Pour Kawal, les longs mois passés à l'établissement d'Osgoode n'avaient guère été un problème, si quoi que ce soit la monotonie quotidienne était un rappel à un temps plus tôt pour lui, conjurant les souvenirs de son enfance passé sur Titan, les jours se mélangeant imperceptiblement ensemble. En fait, c'était probablement plus relaxant, sur Titan il y avait toujours quelque chose à faire, tandis que sur Osgoode, il n'avait qu'à s'asseoir dans son cadre et avoir l'air important.
Inutile de dire qu'il méprisait chaque instant.
...Hanging avec les goodies-goodies qui s'amusent au paradis
Merde, je veux lancer des armes et tirer sur des dés.
Toute ma vie, j'ai été considéré comme le pire.
Mentir à ma mère, même voler son sac à main
Criminalité après la criminalité, de la drogue à l'extorsion
Je sais que ma mère souhaite qu'elle se fasse avorter...
Sans parler de sa tête au battement, en regardant à blanc devant les paroles, Kawal tenait les écouteurs contre ses oreilles d'une main, tandis que l'autre claquait délicatement la cigarette entre son index et son majeur contre le cendrier de fortune qu'il avait soudé contre le côté de son cockpit. Un épais nuage de fumée accroché languissant dans l'espace exigu, ce qui rend presque impossible pour le non habitué de voir à l'intérieur du miasma suffocant. Il n'a même pas entendu le casque de comms quand il a commencé à craquer autour de son cou, le forçant à arracher ses casques pour attraper l'arrière de la diffusion, embrayant une oreillette à sa tête alors qu'il prenait une longue traînée du bâton de cancer. Un peu d'action, enfin...
Soupirant à lui-même, il a coupé la cigarette, claquant le plateau fermé. Il n'avait dû oublier qu'une fois, le goût des vieilles cigarettes et des cendres était encore un souvenir frais dans son esprit. En ajustant le casque, il a examiné le HUD alors que le moteur grondait à la vie, le cadre éclaboussant s'élançant vers l'avant avec une facilité trompeuse. En effectuant des contrôles de routine de son système, il a manœuvré son cadre pour traverser directement le chemin des blips approchants sur son radar. Kawal squatte les taches floues, essayant d'établir tous les détails qu'il pourrait, "Je suis en route, en train de se déplacer pour intercepter." Il a brouillé dans le micro. En se débarrassant de la gorge, il s'excusa rapidement avant de se répéter, plus clairement la deuxième fois.
En un rien de temps, Kawal passa devant Evangeline et son Matryoshka, son cadre tordant dans un 180 lent à vaguer à la Matryoshka, avant de se retourner et de s'accélérer vers les bogies potentiels, "Avec tout le respect que je dois, nous ne pouvons pas attendre qu'ils soient au-dessus de votre gros cul. Notre travail est de protéger l'usine. C'est peut-être un peu dur s'ils sont déjà à l'intérieur... » Sa voix était dégoulinante de sarcasme et il a hésité un moment alors qu'il opérait les commandes, ne sachant pas s'il aurait pu être un peu offensant, « Si les choses deviennent poilues, j'aurai besoin que tu retires mon cul d'os du feu, alors ne prends pas trop de temps, d'accord? Capitaine Stavros, si tout cela est acceptable, je devrais pouvoir intercepter en 30 secondes. »
Tombant silencieux, le bourdonnement du moteur à travers les murs du poste de pilotage a été noyé par la ruée sanglante à travers ses oreilles alors que Kawal s'est forcé à vérifier une fois de plus ses systèmes, en engageant le Kranos APS et en commutant le Hijack pour n'utiliser que des balles HEAP. Il se sentait en colère et il le savait; s'il sautait sur l'arme, il préférerait ne pas ouvrir le feu avec ses lourdes munitions.
Name: Dibal, Kawal.
Aliases: Callsign: Aether
Age: 21
Birthday: March 19
Gender: Male
Appearance
Height: 198cm
Weight: 64kg
Build: Thin and lean, he has the build of a marathon runner
Eyes: Blue
Hair:gray with black streaks (as above) when not dyed, blonde.
