Cogworld: An Adventure in a New Earth

OOC: Let's start this shizzle since there are nobody else who wants to join. There are still 4 slots remaining so get them while they're hot. Here's the link: https://homestuckrole-play.rpg-board.net/t2497-cogworld-a-steampunk-adventure-open-interest-check. First, I would like to emphasize some ground rules.

1. Killing another person's OC must be agreed upon by both parties.
   
2. When killing NPCs, I will allow it as long as they are expendable ones i.e. unnamed soldiers and random civilians.
   
3. Nobody is allowed to continue the events of another person's post. Only the GM (aka Me) is allowed to do that.
   
4. If ever trouble arises, please PM me.
   
5. No post order but you must wait for the outcome post made by me in order to continued. Ex: After someone posted, I respond with what happens next. Someone else posted and tried resolving it all on their own. The second one is a huge no no. Wait until I post the resolution before moving with your next event.
   
6. Have fun!
   

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It has been five years since the Condesce was overthrown by the united armies of Earth, and those five years have been relatively peaceful. Yet after those five years, the UFB and the Vericault States have had enough and declared war on its neighbor: the Caldaskin Empire.

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In the eastern continent of Ehepto, the mercantile powerhouse of the Balaksan Republic has been itching to finally show off their military to the world. Now that their competition is in a state of war, the Balaksans may join in on the action. Meanwhile, the Sarracan Sultanate and the Barassid Caliphate are on the verge for another War of the Sands but the royal hostage situation and the Treaty of the Sand has been a hindrance to their war plans, yet the Treaty itself will expire on a date that is nearer than initially thought.

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The Asdari have answered the call of their sponsor country, the UFB, and are sending goods and supplies for the war effort, yet they are staying neutral on the matter until they are provoked into war.

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Few of the tribes in Chalcana are becoming paranoid at the prospect of foreigners becoming more common in their native lands and their fears are getting fueled by the construction of a new city for foreigners. On the other side, the Utschenbach Empire decided to wholly support its fellow empire by donating new battle mechs and ships. Yet, somewhere in the country, a small group of anti-troll humans have started becoming more known and rumours fly that they may strike when the government has finally turned their heads away from its people's cries of help.

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This new Earth is on the brink of another World Conflict, yet the little stories of everyday people causing the most extraordinary actions are what will cause a large chain of events that may change the Earth forever...
I wonder whose story will we see first?

==> Be Jomm.

You are Jomm Bison. An amateur tinkerer, a journeyman in unarmed combat trained by the renowned pugilist Bido Bison, and an enthusiast of Human and Troll history, you spend most of your time bringing the ruckus to local gangs. Your constructs, powered by steam and framed by junk metal that you scavenge, are often rather blunt and utilitarian, sacrificing flowery design for pure results.

You are a bit vain, and you're often rather proud of the things you do; you spend at least an hour per day perfecting your image before hitting the streets with the usual suspects. You love coconut water, but lately it's been in short supply; a crime boss has been buying up every shipment. You repair air conditioning units and fashion small toys and contraptions for small families and kids who can't afford professional mechanists, since they charge an arm and a leg.

But, enough introductions.

In a well lit garage, the young man works with a screwdriver, slowly installing metallic ball bearing into a comically large, piston operated glove. A tube attaches it to a mostly cloth, partially iron backpack that's filled with slowly sloshing water. He shuts one of his eyes and adjusts his glasses as he places a metal plate over the installed part, then slowly screws it in.

Firearms, knives, and cannons won't come close to the majesty of this beauty. Jomm keeps his excitement in check as he twists the final screw into place, finishing the creation of his Left Cross Engine. Throwing the backpack on, and strapping the water feeding hose to his arm with a buckle, Jomm slides his left hand into the device. It's comfortably heavy. Pulling back on a stringed handle like a lawn mower, Jomm activates the steam engine, and it begins lightly puffing and popping. Time for the field test.

