World War Z(ako) (1 Viewer)

[Kayfabe]

And so I’m back! From outer space! I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face. You should have changed that stupid lock. You should have made me leave my key. It's So You Wanna Be a Zako: Season Three!

Background

For decades, the small, resource-rich nation of Le Monde has been in the throes of one political crisis after another, each one fueled by the ongoing feud between the superpowers. Eventually, one of those bubbling crises boiled over into a full-blown civil war. But rather than stay out of it, the superpowers sent large forces to back up their chosen factions in what was, at the time, a rather textbookish proxy war. To this day, both factions claim to be the legitimate government, declaring the other a rebel entity. What's more, because they both call themselves the Republic of Le Monde, most people just call them East Le Monde and West Le Monde, since those are the parts of Greater Le Monde that they control. The government in East Le Monde is a satellite of the Circum-Pacific Federation (CPF), while the West Le Mondean government is a puppet of the North Atlantic Confederacy (NAC).

The early days of the war were a bloodbath, in which the Le Mondean people largely lost their taste for fighting. When a stalemate was reached that left both sides with sizable territories, most assumed that Le Monde would simply split into two new countries and sign a peace accord with one another. But the superpowers wouldn't have it. For in that time, the war in Le Monde had become a cash cow for the global arms, fashion, pharmaceuticals, tech, entertainment, biotech, gambling, and adult entertainment industries. And these industries seem determined to milk this cow for all it's worth. These days, 99% of the fighting in Le Monde is done by photogenic female mercenaries, working for either the CPF/NAC directly or their puppet governments in East/West Le Monde.

Princess Peacekeeping, LLC.

Spoiler

The West Le Mondean goverment is not very popular, to put it delicately. Financially, it is almost completely dependent on aid from the NAC, and most of this money goes to private military companies, which provide internal security and external protection for a state that is both politically unstable and still at war with the "rebel" government in East Le Monde. Of these, Princess Peacekeeping is one of the largest.

Sporting the latest in NAC weapons and equipment (or export versions of them, anyway) and staffed by endless legions of women, PPK looks very formidable… on paper. But while they're very good at breaking strikes and dispersing unarmed protesters, their effectiveness on the field against comparable forces leaves a lot to be desired. In addition to its contracts with the West Le Mondean government, a portion of PPK’s profits come from sponsorship deals with clothing and cosmetics companies, and by selling film, TV, and streaming rights. To this end, everything that PPK does, from kinetic operations to shower room towel fights, is meticulously recoreded.

Most recruits see PPK as their best chance at becoming rich and famous. They see themselves as up-and-coming athletes, actors and “influencers”. Celebrities in the making. Many exhibit high self-confidence and a drive to distinguish themselves on camera. When an operation is well-planned and executed, PPK can be ruthlessly efficient, but they tend to break easily under pressure. PPK girls are notorious for being killed or captured while calling for orders once the situation has changed significantly. But the gambling/reality TV angle means that even the most spectacular losses can still be profitable for the company.

Tarantella

Spoiler

West Le Monde has plenty of internal problems, but it also faces a full-blown guerrilla insurgency in the form of Tarantella. While PPK has the capital and most large towns in West Le Monde locked down, the mountains, jungles, and rural villages are home to this army of mercenary terrorists.

It’s an open secret that Tarantella is armed, funded, and equipped by East Le Monde, and therefore by the CPF itself, but they also produce cocaine, opium, amphetamines, and a few new drugs for which Tarantella is the only known supplier. Without these supplemental profits, Tarantella probably wouldn’t be able to function, as their operating budget is a tiny fraction of what PPK can bring to bear.

As with PPK, a young woman might join Tarantella for any number of reasons, but most have one of three things going on, none of which are mutually exclusive. On the one hand, most members of Tarantella believe they’re fighting a just war against against an oppressive regime. On the other hand, Tarantella often pays better than the legal work available in their home countries. On the other other hand, many are addicted to Cobalt Blue, a powerful drug that enhances their fighting abilities, but also makes them hyper-violent and sex-obsessed. Blue is only produced by Tarantella and its shadowy patrons. The withdrawal symptoms are so intense that few could leave Tarantella even if they wanted to, but the effects of Blue are so enticing that almost no one ever wants to.

General Rules

Wanna play? Awesome. Here’s how it works: You can submit one or more characters. You're limited to two heroes and two support zako, but you can create an unlimited number of combat/security zakos.

Heroes can be aligned with either the NAC/West Le Monde/PPK or the CPF/East Le Monde/Tarantella. They can also be independent, working for the highest bidder.

Zakos will be retired early and often. Heroes can fail their mission sometimes, but they will only rarely be retired. If you have two zakos and two heroes in play and want to make another, you must wait until they’re retired or tell me to retire them. I will then either put them on a bus or put them in the ground (your choice).

For each of your characters, present a name, age, gender, and brief description and/or visual representation of their appearance. Then tell us about their personality and background. You may want to roleplay between incidents, or you may not. I’ll take care of the rest. That’s right: your precious babies are at my mercy, and I have none. I am, however, fair and impartial.

Special Rules

Character Shields: Extra lives for your special girls. If you want them, tell me how many. If you don’t want your zakos or heroes to die, TELL ME. “Immortal” characters can still be retired, but they will only ever be written out of the game in a non-fatal way. Now, if you don’t want your zakos or heroes to be retired, TELL ME THAT. They will still get knocked out, captured, and fail, but they will always be a character. There isn’t an option to have them always succeed. Sorry.

Zako Specializations: If you don't specify, your zakos will be randomly assigned to either a combat squad or a security squad. Combat squads get sent out on patrol and are actively dispatched on missions with specific objectives. Sometimes in support of a hero. Security squads mostly hang around in facilities and get choked out and stripped by stealth heroes defend their post from infiltration and attack.

Support Zakos: If you make a support zako, tell me what their general role would be. This can be anything. Are they a medic? Engineer? Pilot? Intelligence officer? Bureaucrat? You know, some kind of stormtrooper with a different helmet. You only get 2 support zakos max.

Elite: Elite zakos start at a higher level. They have more hit points, which makes them more survivable. As in previous builds of this pachinko machine, your zako can both be elite AND lucky. There are no prerequisites. If you want this, just tell me.

Lucky: Lucky zakos are always the last to be taken out, making them more survivable. Your zako can be both elite and lucky. There are no prerequisites in any case.

Incompetent/Unlucky: This is also still a thing. These poor girls are always the first to be taken out. If you like your zakos extra expendable, let me know.

Hero Specializations: Your heroes can be quiet and lethal, quiet and non-lethal, loud and lethal, or loud and non-lethal. If you don’t specify, they’ll default to quiet and a 50/50 mix of lethal and non-lethal tactics.

 

[Gunsmith12]

I'll start us off with two zako from either side then.