Skin Tone: White, pale, the skin of someone who spends far too much time indoors.
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: on his back, A chinese dragon, entwined around a multitude of bones, while spiked chains emerge from the dragon, running up and over his shoulder, twisting and spiraling down his left arm to his mid-forearm, where they look to pierce his skin. Two lip rings, on his right side, a nose ring through the left nostril, and multiple piercings through his right ear.
Personal Style: Casual. Kawal doesn’t put much stock in maintaining a ‘professional ‘ appearance, rarely bothering with the uniform of the ghosts, and when he does, the lack of care or effort to maintain his uniform is obvious. He much prefers wearing his joggers, or loose, baggy cargo jeans, anything really, so long as it has pockets, and doesn’t restrict his movement, sneakers, converse, or grecian sandals (None of that flip flop BS) Similar to his taste in legwear, his taste in tops also revolves primarily on loosefitting, flowing clothes, tank tops, usually paired with either a vest, or a graphic design-dress shirt, almost always unbuttoned, and the sleeves messily rolled past his elbows.
He tends to lean towards darker, more subdued colors, mixed with bizarre abstract, or psychedelic patterns. He usually has a large pair of over-ear headphones, sitting on his head, or resting around his neck.
Psychology
Mercurial * Impatient * Sarcastic * Ambitious * Daredevil
Sexuality: Bisexual
Relationship Status: Single
Personality: Loud, fast moving, and at times, incredibly obnoxious, Kawal is the type of person who would swing from the ceiling if he thought it would get him wherever he was going faster. He tends to avoid the rest of the ghosts, preferring to eat alone, and wandering the halls in the early hours of the day. The few times he interacts with the rest of the ghosts, aside from random bref encounters, or during briefings or missions, is usually to pester them with a bizarre request, demand, question, or challenge.He tends to hide his own insecurities through braggodocio of the highest order, constantly inflating his own achievements, and when bluster fails him as a shield, he switches to cruel words, and cutting remarks. Beneath all of that, though, the wise and those who know Kawal, recognize that in the end, he is really just a scared and introverted young boy who never learned to interact with people normally.
What he’s more known for, atleast among the Ghosts, is a willingness, nay, an eagerness, to undertake any objective, or mission. With reckless abandon, Kawal will throw himself wholeheartedly into his mission, pushing himself, and his frame, to their absolute limits.
Habits: Endlessly fidgets when not busy, makes sure to practice with his firearm atleast twice a week. Tends to stay up for long periods at a time when not on a mission. Chainsmoker
Hobbies: Practices meditation daily, enjoys learning how to perform non-conventional movements in his Frame (this ranges from learning to Pirouette, to experimenting on contorting the machine into strange configurations.
Fears: Large bodies of water. Spiders. Has an innate distrust/fear of people, terrified of letting people get too close to him. Also afraid that he is a liability to the team from lack of experience. Wholesale Slaughter.
Likes: Fast paced video games. Hip-Hop and Techno, practicing in his frame.
Dislikes: Strategy Games. Cold Coffee. Interrupted sleep, quiet/stillness for extended periods (his, or others).
Cards On The Table
General Skills: Growing up on Titan, Kawal is a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades, at-least in the mechanical department, he's quite experienced in jerry-rigging things together, even if only to buy a few more hours of operation. Since acquiring his frame, he's tried to extend this knowledge into the realm of Frame Maintenance, with little success. His small (human) frame, lets him squeeze into tight spaces that others may not be able to reach. Despite his slight frame, he is a bit of an accomplished athlete, running, jumping and climbing with the best, thanks to his time spent playing among the machinery of Titan, admittedly, he lacks practice in any athletic fields. He's also an aspiring cook.
Inventory/Possessions:
-9mm handgun, with an accompanying hip holster.
-Straight Razor/Leather Strop
-Bloodstained photo; a woman sits upon a chair, a peaceful smile painted upon her face, she holds a young boy in her lap, beaming towards the camera.
-Gold necklace, with a small crucifix hanging from the end.