A five foot tall and four foor thick cylinde of dry polycrete (a stern but cheap cement substitute) is the crash dummy. Bouncing on his feet, Jomm moves forward and slams his new power glove against the cylinder of polycrete in a strong left hook. To Jomm's glee, a huge hunk of the stuff breaks off in a gout of steam, sending pebbles sailing in every direction. With a normal punch, he could crack it. With this, he could bust it to pieces in a few hits.

"YES!! I'm a genius!! d:D" 

Jomm lifts the glove above his head, and does a jaunty victory dance. His invention was a success; now he could even the odds in a fight just by slipping on a glove. The overriding power of science and hitting things wins again!

A black, sleek and small mech traversed a small street. Inside, a team of people dressed in black ran around and managed the transport vehicle. Most were human but a few trolls ran around here or there, checking the gauges and tightening nuts and bolts here and there. The male, blonde human facing the main controls looked outside the tinted viewport with a hopeful but tired look. Behind him, a girl with flowing black hair looked confused.
"Cap'n? You feelin' alright?"
The male blonde looked behind and just stared at her. He just wanted the paperwork to end, but right now, the boss's hand forced him to change his plans. To answer her question, he was thinking in his head, 'No. I ain't okay Maya. The morality of our entire group has been turned on its head and the boss isn't moving an inch.' but he just kept his mouth shut and returned to piloting the mech. Time to fetch the new recruit and to see what he made to help the Allegiance.

====> Be Cara

You’re Cara, but she didn’t notice it. She is sitting at her desk, too occupied with sketching something.

She is a creative, artsy type, with talents in using guns and knives. The latters weren't much of a surprise with a military family. Also, she is a clever one, with the fault of judging too fast combined with the trait of helping out if she can. Momentary she is having a fading blackeye from a fight of justice for that reasons. She sometimes caught daydreaming, getting her in trouble, but always forgiven.

If you look closer, you see she is drawing some gun-design, apparently trying to be useful for the Caliphate. Around in her room, a small simple place, there are several papers lying around with half finished drawings and designs. There are a few books open on her desk, both of them on guns, some lines are outlined and there are notes written near them.
She is trying her skills for now, but she seems to enjoy it. After all, it’s two of her favorite things combined.

She finally finished the sketch and frowning at it. After a few minutes of frowning, she nods to herself and starts to work on the actual blueprint. It’ll take time, but she didn’t plan to sleep too much tonight anyway, and she already skipped dinner.
She hopes it'll be accepted by the engineers, because she was working on it for days now.

At the main barracks, several officers have been arguing over the course of the uneasy patrols of the border. Some riders have been spotted scouting more closer than ever and reports from some outposts have been saying that sandcrawlers have been a more common sight. General Jirahi has been sleeping less and less, staying up all night planning how to divide up his troops among the outposts nearby. Ever since he was given the title of "General" ands was assigned to oversee Fort Sara'ili, he has been on guard and had thought of everything before hand. But right now, he was nervous and all his advanced planning has been turned to dust by the reports.
"Are you alright, sir?", said Lieutenant Raji.
"I'm fine lieutenant. I was just thinking. How's the recruit?", Gen. Jirahi replied.
"You seem interested in her, sir. Any reason why?"
"That girl has potential. Seem a shame she joined the army rather than becoming a fully fledged engineer."
"Ah. I see sir. Oh, I almost forgot."
The lieutenant fished from his pockets a white envelope. It was sealed in red wax and imprinted with the Caliph's Military Mail Services' seal. Behind, it was addressed to the general and he could already tell something was not right.
"It came in at around 0500 hours. Courier said it was for your eyes only. The only info public to him that it came from the caliph's court."
The general opened it and pulled out a letter written on brown paper. The general's eyes darted left and right as shock and surprise lighted his eyes. This was it... huge news was on the way. He stood up to address the other officers and surveyed the inside of the room.
"Men, prepare everything. I require that all our ammunitions and supplies are restocked and that all our equipment be in top shape. I will assign each of you troops to lead and each of you will be sent to different outposts. Let the men whose family are nearby to say their farewells before you leave. Court has sent us a new order. We are to mobilize immediately. The Treaty is to expire in two days, so get ready for hell to be unleashed. Dismissed."

