Straight outta the Depths of Dagon, Ophelia is as rugged and rough as they come. As bombastic and vulgar as she may be, Ophelia is everything you could want out of a captain; a good leader, knows the strengths and weaknesses of her & the team- and most importantly, she actually cares about those under her command.
On their homeworld of Amleth, Ophelia and Oberon are well known for being the first in recorded history to slay an adult Leviathan; an impossibly massive sea-dragon that can only be found in the deepest trenches of the worlds oceans. Though it is tradition amongst their people to hunt Leviathans as a test of strength, this had previously only applied to Juveniles, more commonly found terrorizing the surface of the seas- but just as fearsome. This deed alone proved their worth as exceptional pilots, and allowed them to found their own task force.
The DROWNED GOD is a fairly new acquisition of Ophelias, courtesy of an IPS-N connection- though that doesn't mean it's FACTORY new. This Nelson custom is not exactly cutting-edge, but what it lacks in tech has easily been made up for by the raw talent and experience of its pilot. The mechs signature trident is mostly made up of a carved Leviathan tooth- and has yet to encounter a creature it cannot pierce.
To the previous ask wondering if I had any more to say about them. Oh I do indeed.
Long post; more on this team under the cut, if you're interested.
Lots of text, take your time.
Lieutenant Oberon
Olivia LaFlair
KINGS PARADISE
Born a mute, Olivia has always been on the gloomy side. Her appearance has consistently been described as brooding and dreadful- which is a little true, if a bit rude. Had a habit of isolating herself from others- which did allow her to laser focus on developing her hunting skills and marksmanship- but made her quite lonely. She would have probably remained a recluse for the rest of her life, were it not for the opportunities presented to her by Ophelia.
Olivia mainly acts as fire support for the squad, but also frequently runs recon outside of her mech, as KINGS PARADISE is not a light stepper.
Designed by Tiana and Caroline, KINGS PARADISE may look like a party animal; but it is a no-nonsense mech, with a no-nonsense pilot. It's comically large rail-gun (a Sherman staple) is customized to favor accuracy, distance, and armor penetration over raw, explosive power- fitting for Olivia, who is known to only take perfectly precise shots. The mechs additional arm acts as an extra support for the weapon, but also as an endearing mirror to Tianas own 3 armed mech.
Lieutenant "Titania"
Tiana LaFlair
QUEENSWORD
Tiana is quite the troublemaker. Loud, braggadocious, vain, and somehow always high energy- And that's AFTER she mellowed out. Her early career as a mech pilot was full of obscene drunk driving incidents and a whole lot of avoidable altercations- both of which culminated into her meeting Olivia, who managed to change her for the better.
Tiana is a CQC specialist, and is often the first one to jump into the fray- with permission from the Captain, of course.
The QUEENSWORD was designed by Olivia and gifted to Tiana with the help of Ophelias IPS-N connect- The Blackbeard frame itself is on the simpler side, a bit grim looking; but the main attraction is it's massive heat-sword, specifically made for Tianas unique 3-armed "Guillotine" combat style. The sword is known to cause second-degree burns just by being in it's proximity, so don't get so close.
Olivia and Tiana could not be more different in terms of personality- yet, it seems that opposites attract. They first met during a drunken altercation, in which Olivia speed-blitzed Tiana into sobriety after trying to pick a fight. That should've been the end of it, but Tiana was absolutely enamored by her, and for the first time in her life made a conscious decision to try to be presentable the next time they met. More than that, she spent a lot of time picking up on & memorizing Olivias extremely subtle quirks & mannerisms, getting to know her. Olivia, not too experienced in relationships- or human connection of any kind, really- took a while to reciprocate the feeling, but through Tianas stubbornness and genuine affection, she ended up falling for her as well, and have been going strong ever since. When they eventually got married, they went and designed each-others mechs, instead of rings. How romantic.
Cressida
Caroline Long
HELEN OF TROY
Cassandra is the Oldest member of the squad, and has passed up promotions for a higher position many times, apparently being fine right where she is. Although Caroline doesn't have a rank of prominence, she is still held in high regard by all the members of her team, even by the Captain herself- and almost always gets the last say in matters of importance. Her and Tiana are both from the same planet of Iliad, though they come from different nations- Tiana was actually the one who recommended her to Ophelia, who accept the proposal.
Caroline acts as a backline artillery support, while simultaneously keeping up communications at all times- although she mostly does this outside of her mech, as it's uniquely gargantuan frame makes transportation & deployment... difficult.
