High Pressure
Originally posted Aug 9, 2024
The Vestan's pulse blade was raised in the air, crackling with energy. Its full force moments away from crashing down upon Merrybell's Everest. Her synapses fired, milliseconds stretched into seconds, seconds into eternity.
— Peyton (@Gee0Man) August 9, 2024
“ASURA PROTOCOL IS ACTIVE. LET’S GET TO WORK PILOT.” pic.twitter.com/bda4LPGgXr
The Vestan's pulse blade was raised in the air, crackling with energy. Its full force moments away from crashing down upon Merrybell's Everest. Her synapses fired, milliseconds stretched into seconds, seconds into eternity.
“ASURA PROTOCOL IS ACTIVE. LET’S GET TO WORK PILOT.”
One of the interior illustrations I had the pleasure to contribute to the next Lancer release, Operation Winter Scar. Designed as a sequel to last year's Operation Solstice Rain, this campaign module is a perfect way to introduce new players to Lancer while immersing them in some of the settings themes and worldbuilding. You can get it now at Massif's itch page.
https://massif-press.itch.io/winter-scar
Despite the name of the module, when my frequent collaborator and enabler Kai Tave told me the fight would be happening in an aircraft graveyard, I instantly knew I wanted the composition to take place in a blown out desert. Something romantic to me I think, about new corpses being made among old ones. Under the uncompromising watch of the sun, all must fall eventually.
For this piece, I really wanted to capture a bit of the intimacy that mecha often embodies. Char and Amuro's embrace in the ruins of A Baoa Qu. Kamina and Viral butting heads with their gunmen during their first duel. The way Shinji holds Kaworu in Eva Unit 01's fist.
The final time I fought V.IV Rusty to decide the fate of Rubicon 3, we flew straight at each other like bullets. Neither hesitating. We smashed right into each other, and unleashed our respective melee armament upon the other. It was a dance, it was a meeting of old friends, and in another time it would have been something even more.
The mecha is an inherently depersonalizing artifice, designed to protect and separate your mortal frame from the dangers outside. This same protection also makes the mecha an inherently isolating experience. Armor for some, coffin for many. The ways in which the genre attempt to address that contrast inspires me like nothing else.
The last time I illustrated an Everest, it was on the receiving end of blunt intimate violence. This time, our heroes have licked their wounds, rebuilt, and grown stronger from the experience. The outcome of this fight is yet to be decided, but our Everest is determined to die on its feet this time.
#gee_art #mecha #design_notes #lancer