Lancer: Iphigenia at Midnight

Lancer: Iphigenia at Midnight

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IC
OOC

It is five hundred years after the fall of the Second Committee of Union–an authoritarian, monocultural hegemon who brought their ideology to the stars by warship and rifle–and the rise of the Third in its place from the fires of revolution. The dream of utopia is a work in progress across much of Union, with corpro-states and tyrants in the far-flung Diaspora seeking to maintain their power outside of Union's sight. During the Revolution that toppled the Second Committee, a group of three prosperous planets seceded from Union entirely: the Choral Worlds, with their former Administrator as their monarch.

However, vengeance arrives centuries late in the form of a Second Committee reprisal fleet fully armed for their planet-killing mission. Patrae burns under the auspices of the flagship's shipmistress, Iphigenia, and the fleet splits to do the same to Lebaea and Coroneia. Only a small handful of chassis pilots, pulled from every combat-capable element and hastily pushed into the void, now stand between the ghost of an empire long gone and the end of more than ten billion lives.

The Setting

The Choral Worlds is a three planet system centered a yellow type G main-sequence star, colonized in the early days of the second committee. Choral I (Lebae) is the capital of the system and a Cradle type world, with vast forest and modern cities. Choral II (Coroneia) is a desert world primarily used for solar energy production and heavy industry. Choral III (Patrae) is a blue-green gas giant hosting chemical refineries and shipbuilding facilities, as well as numerous orbital habitats. Almost all of these stations and habitats were destroyed two days ago.

When the revolution came to SecComm five hundred years ago, it came to Choral as well. The inhabitants had a brief and vicious civil war, and the end result was the Union Administrator took control of the government, and seceded from the Union, forming an anthrochauvinistic monarchy with herself as the first Queen, Queen Catherine I. The Third Committee acknowledged the invdependence after the fall of the Second Committee.

Over the next five hundred years, Choral's government slid away from the monarchy and anthrochauvism towards a preference for democratic and communal government (covertly aided by UIB missions). Seventy-four years prior, Queen Henriette I, willingly chose to relinquish power to the parliament and aid in the dismantlement of the nobility system. While the monarchy and nobility remain, they now occupy a constitutional role and do not exercise actual power.

In recent decades, Harrison Armory has been enticing the Choral Worlds to become part of the Purview. Public opinion tilted notably towards Pro-Purview in the last ten years as Armory COlonial Legion forces assisted the Choral Worlds in fighting a spate of vilent pirate and terrorist attacks in the region. There were theories that the Purview engaged various mercenary and pirate groups to start those attacks. Despite these rumors, the vote to begin the provisional process of joining the Purview passed four years ago.

Union, however, lent far more credence to those rumors; and dispatched an observation and investigation team to monitor the situation, who have recently arrived in system. As well, Harrison Armory was deployed a carrier to maintain their presence in the system.

The Choral Worlds do not have a Blinkgate at this time, and transit to the system takes three years from the nearest gate. pull together. There's one guarantee on Hell's Gate: That no matter what, everybody who lives there will get food, water, and a place to sleep. And even in the leanest of times, the station's been able to keep that promise.

The Factions

Armory Legionairres: Purview forces have been fighting alongisde the CDF for ten years, and has a close relationship. As of the current year, the PVC-GC Enyo (a Farragut-class gun-armed carrier), is the primary station and force for the Armory forces in the system; commanded by Group Captain Akemi Hirayama. Local Legion forces as a whole are under the supervision of Legion Major Conall Hawthorn.

Legion Forces have been heavily mauled during the initial attack on the system, and have been forced back to Lebaea. The primary Legion presemt is Legion IV Myrkviðr, (pronunciation: meerk-whither, roughly; meaning: "Serpent's Teeth" ) and are eager to get back into the fight; as a result of that tundra world's culture of military pride and Purview honor, with many pilots seeing it as their personal responsibility to raise the crimson banner and avenge their dead comrades-in-arms. The wide plains, deep forests, and open skies of their home cultivate a hardy breed, especially when the snows lie deep across the planet for three-quarters of their long years; it is after the World Serpent that holds up this forbidding orb and its aspects that they tattoo themselves at coming of age and name their formations at war. This conflict is but the latest of the capricious twistings of the Serpent as it writhes in its slumber

The local Armory detachment primarily operates HA Sherman, Saladin, Napoleon, Iskander, and Genghis chassis fitted for counter-insurgency roles

Union Navy: The UNS-LS Okhotsk, commanded by Captain Gabriel Delgado, only recently arrived to the Choral Worlds after its long transit from the nearest blinkgate. Its main guns have been stripped back to host an expanded hangar bay and intelligence annex, which respectively host detachments of Union Marines and Auxiliary mixed chassis in event of a worst-case scenario (most notably the Union Marines 600th Battalion 1st Squadron, "Dark and Stormy"); as well as various legal and investigative minds from the Union Adminsitrative Department to look into the referndum. The Burning of Patrae has changed the mission from an observational to a defensive one.

