[Wild Goose]

Here it is! Part 2 of Franz's rebuilt spell & skill set! IKE!

Spoiler for Franz Jaeger, Skillset & Spell List:

Skills & Abilities

After 5 years of experience in the Gardai and 21 years in the Order, Franz has amassed a respectable skillset. While his repatoire of spells may not totally compare to the vaunted Aces, he makes up for it in his spec ops skillset, honed from years of training, personal mentoring and serving under Sergeant Major Ivanovich, a Recon Marine and sniper with counterinsurgency experience. It has been unofficially speculated that while Franz's mage rank is A+, his skill rating as a soldier is possibly AAA; certainly he has shown more competance and skill as a soldier than as a mage.

Spoiler for OFM Assault Company spec ops skillset:

As an experienced Assault Company operator, Franz maintains a high level of proficiency in the following skills (this list is not exhaustive):

• Freefall HAHO/HALO
• Wilderness Survival
• SERE
• Airmobile operations
• Breaching
• Marksmanship
• Hand to hand combat
• Close Quaters Battle
• Surreptitious Entry
• Electronic and Media Exploitation
• Technical Surveillance
• High Threat Protective Security
• Demolitions Emplacement
• Fieldcraft
• Urban Warfare

A former member of the Gardai, the Erusian Security force that assisted the TSAB during the Erusian War, Franz was trained in a number of policing skills during his time in the Gardai. He has had training in interrogation and investigative skills, crime scene analysis, note taking, and paperwork processing. Of all these skills, only his paperwork skills have seen regular usage in the Order.

Like all Order operatives, Franz has been trained in how to blend in with a crowd, detect and evade surveillance, and combat first aid.

Spoiler for Devices & Spell List:

Devices:
Franz is unusual in that he is one of the few mages to have two devices: his pistol-shaped Storage Device Magnum, and his Armed Device Cobra. Making matters more curious is that neither of his devices can be classed as an Intelligent Device; Magnum is a simple Storage Device and Cobra is an Armed Device with even less of an AI than Strada or Laevatine. Early on in his OFM career, Franz used the Armed Device Cortana, a katana-shaped weapon; unlike other Armed Devices,
Cortana was unique in that it had an Intelligent Device-class AI: Franz was hoping for a weapon that would combine the best of Armed Devices (as his style was Neo-Belka) and Intelligent Devices. Eight years ago, however, Cortana was heavily damaged during a joint training excercise with Riot Force 6, and when Master Gunnery Sergeant Lurch, the OFM's armorer, began repairs, Cortana refused to be Franz's device anymore an insisted on her AI being transferred to the Master Chief. Unnerved at his Device's AI developing sentience (as well as a snarky attitude), Franz turned his back on Intelligent Devices and went to the other extreme of the spectrum. Cortana now resides in a special card that Master Chief carries with him: this card interfaces with his armor and allows Cortana to assist Chief.

Cobra is Franz's primary device. Named after an attack helicopter from Non-Administered World 97, shaped like a Japanese katana, it has a number of differences from the standard katana or storage device. The tsuba, or handguard, is larger and thicker, as this is where Franz inserts his 4-cartridge magazines. Set into the grip is mounted a trigger which Franz uses to activate his spells: the spell name is spoken for voice recognition and order confirmation, and then activated by his finger pressing the trigger, skipping the need for the spell's command trigger. Franz has used this to great effect, and this feature has since become standard on almost all Assault Company storage devices. Cobra also has a secondary Rifle Form, used by Franz for his ranged attack spells; in this form Cobra resembles an early semiauto battle rifle (superficially similar to the M1 Garand) with iron sights, which Franz uses to assist his aiming. Cobra has been tuned for faster spellcasting and mana processing: AI functions have been reduced while more RAM has been added, and over the years it's been fine tuned to take advantage of Franz's natural talent for channeling mana faster than average. While he may not be able to match Takamachi Nanoha's Divine Buster in range or power, for instance, Franz is capable of casting and firing a full 1.6 seconds faster than her... not that it does him much good.