HELEN OF TROY is a product of Iliad War-Smith ingenuity- and was completely developed by Caroline herself. Though it's original purpose as a colossal seige-engine never came into fruition, she did end up turning it into a mobile fortress that just so happens to come equipped with apocalyptic artillery. This war machine rarely ever joins the other mechs in their missions, and mainly serves as a planet-side base of operations for the DRAGON KILLAZ. Sometimes howver, they may run into a big problem- and HELEN OF TROY is a big problem solver.
Sycorax
Sydney Volkov
WICKED
Of all the squad members, Sydney remains the oddball- which is saying a lot. Born(?) and raised(?) on a space-fairing colony called the Dreadfleet, she would apparently spend her formative years scrounging for scraps in rusted cargo bays, until she was taken in the night for human experimention. She's tight-lipped about what exactly that means, but she managed to escape containment by stealing a prototype mech, and has been on the run ever since. Sydney accidentally assisted Ophelia in a battle against a giant, biomechanical lizard and ended up being recruited on the spot.
Sydney is a huge weirdo, and a bit of a creep- but she has yet to do something completely out of line. Whatever they did to her on those ships made her extremely proficient in the art of hacking, electronic disruption, and probability calculations- so she serves as the squads unusual tech-support.
The WICKED is a diabolical piece of junk. It's an incredibly invasive piece of technology, that only exists to cause as much damage to the user as physically, mentally, and spiritually possible. With all that in mind, it's perfectly made for Sydney- who's body has been so heavily modified that it doesn't really phase her. The hardsuits systems work in tandem with Sydneys uncanny ability to predict future events, as well as allowing her to "talk" to other machines.
Portia
Percival Belmont
BALTHAZAR
As uptight as they come- Percy was born of a noble house built with indoctrination from Harrison Armory, and takes all of this very seriously. Her family has a rich militaristic background, filled with enough deeds and accolades to be in the hall of fame. With all that being said, Percy was never really about that life. Through years of indoctrination, strict regiments- and even augmentation surgeries- she still couldn't quite live up to her family name. She eventually left her homeworld to try and prove herself elsewhere in union space, to varying degrees of success.
Percival is uniquely capable of piloting her mech- BALTHAZAR- even when outside of the cockpit, thanks to her neurological implants. The other fun bonus from these implants include telekinesis, both in and out of the mech, making her an extremely effective Frontline support/defender.
BALTHAZAR is a family heirloom, and is impeccably crafted- were it not for it's bulk, this mech could've easily passed for an SSC exclusive. The Iskander frames typical gravity-based abilities work in tandem with Percivals telekinetic implants, allowing it to create invisible 'shields' around her allies that make them nearly untouchable in certain combat situations. The BALTHAZAR is also apparently capable of levitating, though this has yet to be demonstrated to any of the other team members.
Caliban
DUAL NATURE
Caliban is by far the most mysterious member of the task force. No one knows where he's from, how he got here, not even his real name- if he even has one. Dual Nature is also quite an enigma, as its design indicates there should be 2 pilots operating at once...
Shy and reserved, Caliban serves as the squads combat medic/engineer, and also occasionally assists Caroline with communications. DUAL NATURE is capable of transporting people to and from the frontlines, and is used often. His voice is described to sound like an old, busted tv.
DRAGON KILLAZ could not operate as efficiently were it not for DUAL NATURE- its role as a combat medic for mechs- frontline mechs like QUEENSWORD and DROWNED GOD especially- make it an integral inclusion to the team. Its also helpful that this Lancaster is also capable of packing heat when it needs to. Literally- it's Centipede form is equipped with 4 flamethrowers, in case of emergencies. The interior of the mech is also said to be cramped, yet oddly comfortable at the same time- Like having a sleepover.
Would you talk/post more about the DRAGON KILLAZ? Really loved the naming convention for their callsigns and was curious about how you landed on it.
Yes‼️ As a matter of fact, thank you for giving me an excuse to post the little writings I DO have of them, which i will get to right after this.
As for the callsigns, the naming conventions for this team in particular all come from different Shakespeare characters. Their mech names are also references to their stories.
Their 'real' names i made up, but I made sure they were all names that started with the same letter as they callsigns: just because.
Ferryman cosplay is finally done! Modeled after and worn by the beautiful @rezurrecta. Gold bracelets and collar by the illustrious @shortmongrel. Oar sculpting and the body by yours truly‼️