Currently, the Okhotsk is over Coroneia preparing to act in defense of that world, the first serious test of Captain Delgado's fortitude in combat in years; its pilots, on the other hand, have been deployed to Lebaea in order to assist in evacuation and defense of the world from the oncoming threat. Due to the comparative size of the Union detachment to the CDF a nd the local Armory forces, it's stretched perilously thin, 0 but this is precisely the sort of engagement many have been waiting for – and, given the enemy reemerging from Union's own past, an opportunity to strike at one of the most ancient enemies of the Third Committee.

The Union detachment primarily operates GMS Everest and Chomolungma, SSC Swallowtail, HA Saladin, and IPS-N Tortuga and Lancaster chassis.

Choral Defense Forces: Successors of Union Auxiliary Forces and Marines during the Second Committee, the CDF has a strong military tradition severly impacted by centuries of isolationism. While they are a proud force, complacency has been bred across all divisions; and nepotism and favoritism remain the quickest ways to obtain high ranks.

The conflicts against the pirates and terrorists in recent years have been forcing change into entrenched attitudes, and lately, elite units of the Choral Army such as the 12th Queen's Royal Dragoons, 5th King's Hussars, or the 1st Queen's Own Cavalry have fought in engagements far from their star's own light, however, and acted in defense of the worlds themselves from pirates and mercenaries in the last ten bloody years. Due to remaining in contact with Union at large through omninet infrastructure since the Revolution and possessing mechanized chassis as a result of Coroneia's manufacturing world status, the Choral Worlds retained their own ability to manufacture chassis and a tradition of their operation.

In terms of the forces stationed on Lebaea at present time, the most prominent would be the 1st Queen's Own – arguably the most capable chassis unit in the CDF, directly descended from the 412th Union Marines and with a long history featuring combat from the birth of the mech on Hercynia to the Choral Secession itself. The unit is commanded by Lance-Colonel Arnold Lucas and features mostly small operations groups of three to five mechs drawn primarily from CCU Stiletto, IPS-N Nelson, IPS-N Caliban, and HA Tokugawa lines produced natively or under license, as well as small numbers of HA Napoleon chassis. Their identification colors are deep sea green and dawn-solar gold accompanying standardized camouflage.

Since the early days where their call was "For Union" through the days of "In the Crown's name" and to the modern "For Crown and Commune," through isolation and austerity, the CDF has survived. By your actions, hopefully it will survive for many more years yet.

Freelancers: The primary freelance pilot group in the Choral Worlds is the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company 383rd Detachment "Lighthouse Keepers," under command of Detachment-Leader Rafe Campagna, a long-time Company veteran (and, by half-approving, half-grousing words of his own mercs, "a complete hardass"). The Choral contract has been exceptionally lucrative for the Company since its inception, though some allege that MSMC detachments have played both sides of the conflict on behalf of Harrison Armory. More well-proven is the friction between MSMC and CDF elements in the same theater – the ancient pedigree and royal patronage many CDF cavalry units take pride in meshes poorly with the 383rd's rough and working-class attitude. Many have been the stories of what would've been friendly ribbing within the Company after a joint operation turning into a bar fight.

As expected for Freelancers, there is no typical unit formation or standardized chasis.

Characters

The current cast and their currently printed mechs:

Bridget "CASKET" Franklin (Faction: MSMC // Mech: GMS Everest Tap-Dancer)
Kim "T-Cell" Ren Zhen (Faction: Union, USB; Mech: HORUS Balor Ferroclastic Surge)
Shelley "Firebird" Thermofrag Faction: CDF // Mech: SSC Comet Burn After Reading)

Reserves

The team's current reserves

Exotic Gear

Unique pieces of equipment that have been acquired