Magnum is Franz's secondary device. Originally it was essentially a modified Erusian pistol, chambered for the alternative 11.53mm Voychek caliber (which was almost an exact copy of Earth's .454 Casull) and capable of firing both heavy-caliber pistol rounds and Cartridges. However, being a modified ad-hoc backup weapon, Magnum was not designed to be as durable as possible, a fact unpleasantly learned by Franz during an intense duel with Subaru Nakajima during the OFM's joint training excercise with Riot Force 6. After that incident, the original Magnum was junked and was essentially rebuilt from scratch: the only things the current Magnum shares with its predecessor are the name, semiauto pistol design and user. The current Magnum is built from the base profile of an M6G Magnum Pistol, with a strengthened frame, and retains the original's ability to fire both cartridges and Semi-Armor Piercing High Explosive rounds. When using Cartridges, Magnum is limited to 8-cartridge clips, but can hold 12-round 12.7mm ammo clips when using standard ammo. Franz rarely, if ever, uses its solid slug ability, preferring to carry a dedicated M6G Magnum (sans laser sight).

Combat Style:
Franz's combat style depends on whether he's using a rifle or his devices, and which persona is engaged. His hotblooded persona will, with his devices, engage in a fast and furious, in-your-face combat style, focused on fast attacks, more fast attacks, mad dodging and minimal static defending. When using his rifle, his hotblooded persona will normally be moving quickly from cover to cover, firing quick bursts or full auto supression fire. He will also be shouting hotblooded declarations.

His cold persona is different. While combat is no less fast, there's a greater focus and intensity in Franz, and it's been noted that he dodges a helluva lotta better and hits more when his cold persona is engaged. When using a rifle, he is silent and focused, quietly servicing targets with semiauto and burst fire.

Franz's combat style with both devices depends on the situation; at times he will use both Cobra and Magnum in tandem, otherwise using each device seperately. In situations requiring lots of shooting, Franz uses Magnum as it is easier to shoot in confined quarters. If he anticipates lots of melee, however, out comes Cobra.

Cobra Attack Spells:
As Cobra is essentially a Storage Device, Franz has had to economize his spell usage. He thus prefers to engage in melee rather than ranged combat; this is also because his hot blooded linker core charges mana faster, which suits his intense close combat style. He retains the knowledge of all his ranged attacks, however, because you never know when they'll be useful...

Heat Blade: Based off Glen's Inferno Sword, Heat Blade uses the power of 1 cartridge to charge the blade, making it really freakin' hot and giving it cutting and burning properties. Franz uses this to great effect on the Spawn...and once used it during a duel with Asagi Colwell. (1 cartridge.)

Gatotsu: Charging Cobra with magical lightning energy, Franz brings his sword on his target in a fast thrust. He has three forms of this attack, for high, low, and torso attacks. (1 Cartridge)

-Shock Impulse: Franz's barrier busting ability, and a refinement of Gatotsu. First, 1 cartridge is charged and the blade is thrust into the barrier. Then another 2 cartridges are charged and detonated in a pulse of magical energy. The shockwave destablises the barrier, at which point the pointy end of Cobra makes contact with the enemey's face. (3 Cartridges)

Lightning Javelin: Similar to Fate's Thunder Blade, the differences are mostly cosmetic; Franz fires a salvo of javelins that pierce into the target and detonate.

Divine Buster : A direct copy, obviously, of Nanoha's spell of the same name. Franz uses Cobra's Rifle Form and chambers two cartridges. While not as powerful or as long-ranged as Nanoha's original version, it has a faster charge time and shorter activation delay. (2 Cartridges)

Plasma Lancer: A more powerful version of Photon Lancer, with increased attack power and the ability to turn on command should it miss. Franz copied this spell from Fate shortly after meeting her. (2 Cartridges)

Plasma Sniper: Used with Cobra's "Rifle Form", Franz pours the energy of 1 cartridge into a magical shot more powerful than a Plasma Lancer arrow. This sniper shot can track and follow its target under direct command from Franz, or be used as a high-velocity (relatively speaking) unguided magic projectile.

