I suddenly want to take equal parts Strike Witches, X-COM, Armored Core, and Kill la Kill, put them neatly on a set of fine china, pour a nice glass of Madoka Magica, then garnish with BODYSLAM.
1. All The Lights in the Sky are Stars
Witches are less plane and more warship. A Witch is ranked with 1-3 stars (normally). 1-star Witches have some magical talent but generally serve as infantry, they generally look like a regular Strike Witches cast member. 1-Stars have small reserves of magic and can't use larger or more complicated Strike Gears. 2-Star witches often lead a group of 1-Stars or deploy to dangerous environments, and have moderate mana reserves. They can use more complicated and encompassing Strike Gears, or retain light armor to have more magic at their disposal. Three-Star witches are rare on a battlefield unless a major battle is underway or the mission requires only the best. Capable of using nearly any Strike Gear and casting potent magic, Three-Star witches are not to be trifled with.
2. We were all having a nice war until the aliens showed up
The world is not in a good state right now. Multiple factions vie for control. The war is still young when an Australia-sized object lands in the Pacific Ocean and starts spewing aliens all over the place.
List O' Factions:
UCS/Project Evergreen: North America, South America, Canada, Europe (Western)
OCU/Interior Union:Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Pacific Islands, India, Southeastern Asia
PRM/Imperial Guard:China, Thailand
RSU/Sun Sisterhood:Middle East, India, Africa
RA/Degyatrev Unit:Russia, some of Eastern Europe.
Independent: Japan
Other: The Aliens.
United Continental States
The USA has become a supercontinent, although little has changed. The UCS's populace ranges from doing well to dirt poor, and dissent groups exist. Europe is still a separate country."Project Evergreen" is the UCS Witch project.
Oceania Community Union
Under a similar economic alliance to the UCS's formation, the OCU is a bitter rival to the UCS and Pacific Islands often find themselves caught in the conflict. The OCU Witch project is known as the Interior Union.
People's Republic Military
Rivals with the UCS, although they also hate the OCU. Begrudgingly at peace with the OCU, although internal fighting happens, especially since the two are secretive to one another. The Imperial Guard serves as the PRM's Witch project.
Red Sun Union
Middle Eastern union that actively hates the UCS and dislikes nearly everyone else. There is intense rebellion constantly stirring in portions of it's populace, but it still presents an ironclad army. The Sun Sisterhood is the Witch Program for the RSU.
Russian Army
Russia hasn't pledged to any faction, but actively supports the UCS while acting as a mediator to prevent major damage to Asia and Europe as a whole. Disliked by many, but not actively attacked that frequently. Once the aliens came in, they became a much hotter zone for conflict. The Witch project is known as the Degyatrev Unit, officially.
Independent
Japan has ties to both the UCS and OCU in equal measure and refuses to actively take arms, though aspiring Witches are sent to the split factions in equal numbers. Japan is a demilitarized zone between the OCU and UCS, although it is actively developing Strike Gears.
Aliens
Yes, Aliens. No one knows anything and only satellites can take images of their strange base. They attack humans in general, and communication efforts have failed. Cryptologists work on their written language, but little progress is made, and what is made is kept secret. What's even worse is that the aliens seem to be very adaptable, even if they aren't stronger than the Witches and possibly equal in number...
3.Strike Gear?
Yes. Strike Gear. What happens when you take the leg units of a Strike Witch, and add Armored Core 5+ mecha designs and base how much magical device you can have around how much magic you can wield?
Strike Gears. A three-star witch is capable of having the leg units, a back+arm mounted weapons system, and a helmet/neckguard. All of these enhance ability, but reduce casting ability, so that the very same witch can't use magic aside from the most basic shielding/weapons enhancement.
4.So what are the Witches lives like?
Depends on the nation they belong to, and believe me, they all have their horrors. There's no "this is the best to live in" due to that.
5.Can I make a character?
Name, nationality, personality, appearance, magic type (do note that this is basically "element", no time shenanigans), preferred weapon type (not specific weapons- ACVD Ultimate Weapons exist in Strike Gear form, that's all you need to know as to why), and how many stars.
I may do a suggestion game later, or some short stories, and if I like the idea enough, I might include them somewhere. Also, Witches are exclusively female.
Don't post them here, though. It's fine to give a rough idea, but just throw a Google Drive link at me or PM me something if you don't want other people to get the link or if it's Pastebin or something that carries risk of "this isn't what I wanted to click oh god" so people don't have heart attacks.