Captain Gecko Posted January 16, 2022 Posted January 16, 2022 While I don't want to go over every single detail in Metal Crushers, I feel like having a set story for it, as well as some sort of main characters could be a good way to bring Metal Crushers fan together (characters on the station/ship, I mean), things they could speak about... New rules, events, personalities, their favorite fighters, etc. I'll send, later, a more basic list with what's basically set, the most famous fighters, the main rules, the main personalities... But so far, have a short history of METAL CRUSHERS! METAL CRUSHERS! was officially created on the 16th of January, 2435. Created by a small, lousy team of a dozen of freelance exo-suit pilots and engineers (to not call them mercenaries, something that tends to be left out and generally avoided by what is currently METAL CRUSHERS!'s old guard), it was a bet made by their leader, and one of their pilots, Frederick Marksman. The team bought a plot of land to build stands and a fortune arena near Ashton where they could host exosuit fights between the same two modified Ripley-model powerloaders, as well as a permit to host such events. By extent, they created their own franchise, naming it METAL CRUSHERS! but these were pilots and engineers, not businessmen. While METAL CRUSHERS! certainly drew attention from the nearby cities, it failed to bring enough money to cover the expenses needed to keep the show going. Eventually, in debt and out of options, METAL CRUSHERS! was at the edge of bankruptcy. Things changed when a Necropolis Industries Liaison on his way to a Nanotrasen facility saw one of their fights in late 2438. Interested in the concept, and aware of the current mess METAL CRUSHERS! was in, the Liaison made some offers... And Marksman, who at this point was basically the leader of this whole crazy project (and one of their two pilots) answered. None know exactly what was said in their meeting, but Necropolis bought the franchise while guaranteeing near-absolute creative freedom. The megacorp gets a small cut of their overall profit, as well as having their team be more represented as far as the shows go (this doesn't mean that they tend to win most of the time, though). Some have theorized that Necropolis, now Zavodskoi, uses METAL CRUSHERS! as a testbed for future military-grade exosuit and hardsuit technologies, but such a theory has been dismissed both by Zavodskoi and METAL CRUSHERS! multiple times. The brand quickly grew, and most importantly, god more and more famous, as, with Necropolis' blessing also came professional businessmen, economists, PR specialists, anything needed to guarantee that a business can become successful... And successful it became. The arena near Ashton was ditched and a proper HQ for METAL CRUSHERS! was bought in District 1, Mendell City, and permits to host fights in various arenas and stadiums around Biesel were acquired. By 2440 enough pilots and teams had joined METAL CRUSHERS! to allow the very first Championship to be organized, with a single Exosuit league. Ridiculously small when compared to today's championship, it only featured 16 exosuits and their respective teams in a standard tournament. still, the event drew attention, with an attendance of over 10 000 spectators, a record for the franchise at the time. Marksman himself became the first champion Things took a dramatic turn in 2441, with the first death to ever happen in a METAL CRUSHERS! Fight. Incidents can happen, some more tragic than others, especially when near heavy machinery like Exosuits, it many accidents did, and would happen in hangars and paddocks, but on the Arena? Before thousands of spectators? Mendell City's leadership quickly took notice of the tragedy, and so did Tau Ceti's association of Sportsmanship, which was basically the biggest, non-governmental group in the world of sports, at that time. METAL CRUSHERS! got very nearly canceled during this affair, but it is Necropolis Industries that, through many talks (and perhaps some bribing) managed to save the franchise. Things wouldn't be without consequences for the franchise and its fights, however. While machines were inspected to make sure fights were mostly fair, there were next to no rules about what an Exosuit could back, beyond making sure it couldn't harm the public (which meant no firearms). Even after Necropolis acquired the franchise, rules were next to non-existent, and it would be rare to see exosuits fight with bare hands (or manipulators) generally using grotesque melee weapons, from flail to drills, hammers, and crude blades. Such things were outlawed after 2441's tragedy, and new, strict rules were implemented. Since then, METAL CRUSHERS! Exosuits and hardsuits, follow strict parameters and standards, both to ensure that the fights remain as fair as possible and that their pilots be as safe as they can be. Some fans look at "pre-tragedy" weaponized fights with some fondness, however, for their over-the-top nature, even on METAL CRUSHERS! standards. Frederick Marksman took this incident very personally and blamed himself for it. He'd stop taking part in fights, and would retire from public life, focusing on leading the Franchise from the dark. A deal with Tau Ceti TV 24 would see his grand return to the public scene, five years later, in 2446. While they already had a website, METAL CRUSHERS! Would truly become a franchise known in most of the spur after this deal, as they'd start holding and broadcasting fights on a near-daily basis on this channel, from 20:00 to 22:30 (Tau Ceti time, Mendell timezone), a timeframe they have been keeping ever since. Beyond just being the franchise's leader, Marksman's return marked the beginning of his new identity, as host of the biggest of shows, his eager attitude, energic behavior, and experience in the field quickly made him a personality adored by many fans. Year after year, the franchise would grow. With Exosuit science evolving, new generations of machines would be introduced to the arenas. New leagues would be created, the original fights being considered "heavyweight exosuits" while a new "lightweight" league would be introduced, popular amongst rookie fighters and small teams that can't afford the biggest and meanest of machines. New "Team fights" would be introduced as well, with teams bringing exosuits of any weight in 3v3 matches. By 2453, Exosuits would be also introduced to the world of METAL CRUSHERS! with their own 1v1 and 3v3 leagues. Exosuit fights have been, and are still, frowned upon by some fans, as they consider it to be nothing but regular wrestling in armor. Although in practice, METAL CRUSHERS! treats these like Exosuit fights most of the time, mostly since each team not only requires fighters but also full teams of roboticists and engineers. As time went on, new "mechanized sports" (something that would be soon rebranded "exo-mechanical sports") franchises would be created, inspired by the success of METAL CRUSHERS! One of the more notable ones would be Bent Steel, the Solarian knockoff, or Titan Federation, which handles fights in various CoC and even frontier worlds. Many smaller franchises and groups exist in worlds far away, may it be in Dominian, PRA, Hegemony, or even Jargon territories, and METAL CRUSHERS! tends to organize events in collaboration with these groups, generally in the form of "face-offs" with METAL CRUSHERS! best fighting their best. Despite the usual rivalries and the politics of their nations, most of these franchises have warm relations with each other. METAL CRUSHERS! is still the biggest and most famous of these franchises, however. 2457 would see the creation of the Hercules Aid Foundation after yet another death in a fight (the third). Mostly funded by METAL CRUSHERS!, the Foundation is dedicated to financially helping wounded and crippled fighters, as well as their families in cases of death. As of recently, the Hercules Foundation has started to expand to cover 0-G sports, space-based sports, and general motorized sports, to name a few. Early 2464 would also see the opening of the Museum of Exo-mechanical sports in Mendell City, another initiative mostly founded by METAL CRUSHERS!
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