[Kagerou]

Originally Posted by dkellis

Spoiler for Will this make a good story?:

Sometimes I feel somewhat fortunate that I don't have to worry about needing to have my characters overpower opponents, and instead I just have to worry about some obscure passage in some out-of-anime source contradicting the careful edifice of plot I have constructed.

The thing about writing all of this is that you're the writer. You can write whatever you want to. You can create a SSS-ranked mage if you really want to, because it's all only words on the screen anyway.

But apart from all the "military common sense" or "overwhelming superiority" arguments, there's really one question which overrides everything else:

Will this make a good story?

Does the mage need to be SSS-ranked (or S-ranked or A-ranked or D-ranked) in order to tell that story? Is it the absolute minimum rank needed for the plot? Why does the mage have that rank, for the meta-fictional purpose of the story?

The answer shouldn't be of the form "because logically, taking RL militaries into account", but it should be of the form "because at this point, I need the character to be able to perform this action, and that requires this rank at minimum". You're the writer: you create the character for the purpose he or she is meant to serve, and then you use all this military knowledge to explain why the character is that way.

A story is not merely made up of brief moments of superpowered characters hurling stars at each other. A story is made up of the events that will lead up to these moments of star-hurling; the climactic battles should not rest on a rickety foundation of half-hearted justifications.

There's no need to have a higher rank possibility "just in case". Why would they need that higher rank? Why does the higher rank have to be that high? If it serves no significant purpose to the story, then why have it at all? If it does, then is there any way you can reduce the rank without reducing the significance?

In other words, maybe you shouldn't bring a knife to a gun fight, but you also shouldn't use a cannon to kill a fly.

I agree with a lot of that, dk. To be honest, I tend to forget what rank I put a mage at until I look back at it (case in point; Glen was doing stuff way too powerfully for only being AA-rank, so I retconned him to AAA rank *shrug*).

Honestly, if it's well written, I don't care if we've got SSS++++++ characters running around. I'm here for a good story and to help others (and be helped in return) write a good story, and sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) throw in references to my favorite things while I'm doing it. And if a character needs to be god to do it, then by all means, go for it.

Originally Posted by AdmiralTigerclaw

Thanks for all the delicious info Goose. It's really useful.

Anywho, I was actually enroute to petSMart when it hit me that I was going about assigning my Rank system all wrong. What I need to do right now is assign the effect as per how it should be viewed, and then let the assignment of rank based on estimated common obvervation, rather than half-guessing at power ranks and then going "Oh it's __ rank" or something.


So in that light, I'll throw in the following data.

Spoiler for Data:

Armor Defense Rating: *Apply matching magical attack power to real life examples.*
Functional up to impact of .50 cal anti material round from a fifty
Magical defense bonus of survival of non-direct hit of directed high explosive device.
Armor 80% mission kill failure with direct hits from non-directional high explosive weapon. But survivable.
Armor terminated with direct hit from kinetic energy impactor (120mm APFSDS round.), or directional charge high explosive. Fatal injuries 99%

Air Transit:
Maximum Sprint: MACH .8 standard flight mode; MACH 3.5 Supercruise configuration.
**Maximum Sprint denotes level flight at top speed with no complicating manuevers. Supercruise denotes all power shunted to velocity only. Amor mass and shape is not an issue for speed due to lack of manuevers and functional aerodynamics barrier.


Maximum Safe Turn (Ground Armor): 3 Gs (No G-force management.) 5 Gs (G-Force Management.)
Maximum Safe Turn (Air Superiority Configuration): 6 Gs maybe seven (No G-Force Management) 11 Gs (G-force Management)
** G force tolerance actually varies from person to person. However lower mass provides better function at higher G forces. G-force management is magically enhanced ability to withstand high G-operations on both physical armor stress, and internal body stresses of the operator. (Which explains why the near glass like frame of Fate can handle those insane snap manuevers when one stops to think about it.)