-Portable GameBoy, with Super Mario Bros game cartridge
History
Years of Combat Experience: 1 and 1/2
Background: Growing up in a gas extraction colony, on the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, Kawal was born into a dark and dreary landscape, overcast skies, and lakes of liquid methane. The Titan colony was an important stepping stone to colonizing the gas giant Saturn, due to the relative ease of which the surface of Titan could be to colonized, and the abundance of hydrocarbons. Despite this, immigration to the Titan colony was slow, gradually dying off after the initial enthusiasm wore out. Once technology had sufficiently advanced to permit the proper colonization of gas giant planets, the Titan colony was largely abandoned, a small skeleton crew remaining to continue industrial operations upon the moon of Saturn.
The Dibal family was part of this skeleton crew, living year round in the cramped corridors of the Titan Extraction facility. Kawal was expected to work alongside his parents from a young age being told he must pull his weight on the colony. This tended to consist of him being made to crawl into tight areas where larger people wouldn’t be able to reach, to perform basic maintenance and inspections, as well as carrying out basic repairs, and patchwork.
As time passed, and the newly founded government of Saturn took over administration of the area of space surrounding the planet, the Titan colony began to slowly be pushed further and further back on the list of crucial colonies, with a diminishing crew, an absence of willing recruits, and lack of investment into modernizing the facility, the once ‘Titan’ of industry, slowly fell into disrepair. The moon was not truly abandoned, but subsidies slowly began to dry up, flights to and from the moon were reduced to only those absolutely necessary to maintain operation.
Despite the monotony of daily work, and the constant rationing of anything of value, Kawal managed to find ways to amuse himself, low gravity, combined with a dense atmosphere permitted him to perform astounding acrobatics, and even fly with basic modifications made to a bicycle. This led to a love of movement, and he was always trying to find new ways to exploit the wonderful properties of Titan’s atmosphere, this also gave birth to his dreams of space, and the incredible movements that could be performed in zero-g environments.
Eventually, as time passed, and Kawal grew up, the Saturn government recognized the needs to strengthen their military presence in the region. Titan was a prime location once more. Seemingly overnight, Kawal’s world was filled with more people than he had ever imagined could gather in one spot. It was also his first encounter with Frames. He didn’t think much of these lumbering machines at first glance, aside from to concede the strategic value, and industrial value, they provided.
With alarming speed, the Gas extraction facility became rapidly militarized, more and more soldiers appearing with each day, and for the first time in his life, Kawal could relax, there was an abundance of food, and there was more than enough adults to conduct the general maintenance that he had been responsible for, from such a young age.This brief period of exultation was not to last however.
The Jovian forces, well aware of the ongoing fortification of the moon, decided to take preemptive actions, sending out a mercenary punitive force, loaned the newest in Jovian Frame technology, and accompanied by an elite Frame Operator.
The assault began at roughly midnight, earth time. The Αστραπή Strike were dropped from low orbit, parachuting directly into the compound, and quickly set about inciting chaos. Cronian forces were quick to respond, answering the mercenary frames with their own, however, not expecting an attack, and inadequately prepared, they were continuously forced to fall back.
Kawal doesn’t remember much of that night, only fire and screams, imagery of bodies being ripped in half, running frantically through hallways as writhing infernos swarmed around him, desperately screaming as they begged for death. The one solid memory he has is of a Frame, unlike the others, rampaging through the facility. Resembling the Αστραπή Strike, it was at the same time smaller, with a sleek, silvery body, moving wraith-like as it burst through the thick smoke screen, surging ahead of the Αστραπή Strikes, to lead the charge, before just as quickly disappearing back into the cloud, leaving scrap metal where Cronian Frames had stood a moment ago.
As the night drew to an end, and the Cronian defence surrendered, the Mercenary force quickly looted the base, before disappearing into the void of space, not wanting to wait around for a more discerning response from the Saturn Military.
