Character Statistics:
Pilot Name: Alice Smith
Nickname: Abyss
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Appearance: A tall girl compared to most, Alice stands at an average height of around five feet eight inches. By looking, one can tell she is built in a fit manner, though it is only to be expected for such a pilot. Nonetheless, she keeps a good frame, being not as thin as most girls, and possessing a higher muscle density while still keeping an incredible figure; something many have found out the hard way. She isn't a notably well-endowed figure, but certainly has matured as a woman at the normal pace.
Not one to show off, Alice usually keeps conservative clothing on, seemingly very rare to sport a revealing outfit or otherwise expressive wardrobe. She prefers diluted colors of grey, white, green, and black, preferring an intermingling of colors, checkerboard patterns especially.
Alice was born a natural blonde, possessing a rather whitened color of golden hair. She keeps it at a medium length, never getting past her shoulder blades, and doesn't seem to style it in any particular way, leaving the fine straight hair to fall naturally. Occasionally, Alice is found tying it up in a spiked bun, letting two bundles of hair to fall behind her earlobes, though this is usually an occurrence only during extensive training or tournaments. The single ribbon she uses during such events is a silk, tattered, and fairly short green one.
Her eyes convey that of a responsible girl, never showing any real hint of aloofness or mischievousness. They are a streamlined and slightly intimidating pair of jet-black eyes, her iris and pupil barely distinguishable from each other. Nevertheless, they instill a sense of wonder to those who gaze back, as if they were endless pools of darkness. She isn't proud of the color, calling it, "Boring," but many have commented on the subtle beauty.
Personality: Unlike the many hundreds of ecstatic women out on the training regiment, Alice finds herself
silently happy about it. She isn't one to express herself with words, preferring to be the quiet, out-of-the-way girl in the crowd. While one would assume her to be shy, this is not the case. Merely, she can't find the words to say when in a conversation; sometimes called a mental affliction by doctors. In essence, she has trouble speaking clearly, studdering or skipping words in sentences at random intervals. Alice understands her problem, and thus speaks infrequently or with short sentences.
What she says however, is certainly not in accordance with her apparent reserved personality. She speaks with pride, despite occasional screw-ups, and doesn't really reflect too much on them when they occur, easily skipping over the error and continuing. Unfortunately for some, when she doesn't go back to fix the word, they can be left confused over her meaning. When others point out such flaws, she becomes flustered and angry, instantly semi-hostile. She acts like an older sister to anyone younger or less experienced than herself, and always seems to be chastising others or complaining on their mistakes.
Alice is a tough gal, certainly not afraid to go toe-to-toe with any other person she deems worthy of her fist. It seems ironic that she is incompetent with weapons in her own hands, and efficient with physical prowess, but is the complete opposite when piloting her IS.
History: When news of the IS' true combat capability was released to the world, many scrambled for an arms race to counter such incredible power. Not unlike the Cold War, both Russia and America speedily fastened funds into the production of a similar product, or onto the acquisition of an already-created core. Progress was slow, and prototypes failed to live up to their intended goals. Eventually, however, both countries received complimentary cores from Japan, allowing them to reverse-engineer what they could, save for the black box-core itself.
Two cores, one on the West coast and one on the East were put to the test, and their frames were extensively studied and upgraded. Though Alice does not pilot such a powerful frame, the MPIS she does borrows many reverse-engineered pieces of structure from it. But what was most important was not the mechanism itself, but the pilot.
Alice was selected amongst a large group of candidates, as her naturally-inclined skills best fit the bill. She participated and functioned well in tests, and was given the opportunity to further help the US extend the power of the cores they received.
When the Antietam production model was at its final stages, the Los Angeles Military Technology Academy received rights to send Alice and her MPIS off to Japan, heading for the famed IS academy there. Within weeks she had arrived, packed and ready to go.
Though quite timid of the strange place, and with a sub-par Japanese vocabulary, she was meek at first, but slowly became more accustomed to its society.
Affiliation: USA
IS Statistics:
Name: Antietam MPIS USA-Mod
Model Number: 287
Shipped to: San Francisco, California. USA
Pilot: Alice Smith
Combat Focus: Explosive/Ranged
Antietam focuses on a strict attack regiment; going for the intense offensive on the get-go. Antietam stays at a very ranged distance, and with the help of advanced aiming and prediction systems, can very easily strike a fast-moving target from afar. It cannot stay on the defensive side for long, as its limitations are quite severe.
Weaponry:
Medium Range Weapon:
-Twin GBL: Laser Gatlings (Burst Type)
On both lower arms, Antietam sports a large-caliber laser gatling. With three rotating barrels, the gatling can fire off a three-burst salvo every four seconds. Each bolt contains immense energy, and as such, requires the barrels a cool-down period during extended use. The more she fires, the longer they have to cool down. While the time between each salvo is around four seconds, the actual barrel-rotation starts within three.