Attack ratings:

Rifle Configuration:
- Single fire: ~ equal to a fifty calibur HMG round.
- Automatic Fire: ~ equal to a 7.62 mm round.
--Projectile speeds are comproble to real bullet counterparts.--

LANCE Rifle Configuration: (Comparable energy delivery.)
- No auxilary charge: 25mm HEAP round
- Single Cartridge: M-203 (40mm) HE grenade round.

- WARNING - : High Energy Management Note:
- Maximum load and charge time. Energy of KE Penetraitor from M1A1 120 mm smoothbore APFSDS round. (Actual penetrator size is 22 mm.)
**All shot power levels can be aimed at targets up to 20 km away and travel at supersonic velocity. All shots are unguided and cannot be recalled once released. All shots are composed of high energy charged ion packets encased in magical containment barriers until impact. Technically making the Lance Rifle a magic powered Ion Cannon.

Cerberus DF:
Gatling Autocannon: 20 rounds/sec with energy delivery of 5.56 mm NATO round at a range of eight hundred meters. No accuracy however at any range greater than immediate combat range.

Bloodhound Breaker:
- Delivery of destructive force equal to M-67 fragmentation grenade. Max Homing and chasing range of Five thousand meters. Reletive launch velocity of 300 m/s

Spectre Barrage:
- WARNING - : High energy management note.
- Delivers repeated strikes equal to a BOFORS 40 mm cannon. Sustained fire of two rounds per 1.5 second interval for maximum of fifteen seconds before recharge/rest is required.

METEOR SHOWER:
- WARNING - : Extreme High Energy Management Note!
- Delivers MIRV Indirect fire strike with submunition rounds equal in force to 105 mm, 40 lb artillery round. Maximum MIRV of six round split.
** MIRV stands for Multiple Intercept Reentry Vehicle, which is just a fancy way of saying one shot splits into several that can go for different targets. Although in this case, all shots are unguided.


HIGH ENERGY NOTE: Excersize caution with use, and/or repeated use of this level of energy management. Suggest ample rest time between shots, or limited use altogether outside of special emergency situations.

EXTREME HIGH ENERGY NOTE: Excersize restraint of use in all but pretty much special order situations, as well as ample rest time and/or retreat from the engagement scenario after use.


Okay, maybe now we can assign a rank to it all. Those are pretty much how I imagine they should be in terms of effect, rather than just throwing ranks at it.

I'm gonna' get ready for bed.

That sounds pretty good. However, I'm going to agree that maybe we shouldn't be saying C-ranks and above. That final attack sounds like you'd put the C-rank in the hospital for weeks. Now, A-rank sounds a lot better.

Just some advice. If you want to keep it C, then by all means.

Okay, now my turn. I've been developing this thing for a while now and wanted to run it by you guys before I put it to paper.

Spoiler for New Barrier Jacket Armor System:

Type-G3C Barrier Jacket, Codename Ghost Armor

Spoiler for Background:

In MC0077, shortly after the JS Incident, Emili Nailo of the Order of Freelance Mages decided that the Air Wing needed a "step-up" when it came to defensive and offensive capabilities. The standard Barrier Jacket and Head-up Display Glasses weren't quite cutting it anymore; the HUD was oftentimes unreliable, and the Barrier Jackets, while flashy, weren't very capable of actual protection for the extremities, and more importantly, the head. Furthermore, except for Phoenix, Sidewinder, and Sparrow, the mass-production Storage Devices that the OFM used were becoming worn and overused, a result of poor manufacture. As a result, Air Wing mages were starting to take a hit in efficiency.

After talking it over with Erick, Emili used the OFM's contacts and networks to find people who specialized in Device manufacture and use. Two names that popped up, that were familiar to Emili, were Aurion Dauer and Shario Finieno. Aurion was busy at the time, so Emili contacted Shari, who agreed to help Emili on her little project. The two met in TSAB HQ during the Aus'ruf's rest/refit cycle, and together the two drew out the plans (with a little help from Sidewinder) for a working Storage Device that could handle the new ideas Emili had.