Photon Lancer: Claymore Shift: A spell used in conjuction with Magnum. Franz holds both of his devices and crosses his hands, before bringing them down. Having charged a large number of Photon Lancer bolts, the bolts shoot off at high speed towards the target. Individual bolt power and range is sacrificed for speed and rate of fire, resulting in a spell that is VERY short ranged. (2 cartridges per device, 4 total)

Blitz Bolter: An original spell, Franz charges a ball of lightning magic and unleashes a rapid-fire blast from his hand. It uses no cartridges, and thus needs to be used at close range for maximum effect: he employs this spell in hand to hand combat. Rarely used, but still there.

Lightning Breaker: Typically called Thunder Smasher V2.0 by many people, to Franz's complete chagrin, this is actually an original spell. His second-most powerful spell, it fires a powerful stream of focused plasma at the target. (5 Cartridges)

Variable Shot: Franz uses the power of two cartridges to form a barrier around a magical bullet, allowing it to penetrate Gadget Drone AMF. Unlike Cross Mirage, he must focus and form the barrier and bullet manually. (AA-rank, 2 cartridges)

Plasma Nodachi: Franz charges up Cobra, which shifts into a nodachi formed of glowing plasma. While he gains a larger reach and deeper stabbing ability, his sword movements are slowed, allowing a skilled close combat fighter to slip into his guard.

Giga Drill Breaker: Franz's trump card, Giga Drill Breaker is the spell that makes the most use of his hot blood. After chambering six cartridges, Franz points Cobra up to the sky. Magical energy will swirl around the blade in a spiral, forming a large drill; he then charges at the enemy and drives Giga Drill Breaker into them. GDB is less-affected by Anti Magilink Fields, and can even reduce AMF effects to a limited degree, so long as it is charged outside the range of the target's AMF. It is, however, highly vulnerable to spells such as Barrier Burst, as Nanoha Takamachi demonstrated in a sparring match with Franz.

Magnum Attack Spells:
Barrett Shot: By chambering a cartridge and firing, Franz uses this spell to fire a four-shot burst of magic at a target. (B-rank, 1 cartridge)

Variable Shot: Franz uses the power of two cartridges to form a barrier around a magical bullet, allowing it to penetrate Gadget Drone AMF. Unlike Cross Mirage, he must focus and form the barrier and bullet manually. (AA-rank, 2 cartridges)

Magnum Shot: Pouring all the power of a cartridge into a single shot, Franz fires an A-ranked magical shot at his target; the recoil is strong enough to slow free-fall, which he uses as a tactical option. (A-rank, 1 cartridge)

Magnum Stake: Magnum's sole melee ability. Inspired by Erick's Jet Magnum, Franz charges 2 cartridges, forming a physical stake. He then rams the stake into the target and squeezes the trigger, firing the stake up to 4 times into the target, which often will penetrate the target's barrier jacket and cause at least blunt force trauma. If he's in a particularly vicious mood, he'll target the opponent's groin, making this attack an Ichigeki Hisatsu-class skill. (A-rank to Ichigeki Hisatsu-rank, 6 Cartridges)

Plasma Lancer: Franz can use Magnum to fire most of Cortana's shooting spells. This Plasma Lancer is identical in every way to the original, save in power. (A+, 2 cartridges)

Plasma Sniper: As above, but fired with Magnum.

Magnum Bolter: A more powerful form of Blitz Bolter, used with Magnum. Range and power is increased with the addition of a cartridge. (1 cartridge)

Defensive Spells:
Franz's current combat style emphasises movement, flanking, rush tactics and close combat; he is not a great believer in static defenses and tanking, and would rather pour his magical energy into spell power than magical defense - "That's what the armor I wear is for!" - preferring to dodge and use cover and concealment...as much as a hotblood can use cover, anyway. (And cover is of limited value when magical beams can be guided past cover to hit the targets.)

Panzerschild: Needing no explanation, Franz uses this spell to deflect shooting spells.

Panzergeist: A field-type defensive spell. As Cobra lacks an Auto Guard ability, Franz uses this spell in place of Auto Guard to absorb magical attacks.

Deflection: This spell coats Cobra's blade in a field with a repelling effect; Franz uses this spell to deflect incoming fire.

Sonic Move: Franz puts on a burst of speed, allowing him to draw close or retreat rapidly.