A murky figure lyes in the trash pile overcast-ed by the surrounding apartment blocks. It rises to reveal its face to the cloud ridden sky. "Hmmm, I Vink it's round about 13:00... damn, I still can't vigure vis sun out." Said Veekus as he shaded his eyes from the some what bright day light. Only two days ago did Veekus land on earth to begin anew  and only 21 hours earlier did he hear about the Vacancy at the Supremeichallen Maximum security prison. You didn't have much luck with the military stationed here so you were advised by ... relatives, to go for a lower position and build your way up.

"Vait, 13:00... 13:00! I'm gonna be late!" Veekus jumps up into the air with his dufflebag flopping in the wind as he charged to the center of the city where the prison was located. If he didn't get there by 13:30 then he was gonna have a bad time trying to find anymore work.
"Okay, my top speed is 760kmph and ve distance is 380km. I should be vine vor time ven. but iv I vant to get vere earlier ven i'll have to cut vrough... vis jewelry store!" Veekus makes a sharp right turn and a short thrust through the push door knocking down two men in black ski masks knocking them out cold as he then busted through the back door yelling his apologies back at them. "Good, vat should have cut dovn my time by 5 minutes. My next short cut vould be... Vis long alleyvay!" He spins left and runs down an alleyway as a women jumps off a roof only to land into the 7 foot trolls arms mid sprint. They both look into each others eyes for a short period before the women screams being followed by Veekus throwing her into a soft trash pile and exiting the alleyway. "okay, vat vas veird but vere goes anover 7 minutes." Veekus reaches a tall stone ledge that people had to use an elevator to get up to the top with, but when time was being cut short he started to scale the nearby tree. after reaching the top and doing a running jump, a cat jumped off his back into a now cheery girl. happy to be reunited with its master.

The now worn out troll gasps for breath with joy for reaching the main administration building with 15 minutes to spare. Walking up to the main desk, veekus presents himself. "Hi, *gasp* I'm here *gasp* vor ve *gasp* job position *GASP* vat you vere ovvering *gasp*..." The lady looks up to the towering troll with a smile as she replies with some bad new. "I'm sorry, that position has already been taken." Veekus' heart and soul sink into his stomach as he felt himself being crushed by some simple words.

Over by a tall building near the administration, two men in black suits- one short and one tall- look over the city in a balcony above. They see all that happens in the streets of Supremeich and as usual, trouble brews as a troll runs almost everywhere around. The tall one just looks on with disgust. His motherland has been tainted by these alien scum and someone has to do something about it.
"Hans, is the case ready?" the tall one asked.
"Almost. I just need to attach some pipes and it will be done. So, when are we going to strike, Otto?" the short one said.
"We strike soon, Hans, when many of them gather. I hear many will come to the city center as a representative might come to ask for scientists. When that happens, we come like shadows."
"Yes. Soon, they will finally see. Soon, the Rassisten shall be feared."
"Spoken better than myself. Now get ready. We move out now. Es lebe der Mensch."
"Es lebe der Mensch."

==> Be Zero

You are Zero Bernadette. You're just an unknown, nobody in the Republic of Balaksa. You have lived there all your life, but you have always been stuck in Gajapra. You always knew you were different from everyone there. You didn't know how, but you could feel it.

You never belonged, and your father reminded you of this every day. He didn't mean to, but he always hinted it. He was a good father but his views, and everyone else's, didn't match up with yours.

You enjoy repairing items, making small trinkets, and sketching designs for.. that will be revealed later. In fact, you're working on that sketch right now as you wait for a customer to stop by your repair shop. Since you were 10, you had apprenticed underneath your father. This year was the year he had deemed you worthy to begin work in the shop. He was proud that you had taken an interest in the family business, but you wanted more than what this controlling town had to offer.  You have been saving up money to travel to Nakataba, it had always been your dream. The big city, the inventors, the publicity inventions received. You wanted your inventions to be brought to life, used, known.

