Lore
Backstory: In the mid 21st century, science and technology have reached levels that people could only dream of. Studies of this level of science and tech have promised a brighter, safer, and healthier future for humanity. To ensure said future was possible, the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces and Jikken Army were formed.
However, by the late 21st century, there were those that sought to use this knowledge for war and battle. In the early 22nd century, the Jikken Army defected the UN and war officially broke out, resulting in the UN having no choice but to develop experimental super soldiers to combat the threat posed by the Jikken Army.
Five women, all close friends, were among the first ten of these soldiers. However, while the group were essentially meant to win the war when their stealth specialist recovered intel on the Jikken Army, said soldier defected and announced she wanted nothing to do with the fruitless war.
This is the story of that soldier. The renegade and most wanted person in modern history. Her name is Mato Kuroi; known by her infamous codename.
Black Rock Shooter.
Basis: This AU is based on the Dawn Fall anime and the original PSP and Fragment mobile games. As such, this is a sci-fi setting. The characters retain their names from the OVA and 2012 anime with names of other incarnations. Some Innocent Soul manga characters show up too as AI.
The threat category for this AU is, from most dangerous to least, EX-S-A-B-C-D-E-F-G.
For comparison, humans and wild/trained animals would be from E to G, depending on a variety of factors. Our heroines would be a B threat in their normal states. The Forces and Army would range from S to C, depending on certain factors. Insane and Beast forms would be an EX to A level threat.
Main Characters
Mato Kuroi (Age: 23. Aliases: Stella, Empress, The Dark Goddess. Codename: Black Rock Shooter): Eldest daughter to a single mother, Mato and her brother lived a mostly quiet life prior to the AU's events. However, after her mother and brother died in an attack, Mato nearly lost her will to live. Then she was given the choice to join the fight against the Jikken Army.
She agreed, wanting to avenge her family's demise and ensure that their demise doesn't happen to another family. Upon discovering the true identity of the Jikken Army, she defected, wishing to not involve herself in the war that she believed was completely pointless.
Her personality prior to her transformation was similar to OVA Mato and pre-canon Empress and Stella. After her transformation, she is identical to most Black Rock Shooter (as in having repressed emotions). In spite of that, she still retains her sense of justice.
Her appearance prior to her defection was a mix of Stella, Empress, and Elishka, mainly used as combat attire. This changes to a more casual and wanderer-like design, topped off with a large poncho similar to Rock in the Innocent Soul manga, used as stealth attire. Her primary combat skill is stealth and versatility, easily becoming Saya's lieutenant and as such, has a lean and athletic physique.
She is equipped with her infamous Rock Cannon and Black Blade, both of which can transform into various weapons for any situation. As a backup or for stealth, she has two pistols and two knives. She is able to manipulate water and darkness and she also has an AI partner named Ron, who maintains a similar personality to his Innocent Soul counterpart, albeit subdued.
Yomi Takanashi (Age: 24. Aliases: Shi, The Bone Queen, The Reaper. Codename: Dead Master): She is a highschool friend of Mato's. Unlike Mato, who joined the cause out of a desire for revenge, Yomi felt like she needed to protect the people she cared about by any means.
Her personality prior to her transformation was identical to OVA Yomi. Her transformation, however, resulted in her receiving another twisted personality, similar to Dead Master herself. Yomi's initial personality only became weaker after Mato defected, beginning to believe the lies that said Mato needed to die for her betrayal.
Her appearance is a mix of Dead Master from the OVA and Dawn Fall anime, mainly used as combat attire. Her primary combat skill is close-range and long-range combat, resulting in a more lean physique. She is equipped with her Dead Scythe and her sniper rifle. She is able to manipulate the wind and air and she also has an AI partner named Skull.
Saya Irino (Age: 37. Aliases: The Destroyer, The Commander, The Devil. Codename: Black Gold Saw): She was once Mato, Yomi, and Yuu's guidance counselor in highschool. Much like Yomi, she joined the battle as she felt that she had to protect people. And upon noticing that the three girls were ALSO involved, she felt like it was her duty to help them.
Her personality prior to her transformation was similar to 2012 anime Saya at the end of the show. After her transformation, she is mostly the same, but as elements of Black Gold Saw's personality as well. In spite of that, she has a sense of justice and desire to protect and guide others.
Unlike most characters, she is sympathetic towards Mato defecting, believing she has her reasons for doing and believing that Mato can still help others, even though she wants no involvement with the war. As such, she is one of the few people Mato can truly trust. She can also be a flirt and a tease, something that Mato is annoyed with usually, despite enjoying Saya's affection.
Her appearance can only be described as if Black Gold Saw was a character within the PSP game, Fragment, and Dawn Fall, mainly used as combat attire. Her casual attire is near-identical to her 2012 anime appearance, with a few changes to fit the time period. Her primary combat skill is close-range combat and overall commander of her unit, resulting in a more muscular and powerful physique, while maintaining her other incarnations' more voluptuous design.
She is equipped with her King Saw and a riot shield. She is able to manipulate blood and heat. She also has drones, which can be used by the characters for espionage and long-distance communication. They are humanoid and are essentially the Good Smile Company Neadoroid figures.
