Achaix
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Posts posted by Achaix
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Cordia proceeded on her rounds, checking to make sure that each of her patients was either being treated or resting comfortably. Once she was finished, she intended to return to Sahjey’s bedside and talk to the Mesa about her options for treatment.
Sorry to be a bother @Astralin , but this is in future tense if I'm reading it correctly.
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The highest ranked Shadow of the Shadow who created Shadows of the Shadow's Shadows has been killed and now Shadows the warframe who can now apparently create Shadows out of Shadows, therefore making the high ranked Shadow who formerly shadowed the Shadow create Shadows who Shadow the high ranked Shadow who Shadows the warframe who can now apparently create Shadows out of Shadows.
I knew about this for a while, but didn't actually do it. I wish I had.
We've gone too deep.
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You called, and I answer. Take this to PMs?
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Mordecai looked over to Arthos, glancing to the dent then replying to him "Screws is a weakling compared to the other Veils, you should be concerned about Shank, It's rumoured he has killed many Grineer and Corpus though his use of darkness." he then looked about the courtyard, mostly at the veils and how some lokas were speaking to a few who strayed from the Veil's pack but there was no sign of Shank. "I don't see him, it could be he's waiting for Screws to find Ragnok's killer."
"Understandable." Arthos hummed. "It's a sound strategy: use something loud to distract the target while operating in the shadows. Almost no risk, so long as the distraction isn't something indispensable."
He looked back at Screws. "If so, there are two possibilities. Screws is either aware of his weakness and willingly faces potential death for the sake of his syndicate, or he is simply a fool at the bottom of the hierarchy who doesn't know he's being played. Either way, we should consider-"
With a roar, she closed the distance between them and slammed her head into his face with quite a bit of force. If he didn't end up on his back, Mag made sure that she got him there. With that, she'd plant her foot on his chest and lean down.
"I do NOT CARE. About your PETTY. Syndicate. Affairs." She'd then raise her foot. "Go play games with someone else."
That woman - that beast. So powerful, yet so very difficult to predict. Arthos had not expected such a violent outburst, and neither did most other prisoners.
... a cry of pain as Mag floored Screws onto his back, the coward raising his hands, his nose streaming a river of blood from the headbutt "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he cried out, other Red Veil watched Mag and one tilted their head as they tried to find out what she really was, such strength was...unnatural for a normal human at least. some Red Veil quickly rushed over, One of them, a female agent from the look of her shouted "Hey! What the [bEEP] you doing?!" angrily as she looked like she was about to pull something out of her jumpsuit pocket
Guards began to also notice this violence and started to slowly circle around as the attention around the Veil and the Tenno began to rise, the Lancers ready to act with public beatings should the need arise, they seemed more focused on the Mag than on the Veil but that could be for Mag being a Tenno, some Grineer began to shout in their language, the Red Veil quickly backing off but not before going to grab Screws and drag them away from Mag, the Red Veil torturer grumbling about "Going to murder that cat!"
"That may have been Shank..." Arthos frowned at the situation. It would be so very anticlimactic for the Red Veil assassin to pop out of hiding and drag away their own distraction, but if the woman was not Shank, where were they?
Arthos looked around the gathering around the violence. In prison and so many other environments, one way to conceal oneself easily was to hide in plain sight, passing as one of the crowd. "Mordecai, what does Shank look like? If he becomes too much of an issue, we'll have to take him out."
Mag nodded at Screws as the others came rushing over to his aid. Good. He understood pain. It meant all the less she'd have to do to make him understand.
*snip*
Said guards started yelling and they scattered like ants. Mag remained where she was and watched them run, still grinning. Oh, they would come for her, but she'd be ready. Pain was an excellent teacher, she'd been an adapt pupil, and she was always glad to help others in their studies.
Arthos was enthralled. "Such an incredible fighter. If only we could draw her away from that Librarian follower and into New Loka's fold."