Talking about inventions, you were sketching out a redesign for your main project as you waited in the rundown repair shop. You hummed to yourself, adding a few mathematical annotations to the side. This design would surely revolutionize the industry, but what was it? You're not allowed to know, stop being nosy! Soon the bell on the door jingled and you looked up. Who was it?

Struggling to get inside was an 18 year old guy wearing white. His shirt was white, his pants were white and even his spiky hair was white. He was surveying the entire store before walking even more forward. He was there to get his pocket-steamer that he wanted repaired a few days ago after it overloaded. He was finally at what he deemed a counter and asked "Is my machine done?"

You nod and reply, "i'll be back with your steamer," before you walk towards the back to retrieve it, leaving your sketches unattended. As you walk towards the back you could feel a draft slip through and prickle your skin, causing a break out of gooseflesh. Of course the worn down shop had more repairs, there was never an end to the things that needed to be fixed up around the rust pile. As you open the back door, you didn't have in mind your pesky little friend who liked to attempt to escape, and you open the door without a second thought.

When you open the door a miniature clockwork owl flies out. It was about the size of a grown man's hands, when cupped. The owl flew out full speed and began to fly about. "oh no..." You quickly retrieved the steamer and rushed back. "Nilge! Come here!" You groaned and looked apologetically at the man, handing him the steamer. "I am so sorry, the service fee is 50"  ((OoC: what is the name of the currency?))

"What was that just now?" the man in white asked. He had never seen such a wonderful machination before. The only flying machines he had ever seen were large airships but such a small design was unheard of. This kid looks like a promising initiate...
(OOC: For Balaksa, the currency goes from senta, ganja, and then yama. 10 senta=1 ganja, 10 ganja= 1 yama. Think copper, silver and gold.)

((OoC: Okay, well then it was 50 senta and I just realized I messed up my character's typing o.o so sorry))

"just filge. he's a psYChopatHic lil thing..." When the bird finally flew down, it landed on your shoulder, careful not the sink it's claws into your shoulder. It was actually highly intelligent. You had figured out how to use the telegraph, that you found, to transmit to a makeshift.. you didn't know what to call it. You just used the noises of the typing to activate the.. umm.. and you would send messages to it. You had already taught it commands, it's name, and some basic words.

Filge just stared blankly at the man, soon becoming uninterested, and flying off to the desk. It grabbed your sketchbook with it's talons and flew around, some pages falling down. It was strong for something it's size.

Later that day, veekus took a stroll down the market district to try and take the failure off his mind. the streets were buzzing with the sound of bartering and soapbox boys yelling the latest news. "Jewelry heist foiled by fast vigilante! Crooks now repenting and scared for their lives!" This was his chance to be apart of the city and set his roots in for the long run. "Prostitute saved from suicide by mysterious troll! read all about it!" What was his lusus going to think let alone his siblings. "Lady Victoria's pet cat saved from tree by fast moving blur! Get it while it's hot!" Veekus finally returned to the pile of trash he was lying on early as he spun around to face the street and fell back into it like a bed. "I vish vis day vould just end." he said as he closed his eyes.

...

...

...

One lazy eye opened as loud noises could be heard. A large group of trolls stand in front of what seems to be a stage in the middle of town square. Veekus sets out into the crowd to see whats happening. Apparently the group of trolls were here to be accepted for scientific positions. After a few minutes you find i seat and sit down as a women walks out onto the stage and behind the podium.

Straight from the capital city, Agraya always dreamed of being a huge name in the political industry. Her dreams were crushed of course when the Condesce was overthrown, but when she moved to the Ustchenbach Empire and was given the chance to represent her people, she immediately jumped on the boat. Right now, she was ordered to rally some trolls that might join Scientific Royal Division to help with the supply effort. As she stood on the podium, she looked down and read her speech.
"Fell0vv tr0lls, I am Agraya Markall, representative 0f all tr0lls in this area. I am here t0 ask s0me of y0u, th0se vvh0 are scientifically inclined, t0 please j0in with us t0 create a better empire. VVith y0ur help, vve may be able t0-"
Before her speech was finished, a large explosion sounded directly behind her. This just wasn't her day.