Alicia McClellen
PPK Elite
Alicia joined the PPK after watching them on television, noting the fame they got outside the conflict. She realized her career in the Blazing Hearts was going nowhere, so she signed up and shipped off.

She's a machine gunner - wielding either an LMG or a SAW normally, and wearing almost more bullets than proper clothes. She's pretty good at it as well - scoring high on accuracy tests with her heavy guns and can dash with the thing at the ready.

Everything she does is for the cameras, from her actions in battle to her bullying of the other zakos with her.
She pulls numerous, possibly deadly, pranks - such as jamming other girl's guns or sabotaging their wardrobe, all to make more drama for the shows. Sure, a few girls might get hurt or killed - but the payoff of her blasting insurgents away with her excessively large gun on live TV is too large for her to really care. She's here for her career, not anyone else's. When not in a combat situation she'll strip the other girls in front of the cameras, or sneak a crew into what few private areas they have.

The cameras may love her, but her co-workers will not. She might gather a small posse of lackeys if only to shield themselves from her bullying.

"Shade"
Tarentella Elite
A lifelong soldier, Shade's name is long since forgotten to the battlefield. She's used to sneaking around and setting ambushes and traps, and favors kidnapping members of the enemy for propaganda purposes. She fully believes that it's people who win wars, and people don't like getting mailed locks of their MIA family member's hair.

When she's not being a total fucking edgelord, she enjoys baking and helping out in whatever medical tents are available - civilians are hit hardest in these conflicts, so she'll prioritize their care. Her real name is Stacy Dew, but she'd die of embarrassment if that came out.

She fights mainly by sneaking behind enemy lines, picking out a lone sentry or patrolwoman, choking her out, and stealing her away. She's not good with guns or even knives, preferring to take all of her prey alive.

Spoiler: Image

Spoiler: FATES

I'd rather that neither of them die, but I'm down with them being written out some other way. A Terrible Fate of some kind, getting injured and shipped off with broken dreams, or even a happy end of some kind if you are so inclined.
Chances are they'd just be captured and imprisoned though.

 

[gamefanatic]

I wanna have a go! Will only be submitting one zako and one heroine for the PPK.

Nancy 'Big Bertha' Brock
PPK Heroine
Loud and Non-Lethal

The oldest of 4 other siblings, Nancy always had to look after the others as she grew up. They grew up in a poor family, and as such her brothers and sisters always found themself to be bullied by the other kids in the neighbourhood. Nevertheless Nancy had always come to protect and defend them. Naturally bigger and stronger than kids her age, the bullies she'd always chase away ended up dubbing her 'Big Bertha'. Initially annoyed at the nickname, Nancy came to embrace it when the rumors that came with it meant that her siblings were no longer picked on.

Nancy ended up joining PPK after a recruiter was impressed with her size and strength. Told that her siblings would be comfortably taken care of, Nancy instantly accepted the offer. Physically impressive, observers disappointingly find Nancy to be too compassionate and caring in her personality, causing her to usually try defeat her enemies through non-lethal methods. At the same time though, her comrades love her to bits as she cares for each and every one of them, despite being vastly superior to most of them.

Spoiler

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asuka Honda
PPK Lucky, x2 Character Shield, 'Immortal'

A lone child, Asuka always had to try look after herself whilst growing up. She quickly developed a self proficient character, but due to the loneliness, she tends to latch onto most people who show her any act of kindness. Joining PPK in hopes of getting a better social life, as well as changing herself overall, she has developed a somewhat 'tough' persona in hopes of not seeming weak in front of her peers. Despite this, she is very unskilled for PPK's conflict efforts, and will quickly revert to a timid, scared person should things go quickly go wrong for her.

Spoiler

Spoiler: Fates

Feel free for whatever fate to befall Big Bertha. Prefer Asuka to at least survive the first few skirmirshes (say 2?) before shes fair game, though still prefer she doesn't die.

 

[Severity]

Glad to see you back, Kayfabe!
I'll make a few.

Absalon Ivañez
Tarantella Heroine
Loud and Lethal

Born under the government of West Le Monde. When she was a young teenager, her parents - Workers at a textile factory - went on strike for higher workplace safety standards. PPK 'dispersed' the strikers, and among the dead were Absalon's parents. This was the last straw, and soon after she joined Tarantella to fight the government that killed her parents, and kill some of the group responsible for it. She fights for Tarantella's eventual victory, but if/when they do win she'll want them to stop with the drugs.
Using a Soviet CPF-made light machine gun (an RPD), she doesn't particularly enjoy her work. Occasionally, when she gets hotheaded, she'll shoot a PPK prisoner or two, but most of the time she's an exemplary professional soldier. Olive skinned and with short, jet-black hair framing her heart-shaped face and steel blue eyes, she'd fit in well with PPK if not for her steadfast opposition of them. She's average height without a particularly remarkable figure.


Archer Maggott
Mercenary Heroine (Highest Bidder)
Lethal

A religious extremist, she sees her life's purpose as to punish heretics and non-believers for their sins. She's a sadistic, sociopathic woman, and she likes nothing more than torturing her foes to death, which she's glad to do to Tarantella and PPK alike. This has made her very disliked among both groups' grunts, but when the higher-ups decide to hire her there's not much they can do... Though, she might meet with an 'unfortunate accident' at some point.
Using the same kind of rifle as most PPK girls, she's decorated hers with religious symbols. She believes that God will protect her, and so takes near-suicidal risks that no sane person would. This, of course, has worked out for the tall, buxom blonde, who has amassed a small fanbase among certain elements of society from her work with PPK. Her long blonde hair and large blue eyes giving her a look of innocence that her actions quickly dispel.


Baza Chernyevsky
Mercenary Elite (Highest Bidder)
No Preference

Having fought in the middle east, this former paratrooper still wears her blue-and-white tank top to show pride in her unit. Aside from that, she doesn't particularly stand out, courtesy of her shoulder-length brown hair, pale skin, brown eyes, and smaller-than-most breasts. She's there to make money, and has decided that the best way to do that is the classic 'Keep the war going' method, and as such she uses her NAC-standard rifle for whoever pays her more. She takes pride in her former unit, and while on the job acts professional to keep her unit's reputation. Out of combat, she's known to sleep with as many nearby girls as she can.


Blaine Fenser
PPK Normal
No Preference

A small redhead with a large chest, she's remained somehow largely unnoticed despite PPK's publicity. Her cute, round face and freckles give her an air of innocence, and she's even actually fairly innocent! She's one of the few PPK recruits to come from West Le Monde, where she managed to escape the crushing poverty she was born into by acquiring a fake passport stating she was from an NAC country, then joining PPK. As she sees it, her options were either PPK, Tarantella, or prostitution, and of the three PPK seemed to give her the highest chance of escaping the warzone of her homeland and getting a good job somewhere else.
She uses an SMG, though she'd prefer to use a normal rifle. She doesn't want to kill anyone, but if she has to she probably will. While in PPK she's picked up a heroin addiction, and her highs give her a reason to keep going and not give up on her hopes, which now seem unreachable.

