A Variable Fighter pilot in a fifty-three-year war that's about to turn. Pick a side and live through it.

Think Legend of the Galactic Heroes for the war and the politics, and Macross Plus for the cockpit. You're a junior pilot near the bottom of the ladder. The big events happen above your head and land on the people around you.

What I wanted most was the feeling of flying a Variable Fighter as a pilot: your hands on the stick and throttle, the machine answering, the world changing outside the canopy. Not playing the mech as if it were your body.

Picking a start

There are seven greetings. Swipe to pick one:

- Arrival (Sovereignty): you step off the shuttle onto the carrier Fortunata on your first day with the squadron.

- Battle (Concord): you're flying convoy escort over O'Brien Reach when four Falchions come out of the dark.

- On foot (Sovereignty): a year in, the war has turned, and Concord marines come through the wire at your airfield on Lekran-IV.

- Shore leave (Concord): a night in a bar on Wong's Landing while your carrier is in refit.

- Landing (Sovereignty): eight months in, your fleet has broken through over the Concord world Heinrich Outer, and your flight dives ahead of the legions toward the base below.

- Fleet battle (Concord): two days later, your fleet meets the invasion fleet in orbit over Heinrich Outer, and your fighter sets down on the back of an enemy battleship.

- Carry on: paste a summary from an earlier chat and pick up where you left off.

The two sides

The Aurean Sovereignty. A hereditary empire with a Roman flavour: a state religion, twelve great houses, and a civil-service exam that lets commoners rise. The Sovereign is old and ill.

The Free Worlds Concord. A thousand-world federal democracy with a free press, politics that run on loose factions rather than parties, and a President-Speaker who may lose the election coming in eighteen months.

Neither side is the good guys. The game plays differently depending on which one you pick: different customs, different media, a different view of the same war.

The header

Each post starts with one line that keeps track of the game: the date and time, where you are, the story stage, the state of the war, open story threads, your rank, record and reputation, any countdowns, and the people around you. You don't need to touch it. It's there so the bot remembers.

In the cockpit

- Three modes: Fighter (a jet), GERWALK (half jet, half robot, able to hover and stop dead) and Battroid (a full robot), each good at different things.

- A line at the bottom of each combat post tracks your fighter: mode, missiles left, what's out there, your wingmates, damage, your own wounds, and anything you've lost for good.

- Each exchange is judged from what’s in play: position, cover, firepower against armour, numbers and range. Good tactics help (the sun at your back, height, cover, flares, working with your wingmates), and tactics that don't fit the place don't count.

- Fights happen somewhere: ice rings, asteroid fields, wreck fields, gas giant cloud decks, the line between a planet's day and night side, and more. Each one changes what works.

- Damage gets worse in stages until you deal with it. You can eject.

- Fighters belong to the squadron. A damaged one goes to the deck crew after you land, and you fly whichever one is ready next time. Only your own wounds keep you on the ground.

- Enemy pilots have habits you can learn to read, and aces take more than one good pass.

- Your wingmates fight their own fights. They get kills, cover you, and sometimes need you.

Your career

Your record (sorties flown and confirmed kills), your rank and your reputation grow as you fly. Enough sorties put your record in front of a promotion board.

Reputation runs from 1 to 100. A new pilot starts around 5, unknown outside their own flight; a living legend sits at 100. It moves with what people see or hear you do, and success counts for more than failure: kills, a mission carried or a wingmate brought home build your name far faster than a dented wing or an honest mistake costs it. It takes real trouble-making to sink a good pilot's career. People take your name in their own way, and only as far as it has travelled to them.

On foot

Boarding actions, corridor fights, getting jumped on the flight line. These are judged the same way: armour, cover, numbers and wounds all count. Allies fight alongside you, and help or more of the enemy arrive when the situation would bring them. Wounds stay with you, slow you down and take weeks to heal. If you're in your flight gear, you've got a small med kit on you.

The people

Everyone you meet is made up on the spot with their own look, voice, temperament and things they want that day, and they get on with their own lives whether you're there or not. Some are kind, some are petty, a few are bad news. They only know what they could actually know about you.

The story

The war follows a fixed history over seven years, so it's not a sandbox. You can't stop the big events, but your career, your people and your choices are yours.

Time moves realistically. When a scene winds down and nothing much is coming for a few days, the bot will offer to skip ahead. You can say yes, no, or name a time. Sorties come on a schedule that depends on how hot the war is, with briefings, scrambles, and news through your own side's media.

The lorebooks cover the hardware, places, people, institutions and culture of both sides, plus a & Intimacy lorebook.

Heads up

- It's for adults. Explicit content is on.

- You can die. If something would really kill your character, it does.

- Posts are long, and the header lines take up some room.

- It's a long campaign. I haven't reached the end myself.

Moving to a new chat

When a chat gets too long, ask the bot:

"Write a summary I can paste into a new chat: my character, side, rank, record and reputation, where I am, the people around me and how they feel about me, any open threads, and the last header line exactly."

Then start a new chat on the last greeting (Carry on) and paste it in.

I hope you enjoy it!