As fate would have it, during the chaos, Kawal stumbled upon a crashed Αστραπή Strike, it’s pilot dead from a failed landing. Taking refuge in the metallic hulk, he waited out the assault, until finally, a blinking messaged appeared on the screen of the machine, requesting all pilots withdraw to the extraction point. Unsure of what was going on, and uncertain if any of his friends or family was still alive, Kawal for some reason decided to follow the order, clumsily stumbling his way towards the red blip on his HUD.
Arriving to the extraction point, the silver frame was nowhere to be seen. Spouting of a lame excuse that his machine had been damaged, he managed to convince the mercenaries he was one of them, he quietly waited inside the enemy frame, forced to listen, and endure, the joking, and casual remarks made by the Mercs as they discussed the battle, laughing at the suffering they had just inflicted. Finally, their ride arrived, extracting them from the surface of the moon. Kawal was forced to once again conjure some lame excuse, as to why he couldn’t exit his frame, this time, however, the Mercs were less open-minded, their leader uttering a quick command to rip open the Frame. In a moment of panic, Kawal did the first thing he thought off, crashing the machine into the exit hatch, and ejecting himself, and the frame, out into open space. He didn’t spare a thought or a second glance, to witness the havoc he must have caused aboard the ship.
Drifting through space, Kawal largely expected this to be his end, spending several days inside the cramped cockpit, only the black screen to occupy himself at first, and then, when the machine ran out of fuel, true darkness enveloped him. Luckily, until a stray ship recovered him, on it’s way to deliver supplies to the Ganymede Ghosts. The captain listened to Kawal’s story, and after examining the Frame he had acquired, suggested he may find a home among them. Despite his apprehensions in joining a Mercenary band, Kawal didn’t see any path open to him, and so conceded that the captain was correct, agreeing to try and enlist when they arrived.
Whether it was out of pity, the advanced frame he had in his possession, or some other reason, the Ganymede Ghosts accepted him into the fold, where he began to learn to pilot his Frame in earnest.
Extras
Character Quote: "You see a mousetrap; I see free cheese and a fucking challenge."
Theme Song: I Get Close - Roney
Anything Else:


Technical Data
Model Number:JMI-13-LS
Code Name:Αστραπή Strike (Lightning Strike)
Manufacturer:Jovian Military Industrial
Dimensions: 5.11 meters in height
Weight: 5.681 metric tons
Armaments
Fixed Armaments:
-H.E.A.T Pile Driver x2, contained within the left arm, intended for bunker busting, and anti-frame combat. The war head is delivered via a spike projected from the wrist
-x2 πτύων φωτιά (Flame spitter) - Ground oriented flamethrowers, embedded within the chest of the frame, designed to create a wide swath of intense flames, these are primarily designed for anti-personnel combat, as well as a psychological weapon. To keep weight down, and conserve space, each Flamethrower only has viable fuel for aproximately 10 seconds of continuous use, after which, fuel will be siphoned from the frame when activated, resulting in a much diminished, and far less intense flame.
-Shoulder Option B: The Storm- Dual shoulder mounted Cluster Bomb rocket Launcher x4 , The rockets launch up into the air, soaring high above the battlefield, before releasing their paylod, dozens of bomblets, the bomblets can be essentially any form of bomb, in squad operations, a ratio of 2:2:1 High explosive, Fragmentation, and incendiary bombs is commonly employed. Highly controversial, even within the upper echelon of the Jovian High command, due to high risk of civilian casualties, or friendly fire when improperly utilized.
-Shoulder Option A/B A single κράνος APS and a Storm Rocket unit, modified to simultaneously launch all 4 cluster munitions, turning the weapon into a one shot trick, with a devastating area of effect.
-Multiple Grenade ports in various locations on the Frame, designed to be multi shot, and capable of deploying varying types of grenade (chaff, smoke, phosphorous, fragmentation, etc.) Largely intended for use while on the move, to either cover an attack/retreat, or to sow chaos amidst enemy ranks.