Medium Range Weapon 2:
-Twin JBR Cannon: Railgun
Mounted on the left shoulder of Antietam, sits a long-barreled railgun. The barrels fold backwards when not in use, reducing size and keeping a slightly more aero-dynamic form for the IS. The load time of each bullet is slow, but the speed at which the projectile flies makes up for a lack of time to hit; they are near-instantaneous in medium fighting ranges. When the railgun slugs leave the barrel, a computer chip switches on the one-time bullet jet, further speeding it up in mid-flight.
Though powerful, these weapons are likely the most close to a prototype than all others. Bullets may be incredibly fast, but their stabilization mechanism isn't quite perfect, making for slightly inaccurate shots. The railgun material is sub-par, and the rails can heat up quickly through repeated use. Best used in tandem with the gatling weapons for maximum chances of enemy contact and firepower.
Missile System:
-Twin HIVE/WS: Large-Salvo Missile Luancher System
Mounted beside the shoulders of Antietam, two large rectangular objects rest. Both are nearly 3/4 the size of the main IS frame, and attribute to the most weight on it s such. Both boxes (upon deployment) rise from the back and split into a horizontal 'V' shape, extending the tips parallel to the ground. Each of the boxes contains two 'prongs,' and each prong houses 45 mini-type high-activity missiles (for each salvo, a total of 180 missiles). Each missile packs a relatively large punch for its size -they contain a highly reactive nitrogen explosive package, designed to be on par with large dynamite package but within a smaller area- but still do little damage single-handedly. Each prong controls its own 45-salvo, and prongs work between each other for further tactical control. These smart missiles coordinate extremely maneuverable and highly effective runs for its target, making a nearly inescapable volley. If the opponent can't dodge them all, they are still left with a chance to minimize damage however.
Antietam contains several forms for the missiles, of which Alice affectionately calls the "Superbowl Book."
Long Range Weapon:
-SuperDense AR Cannon: Charge/Apocalyptic Rift Cannon Rail System
Antietam most deadly weapon, the ARC is known to be one of the US' most unstable, yet highly effective weapons platform, seeing combat on military-grade tanks as well. The ARC Project was developed four years ago under the guidance of renowned scientist, Ferdinand Brocker. It began as a much larger scheme, planned to be implemented as a large building rather than mounted on an IS platform. Eventually, they managed to minimize the size for their very own IS model, changing it into one of the Us most important assets.
Antietam possesses a right-shoulder mounted ARC system with a shortened barrel for lighter weight.
ARC is a very distinguishable weapon, known to be both beautiful, and terrifyingly destructive. ARC sequences start with a charge period, requiring relative inactivity of the IS. Only short walking movements are capable during charge. Antietam (due to regulations of inter-country tournaments) has a downgraded version, requiring a charge time of nearly 10 seconds before release. However, due to the shorter time of charge, it also has a downgraded attack ability (still utterly destructive nonetheless). When ready, the beam can fire, shooting out a large and bright green laser of unknown energy. Upon contact with solid matter, the explosion results in a nearly 300 foot radius 360 degree blast, the energy of it persisting for several seconds before collapsing into a singularity. What is left is a perfectly smooth crater, as if the very matter was obliterated utterly. In contact with an IS absolute defense system however, it acts as an impact explosion.
Most imagine this to be the end, but are suddenly astounded when the crater erupts again, as a nuclear-esque explosion sends all of the collapsed material as a surge of pure energy in all directions. The standard issue correlates to a tactical nuke in explosive power, but the tournament IS keeps this explosion to that of a US MOAB.
Do note, that such a shot is extremely lucky to hit an IS directly, and as such is meant as a surprise weapon or for AOE multiple-combatant battles.
Structural Stats: Due to the extremely large weapon count, Antietam possesses poor mobility in the air and on the ground. It sports a very hardy set of armor and a boosted defense shield as such to further help protect it from fast-moving IS. Its CQC abilities are next to nothing, even if the operator is extensively trained, so Antietam users tend to keep away from such encounters.
Overall, it is a tank of an IS, sacrificing speed and mobility to a great degree for firepower and armor.
Gadgets: Antietam's legs sport a bracing mechanism and an enhanced zoom functionality, allowing most shots to hit their target or barely graze them. An advanced prediction-system further aids the operator in foretelling an opponents whereabouts and potential movements.
As mentioned in the missile weapon section, Antietam contains a database of playbooks for missile operation, making sure to effectively increase their chance of striking their targets.