Barrier Jacket Resembling the bodysuits of ODST Marines and NAVSPECWARGRU commandos, his barrier jacket is made of thicker and tougher fabric than most BJs, able to withstand heavy-caliber pistol fire. It also has magically strengthened ceramic-composite body armor, capable of withstanding heavy-caliber MG rounds and offers better protection against magical attack compared to standard Barrier Jackets. Franz will, when absolutely necessary, use the standard helmet. Otherwise he deploys without a helmet.

Other Spells:

Lightning Bind: As with the original, a binding-type spell. Franz's twist on it is to have the binds periodically taser the target, with the aim of disrupting bind breaking spells and mental focus.

Burst Jump: Franz expends energy and leaps straight into the air much higher than a normal person. He can use this ability consistently, especially if he has stuff to leap off of, such as buildings and rooftops. He is currently experimenting with using Plasma Lancer to make jumping-off points...

Glider Wing: Franz uses this ability after using Burst Jump a few times, slowing gliding back to the ground. Because he likes to use Burst Jump to get high enough for a really damn fast gravity-aided Gatotsu, Shock Impulse or Giga Drill Breaker, Franz rarely uses this spell in combat; typically using it in place of a parachute for drop operations, or for when he needs to hover in place and shoot things from the air.

"Unlimited Paper Works" ~ Infinite Filling of Multiple Forms: It's debatable as to the usefulness of this spell, which is almost Noble Phantasm-class. On one hand, it's totally useless for combat or defence. On the other hand, Unlimited Paper Works allows Franz to concentrate his energies and ignore hunger and tiredness while he fills out paperwork twice as fast as a normal person, for 14 hours nonstop. If you're like Griffith Lowran, Sergeant Major Ivanovich, or Captain Glen Schattenmann, then this spell is a god-sent opportunity. Franz has been using this spell regularly since becoming Assault Company Commander.

Beam Magnet: Franz's sole S-rank ability. Beam Magnet does nothing good for him, and is the name given to Franz's ability/phenomenon of attacting magical beamfire towards him. He's become resigned to this fact, and in fact warns his troops not to stand too close to him. This has, however, ended up in making him very useful to the OFM: early in his career, Franz would typically be deployed up front as a decoy and beam magnet, drawing fire from his Squad who would then flank and eliminate the target.

In summation, while Franz lacks any flashy moves (apart from Giga Drill Breaker), he has a skillset and list of spells that do work for him, and with 21 years of OFM experience, is well versed in his abilities and capabilities, able to come up with plans on the fly and adapting his spell deployment to new tactics. He may go down in the end... but he'll go down fighting.

Originally Posted by Reiji Tabibito

The killing thing largely depends on the squad in the RAF. Squads like the 31st, which is the fugitive pursuit and capture squad, tend to keep their targets alive; squads like the 1st, which is the heavy assault squad, are probably more like the OFM in that most of them are stone-cold killers.

Stone-cold killers, eh? Well, there's all sorts in the world. The OFM can be divided into 2 groups: Erusian War vets and those born during or after the war. The first group, which counts Erick, Ivanovich and Franz among its members, are where you'd find the guys who're most accustomed to killing; they fought in a civil war (Franz was on opposite sides of Erick and Ivanovich in the beginning, though thankfully they never met on the battlefield) and through terrorist attacks, so they know that combat is kill or be killed. The second group are those who do kill, understand that it's nescessary, but don't really look to killing as a solution to most problems...

Franz: "Hey! I am not stone cold!"
But you did shoot Naomi's parents in cold blood. And you can't kill someone unless you're using your coldblooded persona.

And even within squads, there's an individual difference. Take Sevasti and Arcas. Sevasti would have no qualms about killing a target unless it was specifically addressed in the mission objectives. Arcas is just the opposite - he generally doesn't kill unless the objectives require it.

There is that. Ivanovich for example believes in sniping - mind you he was a sniper - they didn't call him the "Mage Hunter of North Point" for nothing. Franz would rather capture targets, Chief will kill because that's what the mission calls for, Erick sees it as eliminating cancer, Mikhail wants targets alive for interrogation, and Glen reminds everyone to STFU because their orders are almost all the time assasination jobs.

