.
Character Sheet
Pilot
Name:
Age: (With advances in genetic and medical technologies it it possible for humans to live forever. That being said, the longest lived human being is 'only' 160 years old and most live to about 120.)
Gender:
Appearance: (Written description, picture or both are fine.)
Biography: (A brief summary of the character's history and personality.)
Strengths: (Notable skills, abilities or other advantages the character may possess. No official limit, but keep it around five if at all possible.)
- I'm a strength!
- I'm a piece of equipment!
Name:
Variant: (Industrial, Militant, Urban, Combat, Siege, Assassin or Oni. See above for descriptions.)
Appearance: (Written description, picture or both are fine. I would appreciate if the dimensions [weight, height... ect] were mentioned.)
Armament: (Check your armor attributes for armament limits.)
- I'm a weapon!
- I'm a defensive system!
- I'm a support/utility system
Code:
[U][B][I]Pilot[/I][/B][/U]
[B]Name:
Age:[/B] (With advances in genetic and medical technologies it it possible for humans to live forever. That being said, the longest lived human being is 'only' 160 years old and most live to about 120.)
[B]Gender:
Appearance: [/B](Written description, picture or both are fine.)
[B]Biography:[/B] (A brief summary of the character's history and personality.)
[B]Strengths:[/B] (Notable skills, abilities or other advantages the character may possess. No official limit, but keep it around five if at all possible.)
[LIST]
[*][I]I'm a strength![/I]
[/LIST]
[B]Equipment: [/B](Gear carried into missions [I]not [/I]related to the power armor, may be back-up weapons, tools... ect.)
[LIST]
[*][I]I'm a piece of equipment![/I]
[/LIST]
[I][U][B]Armor[/B][/U][/I]
[B]Name:
Variant: [/B](Industrial, Militant, Urban, Combat, Siege, Assassin or Oni. See above for descriptions.)
[B]Appearance: [/B](Written description, picture or both are fine. I would appreciate if the dimensions [weight, height... ect] were mentioned.)
[B]Armament: [/B](Check your armor attributes for armament limits.)
[LIST]
[*][I]I'm a weapon![/I]
[/LIST]
[B]Defensive Systems: [/B](No official limit, but don't go too crazy. You still have to be reasonable.)
[LIST]
[*][I]I'm a defensive system![/I][B][/B]
[/LIST]
[B]Support/Utility Systems: [/B](Same as above. No official limit, but don't go too crazy. You still have to be reasonable.)[B][/B]
[LIST]
[*][I]I'm a support/utility system[/I]
[/LIST]Operators of Easy Money
*Accepted Characters
*Accepted Characters
Thomas Anton and "Pain-In-The-Ass", played by @Axl
Mia "Hatter" Sakaguchi and IZZY, played by @Otomos the Crazy
Harper Gilliam and The Titan's Tower, played by @Kian
Ozzy Nobel and Charlize, played by @Potatocat
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