Maeda Atsuko XIV

Because they often perform concerts on planets with complete entertainment bans, the idols of 0048, both trainees and successors, have to be able to defend themselves. With a strict training schedule and frequent battlefield encounters, Atsuko has become a very competent fighter. She's proficient enough to hold her own in hand to hand combat with professional soldiers if she has to and has no small amount of training with a sword to use her micsaber to its best effect. Though she has training with firearms, she is not particularly good with them and at best is can provide suppression fire, but don't expect her to actually hit anything, even if she wanted to.

Because of the possibility of being caught in a firefight in transit, all members of AKB0048 are trained in how to pilot the LAS warmechs 0048 has on standby in their ship. Atsuko is by no means the best pilot in the group, but she's put enough enemy units down in her time to show she can pull her weight in ship to ship combat.

AKB0048's standard issue micsaber is typically used as a microphone during performances, but because it is entirely possible for the idols to be attacked during performance, it also has a built in power source for the generation of magnetic fields and plasma, allowing it to double as a weapon. Though it is entirely possible for the micsaber to be used as a lethal weapon (after all, they have been shown able to cleave through the arms of a warmech at their highest power output), they can seemingly also be used to subdue, instead rendering living targets unconscious but otherwise unharmed.

The Live Assault Suit is less a suit and more a weapon platform on legs. Standing at an impressive three meters in height, the LAS has armor enough to turn aside small arms fire without taking much damage unless shots manage to sneak into exposed parts. Similarly, personal weapons might not offer much against the armor itself unless there is something extraordinary about them, but finding gaps in the armor that could give access to joints or other critical components could also cause significant damage. Of course larger munitions meant for anti-material engagement can get through its armor, though it might take a few shots depending on where they land. The LAS also sports a basic auto-pilot that will ensure it doesn't run into anything if the pilot has to abandon the cockpit for any reason. Though typically outfitted with live ammunition for their guns and missile launchers, AKB0048's LAS are outfitted with munitions that on contact encase whatever they hit in a green, quick hardening gel to take targets out of combat without killing them. Structurally the gel begins to fail after a few hours, but it is possible, to break free of it before then, or for someone else to cut a target out of it.

While the Flying Get is a perfectly good mobile stage, the fact that it's a whole spaceship means that there's a limit to how close it can get to fans on the ground. When 0048's idols want to get close to their fans at concerts, they use these personal flying devices. Big enough for two full-sized people to stand on, the rizer can move at surprisingly swift speeds and can transform into single-person spacecrafts, though they have limited range and can't survive atmospheric reentry and have no weaponry to speak of. They also serve as the cockpits for 0048's LAS units.

Anyone with enough passion can make the kirara shine, but it takes a truly radiant soul to be favored by the kirara. Atsuko's shining soul draws them to her and empowers her personal kirara, allowing them to do more than simply cast light. Because of how brilliant her soul is, Atsuko's kirara can protect her from harm, forming shields of light as well as enhance her own physical abilities greatly, though still within the realm of the mundane (think more peak human rather than superhuman). This connection is also required for her to tap into the strange other world deep within hyperspace to trigger the Center Nova phenomenon and achieve truly spectacular things.

The shine of the Center Nova comes about when Atsuko's soul burns with an unmatched passion, allowing her to connect with the kirara on a deeply spiritual level and achieve truly supernatural feats. The most common uses likely to be seen are potent shields that can protect multiple people and enhancing Atsuko's physical abilities to truly superhuman levels, but with more effort Atsuko can warp space to shorten the distance between two points, allowing for near instant travel--though the further the two points are apart the less instant the travel becomes (The Center Nova phenomenon can achieve much greater feats, but these are essentially plot-only uses of the perk and perhaps at a later date this will be updated to show just what can be expected during major plots). The Center Nova phenomenon does require kirara to be present to access however, and the less there are, the more difficult it is. The greater the feat or the longer the power of the Center Nova is used, the more exhausted Atsuko becomes. Most frightening, however, is the very real possibility of shining so brightly that she would be consumed by her own radiance and disappear forever. The power of the Center Nova is not one to be used lightly.

Strange creatures that appeared from hyperspace after the first FTL journey humanity made, they appear to be harmless, curious creatures that feed off of the radiance of the soul without actually harming people. Particularly radiant souls attract kirara that stay with them, forming strong bonds. Atsuko's personal kirara is a cute little blob of orange that's quite curious and friendly with any willing to treat it nicely. It provides lighting for Atsuko during performances but can also focus that light to form strong shields to protect her and those around her, at least from a single direction. The shield, sadly, can only handle sustained force for so long before cracking and breaking apart, but it's usually long enough for Atsuko to get away from immediate danger. It can also sufuse its light through her to augment her physical abilities greatly, though not superhumanly. Through her connection with her kirara, she can achieve the great power of the Center Nova, even if only on a small scale. But with more than just her own, that power can grow exponentially.

For all the confidence Atsuko puts forth when dealing with her fans, at concerts, television shows, and even on the battlefield, the fact of the matter is that she's keenly aware that she is one of the more plain girls among the 0048 successors. She can waver in her convictions at times, wondering if she's who her fans should be placing their faith in and she often questions if the kirara made the right choice when they said she was to succeed Maeda Atsuko's name. Even though it hasn't happened often, people have played on this inner doubt and it can be utterly devastating to Atsuko. It's no surprise that she tries so hard to make sure only her closest friends see the normal girl behind the idol.

Atsuko firmly believes that all it takes to end conflict is for everyone involved to talk with one another, and come to understand each other. From that point, everyone can move forward and work things out peacefully. Additionally, she fully believes in the good of all people, even when they haven't shown any hint that there's a single good thing about them. It's just a case of misunderstanding in her mind. Even if it could lead to betrayal, even if it could lead to terrible things happening to her, she still truly wishes to believe that everyone is good and everyone can understand one another. It would take an unimaginably horrible act to make Atsuko truly think someone is beyond understanding.

It is an unfortunate thing sometimes, not being able to leave well enough alone. Atsuko tries so hard at times when she knows she shouldn't get involved in something, but try as she might, there are just times when she can't look the other way. When it's absolutely clear that someone needs help, there's no stopping her without physically holding her down. It can definitely get her into more trouble than it's worth, but she simply can't help but want to support the struggling underdogs of the world.