House Ashford

GEAR

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Jun 15, 2018
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#1


Name: Thane Ashford
Alias: Lord Ashford of Luna
Age: 35
Height: 6'4
Weight: 228lbs
Hair color: White
Eye Color: Blue
Other Notes: Psychodriver, high Orgone proficiency

Biography:

One of the most influential men on Luna, Thane Ashford made a name for himself as the discoverer of Orgone technology, and as a consequence has become one of the most powerful men on the planetoid’s surface. While the name of his House is known to all, it once wallowed in obscurity as a tertiary to House Exeter, specializing in the manufacture of generators and other power sources that were scarcely a step up from standard Terran fusion-derived devices. His birth was a matter of considerable investment due to the level of gene therapy involved, using the latest techniques available, and was scandalous enough to further lower the House's reputation for spending so much on a single human being.

Thane, unlike most Lunarians, was sent to study abroad, traveling to both Earth and the Colonies in his learning. While ostensibly worldliness makes one more empathetic, it only strengthened the young man's growing convictions that Luna was a precious place that was different, a place which deserved to be untouched by what he increasingly saw as the unwashed, uncivilized, and barbaric masses. To see the former homeland of the first Psychodrivers, Japan, afflicted with the societal ills of the age in particular left a deep impression upon him, and he resolved upon his return not to allow such blight to come to his home.

He was adjacent to Gerart Enfield during his training as a knight, and for a time the two were fast friends - a relationship that soured as Ashford, despite his intellect, found he could never quite best the more intuitive Gerart during combat, in spite of his "common blood". When Gerart was nominated to the position of "Knight of Knights", while he openly congratulated him, it would be the last time the two would ever speak for over six years, and it is believed he specifically constructed the Orgone Viper Sword as a remote weapon to overcome what he saw as his own limitations in preparation for an eventual showdown.

At age 23, he acquired an EOT Relic from Exeter that they had previously attempted to discard - a new power source, one that jeopardized their monopoly with its strength. After two years of trial-and-error experiments, the first Orgon Extractor was perfected - and in less than a year, it had completely bulldozed the competition. Ashford's Prototype Volrent made short work of the Exeter's vaunted masterpiece, the Diamd, in an much-publicized duel that would forevermore haunt the once great House's fortunes. Subsequently, Ashford became the prime supplier of Luna's military forces, constructing in secret not only the designs for the modern-day Knight Machines that are seen in its military, but the Eltram-powered Larseilam stasis field that, in his mind, was the ultimate weapon to ensure Luna's final independence from its Terran overlords.

Not one for the public eye, he mostly resides in the specially-designed Moon Cradle, a massive facility that is part luxury residence, and part bunker capable of surviving even the most torrential onslaught upon the planet's surface, building a community of like-minded ultra-elites within its walls. From there, he quietly pulls what strings he wishes, preferring to keep his name out of the public view - for true power, he understands all too well, is never what is directly seen.

Since the ascension of Queen Selene III, Thane has become something of a figurehead for those Lunar elites dissatisfied with the new Monarch's populist attitudes. While he openly proclaims complete loyalty to the Queen, he has privately been amassing support for a coup of sorts, one that will - softly, gently - correct the misguided young woman's perceptions about the world around them, and restore order to a populace that needs to be protected from the violent, envious hordes abroad.

Personality wise, he is polite and extremely well versed in the intricacies of maneuvering through the Lunarian aristocracy, simultaneously able to both strongarm potential challengers and win unlikely allies with his wealth and influence, but his personality is guarded, and his words carefully chosen. Superficially quite charming, it is something of a mystery what remains beneath, and whether or not his intentions have remained true to their boyhood origins, or have fallen prey to the cynical lust for power that has already consumed so many of his peers.
 
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GEAR

Administrator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2018
1,165
1
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#2
Model Number: HAMA-X3Δ (House Ashford Mobile Armaments, Prototype Three-Delta)
Code Name: Raftclans Cardinal
Manufacturer: House Ashford
Operator: Thane Ashford
Power Source: Orgone Extractor
Armor Material: Standard Lunarian Alloy
Height: 35.0 meters
Weight:
94.2 tons
Propulsion:
Orgone Thrusters + Conventional Plasma Jet
Armament: 3x Orgone Cannon, 2x mounted on shoulders, 1 in chest; Prototype Orgone Viper Sword, hand carried in use, can separate into component parts for all range attack; alternatively Orgone Sword Rifle, hand carried in use; Orgone Claw Shield, hand carried in use, alternatively mounts to forearm latch.
Equipment: Cytron Control System
Finishing Moves: Orgone Viper Sword Final

Description: Resembles a rust-colored Raftclans Aurun, albeit a slightly older variant with more heavy set armor plates about the shoulders and skirt, with a head that has a more "open" style face and high-tipped helmet design under a slim yellow visor.

History:

A custom Raftclans used by Thane Ashford of Luna. Compared to the production model, he incorporated some parts that were to his liking from previous Volrent prototypes, and as a result the weight and height are higher than usual. A command variant of the Raftclans design was proposed, but instead passed over in favor of offering unique customizations based on the preferences of individual knights, leading to the prototype being orphaned until Ashford himself took interest in it.

Performance wise, it is slightly slower than the usual Raftclans due to the additional armor, but it has greater survivability as a result. The performance of the Extractor has been left more or less unchanged from the default model, as well as its Larseilam capacity. As a prototype, special attention was paid to the head unit, which packs a variety of additional sensors and recording equipment specially developed for measuring the efficiency of Orgone particle expenditure and Cytron interference, important data that is still being studied on Luna to improve the line.

The most notable changes include improved sensor radius, as well as a more finely-tuned Cytron Control System for manipulating remote weapons on the battlefield. The Prototype Orgone Viper Sword was designed with all-ranged attacks in mind, and is intended to serve as a testbed for future advances in Orgone weaponry - however, its durability and reliability are not yet perfected, and it has been shown to fracture against targets of sufficient durability due to faults in Orgone Materialization caused by insufficient power being carried by its internal capacitor.

Another design was drafted earlier for a large-scale "Decisive Battle Class" mobile weapon, but at the time the resources were instead used to upgrade the Compatible Kaiser, sending it back to the drawing board - again due to issues with power supplies. The next iteration is slated to be based on this particular machine at Ashford's direction, and to utilize a total of five Orgone Extractors in its construction.