Yet this Tenno was dumb and mute, or at least around him. He had tried to speak with her, but he might as well have been talking to a tree. Perhaps Mido would have more luck, but he'd rather wait and see how this went first. Arthos may have been eager, but he was not willing to throw loyal followers to feral kubrows.
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"Well, I'd rather feel armed than naked personally but that's just me, I'm sure you'd feel the same." commented Raphael politely, patting the hilt of his Nikana. He then walked over and leaned on one of the walls next to Uriel. "Also, between you and me, I think I met one of many persons here who I've had the displeasure of being given the evil eye." he made a groan and shook his head "Those kinds of people give me the creeps."
He then offered his hand to the Rhino with a smile under his helmet. "Forgive me, I am Raphael of the Guilded Champions, Trickster, Assassin and quite handy with my slight of hand." Raphael chuckled at the last part as if proud of his skills.
Uriel mentally berated himself. Unpreparedness could be a death sentence: one unprepared squad member weakened the team as a whole and could prove to be their undoing. Perhaps this case was somewhat understandable, but...
Despite such strong emotions within him, Uriel kept an ironclad hold on them and did not let them influence his expression or posture.
He raised an eyebrow at Raphael's words. This Tenno had the disfavour of an Orokin official? The thought was almost alien.
He shook the Loki's hand firmly, but nowhere near the point of crushing.
"Well met. I am Uriel, also of the Champions. Have we fought together?" Raphael was somewhat familiar, though no memories came to mind. Uriel had fought with many other Tenno, some wielding the Loki Warframe, and thought it strange that he hadn't met a fellow clanmember yet.
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Cordia’s thoughts were awhirl, searching for an answer to Abra’s question. They had no prosthetic blueprints in the medical database; it had become such an uncommon field, now that cloning technology could essentially regrow limbs. But it might be possible to refit other technology. Technology that had been designed with a very specific goal in mind.
“I’m afraid we do not have much of a selection, Abra,” the Trinity told the Oberon. “With the ability to regrow limbs from scratch, having prosthetics seemed… superfluous. However, we may have something that can serve a similar purpose.”
With Sahjey momentarily calmed by Lancelot, Cordia released her hold on her patient and tapped a series of keystrokes into her CPID. Though Abra may not have realized it, the files she was accessing were not part of the general medical database. These files were stored elsewhere, on a physically sequestered drive accessible only to a few select members of the crew. Temperance was not among them.
“This was originally intended as an exoskeletal piece for stabilizing broken limbs,” Cordia said as she keyed the file transfer, surprising herself at the smoothness of the lie. “With a little modification, it should be suitable as a prosthetic until we can grow her a replacement arm.” The transfer completed, and she bowed low to the Oberon. “Thank you for all of your help, Tenno Abra. I will leave this matter in your capable hands while I attend to the rest of my patients.”
Cordia had spoken and left too quickly for the Oberon to mention that he could simply give the engineers the specs for his Herakles, adjust the design for Sah'jey, and then press the "manufacture" button.
Looking over the exo-arm, Abra couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Admittedly, you could jury-rig the exo-arm into a strong, resilient prosthetic that could crush ferrite beams, but finesse would be laughable. As a Mesa, Sah'jey would probably need accuracy and stability over pure brute force.
True, Cordia had delegated the task to him, but Abra wasn't entirely comfortable with going behind the Healer's back. At the same time, he was certain that repurposing the exo-arm was, though ingenious, downright impractical. As with many things, Abra considered both possibilities and took a third option: communication. His fingers flew on the CPID's keyboard, composing and eventually sending Cordia a message. She was occupied at the moment: no need to distract her from her work.
Though I admire your resourcefulness, a Herakles cyberarm (which was designed as a prosthetic, unlike the exo-arm you suggested) can be replicated from my own for Tenno Sah'jey's use, no repurposing needed. I believe this would be a preferable option, but I'd like you to know and give feedback before we begin manufacturing either prosthetic.
A message entered after the one he sent.