A great inferno erupted from behind some curtains as trolls and human onlookers alike duck for cover. Veekus stood up from his chair and ran towards the front as to aid those injured or see what caused such pandemonium. Thick clouds of smoke started to obstruct Veekus' view and damaged his breathing as it fell into his gills. Veekus gets onto the stage as a group of men start to appear in heavy Evo-steam-suits holding rifles aimed at the crowd and Himself.

Without hesitating veekus Charged at one of the suspects of the explosion, jumping into the air and kicking one of the culprits' visor in on itself.

Another group of people surround the roudy troll as a man who was obviously the leader walks in.
"Stand down or else we will be forced to use unecessessary force."
As they all surround the captured trolls, the two men in black suits walk in and survey the area.
"Calm down, captain. We don't want to kill our guests. At least, not now."
"Yes, sir. Men, lower your guns."
As all the mens' guns lower the tall man looks at the tall troll. This one had potential. This one looks to be salvageable.
"Is the second case ready, captain?"
"Yes, sir. It's armed and ready to blow in a few seconds."
Exactly when he stopped speaking, another explosion sounded farther away. Alarms blared and speaker-pipes kept saying "Warning! Please evacuate the city immediately. The prison has been breached. I repeat, the prison has been breached."
"Make that a few seconds ago."

@genocidalLibels
"It is amazing. Where did you learn to create such a marvel?" the guy said as he helped the kid pick up the sketches. He looked at them and was in total awe. These... these are advanced. The kid had some knowledge and it seemed a waste that a kid like that was holed up in such a conservative region. "These are amazing works. Where did you learn to do this?"

It was nearly midnight, well after the curfew when Cara finished the blueprint. She gathered the sketches for the design and sneaked out, to drop them at the engineering.
This wasn’t her first time leaving her room at the middle of night, so she knew where the officials rooms’ were and avoided them as she could.
She reached the engineering in no time, and look around, if she saw anyone. She didn’t notice any engineer, so she simply dropped the blueprint on one of the desks.
She went back to her room trying to avoid the officers on the way, though she saw the lights were on in several room, and she caught some words flying:
‘Troop movements… Court order…’
‘What is happening???’ Cara wondered, but a yawn suppressed the curiosity.

As officers and recruits scramble about, a recruit just wanders aimlessly among the pandemonium. Another one- called Private Gaia- manage to catch up to her and get her attention.
"Cara what are you doing? Haven't you heard? We're being divided and positioned.The Treaty's going to end and war is coming."

Veekus watched as the massive smoke cloud loomed over the distant Prison complex. Surveying the surrounding he counted the alleged terrorists. "Six all togever, one injured early, vour  henchmen viv ve standard Berdan rivles viv a six to eight rate ov vire per minute, each is at least a meter avay vrom me. each bullet has a velocity ov vour-hundred&virty-seven m/s so pretty much instant at vis range. still, I can dodge vem." Veekus charges at the man he had attacked earlier, ducking under the firing line of two of the henchmen. After finishing off the wounded man with a quick jab in the exact location to deal the most damage, Veekus grabs the gun and preforms a three-sixty duck fire as two more henchmen fired at him missing and killing the injured one.

As they reloaded Veekus aimed at the first to fire to prolong the time they could fire again killing him with a shot directed under the chest plate and piercing the man's heart. There was no time to stop now that he had to leap forward to dodge the second one to fire as he had finished reloading. dropping the gun he charged at the fourth to fire garbing a knife that was on the man's leg and gashing his throat. Three down two to go, Veekus spun around, stabling the blade into the side of the third henchmen's neck. Garbing the man's gun he fired the last shot.


What?.. something was wrong... veekus saw the bullet pierce the last man standing but at the same time he felt a bullet pierce his bicep.
"I... I don't get it... I shot tvo... stabbed tvo... and ve last got killed by vriendly vire... so vho vired ve last shot..." veekus looked to the direction of where the bullet came from to see the sixth man standing there... "oh, right... Ve Captian, knev I vas vorgetting someving..." Veekus fell down onto his side as the pain and exhaustion started to finally get to him.

