Forge

> Give me a bit. I haven't met something that I couldn't unfuck so far.
>
> Illyan Arcturus Castell, most conversations about fixing anything

> How fucking asinine do you have to be to make a deal where you not only hand over what you don't have and can't get, but do so in a way that you get nothing in fucking return?
>
> Illyan Arcturus Castell, commentary on Kaleidoscope's fuck up.

# The Pilot

## Personality

Illyan Arcturus "Forge" Castell, or Arcturus as he prefers, is a cool, calm and collected individual, able to objectively see through most situations, even when in the middle of a high stress mission. However, this persona only holds true during actual operations. When off duty, Arcturus' personality devolves into one that is seemingly aloof, cold and uncaring to others due to him rarely leaving his workshop. The truth is he is simply absolutely enamored by his research and rarely socializes with others, outside of calls for his mechanical expertise.

Those that do get to know the true face of Arcturus, simply see the personality of a young, kind hearted, over-eager child that's ever dedicated to his research.

Born in the UK, Arcturus was a rather sickly child while growing up but showed a remarkable knack for technology. Having moved to the United States to study, Arcturus graduated with a masters in mechatronics and became a fairly well known researcher in his field, attending global confrences and even being invited to speak at one. His university where he was teaching and researching was part of the first casualties during the initial Vannai invasion.

Being in his underground lab at the time, Arcturus was spared from the gruesome end most staff and students suffered, however the collapse of the applied science wing of the school had functionally trapped him from the outside world. With some emergency supplies and a crude generator, Arcturus managed to survive long enough to slowly clear away enough rubble for him to make his way outside.

However, due to the nature of his sickly body and lack of medication, when Arcturus did finally emerge from the ruins of the school, he was not in any condition to survive the war torn landscape. Scarily close to death, Arcturus managed to wander for half a day before finally collapsing in a fit of bloody coughs. Lying on the ground, ready to die, Arcturus miraculously managed to get close enough to a half buried power armor drop pod to initialize its activation sequence. Minutes later, the KX138 Vulcan Mobile Support Operations Fortress was ready for deployment.

With a new lease on life and a power armor capable to performing extensive repairs, Arcturus slowly made his way across the ruins of the United States, helping others whenever the situation arose in exchange for any meager supplies that could be spared. Occasionally, Arcturus would meet up with other power armor pilots, with their suits usually in bad condition. Having heard mutterings about the surviving city of Chicago, Arcturus eventually made his way there.

Styling himself as not a fighter, but a researcher, Arcturus declined to join the Armor Corps and continued on working as an independent party. The Engineers were a group that Arcturus tried to join, however with the nanites coursing through his now healed body, his access was denied. Not to be deterred, Arcturus conducted his own research on power armors, mostly from his own armor and from the few damaged ones in the field.

Years later, Arcturus was contacted by The Engineers with his application to join approved. Arriving in Hokkaido, Arcturus was quick to re-adapt to what was his life before the Vannai Invasion began, an endless stream of sleepless nights and ever closer deadlines. Still somewhat distrustful of nanite infused pilots, Arcturus has managed to become accepted within The Engineers, in part due to his research and personality, but also because he doesn't exhibit the usual features and habits of typical pilots that have accepted nanites. With new tools at his disposal, Arcturus is all the more eager to continue on unravelling the mysteries behind the armors.

Sadly, that new life was a short one as merely months later, after finally growing accustomed to his quarters and arranging his personal lab in the *exact* way he liked it, rumors were floating around that The Engineers may not last much longer. Evacuating himself post haste, Arcturus was able to safely avoid the incident ousted The Engineers from Japan.

## Appearance

At 6 feet exact, Illyan Arcturus Castell is a tall, slightly lanky individual with sandy blonde hair. He is almost always found wearing his red engineering uniform, as opposed to a proper pilot suit or casual wear, citing that "function over form" is far more important for a engineer such as himself.

Even when piloting the KX138 Vulcan, his attire rarely changes, as he states that the amount of g-forces experienced while piloting can't exceed that of a slow, civilian vehicle and a pilot suit wouldn't shield him from the deadly energy field anyways. Additionally, he claims that more traditional pilot attire is both uncomfortable and time consuming to put on and take off, wasting pointless minutes.