Hand Armaments:
-H1JAC-2b 30mm double barreled Autocannon, employing APFSDS-T rounds (Armour Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabots and Tracer) and conventional HEAP rounds. APFSDS-T was chosen by the Jovian Military for the high armor Penetration ability, letting the otherwise lightly armed Strike maintain combat effectiveness in drawn out battles. The Hijack, as it’s affectionately known, is computer programmable, allowing further customization, such as modifying the rate of fire, or causing the barrels to fire at a x:y ratio. In practice, these settings are unwieldy to manage during battle, resulting in pilots generally having 2-3 pre-programmed settings. The APFSDS packs a heavy punch, though possesses a high recoil. The sabots themselves are traveling at such a high velocity that, on separation, they may continue for many hundreds of metres at speeds that can be lethal to troops and damaging to light vehicles.
-x2 Vibroknife, Anticipating an increased chance of CQC, JMI was sure to completely rework the standard Vibroknife, retooling the utility knife to be a proper weapon of war, they also threw in an extra, not trusting the pilots to be able to do something as simple as NOT lose the damn thing.
Equipment & Design Features
Equipment:
-Grapnel Hook:Connected to the underside of the left arm. Primarily used to scale obstacles, such as to attain a better position, it is not unheard of talented pilots finding ways to employ it as a last ditch weapon.
-ECM - an offensive electronic warfare package, jams enemy electronics to prevent detection.
-Targeting Module designed to transmit information to allied frames.
-Shoulder Option A: Dual Shoulder mounted κράνος (Kranos, for Helmet) APS - Utilizes C-band radar, a distributed optical sensor, and a ring of ballistic countermeasures to neutralize incoming threats. First the radar detects and tracks the incoming round and alerts the system. It then switches from armed-ready state to an armed state. As the round comes into close range, the optical sensor profiles the threat and tracks it within 1 cm (0.39 in) of accuracy to select an aimpoint and determine which ballistic countermeasure to fire. The countermeasure fires straight down or up, neutralizing the incoming threat within inches of the Frame, separating the system from many others which intercept threats several meters out, resulting in minimal risk of collateral damage to dismounted troops or civilians. The countermeasure deflagrates the warhead without detonating it, leaving the dudded round to bounce off the Frames side. (considerably disheartening for enemy forces to witness) The JMI chose to incorporate 2 of the same system for redundancy. (for those curious, since I clearly did not invent this myself, the Iron Curtain, is the Real-life counterpart to this)
Miscellaneous
Technical & Historical Notes“Since time immemorial, Jupiter, Zeus, twin sides to the same coin, has been hailed as King of Gods. Without peer in terms of power, even his father, Saturn, the Titan of Time, was powerless before the mighty king and his numerous gifts, foremost amongst them, his fabled lightning bolts, with which the Lord of All the Sky would mete out punishment to any who displeased the wrathful King. Jupiter Invictus! The unconquered! Jupiter Triumphator! The TRIUMPHANT! ... The time of gods ... has long since passed my friends. Humanity has taken her rightful place among the Celestial Spheres, long held to be solely the realm of the gods. Chief among those fabled Spheres, the planet Jove has long been recognized as the greatest of them all, dwarfing all other planets, much as Jupiter dwarfed those lesser gods. The lesser gods, however, were a tempestuous lot, constantly bristling under the magnificence of Jupiter. When these fools chose to oppose him, that is when Jupiter would unleash his Lightning upon the Mount Olympus, chastising the misguided children with an awesome show of might. Now, as then, Jupiter is the undeniable Lord of this Cosmos, yet our children have begun to grow restless, we have all taken note, watching in quiet amusement as they display their meagre might, strutting with the arrogance of a rooster in a hen house. Even worse the Cronians, drunk on allusions to grandeur, dream that it is they who are destined to guide humanity into the next era! The time has come for Jupiter to unfurl his Lightning Bolt once more, and remind our lessers, of the Fury of a True God.”