Spoiler: Fates

I'd like Absalon to stay alive, but the others are all fair game for whatever. Archer, I'd like to get a painful, humiliating death, though.

 

[Kayfabe]

April 4, 11:00

It’s the rainy season in south-central Le Monde. Currently, the weather is somewhere between “torrential downpour” and “actual monsoon”. Despite this, a North Atlantic Air Force transport is coming in for a landing. The venerable C-130 is painted a legitimate gray, a holdover from when the war in Le Monde was more… normal. That color, and the NAAF logo serve as a warning. Even Tarantella would think twice before shooting down this plane.

Just in case, a pink-and-white Princess Peacekeeping gunship is making a wide circuit around Fort Willis, patrolling for enemy air defense units. The UH 60 is more representative of the conflict as it exists today. Glossy pastel pink and white, with an anime version of a popular Boobtuber on one side and a promo for a new game show titled, ominously, “The Elephant Never Forgets” on the other.

“Here it comes,” says Absalon. She’s holding a CPF-made missile launcher on her shoulder. She sights the transport as it comes into range, locking onto the heat from its one of its engines. “It’s now or never.”

“Do not engage, Ivañez.” A male voice comes back over her headset. “Goliath just wants confirmation.”

“Tch,” Absalon sighs and lowers the launcher. “I hope Goliath knows what he’s doing.”

“The NAC would love it if we shot down one of their planes,” says the boy.

“It’s camouflage,” says Absalon. “They’re bluffing, and we should call it. There’s nothing but Princess on that plane.”

“Probably,” replies the young man. His tone is not unsympathetic. “But knowing our luck, there’s also some senator on a ‘fact-finding’ mission. Don’t give the NAC an excuse to bomb us more than they already are.”

“We can’t just let them keep getting resupplied like this. They’re getting ready for something big.”

“Yeah, well, so are we.”

Absalon raises the launcher again. “What about the Black Hawk?”

“Just come home, Ivañez.”

“Roger,” says Absalon. “Ivañez out.” She lowers herself back down into the passenger-side seat of their jeep. Gently, she sets the missile launcher down in back. “Let’s go.”

“Back to camp?” asks Shade.

“Yeah.”

Shade yawns and nods and starts the engine.

Crammed into the transport are almost a hundred young women. Princess Peacekeeping soldiers. They’re dressed fairly practically for the flight: insulated fatigues with a water-proof poncho on top. Pastel pink, designer fatigues, of course, but after one out-of-court settlement too many PPK has stopped mandating Erotic Action attire for personnel on flights expected to break 10,000 feet. Not that it matters. No one’s recording anyway.

Fort Willis is in a bad neighborhood, so to speak, and the runway has seen better days. Shouts and swears erupt from the girls as the transport makes a rather rough landing. They survive, though, and Lt. Col. Holloway has another hundred girls (more or less) to throw into the meat grinder. Bets will be placed, screens will be watched, ad time and distribution rights will be sold. And maybe, just maybe, PPK will finally be able to secure the Lowlands and get the vultures at Barton-Hoffman off her back.

Nicole Holloway is pushing fifty, but she doesn’t look a day over nineteen. Currently, she’s wearing a monogrammed, pink-and-white bathrobe, the hem of which stops just ever-so-slightly below the waist. From the rain-streaked windows of her office, she watches them unload the plane for a while. None of those girls know what they’re in for, she thinks.

Eventually, she snorts a line of coke and gets up to get “dressed”. Snowball, her little white dog, patters after her. Holloway has an operation to plan.

After disembarking the plane, the new arrivals are herded into an empty hangar where some new clothing and equipment is being issued. This takes a while, as orientation briefings have to be given, and new release forms have to be signed.

“Open bays? You mean we don’t even get our own rooms!?” Alicia is having the worst day ever. She was promised a soft assignment in the capital. Posing on white, sandy beaches. Rubbing elbows (and other things) with the rich and famous of West Le Monde. Getting picked up for a special stream. But now she’s been assigned to some run-down little military airport out on the front, and doesn’t even get her own room! She signs the release and slaps it into Blaine’s hands.

“You’ll get used to it!” says Blaine, who immediately moves on to collect forms from the other new arrivals.

“If I lose PayPig subscribers over this I’ll sue!”

Blaine turns around and holds up the form that Alicia just signed. “No you won’t!”

That does it, thinks Alicia. She looks around for someone to take this out on.

After the releases are signed and collected, the new arrivals change into their Erotic Action fatigues. The camera crews make a whole scene out of this, and encourage as much sexual harassment, jocular grab-ass, and legitimate lesbian flirting as possible. Princess Peacekeeping “medics” make a show of taking waist, hip, and bust measurements. Some of the girls are already streaming on their own phones, asking their PayPig subscribers to vote on which of the approved EA uniform variants they should choose.

Nancy just wants to find her bunk-mate and get settled in, but the camera guys won’t leave her alone. They make a big deal out of her size, and pester her with interview-type questions. After one of the “assistant producers” asks her if he can put his head between her thighs, she panics.

“Honda!” she calls, reading from the packet she was given. “A. Honda!?”

Asuka stops and turns around to see who could be calling her name. Unfortunately, this means she collides bodily with an angry, power-walking Alicia.

“Ugh!” says Alicia. “Ew! Watch it, fat-ass!”

Asuka would be more insulted if she wasn’t actually kind of confused. She doesn’t consider herself to be particularly heavy. Certainly no more so than the pompous brat in front of her. Still, she was about to apologize before she remembered: act tough. Make them respect you.

“Fuck off,” she mumbles

“What was that?” A glimmer of joy in Alicia’s eye. She makes a sideways glance at the nearby producers.

“I said FUCK OFF!” Asuka shoves Alicia. Or tries to. But Alicia grabs her by the arms and kicks Asuka’s legs out from under her. Asuka goes down hard on the concrete floor. “UGH!”

“Oh, shit! Yes!” says one of the producers. The camera guys flock over to the altercation, but Nancy actually follows them, worried that this is her fault somehow.

A half dozen cameras are trained on Alicia now, who has poor Asuka in a submission hold. “Hey, y’all! It’s ya girl! Alicia! I’m just settling in at my new ~front line assignment~! Getting ready to take the fight to Tarantella! But before I can do that, I gotta teach this dumb bitch a lesson!” With one hand, she squeezes one of Asuka’s boobs.

Nancy is scandalized. “Um, shouldn’t one of you be stopping this?”

“Are you kidding?” says one of the producers. “This is great!”

“Spank her ass!” says another.

Nancy rolls her eyes. “All right,” she says, stepping in. “That’s enough of that, I think!”