Yuu Koutari (Age: 23. Aliases: Brute, The Muscle, The Titan. Codename: Strength): She is another friend of Mato's from highschool. Much like Mato, though, she did join the war out of a desire for revenge, having lost her family in an attack as well.
Unlike the rest of the group, Yuu's personality has changed the least. She is very similar to her 2012 anime counterpart prior to Mato's defection, but afterwards, she is very similar to her Dawn Fall incarnation. This is due to her believing in the lies that said Mato was a traitor to humanity.
Her appearance is strikingly similar to Dawn Fall, mainly used as combat attire. Her primary combat skill is heavy-weapon combat, leading her to receiving a more muscular physique that she wields with pride. She is equipped with her Ogre Arms, which are equipped with laser cannons. She is able to manipulate various forms of metal and stone.
Kagari Izuriha (Age: 23. Aliases: Tyrant, The Tank. Codename: Chariot): She is another friend of Mato's from highschool. Much like Mato and Yuu, though, she did join the war out of a desire for revenge, having lost her family in an attack as well.
Much like Yomi, Kagari's personality has changed significantly. She is very similar to her 2012 anime counterpart prior to Mato's defection, but afterwards, she ended up becoming so distraught over the defection that it resulted in her developing a split personality. This is due to her believing in the lies that said Mato was a traitor to humanity.
Her appearance is very similar to her 2012 anime counterpart, mainly used as combat attire. Her primary combat skill is heavy-weapon and vehicular combat, which lead her to being more athletically toned. She is equipped with her sword and shield and rides a tank, which is equipped with laser cannons. She is able to manipulate the earth and gravity.
Codename: White Rock Shooter (Age: Unknown. Aliases: The Clone, The Monster of The Moon, The Lunatic): She is a clone of Mato Kuroi, made from a blood sample that was kept by the Forces. She is meant to be more of a machine than a human, thus she follows orders without question.
Much like her game counterpart, she is identical to Black Rock Shooter in every way, with the exception of her white and pink color scheme and weapons. Her weapons function the same as Mato's, but are also able to transform in her allies and enemies' weapons and grow in size. She is able to manipulate light and sound.
I will not go over most of their abilities, as they are the same as their canonical counterparts. The only differences are that they have elemental manipulation (all of them share fire and electricity manipulation), their specific combat roles, expert vehicular handling, and advanced technological awareness.
It should be noted that all of the ten soldiers have tattoos. Mato has a wolf in a star on her back, with rivers on her abdomen to hide her scars. Yomi has a raven resting on top of a skull on both shoulders. Saya has a dragon curling up her right leg and around her torso, wearing a demonic helmet. Yuu has a tyrannosaurus biting down on chains in the center of her back. Kagari has spiders on her back, shoulders, abdomen, and legs. WRS has none.
Transformations
Insane
Insane is a transformation unique to Mato and Saya. This increases their performance overall by 10, but risks the user losing control of themselves in a berserker rage, due to the immense power.
Despite this, it CAN be tamed. However, the price is that the user loses a bit of power. Taming results in the form's strength dropping from a x10 to an x7. Despite not being as powerful, the control of the form more than makes up for it….provided you MAINTAIN control.
This form is achieved by Saya and Mato activating a program installed in them. Each of them have one half of the activation code.
For Mato, the form looks just like Insane BRS from the 2012 anime, if existed in the PSP game, Fragment mobile game, and Dawn Fall anime; purple flames, Insane Blade Claw, Insane Cannon Lance, and all.
For Saya, she will appear heavily armored, completed with giant wings, and an arm-mounted chainsaw.
Taming this form will result in the colors returning to their initial states.
Beast
Beast is a transformation that is shared among the first ten soldiers, including WRS. This transformation increases the user's power by 5, but due to the dangers of this power, it is locked and can only be used during an encounter with an A-level threat.
As this is shared among the group, physical attributes seen on BRS Beast are carried over to the other characters. This mainly includes the crown and limbs.
Antagonists
United Nations Peacekeeping Forces: They are a group, consisting of military, scientists, doctors, engineers, and various others. Developed in the mid 21st century, they were meant to help maintain a prosperous future for humanity.
Unfortunately, like everyone who had great power, some leaders were consumed by greed and corruption. This resulted in the public to begin calling out the Forces. To make the public believe that the group were just, they staged several attacks on major cities, before developing a cover story that the Jikken Army was to blame.
Some of the military faction became the Jikken Army prior to this, realizing just how far the group had strayed from its initial, peaceful goals.
Jikken Army: Some of the military of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces became the Jikken Army as the Forces strayed too far from their original goals.
Initially, they wished to do what the Forces failed to do (which was maintain a brighter future for humanity), but were forced into war when the Forces staged several attacks, before unjustly blaming them for the destruction.
Ultimately, Mato discovered them and gathered intel, which resulted in her having a chat with the Jikken Army's commanders. They pleaded Mato to help them end the war that was killing humanity. Mato, however, declined as she believed this war was not worth fighting for anymore.
Because of Mato's actions, she is wanted by both the Forces and Army, meaning she has no choice but to go on the run and fight her own battles. Such is the life of the infamous Black Rock Shooter...