And yes, Arcas wouldn't really fit in the OFM...the LEAST of his reasons being that he considered guns and rifles "inelegant weaponry."

Ivanovich: "A weapon isn't supposed to be elegant. It's supposed to kill as efficiently as possible."
Franz: "For some reason, Arcas has always struck me as a bit of a fussy whiner."
EricK: "Meh, he's happy where he is. Besides, we only recruit Erusians. Mostly."

The RAF needs no buffing up - it's plenty good as it is. I was just using the Doctor to make the point that both RAF and OFM have seen and fought things the other would never think of.

And RAFers in general don't crack easily - part of the application process for the RAF is extensive psychological testing, due to the nature of the Force and their job.

My point, though, was that you originally portrayed the RAF as being diplomats/US Marshalls and now you seem to be taking it in a Doctor Who-ish direction with no notice, as opposed to the OFM who from the start were blackops and only now have been shoehorned into this role of anti-Spawn, and are for all intents and purposes doing normal stuff, just on abnormal foes. Then again, that's what the ODSTs got stuck doing: fighting Flood and Covenant.

Though the OFM has a lower opinion of human intrinsic goodness, since it's been cleaning the Bureau's messes for years.

And what is Omega?

...you want your OCs in Alpha and you don't even know that Omega's the big bad? Reiji, what the hell are you doing?

Read this. This is Omega. And he isn't even fully powered yet.
Episode Two: Heavent Sent, Part 1 & 2

Kinda sorta. RAFers have mixed opinions about the Bureau, mostly divided by the branch of the Bureau in question.

Ground Forces: The RAF sees the GF as heroic footsoldiers commanded by a bunch of Peter-Principle grade morons. Most RAFers do not enjoy the prospect of working with anyone in the GF with a rank higher than Commander - mainly because in their experience, such officers are pompous assholes a la Regius.

Navy: The Navy is on okay terms with the RAF. RAFers do appreciate the heavy firepower the Navy's ships can give them, but that's about it.

Air Force: The RAF has a really good relationship with the Air Force - nearly two-thirds of all transfer personnel come either directly from the Air Force, or have had a previous Air Force assignment.

Hmmm. Franz's view on the Branches. Mind you he DOES have a rather strong dislike of mainstream TSAB forces:

Ground Forces: The only good GF are dead and buried on Erusia, most of them are crap, with crap tactics, crappy skills, and corruption in the ranks. And they suck ass.

(Also note that GF does not use Commander - equivalent rank is Lt. Colonel. Jesus, Reiji, if you're gonna use ranks, get them right.)

Enforcers: Surprisingly skilled; the OFM and Enforcers get along quite well.

Navy: Since Ivanovich is a Marine and the OFM are basically semi-Marines in his image, they tend to look favorably to the Navy, with some good-natured ribbing (in fact, OFM mages wear the uniforms of mages assigned to the Navy). This may be due to pragmatic reasons: you can't kick ass if the Navy, who owns the ships, isn't going to let you hitch a ride. The OFM has no opinions on firepower as the Aus'ruf lacks weaponry, relying on speed and stealth. Erick was delighted to have the White Tempest joining him.

Air Force: So-so, decent recruiting ground for Air Wing girls.

I was NOT thinking napalm.

You're deliberately limiting your options, boyo. Napalm is fairly easy to jury-rig (in worst case you can just go for normal gasoline) and does well as an area defense. This is, perhaps, the greatest difference between the OFM and units like the RAF: the OFM is able of getting by without magic and is capable of rapidly adapting to new threats and situations.

Before you complain, Navy SEALs do the same thing.

I think the TSAB has a slightly larger budget than the US Navy.

The system still works, unless you wanna say that you can repair, overhaul and upgrade a ship as it's underway.

Comparing apples to oranges here; trying to compare Star Trek to SG-1 would be like trying to compare Arnold Schwarzenegger to Bruce Willis.

[Teal'c]Indeed.[/Teal'c] But Hammond is just AWESOME.

It is not! They are uncle and niece! UNCLE AND NIECE!! NOTHING MORE!!!

Why reiji are you inviting me into a shipping war? ^__________^ I made Aaron go all swirly and Kagerou broke Kha - do you really think you can take me on?