Alicia looks smug at first, but then she does a double take and her eyes go wide for just an instant. “Fuck outta here, Big Bertha. This has nothing to do with you!”

“Oh, you’ve heard of me, then,” says Nancy. She cracks her knuckles. “That means I don’t have to explain what’s gonna happen next.”

“What?” Alicia snorts. “Your name is ACTUALLY ‘Big Bertha’!? Hahaha!” She stands up and cracks her neck back and forth. “All right, then!” She turns to the camera guys. “You’re getting this, right?”

Spoiler

Alicia: 4/4 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Lv. 4 (0/100 XP)
Nancy: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, 2 Damage, Lv. 8 (0/2500 XP)

Alicia rushes in for a sucker punch, but in spite of her size, Nancy dodges it anyway. Oh, fuck, thinks Alicia. She backpedals and leans back, narrowly avoiding a powerful right-hook from the enormous amazon. The girl’s arms are like steam pipes. If that punch had connected…

Alicia’s heart starts racing. What have I gotten myself into? It’s too late to back down, though. The cameras are rolling. No, fuck that, she thinks. She never had a chance to back down. As soon as this big freak showed up, Alicia had no choice but to fight her. The thought of this pisses her off enough that she ducks under another swing and attacks, punching Nancy in the right shoulder.

“Ah!” Nancy cries out. The producers are excited, and everyone is gathered around to watch the fight. She tries to grab Alicia, but she’s too quick.

Alicia bobs in and catches her with a body blow.

“Ugh!” Nancy has had enough of this. Consciously, she leaves herself open. Alicia feints, or tries to, but Nancy’s arms are so long that she catches Alicia anyway, promptly putting her in a headlock.

Asuka struggles to her feet. Nobody bothers to help her up. Everyone is focused on the fight. The big girl, ig Bertha (?), she looks like she’s choking out that awful brat.

Alicia tries not to panic, but the red is already starting to form on the periphery of her vision. Not knowing what else to do, and ever-aware of the watching cameras, Alicia grabs the big girl by the pussy and squeezes for everything she’s worth.

“What!? Ugh!” Nancy releases Alicia, who wastes no time clocking the big girl across the face. “Ugh!” Nancy staggers backwards. Alicia follows this up with a savage kick to the amazon’s groin. “Augh!!!”

Her poor pussy, thinks Asuka.

But when Alicia foolishly tries to do the same thing again, Nancy catches her by the leg and pulls Alicia down on her but. Then, she drags Alicia forward and falls on her, driving her knee down into the smaller girl’s belly.

“WUH!” Alicia gasps. Her eyes go wide, but then they roll up. Her tongue lolls. She’s out.

Spoiler

Alicia: 0/4 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Lv. 4 (7/100 XP), KO
Nancy: 2/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, 2 Damage, Lv. 8 (10/2500 XP)

Eventually, the gathered crowd disperses, except for the producers, who are busy taking close-up photos of Alicia at awkward angles. At one point, a “medic” comes in to confirm that she’s still alive before the producers get to it.

“A. Honda, right?” Nancy extends her hand. “I’m Nancy.”

“Not ‘Big Bertha’?” Asuka grins, taking Nancy’s hand and shaking it. “Are you all right?”

Nancy winces, embarrassed at rubbing her crotch in front of everyone. “I’ll be all right. Just a little bruised.”

“Well… thanks,” says Asuka, blushing.

“Hey, don’t mention it,” says Nancy. “So… top bunk or bottom?”

“Are you serious? Top! I want the top bunk! Fuck, I’d be killed if you came down on top of me!”

April 4, 15:13

In the small town of San Velasquez, Baza is finishing a phone call on the patio of the cafe of the hotel she’s staying at. Her contact speaks with a deep, fake, digitally distorted voice. She knows him only as “Goliath”. Apparently, he’s some CPF intelligence officer. The line isn’t secure by any means (hence the digital distortion), but San Velasquez is safely inside East Le Mondean territory. Here, Tarantella is less of a national security threat and more “those wild girls who come into town and get rowdy drunk every few days.”

“For a two-year contract?”

“Yes,” says Goliath. “Is that acceptable?”

Baza wants to make a joke, but decides to play it cool instead. “Yes.”

“Good. Your mailing address is unchanged?”

“That’s right.”

Goliath abruptly disconnects.

A two-year contract. West Le Monde was offering one too. For more or less the same amount, in theory. But only in theory. The rates were lower, but they had a better life insurance payout. That was their mistake. Baza didn’t plan on dying. Even if she did, what the fuck was she supposed to do with a “you died” bonus?

An old, open-bed military truck of CPF-make noisily rolls to a stop across the street. A dozen or so loud, laughing, Tarantella girls spill out and make for the nearest bar. Baza can’t help but notice how hot and under-dressed they all are. Two years, running with Tarantella, surrounded by bare, sun-tanned bouncing breasts…

I could get used to that, she thinks.

 

[dinomoneymaiden]

Alright Imma repurpose some of my older characters for this, perhaps will make entirely new ones when they're retired Because of the reuse of old images, some outfits shown in the reference images will be definitely unfitting lol. Pretty short simple descriptions so hope that's fine. Just flesh them out along the way when possible is my motto I suppose heheheh...

PPK Zako: Juliet Valentina

Mostly just a fame and attention seeking slut, Juliet is a stereotypically ditsy blonde girl. She can hold a pistol and fire it, but that's about her only skill. She isn't great in the brains department. She thinks she's a bit of a "big deal" because of her supposed clout and popularity on the internet, and joined PPK only because she thought they seemed really pretty and cool without much of an actual grasp on the politics involved at all.

Spoiler: Juliet

PPK Hero: Victoria "Vixen" Fox
Specialization: Quiet and lethal

Vixen has been trained from a young age as an assassin, spy, and later on even as a seductress. She's very loyal to her cause and would much rather die than to betray her allies in any way, but mostly because that's all she's ever known. She has a knife collection and carefully chooses which ones to bring on any given mission every time.

Spoiler: Vixen

Tarantella Zako: Miyu Dojima

Miyu is a generally smart girl, though a bit of a rude know-it-all. She originally joined Tarantella solely for profit, but stayed for Cobalt Blue, which she formed a crippling addiction to. Her weapon of choice is an SMG.

Spoiler: Miyu

Tarantella Hero: Marianna Martinez
Specialization: Loud and nonlethal

A woman well trained in both rifles and CQC, though she generally uses rubber bullets. Marianna despises PPK, but the individual girls within PPK she tends to find just too cute to kill. Many find how soft she is to be her wasting her skill, but she believes roughing up her enemies really badly can send just as powerful of a message as killing them, though if push comes to shove and she just has to do it, Marianna is willing to kill an enemy. Marianna is also a lesbian and a shameless pervert who enjoys playing around with, groping, and teasing her enemies if given the chance.