What Emili wanted was a bodysuit that gave maximum aerodynamic efficiency, thick magical protection, complete invisibility, a working Radar and HUD system, and had, of course, a "big gun". Given the limitations of the Storage Device AI, however, this wasn't feasible; the system mechanics of the SD couldn't handle the workload. Furthermore, the specifications were simply too much for your average A-rank to handle, let alone B-rank. Something had to be worked out, something quick and simple that wouldn't divide a mage's time too much, that wouldn't provide too much of a burden on their Linker Core, and would still be effective.

Emili found her answer, oddly enough, from Franz. An avid watcher of Earth programs (He had somehow acquired tons of it during a brief excursion to the planet), he had suggested something from a certain tokusatsu series of shows. Emili watched the show one night, and got her idea. It would definitely be something to run by.

Emili, in a fit of creative genius and wit, asked off for two-weeks leave while the ship went out on a mission to the middle of nowhere. It was granted the day of departure, and on that day, Emili and Shari locked themselves in a hole for two weeks to implement this plan.

It was fairly simple at a glance; use two Storage Devices instead of one. By using two, it cut the workload on both in half easily, as both the new Rifle-SD and the Armor-SD would run off of programs dedicated to their specific casts (in this case, shooting and protection, respectively). Of course, the problem was that this increased the workload of the mage's Linker Core, which would prove to be a problem. The answer for this was found in the Cartridge System... well, the spirit of it, anyway.

The Cartridge System revolved around using a magical burst of energy through a magic accessory to gain power rapidly in a short amount of time... but this was for offensive attacks. Shari took the idea of the CS and modified it for defensive purposes. She proposed the idea of a magical "charge", similar to a cartridge. Upon activation of the SD, the charge would activate and sustain the armor without a mage's intervention.

This was both a plus and a minus. On the plus side, this would mean that the mage would not need to sustain the armor with their own power. On the minus side, this would not allow the mage to restore the armor in the middle of a firefight, as the armor was tied to a Device that would act fairly independantly from the mage (that is, not reliant on him or her to exist). To restore the armor, the Storage Device would have to be deactivated, the charge restored, and then the Device reactivated. This would simply be impossible in a fight, when lives are on the line, and a minute could be an hour on the battlefield.

Using this concept, Emili and Shari were able to tie together Emili's ideas with the secondary Storage Device whilst using only minimal power from the Linker Core. The mage's Linker Core would provide power to the active radar system and the Heads-Up Display, which took a negligable amount of concentration to use (though to alter the radar to scan at longer ranges would require more power and concentration, and capped out at 500 meters, with the default at 25).

The rifle half of the equation would simply be a standard TSAB Storage Device, but with modern AI and a greater size limit on the kinds of spells it could cast. Essentially, they were modern variants of the S2U standard Storage Device, simply reformed into the shape of a heavy rifle. It consisted of the standard TSAB spells (Stinger Snipe, for example), and like standard Storage Devices, these operated strictly off of the mage's Linker Core. Newer SD AI's were more modular, and, given enough time in the hands of an engineer, could be fitted exactly to the user's specifications.

Emili and Shari toiled for all the two weeks they had, and by the time the ship came back, Emili and Shari had completed the first Prototype G3C, which was given to Emili, who performed tests on the Device during a mission. The Devices worked well together and worked optimally, and so Emili and Shari sent the concept and plans to the TSAB R&D, who had already been working on similar new types of Barrier Jackets. Though costly and thus limited to Special Forces units (such as certain Enforcers and the OFM Air Wing, for example), the G3C proved to be a success.

Spoiler for G3C Design:

A Sword Flight Mage pauses after killing a hostile monster.

The G3C was designed for maximum aerodynamic ability. As such, the armor is fully streamlined and skintight. Although not as thick all-around as Emili had wanted, the armor compensates by placing the most defense in key points on the body, with weaker armor covering the joints and hands and certain other areas to ensure flexibility (it functions more as a bodysuit in these areas, though noticably stronger). The helmet is full-face, thus ensuring maximum protection from hostile fire. Though the face is covered and the visor opaque, the heads-up display allows the mage to see what's going on around her. On top of the helmet are radar transmitters. Due to their position, the radar has a more accurate reflection when the mage is facing forward. The radar transmitter has good reception up to 10 meters in all directions - accuracy steadily declines from there - and the forward projection is completely accurate up to 25 meters. As such, mages are trained to "swivel" - that is, continuously look all around them.