With his pet project complete,  yama to spend, and father away, Jomm put on his jacket, and threw his backpack over his shoulder. Folding his invention down to a manageable size, he dusted himself off and made for the garage door. Gripping a small chain beside it, the young man yanked the door open, adjusting his glasses. He took a few steps out, and the heavy garage door crashed down behind him, as if to say "and stay out!"

Jomm intended to do just that. He'd been tentatively honored with selection into the Allegiance; while he had the mettle to be a soldier, he needed to prove his worth in other fields. Jomm walked the street casually, looking around. A few heads turned to observe him, but the gazes he received were mostly in passing. He had a rather distinctive look; those who meant him no harm knew he wasn't a threat, despite his activities.

Getting into the Allegiance of Unity was a colossal step forward. He'd spent his young life standing up to bullies, for better or worse. Now he could be a part of something bigger that shares his goal. He smiled broadly at the thought. 

Suddenly, he spotted a sleek vehicle traversing the road. A streamlined black mech. Jomm took a moment to admire the vehicle's engineering. 


"Hot damn. Nice ride." 

He looked over it, and suddenly realized it was an Allegiance mech. Jomm gave it a fond salute, before realizing it might just be here to visit HIM. He had blabbed quite a bit about his invention.

As the mech lowered and opened its doors, two figures walked out. The first one was the blonde captain while the second was the long haired girl. The captain turned and saw Jomm, the newly scouted initiate and looked at him.
"You Jomm? Jomm Bison? Cuz' if you are, we got something for ya' inside."

Cara was trying to get through the mass of people, when she heard her name. She turned to the other recruit, Gaia, who pointed a bunch of question at her.
‘I was wondering what this all was about. I’m just back from the engineering’ she answered sleepy, then, the things she said actually reached her, she started asking. ‘Wait, Gaia, what Treaty??? And what war???’
She deadpanned for a few minutes, but the chaos actually woke her up. She watched the people for a few seconds, and she started to follow the stream of recruits.
Gaia joined her and told her a few things. According to the other recruit, they were to be sent to different outposts in two days, and it was an order straight from the Caliph.
‘So we finally go against the Sarracs? Also, do I have time to say goodbye to my sister???’
Cara wasn’t too trilled about the events, but it was a relief after the reports. Well, she wasn’t supposed to know about that, but she sneaked out enough times to hear some info about it.

You shrug some. "i kinda taught myself.. i learned basics from my father, but i discovered some notes and built upon them." You look around and whisper "i'm not in trouble, am i?" If they found out you had discovered an alternative to steam power.. all of the major cooperations and market countries would be out for blood because of the money that they made off of steam power. Also, You never had anyone shown interest in your work. Most thought it was silly or boring, and that your time was better spent doing other things. You father even thought that you should be studying deeper into tinkering, instead of inventing.

@temporaryAbsent
As all the recruits and privates line up, officers checked and reviewed every soldier. When it was time for Cara to be reviewed, the general appeared himself and asked if he could talk with the recruit in private.
"Listen kid, let's skip to the point. I've seen you defend some of your fellows and the machinations you've drawn. I'm giving you a chance by gifting you the title of Outpust Senior Engineer in the place where you'll be posted. Should you accept it, tell your acting officer this code."
The general gave Cara a small slip of paper with the word "Alpha Code Seven" written on it.

@genocidalLibels
"You have potential kid." He gave Zero a card with the official seal of the Balaksan government. "Call the number on this card and you may be able to get a scholarship in the URW." The guy then left but not before leaving 50 senta on the counter and pocketing his pocket-steamer.

@devilishBladesmen
"You got guts, alien scum." He clicks his gun and aims but not before someone hits a broken piece of wood on his head, knocking him out. As the guy falls down, a brown haired, human girl about 17 years old is revealed.

"the urw...?" You questioned yourself before your eyes widen from excitement. You immediately called out to Filge, the bird following you as you rushed out to the town square, going to the telecommunications center. You go up to the small building and enter, placing 5 senta on the counter "i'd like to make a call please!"