Spoiler: Marianna

 

[Severity]

Sighing sadly as she picks up her drink, Blaine Fenser drinks the shot of vodka the base's bartender has served her. One of the pleasures of being an NCO, she thinks to herself. 'Another day, another pittance... At least now I have my own room, since I'm a sergeant.' She forgets what her official PPK title is often, but she's sergeant-equivalent. She continues thinking. 'Those poor, stupid girls. I can't believe people actually sign up for this... Do those idiots actually think they're gonna make it big? The war's gonna eat them all.'
She turns to the other NCO sitting beside her, and begins talking to her.
"You see these new rookies? They must be playing up the 'sexy' angle, because I'd bet ten-to-one odds none of those girls have ever fired a gun. I bet maybe half of 'em will survive their first mission. That big blonde, the one who beat the shit out of the smaller girl... I've got a good feeling about her, but the rest of these poor girls will be lucky to go home at all."
From there, the conversation moves to betting on how long the new recruits will last, and inevitably before long there's more money in the NCO Lounge's betting pool.

Baza follows the Tarantella girls into the bar, intent on having a good time with some of her new comrades.
When she wakes up the next morning, memories of a very enjoyable night greet her. Yes, she decides, this was the right choice, as she holds the nearest Tarantella girl closer.

Once the jeep returns to their base, Absalon climbs out and returns to the shallow, dirt-and-plywood covered dugout that she sleeps in. As usual, she repositions the camouflage netting on top to cover the entrance before she lies down and opens her book. It's not one normally available in East or West Le Monde, courtesy of the small market size and conflict. She'd found it, as well as several others like it, in the back of a light transport vehicle that she'd ambushed with her Tarantella comrades earlier that month, and so she began reading through them in her downtime. The cheery romance of her current book helps her forget the disappointment of earlier, and soon she's returned to her usual moderately-cheerful mood.

Archer Maggott is on a boat that will soon dock in a major West Le Monde port. Officially, it's a merchant ship full of consumer goods and canned food, chartered by believers in her particular brand of zealotry. In reality, it's carrying weapons for the West Le Monde government, as well as Archer and about a dozen like-minded believers intent on either escalating the war in Le Monde to bring about armageddon, or if that fails to attempt a coup of the West Le Monde government and install a religious dictatorship in its' place, which they are certain will be able to unite Le Monde and provide them with their own sovereign nation.

edit: confused East and West Le Monde. Archer's boat is full of guns for West Le Monde, not East. oops.

 

[Grolbaka]

PPK



Tina Tompkin

PPK Heroine

She will do whatever suits the situation. Loud/notloud, lethal or not lethal.



Tina growing up was bad at school, bad at crafts, bad at singing, infact the only thing Tina was good at was staying in shape and having a fairly pretty face. Going into the work force. She was a poor waitress, terrible customer service rep and an even worse mechanic. What she was good at was adult entertainment, of which she made decent money until the PPK and it’s explosion of princess media rapidly began draining her fan base and income. Seeing little other recourse Tina joined the PPK.



At the PPK She discovered that she actually had another talent, fighting and surviving, being a natural born fighter and lucky in the field. Tina after a series of successes and a drastic increase in followers did away, with any chest and lower body coverings she had put on and dedicated herself to Princess Adult media. She developed a sort of fighting she calls ‘Pose Fighting’ and prefers to fight with a trusty Pistol and a Large Combat knife. (Pose fighting, fighting whilst attempting to strike enticing poses, impractical but she makes it work.)

Spoiler

Karen Williamson

PPK Zako

Incompetant



Karen is you didn’t know any better would be a spoiled rich kid turning her nose up at the world. In truth Karen comes from a poor family with little prospects, she however always demanded to be treated highly and richly, causing significant friction at home and in many social situations. Karen when given any authority ran with it, turning into a domineering and insufferable person, managing to turn even a book club toxic.



Karen Joined the PPK with the attraction of gaining status, wealth and for the joy of forcing those who are powerless to do what she wants (bullying civilians). Karen is probably the worst soldier, ignoring all training, freezing in uncertain situations and strolling around confidently, and loudly even when it is inappropriate.

Spoiler

Tarantella



Julia Mabeyra

Tarantella Heroine

Prefers Quite and Lethal.



Julia was not attracted to Tarantella for the money, the Drugs or even the idealism. She was attracted due to the opportunity to perfect her marksmanship. Julia is one of the shortest fighters in this ‘war’ standing at just over 4ft 10. Whilst she does not particularly take well to the short jokes she does tolerate them unless they get up in her face. Julia Is otherwise a quiet individual with a poor sense of humour and likely a sociopath

Spoiler

Mariana Havez

Tarantella Zako



Mariana had a troubled life under constant threat from west Le Monde violence. She spent most of her teens working to help those who would overthrow West Le Monde and joined up with the Tarantella when she was able. Mariana is an idealist and turns a blind eye to Tarantella’s wrongdoings in order to help take down West Le Monde.

Spoiler

All 4

Spoiler

I have no preference on how they end up. If they die? Cool. If they don't? Cool.

 

[Kayfabe]

April 4, 19:08

“This is Vixen. I’m in position.”

“You’re late,” says Col. Holloway, over the radio. “I was beginning to worry.”

“I had a little trouble finding the camp,” says Vixen. “I think they moved it.”

“Do you have a visual on the target?”

Vixen takes out her binoculars. It’s dark, but she’s scoping out the area around an active barrel fire. Two Tarantella guards are standing around it, smoking and chatting, but they’re too far away for her to hear what they’re talking about. Behind them is big, green canvas tent. The kind you can stand up and walk around in. “No… probably in that tent, though. Who’s the hostage, again?”

“Just some worker from the Barton-Hoffman plant up north,” says Holloway.

“And they’re paying to get to their worker back?”

“No,” says Holloway. “This is a courtesy call on our part.”

“I see,” says Vixen. She’s still scoping out the area, but can can really only really see anything in the immediate vicinity of the campfire. “There are only two guards.”

“I’ll send backup immediately,” jokes Holloway. “They must be not be expecting company.”

“Looks like it,” says Vixen. She unsheathes one of her bigger knives, and feels the familiar twinge of excitement. “All right, Colonel, I’m going in. I’ll contact you when I’ve secured the target.”

“Good hunting. Holloway out.”

Spoiler: Lineup

PPK Forces: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, 2 Damage

1: Vixen: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, 2 Damage, Lv. 8 (0/2500 XP)

Tarantella Forces: 3/3 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage

1: Tarantella Guard A: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage
2: Tarantella Guard B: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage
3: Tarantella Guard C: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage

Spoiler: Guards A-C

Vixen is just going to have to play it by ear and trust that no one else is around. There are plenty of trees for cover if it comes to that. She circles around to approach the campsite from behind. The two guards are standing pretty close together, it’s going to be hard to take them both out quietly…

She closes to within striking distance. This may not end up being quiet, but it will be quick. Vixen knocks Guard A down with a leg sweep. She goes down. “Wugh!”