The shoulder pads are fitted with barrier emitters, able to redirect softer attacks and small arms fire (important for the OFM mages) up to .45 caliber, and can disperse a standard offensive ranged spell enough to cause minimal damage to the armor itself (though the mage still gets to feel some of the magical damage). The emitters, while strong, are not initially connected to the mage's Linker Core. As such, they are quick to give out (tests show that the emitters can disperse one B-rank spell before dying) unless the mage powers them with her Linker Core. Since most mages do this anyway, it's not really an issue.

The blue lines and rings are an important feature, as they employ a first-generation personel cloaking device. This cloaking device does exactly as descripted: it causes the mage to vanish, save for minor light distortion whenever they move.

Finally, the spikes on the right shoulder, while seemingly serving no purpose at all, can serve as weapons in desperate situations.

The high heels, on the other hand...

Spoiler for G3C Capabilities:

General:
The G3C is one of the few General User Autonomous Barrier Jacket systems (GABJ for short) to exist. Normally, a mage must concentrate on the formation of the Barrier Jacket before it activates. Though normally a mage can forget about their Barrier Jacket after its activation, with some circles (like the OFM), which also rely on a heads-up display and radar system, along with being better protected, coupled furthermore with rapid spellcasting and extended periods of flight, can cause a wear on the mage.

Benefits to using the G3C Armor System:
The G3C takes these problems and fixes them. By using the Charge System, the armor can sustain itself for as long as it's needed. The radar and Heads-Up Display function fairly well for personal use, and the internal communications system allows for orders to be received and given quickly and easily without the need to concentrate on telepathy. Its skintight and aerodynamic properties allow a mage to fly easily (though it can get a little cold), and the material the armor is made to resemble (a mix of cloth, kevlar, and ceramic plating) is thick enough that, should the emitters go down, will still protect against magical, physical, and impact damage. The emitters, as noted before, can operate independantly for a short period of time.

The most radical and beneficial component of the suit, however, may lie in its cloaking device. With a simple thought, a mage can activate the cloaking device, becoming invisible at will. Though this comes with drawbacks (see below), it will nonetheless be quite useful. Already, Enforcers have proven its usefulness when apprehending criminal elements, as you cannot fight what you cannot see (although it's also wise not to take that expression literally).

Drawbacks to using the G3C Armor System:
First and foremost, the important thing to note is that the armor is not easy to repair, as noted earlier. Since it's formed from a separate semi-dependant Storage Device, and not formed from a mage's Linker Core, a mage doesn't have control over its restoration capabilities. Should the armor take damage (and inevitably, it will), a long and complicated process is necessary to restore the armor, one that is not easily done on the battlefield by stanard mages (note that this armor is geared toward use by B-rank and above mages, hence its versatility). On average, it takes fifteen minutes to restore and repair the armor after the Storage Device is deactivated, though higher-rank mages can do it in considerably less time (in a test, Enforcer 1st Class Fate Harlown performed the task in five).

Secondly is its semi-dependance. The armor was meant to last for prolonged engagements, thus the relaxed need of a mage to concentrate on it (indeed, due to the nature of the Device, there are only certain things that the mage can concentrate on). However, the barrier emitters do not take enough charge to matter in the long run. As such, a mage will continually need to power the emitters after they are knocked out.

Third is the cloaking device itself. Although it is extremely useful, it's really nothing more than a programmed spell in the Storage Device that is meant to activate along the emitter lines on the G3C armor. The cloaking device requires a considerable deal of power, and it's not recommended to use the spell running for longer than five minutes for your average B-rank mage, seven for A. Secondly, in the event that night-vision or infrared is available to the target, then the mage is advised to shut off the cloak. The spells emits an extremely large amount of heat signatures to the area around the mage, and so the mage becomes something of a beacon while cloaked; the total opposite of what you want when invisible. And lastly, while cloaked, a mage cannot cast any other spells, of any sort. A mage, thus, cannot fly and cloak.