+++ Please take your time, Tenno Abra. I am simply seeking aesthetic advice; if you are able to assist your wounded kin, do so to the best of your ability. Hydroponics can wait. +++
"At least nothing is on fire." He noted.
He glanced at Sah'jey and, after some deliberation, sat beside her bed. Not on it: doing so would intrude on her personal space, and Abra simply didn't know her very well. Instead, he sat on a regular stool, crossed one leg over the other, and set his hands on his knee, relaxing the arms but maintaining proper posture.
"Hello, Tenno Sah'jey." He said gently. "How are you feeling?"
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“Thank you Kate,” Alaric said. “I really appreciate it.”
He carefully handed the heavy energy cannon over to the Mirage, along with a set of power cells to replace the ammunition he had burned through in the battle with the Colossus. He shot Sema a quick glance over Kate’s shoulder, and was met with a barely perceptible shrug from the frameless Tenno. They did not want to be rude, but neither of them had a tactful way to ask Kate to leave so they could resume their work in private.
With only a brief examination and a little fiddling with the cannon (leaving be the obvious trigger), Kate found out how to eject the spent energy cells and slot in the fresh ones. Heavy weapons weren't her specialty. They were a real hassle to synergize with her acrobatic-based fighting strategy: most needed seconds she couldn't spare to charge up, and the Mirage was one of the most frail Warframes. After a few moments of trying to read the Corpus inscription out of curiosity, she looked up to see Sema and Alaric fidgeting without saying anything.
"No need to yell." She commented with a strained smile and turned away quickly, walking towards the door. "I'll be going now."
Souna followed Alise into the Armory, making way for Kate with her bulky deliver in case she's leaving immediately.
"Greetings, comrades. We recovered some of the weaponry that was left on the battlefield."
"We certainly aren't and our culture again is vastly different from the Grineer and Corpus. I think we'd need to know more about the --Oh, Pardon me," she said, stepping out of Kate's way.
She hadn't seen either Zephyr before, but Kate's thoughts weren't on unfamiliar faces. She only really noticed them when one of them spoke to her.
She tilted her head and asked with some alarm, "Are you alright?"
Perhaps on a different day, Kate would have been appreciative of this Zephyr's caring instinct, but Atlanta dominated her thoughts. Every spoken word felt like a condescending insult when placed on such a harsh background.
"No. Not really." She muttered, repressing the childish urge to shove Alise out of the way, even though she had cleared a path. She walked out of the Armoury, her destination already set.
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Aryas simply closed his eyes as he listened to the Rhino's thoughts on the matter of their growing conflict of the Sentients. In fact, he couldn't blame the Tenno, as he shared his stance on the matter at hand. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head, giving a weary smile. "There is no need for the apology, Tenno. It is only human of course, for you to feel these emotions. Ones I share, of course. Some days it is all you can do to keep going." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I pray that you do not lose sight of them." The tall Orokin man would reach out and clasp a hand upon Uriel's shoulder. "They are what separates us from those devils on the moon below." A moment later he would remove his hand and turn, surveying the room in which the Tenno made their conversations with one another.
"Sir." Uriel bowed one last time, thinking over what the Orokin Aryas had said. He reverently raised a hand to the shoulder He had grasped. Never before had one of the Orokin said such things or treated him with such respect. Aryas' humbleness was without compare, a truly unique trait that could only indicate His power and the reason behind His self-confidence. Impressed, Uriel stood even taller and straighter than before, inspired by His words.
"Not a problem, I'm sure I will have many Syandana collectors will have the pleasure of trying to question about my headcloth." commented Raphael as quickly said "Excuse me" in a polite manner and he walked over to Uriel with a curious expression in his body language, resting his left arm on the hilt of his blade, waving to Uriel "Hail Tenno! How fares thou on these times?"
"Would he be joining is? Rhino's are quite burly and strong chaps" thought the Loki as he approached.
It was somewhat suprising for Tenno to be interacting with each other so vividly. Uriel frowned a little at how the Nova could act so disgraceful before the Orokin. She was in the presence of greatness, yet she ignored them in exchange for... Syndanas?