“Wha!?” Guard B turns to face them, but before she can properly react her throat is slashed open by a quick rising swipe from Vixen, who follows up by driving her knife down into Guard A’s back, fatally wounding her as well. “Augh!!!”

“The hell!?” hears Vixen from inside the tent. She cartwheels back around the corner of the tent just as a third Guard (C) emerges from it, SMG at the ready. She finds Guard A on the ground, noisily crawling away on her elbows. Guard B is more quiet. Staggering around, pointlessly clutching at her gushing throat. Guard C turns around just in time to see Vixen rushing her.

She doesn’t even manage to get off a shot. Vixen grabs her arm, spins around behind her and instantly puts Guard C is a submission hold. “Wait!” she cries, but Vixen doesn’t listen. “Waa-ahh!” Savagely, Vixen stabs Guard C three times in the chest before kicking her to the ground.

Vixen doesn’t waste any time, she bursts into the tent, ready to slash or stab another enemy, but the only person in the tent is a forgettable-looking forty-something guy hogtied in the corner. Vixen relaxes, wiping her blade on a nearby cot before kneeling down and cutting him loose. She fireman carries him out of the tent. At this point, all three Tarantella girls have gracelessly finished expiring.

“This is Vixen,” she says. “I got him. Drugged and dehydrated, but he’ll be all right. Call us a cab, Colonel.”

“That was fast,” says Holloway. “Chopper is inbound. Good work.”

Spoiler: Results

PPK Forces: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, 2 Damage

1: Vixen: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, 1 Damage, Lv. 8 (6/2500 XP)

Tarantella Forces: 0/3 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 2 Damage

1: Tarantella Guard A: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
2: Tarantella Guard B: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
3: Tarantella Guard C: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead

 

[Severity]

I got permission from Kayfabe to make another zako (wanted to switch Archer and Blaine's statuses, make Blaine a heroine, stuff happened)
So, here she is~


Cajsa Calahan
Mercenary Lucky (sticks with Archer, is one of the others from her boat)
No Preference

A fairly short, flat-chested blonde, Cajsa has always looked up to Archer both as an elder sister and as a role model for her entire life. She's envied Archer for as long as she can remember, and the constant comparisons to Archer at home left her to feel inadequate and with little self-esteem. She's jealous of everything Archer has, from her ample chest to her seeming divine favor. She's very careful to not let Archer know of any of this, though, since she wants above all else to remain close to Archer, and is afraid her envy of Archer will be declared a sin and cause her to be alienated.
In short, she's jealous and fearful, and wouldn't have come along if her parents hadn't constantly compared her to Archer and given her an inferiority complex.

Spoiler: Fate

I'd like her to, if she does end up dead, have some time to monologue reflect on things before she dies.

 

[Gunsmith12]

Alicia takes her beating well - too well, actually.
On top of the increase in subscribers she got, the notoriety among fans of the TV show, and attention of the producers, there was something.... electrifying about getting hit, choked out, defeated. She's not gonna throw any matches - but since she'll win no matter what she does, there's no harm in it, right?
She's gonna have to pick more fights.

Spoiler

Alicia Has Unlocked Masochism!

I'm also adding a new character.

Scriptsit
Tarantella Heroine
Scriptsit is an intel gathering specialist -something that's quite easy with all the PPK sluts running private streams. What's hard is trying to separate the ones who are camgirling in some random bathroom from the ones accidentally recording vital military secrets.
She spends most of her day indoors, watching livestreams and noting what she can from them. Sometimes, she'll even make requests - by paying just enough to get a shoutout, she'll ask the streamer to strike a pose that'll move the camera into a better frame or get the girl in question out of the way. By promising an extra $50, she almost always gets the desired result.
She's not even subtle about it - the screen name she goes by on most streaming sites is "Terry Ann Teller".
"His" generous tipping practices mean that "he's" well known in the PPK follower community.

She's decently good at hacking as well, thought it's more due to PPK being lazy. A high-quality system will be beyond her. She's also very good at splicing into networks - such as power lines - to supply electricity and internet to whatever Tarantella base she's at.

When not watching PPK livestreams, she's usually playing videogames around base, lounging around in her underwear complaining about the heat, or placing hidden cameras around the base - strictly for security purposes, of course. Bathrooms and lockers are common places for infiltrators to hide dead and unconscious bodies because of the assumed privacy, after all.
She's not selling the footage to anyone, how dare you.

Spoiler: Kisekae

yes she'd be less hot without the socks but those are her hacking socks

Spoiler: Fate

She's got her ducks in a row - she's with Tarantella just because it pays well and she's a big fan of watching PPK girl ryona vids. Her real name is Connie Brooker, and two years ago she was "kidnapped" in an as-of-yet unsolved case. If captured, she'll legally claim that she was under duress - and the recordings she'll gather of other Tarantella girls yelling at her or beating her up for her shenanigans will work wonderfully to support that position once edited. Her pay is well hidden in an offshore bank account, and there's no connection between her and the "Terry Ann Teller" identity.
By the time she walks away from this, she'll be a few hundred thousand richer, have some great stories to tell, and quite possibly be a media darling for her bravery during her years of torment.

 

[Kayfabe]

April 7, 13:13

Absalon is in town today. Gallardo, to be exact. A small town in the lowlands of south-central Le Monde. Right on the Viamento River. It’s the last stop on the road to the mysterious Barton-Hoffman plant, and it’s where most of that plant’s workers live.

Before the war, it was a tiny fishing village. But when Barton-Hoffman moved in, they flooded it with overpaid foreign workers from the NAC. Currently, Princess controls the plant, the town, and the road that connects them, but only because they can get supplies and reinforcements in by boat. They’re completely hemmed in by Tarantella otherwise.

Absalon is worried that the almost daily deployments to Fort Willis are in preparation for a major offensive. One that seeks to break the Tarantella blockade of Gallardo and the Barton-Hoffman complex. If Absalon were in charge, she would pull everyone off the roads and back to Aguilera, but Absalon is not in charge. Goliath is. And Goliath has spent the last two years getting Tarantella as close to that plant as possible. He wouldn’t willingly concede an inch.

Absalon is here to find out why.

She walks into a dark and dusty bar. It’s the middle of the day, so no one’s here. No one but her contact. He’s a local, a Le Mondean. His family are among the last of Gallardo’s original inhabitants. Used to be a fisherman. Now he spends his nights in a bar, serving drinks to Barton-Hoffman workers and Princess Peacekeeping mercenaries. He overhears things.

“Hey, Armando.” Absalon sits down at the bar. “I can’t stay long, so let’s make this quick.”