Finally, and less of an issue with the armor as with the user. The G3C does not make the mage more powerful. It does not grant increased abilities, does not increase power, and does not help in any area other than defense. Some mages think it makes them more powerful, but this is false to the highest degree. The G3C armor system is designed to decrease the workload on a mage and provide better protection than the standard Barrier Jacket, not make the user superhuman.

So I'll say it again; G3C does not make a mage more powerful.

Spoiler for Armor Storage:

The G3C Armor system is stored in two parts; one is the Charge System and Activation Key, stored as something remebling a closed cell phone. To activate the armor, the mage has to open the Device (again, similar to a cell phone), type in the proper Activation Key, and have the AI confirm (it does this by saying, "Stand By") the key is correct. The second half of the Device, the AI itself, is stored in a belt the mage wears. When the devices are combined, the device says, "Ready", and the armor activates. Refer to the video below:

To deactivate the armor, the mage must use a certain phrase, usually custom to the mage (it's voice recognition, so an opponent can't simply guess the deactivation phrase).

Spoiler for Emili watched too many of Franz's shows.:

"Glen, Glen, watch this!"
"What?"

Emili half-dragged Glen into a certain part of the ship; a nice, open space, where the five mages of Lance Flight stood, waiting. Some of them, like Naomi, were smiling, and others looked nervous. "You have to watch this!"

"What is it? I have work to do..." Glen sighed, knowing he wouldn't escape Emili's iron grip (followed by Iron Will, of course). The mage had been on overdrive for the past month, it seemed, working with each of her flight's G3C suits for what seemed like an unncessary amount of time. "What's this about, Emili?"

"Just watch!" Emili said, giddy, as she and the other four mages stood in a line, with her in the center. "You know those shows that Franz is always watching?"

"Yeah..."
"Well, I got this idea. It's pretty cool! ...well, I like it, anyway." She smiled and looked at the other four girls. "Ready?"

"Ready!" The other four shouted in unison (Naomi is getting way too into this, Glen thought).

In one move, the five girls grabbed their Charge Device and flipped it open. They held out one hand in front as they typed in their activation keys. "Lance Flight!"

[Stand by.]

"Henshin! The girls shouted as one, slamming the Charge Devices with the AI Devices.

[Ready.]

As the girls drew their hands back, their transformation occured, multi-colored lines (one for each girl) spreading from the belt before flashing a bright color (the color of the lines) and revealing the five girls in their armored suits. Each one had been recolored, to fit the theme. Their cloak emitter lines reflected a color multiple shades lighter than the dark armor.

"Anna Petrov, Lance Black!" The first girl announced as her rifle formed, dropping to one knee and holding it against her shoulder with both hands.

"Chiisa Ivana, Lance Pink!" The second one yelled, twirling and holding her rifle loosely in one hand, the barrel pointing at the floor.

"Rachel Vasilie, Lance Blue!" The third girl shouted, twirling her rifle above her head once before standing sideways with the barrel pointing up.

"Naomi Jaeger, Lance Yellow!" Naomi said as Sparrow shifted into Naginata form. She twirled the Device above her head and slammed it stick-down, holding onto it with one hand and putting her other hand on her hip.

"Emili Nailo, Lance Red!" Emili finished the roll call, holding Sidewinder in Daggers Form to her sides, blades pointing backward.

"Super Sentai!" The girls shouted. "Lancenger!"

Glen... was speechless.

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He half-expected a multi-colored explosion behind the girls.

"I..." he closed his mouth again. "I just have a couple questions..."
"What?" Emili stepped forward, her red armor gleaming from the glow of the cloaking emitters and the lights above.

"Are you going to do this... every time?" he asked.
"God, no!" Naomi denied. "We just did that to show off! No, most of the time it'll be pretty cut and paste... though "henshin" has a nice ring to it."

"Fair enough," Glen conceded, putting a finger to the side of his mouth. He looked up, then at Emili. "...is red the right color for you, Emili?"

"Very funny, dork," Emili teased, bopping Glen on the head.
"Hey, stop that," Glen brushed Emili away. "Okay... my final question..."

"What?"

"...Does this mean I'm the Sixth Ranger?"