Uriel almost shook his head. Syndanas were a flourishing accessory, and while he could appreciate some designs, they were impractical. He had seen too many elevator incidents to even bother acquiring one. To declare ones devotion to accessories in front of their leaders... did the Nova not know shame?
One of the other Tenno - Raphael, Uriel remembered from the dossier - neared. He turned to face him.
"At ease, brother." He bowed his head to the Loki. A small smile found its way onto Uriel's expression at Raphael's very proper language. "It appears I was mistaken on the code of dress. Were we permitted to bear arms in this station?"
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No. America is South Canada.
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NO!
Y though?
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Hushed whispers and discreet pointing could be felt all around the great station as those that saw the Tenno gossiped among themselves, exhanging glances and worried words. Many had assumed that the Tenno were simply rumors, a folk tale, a story thought up to give the Orokin peoples some semblance of hope in these grim times. But seeing their cold, gold warriors here? In the flesh, standing about and even speaking with each other as if they too were simply people themselves? It was almost surreal.
But to Aryas, it was just another day.
He too had heard the stories of the Tenno, how they were the best equipped to deal with the Sentient threat. But Aryas was a man that saw worth through results. The stories would remain just that until he had seen proof that the Tenno were more than capable of dealing with their adversaries. Straightening his collar, the tall, almost bird-like man made his way over to one of them. The bulky one. His admittedly sparse file apparently listed his "Warframe" as Rhino Prime. Clearing his throat as he neared, he stood straight and formal in front of the nervous Tenno. "You seem troubled, Uriel. What gnaws away at you?" Though the Orokin could already postulate what his answer would be. It was always the same. The Sentients. To be quite honest however, Aryas did not blame the people of this station for their nervousness in the face of such an enemy. They seemed almost like old horror stories than they did a corporeal threat, and Aryas himself always had that pit of uncertainty gripping at his stomach. But he could not show it. To show a weakness like that would fracture the tenuous leadership visage that he held.
One of the Orokin, tall, lithe and radiating an aura of quiet confidence, glided towards the Rhino Prime, and even spoke to him, breaking Uriel from his inner contemplation.
"I'm very sorry, sir." Uriel bowed deeply, then straightened again, arms still crossed behind him. Under his faceplate, his brow was creased in worry. "Every day is a new one, filled with wonders and terrors. It's..."
An eerie blue light danced around their single core. Skeletal spokes segmented into blades. They whispered to him, speaking a hundred dead tongues, and every attack of his made them stronger...
"It is difficult to go forward. However..." Uriel raised his head proudly. "I am certain that the Empire will stand strong against this menace. It will take more than demons to defeat gods, sir."
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Uriel paced back and forth, arms crossed behind him. If he were wearing a Syndana, it would have most likely been swooshing to and fro, perhaps to the point of wrapping itself around him or getting lodged between his decorative armour and Warframe. He was nervous, despite the smoothness of his motions. He was always a little nervous - experience had taught him that anything and everything could go wrong in a moment's notice. How many times had Sentient fighters appeared out of nowhere, ready to tear him and his squad to shreds?
It was good to be nervous. One was more alert to the world, quicker to act, when one was ready. But it was better to keep nervousness from clouding judgement than to jump at every shadow and small noise.
Some Tenno were talking amongst themselves, but Uriel did not pay much attention to them; this was not out of cruelty, but simply because his thoughts were elsewhere.
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I'll get rid of the bounty thing. He isn't stalker like btw (well he did sound like one by his appearance but I changed it so I think it's alright). Anything else I can change? I'm still keeping the anger issue thing though but anything else I can change.
By Stalker-like, I mean the classic "I MUST KILL EVERYTHING IN THE MOST DESPICABLE WAY POSSIBLE" trope. There's no problem with anger issues, but his backstory is way over the top no matter which way you look at it. Killing his entire family? Loch Ness effect on photos? Nobody knowing his real name?