As of particular note, Arcturus' outer appearance remains human like even after having his genetic structure hybridized with alien DNA. He himself speculates it may be due to this constant exposure to the KX138 Vulcan's *Rutherford Field*.

## Relations & Allies

Currently working out of Fort Ryman on the grounds of not doing the "combat" half of his Combat Engineer position, Arcturus has not made any impressions on any would be allies or enemies.

# The Suit

The KX138 Vulcan Mobile Support Operations Fortress is a dedicated field repair and resupply center. Equipped with a spacious hanger, featuring a myriad of automated repair equipment as well as a crane, the KX138 Vulcan is able to perform extensive repairs on embarked suits. Furthermore, it is equipped with two aft-mounted nano-welders, allowing it to perform repairs on suits too large to fit inside its hanger.

Located within the hull of the suit, the hanger sports two separate sets of doors, one which opens upwards towards the sky and the other which opens towards the ground. This allows suits to dock from above, or be brought in from below via crane.

Powered by an experimental Opalite Reactor and advanced solar capturing systems, the KX138 can operate for extended periods of time, in turn allowing other suits to increase their operation times in the field.

Unlike other, similar sized suits, the KX138 Vulcan is very lightly armed, sporting only a single, forward facing Titan Laser which is mounted on its turret. By redirecting all power from its repair devices, the KX138 Vulcan can supercharge its singular weapon, unleashing a devastating amount of power to eradicate static fortifications or slow moving targets.

Due to its Opalite Reactor, the KX138 Vulcan does not rely on any sort of traditional shielding. With the massive amount of energy being produced by the experimental reactor, a unnatural field of excess energy, coined as the *Rutherford Field*, surrounds the KX138 Vulcan, which disrupts incoming energy weapon fire. After reflecting or refracting an energy shot, the field becomes expended, requiring a few moments to build back up to a level where it can once again interfere with energy weapon fire.

This energy field is not without its drawbacks however, as prolonged, unshielded exposure to it can cause the decay and death of living cells, resulting in organic death within hours. This effect is greatly mitigated while within the KX138 Vulcan's shielded hanger or while inside other power armors when operating very near the KX138 Vulcan.

As reported by Arcturus and reinforced with his medical examination reports, pilots which have had their genetic structure altered with alien DNA seem to be immune to the deadly effects of the *Rutherford Field*.

## Total Points:    300/300
Name: KX138 Vulcan Support Operations Fortress

Suit Stats:
     HP:     40  [25+5+10]
     DEX:    1   [1-1+1]
     DUR:    4   [3+1]
     POW:    17  [5+6+2+4]
     REC:    7   [1+2+4]
     SPD:    3   [3-1+1]
     STR:    5   [5]

Bonuses:
     +15 to Tech
     +5 to Combat
     +5 to DEX
     +6 to Repairing
     -17 to Dodge
          [-8-5-10+6]

Faction:
     The Engineers - Combat Engineer

Class:     Fortress

Features:      -0
     >Levitation         -0 (FREE)

Bodytype:      -25
     >Overlord           -10
     >Armored            -15

Suit AI:       -10
     >Engineer AI        -10

User Interface:-10
     >Brainwave Harness  -10

Coms/Cyber:    -40
     >Radio Transmitter  -0
     >Command Link       -10
     >Defense Maze       -15
     >Coprocessor        -15

HUD:           -0
     >Suit Status        -0

Weapons:       -15
     >Titan Laser        -15

## Shield:        -0
Drones:        -60
     >Heavy Drone x2     -30
          >Flight
          >Defender upgrade
          >Equipped with Shield and Pinpoint Barrier Mod

Upgrades:      -140
     >Enviro. Controls I -0
     >Cyberbrain         -10
     >Solar Panels       -10
     >Photosynthetic Aug.-10
     >Technician         -10
     >Capacitor I&II     -20
     >Maneuvering Rockets-10
     >Storage            -0
     >Drone Carrier      -25

     >Opalite Reactor    -10
     >Viridian Capacitor -5
     >Deflector Shield   -15

Nanites:       -5
     >Hybridization      -5

```