He nods. “You got the stuff?”

“Uh… yeah...” Absalon sighs. She puts an old metal lunchbox up on the table and opens it. Inside the lunchbox is a legitimate boxed lunch, but Absalon takes out the thermos and starts to unscrew the cap. “Gimme a glass. And a… spoon or something.”

Armando puts the glass he’s been cleaning down on the bar in front of her. Absalon empties the thermos into it. Just coffee. A moment later, he returns with a butter knife, which Absalon uses to dislodge the small vial suction-cupped to the bottom of the thermos. She spills it out into her hand. A clear glass syringe tube with a bright blue liquid inside.

“That’s it?” says Armando.

“That’s fifteen doses!”

He shakes his head. “I need nine months’ worth.”

“What?” Absalon scoffs. “You know this doesn’t work on men. What do you even need it for? You’re not gonna sell it, are you? WE don’t even sell the Blue! It’s for internal consumption only.”

“All my sons are in their mines! All my daughters are in your army!”

“I know,” says Absalon. “I’m sorry.”

“My youngest… Velia… She’s pregnant.”

“Oh,” says Absalon. Suddenly, she understands. “And she’s addicted to the Blue.”

Armando nods, tears welling in the old man’s eyes. “I want her out. Just long enough to have the baby. She can rejoin the fight after that.”

“What unit is she in, do you know? If she’s at Aguilera, I can have her transferred somewhere safe. Send her to East Le Monde, or something.”

He looks up. “You… you’d do that?”

“Of course!” Absalon smiles. “I’m really good friends with the commandant there!”

“All right.” Armando relaxes visibly. He hands the vial back to Absalon. “I only know what I’ve already told you. I’m afraid I don’t have anything new.”

“What you’ve already told Tarantella, you mean. It’s all news to me, Armando.”

“Oh.” He narrows his eyes at her. “I see. Well, it is a fully operational aluminum plant. They use it to process the bauxite rock from the-”

“I also have the Internet, Armando. What are they REALLY doing there?”

“They really are making aluminum! But that doesn’t seem to be ALL they’re doing. Understand? The amount of aluminum they send downriver doesn’t match with the amount of bauxite going in. It’s less then you would expect. They’re using some of it on-site for... something. And then there’s the-”

“Ivañez,” says Julia, over the radio. “You’ve got company.”

Absalon stands up and puts a finger in her ear. “Talk to me, Mabeyra.”

“Two MAVs from the local garrison. Headed your way, I’m pretty sure. I would get out of there, in any case.”

Armando looks resigned. “Have I been-?”

“Compromised?” says Absalon. “Yeah, looks like it. Come on, you can tell me the rest on the way to camp.”

“They’ve split off,” says Julia. Her voice is calm. It’s as if she’s describing the movements of microbes on a microscope slide. “Sealing off your block, it looks like. They’ve stopped. Troops dismounting. Princess infantry. Want some cover?”

“Yes, please,” says Absalon. She’s already left through the back door with Armando, leading him by the hand, wishing she had something bigger than a 9mm.

Spoiler: Lineup

Tarantella Forces (16/16 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense)

1: Absalon: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, Lv. 8 (0/2500)
2: Julia: 8/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, Lv 8 (0/2500)

PPK Forces (14/14 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense)

1: Trooper A: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
2: Trooper B: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
3: Trooper C: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
4: Trooper D: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
5: Trooper E: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
6: Trooper F: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
7: Trooper G: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
8: Trooper H: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
9: Trooper I: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
10: Trooper J: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
11: Trooper K: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
12: Trooper L: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
13 Trooper M: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense
14: Trooper N: 1/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense

It’s a right and proper ambush. They must have known she was coming somehow. Flashes of white and pink and skin as Princess troopers spill into the alleyway. “Freeze!” yells one. “Hands up!” shouts another. Absalon shoves Armando through a nearby rotting wooden door and pushes him into the abandoned building within. She’s right behind him. And good thing, too, because the PPK girls make good on their threats and open fire.

“Where’s that cover, Mabeyra?”

“Sorry,” says Julia, sounding almost mildly annoyed. She’s at a window on the top floor of an apartment building. One high enough to let her cover the bar. Or, at least, she was just a moment ago, until she noticed another squad of Princess go into her building. Now she’s on the fire escape, heading up. “My position was compromised.”

Absalon already sees her next step, a good way out of the building that she and Armando are currently in. So she hangs back for just a minute, waiting for the Princess troopers to round the corner. She double-taps one right in the girl’s naked belly before pushing Armando toward the exit.

Meanwhile, Julia leaps across the alley and onto the roof of the next building. It’s something she knows the average PPK rent-a-cop can’t do. Ducking behind a big air conditioner, she sights up and into the window of the apartment she had just been squatting in. Like Absalon, she lingers, just long enough to snipe one of the unsuspecting PPK girls. She gets one with her bolt-action rifle, nearly taking the trooper’s arm off at the shoulder. She’s too far away to hear the screams, but she catches a glimpse of the girl’s anguished expression through her scope before moving on. Automatic fire from the window strikes the hot tar roof on every side of her as she drops down and disappears into the far alley.

“Proceeding to the rendezvous point,” she says.

“I copy,” says Absalon. As quickly as she can, she herds Armando a ways down the next alley, but more Princess troops appear and cut them off. Roughly, she shoves Armando down behind a dumpster and joins him there while the Princess girls light up their position.

Elsewhere, Julia rounds a corner and blunders into a squad of the girls. Fortunately, they’re almost just as surprised to see her as she is surprised to see them. She catches one, a blonde, in the belly with a snapshot, blowing a hole clear through the girl. While that one dies--loudly--the rest of the squad returns fire, forcing Julia back around the corner.

Absalon goes back the way she came, dragging Armando along with her. It’s dark in that abandoned building, but that’s what she’s counting on. She tells Armando to get down and stay out of sight, then gets ready to level the playing field a bit.

The first squad from before is down one girl. Absalon can hear her all the way across the room. The girl she shot twice in the belly is loudly moaning. Probably isn’t going to make it. The rest of the girls are in there with her, making a very amateurish sweep of the place. It’s child’s play to get around behind them and grab one of the stragglers. The others don’t even notice as Absalon chokes her out in the dark… Now she has a real weapon.

Julia isn’t faring quite so well. She’s out breath and out of her element, fighting in close quarters. How did Princess know her position? This isn’t even a real mission! She just came along because she was bored! They’ve gotta have a drone in the air! These thoughts and others race through her mind as she tries in vain to lose her pursuers. This isn’t the target practice she was promised! It’s cardio!

Another four PPK troopers emerge from around the corner to block her path. But rather than simply light her up, they stupidly demand that she surrender. They must be trying to capture them alive for some reason.