You may think it's impressive, but it's very confusing. Like others have said, there are logical fallacies there that are not canon but are necessary for your character to be the way he is.
I suggest a full revision of his backstory, though you may want to wait for Starnsy's input.
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I think you may be trying too hard, Spartan.
Name? Alright, at least it's not Blade or Shadow. Base personality, I can deal with. Could be interesting.
My issue with Maul is his backstory. Honestly, it's... out there. Tenno definitely don't have families other than fellow Tenno, and even then it's not necessarily a biological link.
And... a bounty of 1000000 pounds? There are no British pounds in Orokin times. Common currencies of the time are platinum coins and ducats.
And the reason behind this bounty is because he's aggressive? Did he kill an entire colony? Piss off a crime boss? Earn the wrath of Orokin officials?
This reads more like the backstory for a grimdark anime protagonist than an RP character sheet. Honestly, all I can say is that if you want to have a Tenno character, you ought to really tone the backstory down.
There's no problem with aggressive Tenno. There is a problem with characters who are so aggressive and downright Stalker-like that it's a wonder the Orokin Empire hasn't killed them yet.
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That's some high octane defiance.
Have you ever heard the story of The Old Master? His was a tale of wonder, creativity, and fighting back against an oppressive world filled with megalomaniacal folk... not unlike Edgardo himself.
A story of overcoming all odds. A story of a strong spirit. A story of ESCALATION.
This story begins with a pizza box, like many do...
[Continue?]
[Y / N]
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The unnerving sensation momentarily reminded Arthos of how skua hunted. They would circle over their prey first, keeping their distance, assessing their target. The moment the other beast stumbled or showed any weakness at all, one skua after another would swoop down and rake at their prey's eyes and face with sharp talons, and once those were destroyed, the skua would switch to attacking legs - or more specifically, tendons. Eventually their prey would fall, exhausted and wounded, and the skua descended to feast.Owl looked to Mag as she talked and nodded "The Loka will be quite interesting, I am sure Simaris will enjoy taking him into the Sanctuary." Arthos could feel the gaze of the Simaris agent on him...
They were laughable. If a human was ever killed by skua packs, then it was because said human was a complete idiot who was doing a service to humanity by dying. Frightening skua away was accomplished by simply raising your arms to the heavens as they swept down. One could also duck and confuse the skua.
A good predator, but not a great one. Arthos had spent much time watching skua hunt and feed from the remains. Once, he walked into their favourite spot, waited for one to swoop down, and caught it by the right wing.
As it cawed for help, Arthos was disappointed. He had admired the bird, but holding it now, knowing he could kill it so easily... there was no thrill. He held it carefully, smoothed out rumpled feathers, and let it fly away. After that, skua left the vicinity whenever he walked near.
He turned around and saw a woman - a servant of Simaris, that defective archiver Cephalon - looking at him. He had to focus to keep himself from staring menacingly back.
... while the new Loka began to spread their rumours to the other, Mido even warned Arthos about the Red Veil Lieutenant Screws trying to find who first beat Ragnok to a pulp.
"On top of everything else, another fool of the Veil causes me trouble?" Arthos struck out at a ferrite plate wall as he walked towards the Courtyard, leaving behind a dent and some blood.
"Damn this prison." He growled, cracking his fingers back into position to avoid them healing incorrectly. Skin reformed, and he wiped away blood as cartilage regenerated and hairline fractures slowly vanished. It would take a day - perhaps more - to heal fully.
"And on my second day, too." He spoke normally once more, as casually as one may comment on the weather, in contrast to the furious aura he exuded.
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While she spoke with Null, Ancilla spared a nanosecond to direct one of her subroutines to ping Tenno Abra’s CPID with a simple text message, asking him to come to Hydroponics 1 when he had time.
Taking a moment to ensure Dalimir was going to stay somewhat healthy without his power active, Abra then stepped back. The CPID locked onto his Herakles arm hummed, but his eyes were still set on Dalimir.