“Jupiter Optimus Maximus”
With those three words, “Jupiter, the Greatest and Best” The Αστραπή Project began, a weapons development project, with a primary focus on Frame Technology. The Project had many goals, the Mission Statement, however, was: “To develop a weapon that makes the thought of a war with Jove unthinkable, and unwinnable.” A lofty goal, and one that any knowledgeable General would have laughed at. If Nuclear Weapons could not prevent a war, no Single frame, not even a thousand Frames would. Despite this, the project made significant strides. Like the fabled Lightning Bolt of Zeus, their frame would have to be fast, and leave its opponents in a state of terror. The first step they took, was to remove the standard frame engine, and completely rework it. The Αστραπή would not have the heart of a workhorse, it deserved the heart of the finest steed. The modified and upgraded engine nearly tripled the original horsepower, though not without a considerable increase in weight,. This brought to light the true difficulty in designing a truly fast Frame, the weight. Luckily, the Jovian engineers had a ready made solution available. Jovian Titanium. Manufactured using special techniques, largely remote operated, the metal would be forged deep within the planet Jupiter’s atmosphere, where the intense pressure would compress the cooling liquid metal to densities unattainable anywhere else in the solar System, save perhaps the sun. Every single steel component that could be swapped with a titanium component, without compromising crucial integrity, was swiftly replaced. The new Frame, utilizing the Jovian Titanium, was incredibly slim for a frame, and the decreased bulk added greatly to the mobility. Weight for the basic frame was reduced by nearly 50%, with only a marginal loss in strength. When moving along a paved road, in testing the Frame could achieve speeds in excess of 250km/h The next step was to improve the dexterity of the frame. Myomers, thin tubes of artificial musculature, sheathe actuators, the joints of the machine, as well as any computer components. Every single one had to be replaced with the pinnacle of its technology. A second pair of wheels, larger, was added, allowing the machine improved torque, these would deploy from the back legs when needed, acceleration was lost due to this, but in large part due to the size of the newly designed engine, this was inconsequential. The engineers took particular interest, in the artificial musculature, with a 25% increase in musculature over traditional Frame designs. At this point the Frame itself was essentially complete, all that remained was armament and proper field testing.
Sadly, JMI put it’s foot down on the out of control scientists and engineers; costs for the Αστραπή were rapidly spiralling out of control. From the Jovian Titanium, which could still only be produced in low quantities, to the state of the art technology, and the entirely custom designed engine, the high-grade fuel required to run it. Add to that the costs of designing an entirely new Frame architecture, based upon the desire to keep the Αστραπή as slim as possible, and the requisite maintenance costs of such a finely tuned Machine, soon the price tag began to exceed that of a capital ship, yet the frame had not even began true military testing. The project was abruptly brought to an end, with the JMI whisking the Αστραπή away, for the next few months, the Αστραπή made it’s round in the Solar system, a testament to the superiority of Jovian industry, technology and their military might.
With orders to continue developing a frame, but with a strict budgetary guideline, the Αστραπή
Strike was born utilizing what they had learned from the Αστραπή, development was relatively swift. The Αστραπή strike would use a scaled back version of the new engine, and would employ a combination of steel, and ordinary Titanium. The musculature, myomers, sheathe actuators, and component parts, remained unchanged, the secondary wheels were reduced in size. The resultant frame, retained much of the look of the Αστραπή, though it was bulkier, and in the words of one general, “Up to Military Standards” while no longer fast enough to shame any other frame, it still maintained a considerable advantage over the typical military frame in terms of speed and agility. Unlike the Αστραπή which thanks to the Jovian steel, could attain remarkable thinness to it’s armor plating, without sacrificing much in the way of ballistic resistance, the Αστραπή Strike’s armor plating had multiple weak points, as well as being weaker overall than the standard frame.
The Αστραπή Strike was an astounding success as a Skirmisher and Shock Frame, as it so effectively proved in the raid on Titan, though in larger drawn out battles it proved to require Heavier Frames to provide support, as well as firepower. Saturn attempted to blame Jupiter for the raid, but without any credible evidence to show, combined with Jupiter providing forged documents verifying a large shipment of Αστραπή Strikes had been stolen several months before, Saturn had no choice to either accept the attack, or declare war upon Jupiter; a path they were not currently prepared to commit to.
Color Scheme: Urban Camo for the production Frame, Kawal's has been customized with a skull face decal, as well as a stylized skeleton for body and limbs.
Anything Else: