Post by New Dornalia on Jul 19, 2013 12:37:44 GMT -5
OOC:
Spoilers ahead.
IC:
The Pixies are a recurring force in many a Dornie scenario, either proposed or real. Although initially a force for malevolence, they are now increasingly becoming a force for good that’s easy on the eyes.
Origins
Like most Dornie things, their exact origins are a mystery, although their initial iteration was formed as the elite bodyguard for the now-deceased Edwina Sherdvanadze. The term has since been applied to other teams, which either function as spiritual successors due to their similar abilities, or outright successors.
Prime Universe
The Prime Universe Pixies were formed by Edwina Sherdvanadze as her elite bodyguard, before they were summarily defeated by the Rangers in the Vanguard Incident. During the incident, Nick Tyrol provided the Nick Name of “Pixie” that would stick with the Pixies, due to their penchant for aggressive acrobatics and stylized combat.
Attempts to reform the group fluctuated afterwards, with the bodyguard seeing a brief resurgence during the Civil War as Edwina assumed a position of power in the Mahdist Organization. Eventually, with the defeat of the Mahdists, Edwina's Pixies were driven underground, and systematically hunted by the Republican Marshals.
However, the Pixies themselves were to return in one shape or another, if anything because the Dornie Author has a taste for this sort of thing. The shapes they were to return in, however, diverged wildly. This was as “Pixie Tech,” as we shall collectively dub the processes used to make the Pixies, fell into two disparate hands—those of the External Research and Intelligence Section, and the notorious terrorist group known as "The Party.” These shall be dealt with separately.
ERIS Pixies
ERIS Pixie engaging opponents using an AK74, an unusual choice.
Under the general auspices of Project Daffodil and its attempts to boost human combat abilities through genetic and mechanical augmentation, a new corps of Pixies was formed under a sub project, “SKMONARCH.” SKMONARCH was the cryptonym given to a unit formed under the auspices of the Special Activities Division that recruited personnel from the various Armed Forces branches as well as SPATG, and imbued them with the full Daffofil Augmentations course.
ERIS Pixies were trained both in the normal arts of surveillance and spy work through the usual ERIS training processes. However, they also were given training in the more lethal arts of Pixiedom by Case Officer Janice Neidermeyer, a Paramilitary Ops Officer with ERIS. Neidermeyer, however, had her true identity exposed, and her involvement with the project…was terminated when the Rangers came to New Yorktown. How, well, we'll need to see how the thread goes .
Having established that, the comparative success of SKMONARCH ensured that SKMONARCH was not disbanded, especially since SKMONARCH’s test group was the most stable of the Project Daffodil test groups. Thus, low-rate production of Pixies has continued into the present.
ERIS Pixies are recruited from a variety of civil and military fields as well as from the Simulations and Proprietary Armaments Testing Group, emphasizing college degrees at a minimum and a capacity for unconventional thought. Candidates for SKMONARCH are then selected from successful candidates undergoing Special Activities Division training before being sent to New Yorktown for bioaugmentation and further training to become Pixies.
ERIS currently uses the SKMONARCH Pixies to perform covert action assignments, and so on. We’d give details, but then we’d have to kill ya.
Wait, you do have the right security clearance? Fine. Okay, fine, we will mention that they are currently engaged in actions in the SWG and in supporting a covert war against an alternate USSR based in the land of Ravenstenskia, but you didn't hear that from us.
Nick’s Angels
An offshoot of the ERIS Pixies, these were a group of ERIS-type pixies recruited by Nicholas Tyrol himself, and formed into a special mercenary team to be later joined with Terry’s Army in a LRRP capacity as the Special Reconnaissance Detachment—Alpha.
Nick’s Angels are unique, as while possessing the intelligence and organization of their ERIS counterparts, they also are known for having a paradoxically more laid back and yet aggressive attitude than their ERIS counterparts, who can be a bit dull when it comes to humor (government types and all). This is as they are governed by Nick’s Three Rules—be awesome, work to earn your name, and don’t be a bitch. This has made for a small degree of culture clash between the two groups of Pixies, although they have been spotted engaging in missions together.
Note that Nick’s Angels have a totally sweet logo based on the old Galactica Symbol. Their motto? “solum unam vitam vivis”—You Only Live Once . Jovial, but with an edge. For that matter, they also have Nick Tyrol sponsoring them, so they’re actually quite well equipped compared to most mercenaries—or even some of the other Pixie teams for that matter.
Party Pixies
The Party, meanwhile, retained some ex-Pixies on staff to form its own “Special Projects Teams.” Although Mr. Sheen was not as eager as ERIS to form a Pixie Team, he came around to seeing the value of an all-girls killer elite squad after an old Sherdvanadze Pixie assassinated a journalist getting too close to a Party-owned clinic in New Hokkaido. Formed either using copies of ERIS techniques (stolen by Case Officer Neidermeyer) or back-alley supersoldier serum or lower grade augmentations, the Pixies of the Party serve as its highly mobile attack squads for various raids and actions to advance the cause of “evolving galactic civilization through direct action.”
As the Party tends to work through underground connections, it recruits a distinctly motley and dangerous crew—PMCs with a relaxed sense of ethics looking for a lucrative gig, particularly intelligent and physically attractive white-collar criminals (and blue-collar as well, but those are rarer) from women’s prisons across the CRE possibly looking for a second chance (or an excuse to get out of the joint), and angry ideologues plus disaffected Franco-Konohan Axis Orderwomen eager to advance a greater cause—or do something against perceived weakness. Given the lethal mix of their “Homo Novus” ideology and the side effects of many of their back-alley aug procedures (Republican Marshals has raided several “medical tourism” facilities in Hungary and elsewhere that serve as secret augmentation facilities for The Party, and to be honest, the shit inside is kinda what you’d expect—real grungy, meatball surgery type stuff) the resulting Party Pixies tend to be more off than most Dornies—aggressive, irritable, yet also calculating and possessed with a kind of animalistic cunning—all the personality changes that come with monkeying with the brain. This results in Pixies that love their job a little too much and have rather irritable dispositions, especially when opponents are in the way.
As The Party doesn’t have a single base, its Pixies tend to be organized in Cells, to be assembled and deployed on the orders of Mr. Sheen’s agents.
Americlintonian Universe
The Americlintonian Pixies, in the mirror universe of the Americlintonian Empire, were formed from the pre-Americlintonian United States Secret Service. Much like their RL Prime Universe counterparts, the Secret Service (the official name for the Pixies) is tasked with guarding the President, although it now on many occasions acts as his/her personal death squad and Praetorian Guard unit.
Currently, with the Americlintonian Empire divided into those forces loyal to The Morrigan (Mirror Henny Collins) and Dread Secretary Hammond J. Reynolds, Esq. in a neverending war for supremacy, two Pixie Teams are known to exist.
The latter are believed to derive their power from daemonic pacts with the forces of Chaos, and have appropriate access to Bloodaxes and heavy firepower. The former are believed to receive extensive cyborgization in order to obtain their abilities, and have built in Sierra India devices; their fighting skills are comparable to Cerberus Phantoms.
Powers
Weapons captured from them indicate a preference for easily handled weapons that are on the small/portable side. This includes the M16 family of weapons (with a strange preference for the Vietnam-era M16A1 and XM177 likely due to aesthetics), often twinned with explosive ammunition and an underbarrel replicating Photon Torpedo Launcher or Proton Torpedo Launcher for maximum damage potential in the case of many ERIS teams (an arrangement known as the Dirty Coredian Special after Nadine Huntleigh-MacIntyre’s preference for the combo). Additionally, blaster pistols and disruptor pistols such as the DL-11 and Klingon Distruptors have been sighted among the Pixie ranks, and are often dual-wielded (given their augmented sight and any number of targeting aids, this makes the practice actually usable).
Also, a wide variety of SMGs and carbines can and will be used by the Pixies. Party Pixies have been seen with PM md. 90 cu țeavă scurtă (Draco) Carbines, for example, and one or two ERIS Pixies have been sighted with suppressed M2 Carbines with exploding ammunition, although these are also present among ERIS and Nick Pixies too. In the Ravenstenskia War, ERIS Personnel have even been sighted with downright Modern-Tech weapons, such as unaltered Kalashnikovs and RPG-22s modified with Melta-rockets for increased damage versus armor.
Oh and there's rockets and sniper rifles, but you already knew that.
Empowered abilities are not unknown and can be encountered among the varied Pixie types. In particular, the Party Pixies are notorious for fielding many Empowereds among their ranks, and their powers have played havoc with the forces of the law. However, ERIS has plenty of their own Empowered personnel to compete (including many Ordermen), although they’re more disciplined. Nick’s Angels even has a few "unnaturals" (they prefer the term "mutie" themselves, although that's kind of the Dornie equivalent of saying unnatural) in their ranks.
Pixies have also displayed an almost paranormal aptitude for gymnastics and physical stuntwork, a product of the intensive gymnastics and ballet training that goes into most Pixie training regimens meant to build agility and flexibility in Pixie operatives and all the other augmentations/mutant powers within. In particular, analysis of footage and interviews with the Markhams indicate most of their enhancements enable them to perform acts such as "shootdodging" or youtu.be/YOHODwiEt5s?t=2m50s sliding down banisters with two pistols in each hand.
Certainly this is a benefit, granting them high levels of physical conditioning and maneuverability in combat. In one notorious instance, Paramilitary Operations Officer Emma Rostow, operating as part of the SPORK Team in Ravenstenskia, was credited with the use of a GP-25 Grenade Launcher to take down a Mi-24 Hind Helicopter from a cover position in a tree, firing two grenades which resulted in a mission kill against the crew.
Note that ERIS/Nick Pixies are trained for more subtle tactics along with the obvious Pixie skill-set, given they work for an intelligence organization and a wealthy billionaire and not say, a private army like the Party.
Oddly enough, most are female, and given the augmentations and training they tend to endure, they are, in the words of Derek Zoolander, “Really really good looking.” We have no idea why this is, except for the Dornie Author being lazy. It did make an impression on Nick Tyrol though.
Of note is that ERIS/Nick Pixies are documented to have high levels of radiation resistance built in due to their augmentations, as evidenced by the act of Paramilitary Operations Officers Emma Churchill and Emma Thorne simply walking through a radioactive wasteland without breaking a sweat.
Spoilers ahead.
IC:
The Pixies are a recurring force in many a Dornie scenario, either proposed or real. Although initially a force for malevolence, they are now increasingly becoming a force for good that’s easy on the eyes.
Origins
Like most Dornie things, their exact origins are a mystery, although their initial iteration was formed as the elite bodyguard for the now-deceased Edwina Sherdvanadze. The term has since been applied to other teams, which either function as spiritual successors due to their similar abilities, or outright successors.
Prime Universe
The Prime Universe Pixies were formed by Edwina Sherdvanadze as her elite bodyguard, before they were summarily defeated by the Rangers in the Vanguard Incident. During the incident, Nick Tyrol provided the Nick Name of “Pixie” that would stick with the Pixies, due to their penchant for aggressive acrobatics and stylized combat.
Attempts to reform the group fluctuated afterwards, with the bodyguard seeing a brief resurgence during the Civil War as Edwina assumed a position of power in the Mahdist Organization. Eventually, with the defeat of the Mahdists, Edwina's Pixies were driven underground, and systematically hunted by the Republican Marshals.
However, the Pixies themselves were to return in one shape or another, if anything because the Dornie Author has a taste for this sort of thing. The shapes they were to return in, however, diverged wildly. This was as “Pixie Tech,” as we shall collectively dub the processes used to make the Pixies, fell into two disparate hands—those of the External Research and Intelligence Section, and the notorious terrorist group known as "The Party.” These shall be dealt with separately.
ERIS Pixies
ERIS Pixie engaging opponents using an AK74, an unusual choice.
Under the general auspices of Project Daffodil and its attempts to boost human combat abilities through genetic and mechanical augmentation, a new corps of Pixies was formed under a sub project, “SKMONARCH.” SKMONARCH was the cryptonym given to a unit formed under the auspices of the Special Activities Division that recruited personnel from the various Armed Forces branches as well as SPATG, and imbued them with the full Daffofil Augmentations course.
ERIS Pixies were trained both in the normal arts of surveillance and spy work through the usual ERIS training processes. However, they also were given training in the more lethal arts of Pixiedom by Case Officer Janice Neidermeyer, a Paramilitary Ops Officer with ERIS. Neidermeyer, however, had her true identity exposed, and her involvement with the project…was terminated when the Rangers came to New Yorktown. How, well, we'll need to see how the thread goes .
Having established that, the comparative success of SKMONARCH ensured that SKMONARCH was not disbanded, especially since SKMONARCH’s test group was the most stable of the Project Daffodil test groups. Thus, low-rate production of Pixies has continued into the present.
ERIS Pixies are recruited from a variety of civil and military fields as well as from the Simulations and Proprietary Armaments Testing Group, emphasizing college degrees at a minimum and a capacity for unconventional thought. Candidates for SKMONARCH are then selected from successful candidates undergoing Special Activities Division training before being sent to New Yorktown for bioaugmentation and further training to become Pixies.
ERIS currently uses the SKMONARCH Pixies to perform covert action assignments, and so on. We’d give details, but then we’d have to kill ya.
Wait, you do have the right security clearance? Fine. Okay, fine, we will mention that they are currently engaged in actions in the SWG and in supporting a covert war against an alternate USSR based in the land of Ravenstenskia, but you didn't hear that from us.
Nick’s Angels
An offshoot of the ERIS Pixies, these were a group of ERIS-type pixies recruited by Nicholas Tyrol himself, and formed into a special mercenary team to be later joined with Terry’s Army in a LRRP capacity as the Special Reconnaissance Detachment—Alpha.
Nick’s Angels are unique, as while possessing the intelligence and organization of their ERIS counterparts, they also are known for having a paradoxically more laid back and yet aggressive attitude than their ERIS counterparts, who can be a bit dull when it comes to humor (government types and all). This is as they are governed by Nick’s Three Rules—be awesome, work to earn your name, and don’t be a bitch. This has made for a small degree of culture clash between the two groups of Pixies, although they have been spotted engaging in missions together.
Note that Nick’s Angels have a totally sweet logo based on the old Galactica Symbol. Their motto? “solum unam vitam vivis”—You Only Live Once . Jovial, but with an edge. For that matter, they also have Nick Tyrol sponsoring them, so they’re actually quite well equipped compared to most mercenaries—or even some of the other Pixie teams for that matter.
Party Pixies
The Party, meanwhile, retained some ex-Pixies on staff to form its own “Special Projects Teams.” Although Mr. Sheen was not as eager as ERIS to form a Pixie Team, he came around to seeing the value of an all-girls killer elite squad after an old Sherdvanadze Pixie assassinated a journalist getting too close to a Party-owned clinic in New Hokkaido. Formed either using copies of ERIS techniques (stolen by Case Officer Neidermeyer) or back-alley supersoldier serum or lower grade augmentations, the Pixies of the Party serve as its highly mobile attack squads for various raids and actions to advance the cause of “evolving galactic civilization through direct action.”
As the Party tends to work through underground connections, it recruits a distinctly motley and dangerous crew—PMCs with a relaxed sense of ethics looking for a lucrative gig, particularly intelligent and physically attractive white-collar criminals (and blue-collar as well, but those are rarer) from women’s prisons across the CRE possibly looking for a second chance (or an excuse to get out of the joint), and angry ideologues plus disaffected Franco-Konohan Axis Orderwomen eager to advance a greater cause—or do something against perceived weakness. Given the lethal mix of their “Homo Novus” ideology and the side effects of many of their back-alley aug procedures (Republican Marshals has raided several “medical tourism” facilities in Hungary and elsewhere that serve as secret augmentation facilities for The Party, and to be honest, the shit inside is kinda what you’d expect—real grungy, meatball surgery type stuff) the resulting Party Pixies tend to be more off than most Dornies—aggressive, irritable, yet also calculating and possessed with a kind of animalistic cunning—all the personality changes that come with monkeying with the brain. This results in Pixies that love their job a little too much and have rather irritable dispositions, especially when opponents are in the way.
As The Party doesn’t have a single base, its Pixies tend to be organized in Cells, to be assembled and deployed on the orders of Mr. Sheen’s agents.
Americlintonian Universe
The Americlintonian Pixies, in the mirror universe of the Americlintonian Empire, were formed from the pre-Americlintonian United States Secret Service. Much like their RL Prime Universe counterparts, the Secret Service (the official name for the Pixies) is tasked with guarding the President, although it now on many occasions acts as his/her personal death squad and Praetorian Guard unit.
Currently, with the Americlintonian Empire divided into those forces loyal to The Morrigan (Mirror Henny Collins) and Dread Secretary Hammond J. Reynolds, Esq. in a neverending war for supremacy, two Pixie Teams are known to exist.
The latter are believed to derive their power from daemonic pacts with the forces of Chaos, and have appropriate access to Bloodaxes and heavy firepower. The former are believed to receive extensive cyborgization in order to obtain their abilities, and have built in Sierra India devices; their fighting skills are comparable to Cerberus Phantoms.
Powers
Weapons captured from them indicate a preference for easily handled weapons that are on the small/portable side. This includes the M16 family of weapons (with a strange preference for the Vietnam-era M16A1 and XM177 likely due to aesthetics), often twinned with explosive ammunition and an underbarrel replicating Photon Torpedo Launcher or Proton Torpedo Launcher for maximum damage potential in the case of many ERIS teams (an arrangement known as the Dirty Coredian Special after Nadine Huntleigh-MacIntyre’s preference for the combo). Additionally, blaster pistols and disruptor pistols such as the DL-11 and Klingon Distruptors have been sighted among the Pixie ranks, and are often dual-wielded (given their augmented sight and any number of targeting aids, this makes the practice actually usable).
Also, a wide variety of SMGs and carbines can and will be used by the Pixies. Party Pixies have been seen with PM md. 90 cu țeavă scurtă (Draco) Carbines, for example, and one or two ERIS Pixies have been sighted with suppressed M2 Carbines with exploding ammunition, although these are also present among ERIS and Nick Pixies too. In the Ravenstenskia War, ERIS Personnel have even been sighted with downright Modern-Tech weapons, such as unaltered Kalashnikovs and RPG-22s modified with Melta-rockets for increased damage versus armor.
Oh and there's rockets and sniper rifles, but you already knew that.
Empowered abilities are not unknown and can be encountered among the varied Pixie types. In particular, the Party Pixies are notorious for fielding many Empowereds among their ranks, and their powers have played havoc with the forces of the law. However, ERIS has plenty of their own Empowered personnel to compete (including many Ordermen), although they’re more disciplined. Nick’s Angels even has a few "unnaturals" (they prefer the term "mutie" themselves, although that's kind of the Dornie equivalent of saying unnatural) in their ranks.
Pixies have also displayed an almost paranormal aptitude for gymnastics and physical stuntwork, a product of the intensive gymnastics and ballet training that goes into most Pixie training regimens meant to build agility and flexibility in Pixie operatives and all the other augmentations/mutant powers within. In particular, analysis of footage and interviews with the Markhams indicate most of their enhancements enable them to perform acts such as "shootdodging" or youtu.be/YOHODwiEt5s?t=2m50s sliding down banisters with two pistols in each hand.
Certainly this is a benefit, granting them high levels of physical conditioning and maneuverability in combat. In one notorious instance, Paramilitary Operations Officer Emma Rostow, operating as part of the SPORK Team in Ravenstenskia, was credited with the use of a GP-25 Grenade Launcher to take down a Mi-24 Hind Helicopter from a cover position in a tree, firing two grenades which resulted in a mission kill against the crew.
Note that ERIS/Nick Pixies are trained for more subtle tactics along with the obvious Pixie skill-set, given they work for an intelligence organization and a wealthy billionaire and not say, a private army like the Party.
Oddly enough, most are female, and given the augmentations and training they tend to endure, they are, in the words of Derek Zoolander, “Really really good looking.” We have no idea why this is, except for the Dornie Author being lazy. It did make an impression on Nick Tyrol though.
Of note is that ERIS/Nick Pixies are documented to have high levels of radiation resistance built in due to their augmentations, as evidenced by the act of Paramilitary Operations Officers Emma Churchill and Emma Thorne simply walking through a radioactive wasteland without breaking a sweat.