"What could have made you do such a thing?" He muttered at the unresponsive Nekros. "To fire upon a Tenno... you're lucky to be asleep, free from judgement. But if what you did saved us..."
Then what is truly going on?
He left the man to his rest, and read the minimalist message. Abra typed back "In Medical. Will be there soon. Urgent?"
Cordia glanced quickly over her shoulder, meeting Temperance's helmeted gaze where he hung in the drone's suspension field. Though she knew full well what was behind that visor, the calm of her clarity defense did not waver.
"He will make a full recovery," she said. Barely discernible beneath her clinical diagnosis, there was a hard edge to her words.
Abra went to the Trinity before exiting Medical, bowing his head before looking back up at her. "Healer Cordia. If you need anyone to help Tenno Sah'jey in her recovery, I still remember the fine motor skill exercises I used to control my own prosthetic correctly. Please let me know-"
Snip
The Oberon's shock at the Mesa's almost lethal actions was abated quickly by the Excalibur Lancelot's actions, but his sympathy for her only increased with each tear that left Sah'jey's eyes. Abra's gaze turned from the ruined shoulder to his own, tightly clenched synthetic palm, then back at Cordia.
"... I may be able to help immediately. Do either the Medical, Engineering, or Armoury divisions of the Manifold have blueprints for prosthetics?"
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Sema turned quickly, no less graceful without her warframe, but took a moment to process Kate’s presence.
“Ah yes, the Stug I lent you,” she finally said, accepting the Grineer-built gel gun from the Mirage. “Thank you for returning it so promptly, Tenno Kate. I am glad to hear it was useful.”
"It was... but it wasn't. A Nyx chose to do rodeo instead of backing away from the big@ss monster, and now her brother wants me dead because she got in the way of my shots." Her shoulders shifted slightly. Kate was tired of being blamed for things she had no control over, but that didn't keep her from feeling guilt in her gut.
She glanced back over her shoulder at Alaric, who offered a jaunty wave to Kate before turning back to his work. “Alaric was just helping me run some diagnostics on my warframe. I had a…rather unsettling targeting malfunction during the fight with the Colossus.”
Kate waved back. She made a mental note to ask him for a job later.
Sema paused, reluctant to say more. Thankfully, Alaric covered for her.
“By the way, Tenno…Kate was it? Since you’re here, would you mind doing me a favor?” the Volt asked, turning away from the console he had been working at. “Chief Atlanta, down in Engineering, lent me her Opticor for the fight, but I haven’t had time to return it yet."
Oh no.
"Would you be willing to run it down to her and deliver my thanks? You’ll just have to be sure not to jostle it; she’s very attached to this gun.”
"... Sure."
That b¡tch better not choke me again. At least I've got a high-powered laser with me now.
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Conceptually, Nova wins by a long shot on pure destructive capability, Loki/Ivara are tied for utility, and Trinity has Link/Chroma has Vex Armour which make them survival masters.
Excalibur is certainly close to being the strongest jack of all stats, with offense and utility, but he has no defensive skills. Oberon's stats are just not good enough to be considered the master of all, even though he does have utility (rad procs), offense and defense.
But hey. If you can destroy matter, who needs survivability or utility? Nova wins.
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I have learnt one thing.
Time is money, and I'm wasting it.
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I don't think I will be able to join. Recently I have even less time on my hands than before, and I'm already part of a bunch of other RPs.
So just to let you know, I won't be joining this one anytime soon. Besides... I would have a hard time playing with professionals.
Please don't say that. RPing isn't a job or a sport.
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I don't know, Grineer don't have any need for shrinks, and I very much doubt they'd care about their prisoners' mental health. Besides, the Grineer Empire doesn't allow their subjects autonomy unless they're very high in their social ranking, and even then they're expected to fulfill their duties reliably (eg. Tyl Regor isn't punished for being prideful because he's a genius, the G3 haven't been killed for killing several Grineer because they're so freaking deadly, etc.).