Julia doesn’t like it. She charges right into the group and slams the butt of her rifle into the soft belly of a slightly overweight, purple-haired Princess with huge knockers. Fluidly, she follows that up by unsheathing her knife and cutting open the throat of a short, flat-chested girl with curly brown hair. She uses the dying slut as cover, dancing around a third and driving her knife into the girl’s right kidney. The last one on her feet, a dark-skinned girl with dreadlocks and a fade, gets Julia’s knife between her ribs.

Julia runs off, leaving one PPK trooper knocked out, one dead, and two dying. They’re not having a very nice time of it either. They whine and moan and complain until they finally lose consciousness. Never to wake back up again.

Back in the abandoned building, Absalon quickly switches off the flashlight on the SMG she got from the now-unconscious Princess girl. She doesn’t need it, since the four girls she’s hunting now all still have their flashlights on. She’s behind them, so she fires a burst into the back of the nearest one before hiding behind cover.

They all turn around, but at this point she’s flanked their position and shoots a second one in the side. The two survivors round on her, desperately spraying gunfire into the darkness, but they’re only hitting the ruined walls and girders and tarps and plastic sheeting. Absalon has disappeared into the darkness.

She emerges on the other side, emptying her magazine into the two remaining Princess girls. They don’t even make a sound as their bodies hit the floor. Not like the other two, who are moaning and whimpering and cursing the shadow they can’t quite see. The figure in the dark that’s fatally wounded them.

Absalon takes a magazine from one of the dead ones and reloads. “Armando?” she calls. She can’t see him, but the old man joins him at her side presently. “All right, she says. This way. Follow me. Mabeyra, are you good?”

“Yeah,” says Julia. “I lost them. Where are you?”

“Almost there,” says Absalon. She’s out of the run-down market district. Almost to the rail yard, and the treeline beyond. If they can just slip into the trees, they’re good. Home free.

Another pair of PPK troopers are blocking their route, a big blonde girl and short but busty babe with bright pink hair. Absalon sees them first. At this point, Armando takes cover. He doesn’t even need to be told. The Princess girls finally spot Absalon, but too late. They’re not standing close enough together for her to blow them both away, so she ventilates the blonde girl’s head before joining Armando behind the flat car. An instant later, she pops back out, putting a burst of fire into the pink-haired one’s belly. She screams and rolls around for a moment, but it’s a relatively clean kill.

She stops moving and dies by the time that Absalon and Armando run past her and into the trees.

Spoiler: Results

Tarantella Forces (5/16 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense)

1: Absalon: 4/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, Lv. 8 (24/2500)
2: Julia: 1/8 HP, +3 Attack, 13 Defense, Lv 8 (22/2500)

PPK Forces (0/14 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 2 Damage)

1: Trooper A: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, KO
2: Trooper B: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Wounded
3: Trooper C: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Critically Wounded
4: Trooper D: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Critically Wounded
5: Trooper E: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
6: Trooper F: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Wounded
7: Trooper G: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
8: Trooper H: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, KO
9: Trooper I: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
10: Trooper J: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Critically Wounded
11: Trooper K: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
12: Trooper L: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
13: Trooper M: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead
14: Trooper N: 0/1 HP, +2 Attack, 12 Defense, 1 Damage, Dead

It’s miles to the nearest Tarantella post, but their walk is downright leisurely at that point. It still takes a while for Julia to stop wheezing. Running firefights and close-quarters-combat are not her thing. It’s not that she’s in bad shape necessarily, just…

“Short legs, huh?” Says Absalon.

“Yeah...”

 

[Severity]

Making the trek to the nearest Tarantella base, Absalon is glad that PPK is absolute dogshit at tracking. If they weren't, it would be far more difficult to disengage after fights such as this one. In fact, with Armando in tow, they probably would be caught pretty quickly unless they abandoned him... If PPK had any training or decent officers. As it is, though, the clean disengagement leaves PPK with no easy way to follow them.
Vaguely amused, as usual, by the smallness of her sniper companion, she cheerfully listens to Julia's story of the day after letting Julia regain her breath during Absalon's own tale. Quietly, during lulls in the conversation, she begins to wonder how Princess found out about what was supposed to barely even be a mission. She's sure to thank Julia for coming along, too.
'If not for her, I'd be dead'.
The possibility of capture doesn't even occur to her - She'd unload all her bullets at PPK, then presumably be killed by return fire. That's how she's assumed she'll go out if the war isn't won. She'll still retreat if necessary, of course, but her general assumption is that if Tarantella doesn't win she'll die in a last stand sooner or later. Preferably later, though.

Absalon makes a mental note to get Velia transferred to East Le Monde. It shouldn't take much convincing - pregnant women don't make great soldiers, after all. When they arrive back at the base, she contacts the relevant officers and gets it done. She's a woman of her word.

 

[Gunsmith12]

I worked with Kayfabe for a little bit and developed a map of Le Monde. Every location named so far is on it, and it'll be easy to add the new ones as time goes on.

Spoiler: Map

View attachment current map.jpeg
also I'm a dumb bitch who dosen't understand image formats and at first made a 25 MB .png rather than a much more reasonable 2 MB .jpeg

 

[Severity]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd assumed Gallardo and the Refinery were both in West Le Monde territory.

 

[Kayfabe]

Those blobs are effective control, not the actual political boundaries (which technically do not exist, since neither of the two Le Mondes will recognize the other). Gallardo is completely encircled by hostile forces. The PPK garrison there is resupplied and reinforced by river.

 

[Severity]

Ah, alright, that makes sense! Thanks!
Here's a version of the map that's a lot smaller resolution and also has a compass, so I don't confuse West and East Le Monde as much.

Spoiler: Map

 

[Gunsmith12]

I did originally have them written as east and west Le Monde, but decided to make it more official. As for the resolution, is that why it's not showing up under my spoiler tag?

 

[Kayfabe]

Yeah actually I forgot a bit of my own lore. They should just be East/West Le Monde. If we're being all official and diplomatic, their names should be "Republic of Le Monde (West)" and "Republic of Le Monde (East)". Sorry. It's my fault.

Anyway, I updated the OP with new rules, but I'll summarize here: zako specializations are now a thing. Don't get too excited. Currently, the roles are combat, security, and non-combat support. See above for details.

Also, there's no longer a limit on the number of combat/security zakos you can make. You're limited to two (2) support zakos max but, as with heroes, they can both be on the same side. You don't HAVE to make characters for PPK/Tarantella if you don't want to.

 

[Severity]

I'll provide a list of my character's roles, then!
Absalon Ivañez - Combat
Baza Chernyevsky - Combat
Archer Maggott - Combat (CO of Cajsa)
Cajsa Calahan - Combat (With Archer)
Blaine Fenser - Logistics Sergeant

I might add some more new Princess troopers later, since they seem to go down a bit more than Tarantella girls.