Even if he was given autonomy, Grineer have a natural tendency to follow those they see as strong - and since there's already Klaran and quite a few Grineer soldiers, it's very unlikely that a psychiatrist - someone in a profession which does not concentrate on killing efficiently - would try to take the lead. And as Drake said, him acting autonomously would probably end with Klaran ordering his execution. Genetic aberrants aren't allowed to live in Grineer society.
I'd suggest making him fanatically devoted to the Queens, as all Grineer are, and that he was sent to the Labyrinth by the upper brass as an experiment to see if prisoners could be made subservient. Instead of convincing, he should most likely try a more crude method, more befitting of a Grineer, like good ole torture or drugs.
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Looks good to me.
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Nightwatch Lancers in-game do in fact use a Karak Wraith as their primary weapons.
They do? Huh. Well, there's a reason I said IIRC.
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Sorry for the nitpick, but IIRC the Wraith subclass of weapons is specially made by the Red Veil / Rotten Salad offered them as rewards for taking down Grineer labs.
However, this can be explained by Rearr killing and claiming the weapon from a rebel.
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Just a Tenno for a hobby.
[Ic] Lotus In Bloom (Invite Only)
in Role Playing
Posted
"I know what you mean... there must be a reason the commander acted like that. I'll ask him as soon as I see him again, alright?" Abra's helmet unfurled. He tried smiling, but it didn't reach his worrying eyes. He cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, but I must change the subject." He sighed, taking a nearby datapad and quickly assimilating the information. Abra was already well-acquainted to arm injuries, and it was easy to recognize the highlighted areas. "The entirety of your left arm, save a portion of the humerus... is gone."
"Your clavicle and scapula are still intact, but... the deltoid muscle is injured, as are the triceps, teres minor, infraspinatus and..." He squinted at the analysis. Was that low definition really necessary? "... a portion of the supraspinatus muscles. Most tendons in your shoulder are in a very bad state as well."
"As we speak, a new, cloned limb is being built. Unfortunately, it will take three weeks for it to be completed and made warframe-friendly. We will have to operate beforehand to remove any unrepairable muscles and prepare the joint for the reattachment procedure." He tried to switch to kinder news, even though no part of losing a limb was kind. "In the interim, you can be provided with a cybernetic arm like my own. The Herakles can be completed and implanted within a day if you so choose."
He brought his hands together, carefully studying Sah'jey's reaction to all of it. Abra himself hadn't been very calm after his unwilling amputation. How odd that this role is now mine, he thought.
"Would you prefer a temporary prosthetic, or would you rather wait for the cloned limb?"
-+-
There was no possible way for Kate to have heard or seen their reaction. Dry, sarcastic wit was not her forte, especially when feeling like crap. Her words must have sounded like a barely concealed jab. Misinterpretation, the root of so many cruelties. Perhaps this was an omen?
Unaware of this barely enlightening narration, Kate kept walking. Each step was just so heavier than the last, until eventually she got to the short hallway before the Engineering section. She stared at the circular portal, and her distorted, muted reflection stared back - barely visible, forgettable, but Kate had an eye for details.
She tilted her helmeted head to the right. The reflection moved, too, but to its right. Throughout the little observation, the Mirage thought. What to do? Walk in, hand over, depart smoothly? Simple, but she still didn't like it. Get somebody else to toss the gun at Atlanta?
It is important to keep in mind that Kate was not extraordinarily brave. So it was not because of the wise reason, "This is my responsibility, and I must deal with it", that she abandoned that plan. Why? It was a misguided motivation, born from hope, but ignoring reason.
If someone else does it... she'll just keep thinking I'm less than nothing, and the other guy would get a pat on the back. But if I go in there myself... maybe...
In a different emotional state, things may have been different. But Kate entered Engineering anyway - then considered going back out, then considered not doing so, then thought about leaving the Opticor behind, then realized that may be a bad idea, then...
When people are afraid, their resolve is shaken. Indecision dominates. Kate stood still by one of Engineering's door, pointing the Opticor down but still keeping a firm grip on it.