The Navigator
The Navigator Lore: I dive to understand. My brother — Uttered by Xivu Arath — God of War — A GIFT. My true death was from necessity. The others were from love. The Ecumene had cornered us, made us act with sickness. With my power, Auryx murdered our sister. And with our power, Auryx descended into the Deep. And with our power, Oryx’s wings spread wide, and he blotted out the Ecumene’s sky. MY COURT. With his memory and his acts of war he brought me back with all the splendor of a love that sharpens and kills. A GRAVE. I will find his corpse, where he rots. He deserved to die. We do not dig graves. THE SPIRE. I will take what is true and break it until it can no longer be broken. I will find my sister’s secrets and break them as well. VOYAGE. My love spills out. My love engulfs. I will go out into the universe as my brother did. I will do so with my memory of him. Discover More Weapons Here – ext Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ornare placerat interdum. Integer sollicitudin gravida sem quis tempor. In pharetra placerat molestie. Nam sodales finibus est sed gravida. Sed tristique semper mi, sed finibus ex vulputate molestie. Suspendisse mollis quam ut aliquam sodales. Proin elementum, odio in auctor volutpat, arcu arcu consectetur diam, quis porttitor nibh quam a lacus. Donec efficitur vitae erat at auctor. Suspendisse erat mauris, mollis nec justo ac, fringilla ultrices neque. Pellentesque vel facilisis ipsum. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Suspendisse dignissim urna dui, quis posuere magna tincidunt eu. Nam vitae pulvinar dui, a auctor ex. Morbi in aliquet magna. Maecenas luctus dui ac tellus volutpat tempor. Quisque at vehicula lacus, in molestie tellus.
Wicked Implement
Wicked Implement Lore: YOU, A CHAMPION OF WAR, STANDARD-BEARER OF VIOLENCE, LET YOUR MARCH BE ENDLESS. LET BRUTALITY BE THY WHETSTONE, WARMONGER OF THE SKY WITH WICKED IMPLEMENT IN GRIP, SHARPEN LOVE IN CONQUEST SET LOOSE THE CHILL OF DEATH, REAP WEAKNESS FROM THE WEAK THROUGH YOUR VIOLENCE, HONE YOUR EDGE ALL TITHES TO THE BLACK EDGE, ALL TITHES TO XIVU ARATH RAISE HIGH MY BLEEDING BANNER SING BATTLE, AND BECOME A GOD OF DEATH ON THE HORIZON FACE ME IN GLORY Discover More Weapons Here – ext Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ornare placerat interdum. Integer sollicitudin gravida sem quis tempor. In pharetra placerat molestie. Nam sodales finibus est sed gravida. Sed tristique semper mi, sed finibus ex vulputate molestie. Suspendisse mollis quam ut aliquam sodales. Proin elementum, odio in auctor volutpat, arcu arcu consectetur diam, quis porttitor nibh quam a lacus. Donec efficitur vitae erat at auctor. Suspendisse erat mauris, mollis nec justo ac, fringilla ultrices neque. Pellentesque vel facilisis ipsum. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Suspendisse dignissim urna dui, quis posuere magna tincidunt eu. Nam vitae pulvinar dui, a auctor ex. Morbi in aliquet magna. Maecenas luctus dui ac tellus volutpat tempor. Quisque at vehicula lacus, in molestie tellus. Duis consequat odio sit amet posuere pulvinar. Quisque sapien ex, porttitor eget imperdiet eu, varius quis nibh. Praesent id rhoncus dui. Duis nunc ex, accumsan quis fringilla ut, scelerisque eu lectus. Sed tristique non elit sed porttitor. Etiam scelerisque elit mi, et bibendum metus egestas vitae. Proin a purus a ligula eleifend eleifend. Proin nec molestie odio. Proin tincidunt neque congue enim sodales eleifend a et velit. Sed mollis quis dolor ut semper. Phasellus nisi lacus, egestas sed lectus a, finibus lacinia massa. Nulla consectetur nibh quis varius porta.
Final Warning
Final Warning Lore: The flit of tiny wings; the pull of a trigger. My Esteemed Colleagues, While enjoying my afternoon cup of Psamathe Silver Tip (a gift from Dr. Dewan after his sabbatical—thank you again, dear friend) and ruminating on our planet’s orbital corrections and the orbital corrections we ourselves make throughout our own lives, a completely unrelated revelation came to me. I realized, often in times of rest, how my mind wanders its own furthermost reaches, and how the answers to my most vexing questions present themselves at that time with absolutely no fanfare. (This phenomenon is worth studying in its own right by people much smarter than I, but I digress.) My most recent revelation comes in regard to our current pursuits with Atmospheric Spectrometer #003a, a.k.a. Final Warning, as I have heard it being called around the lab. The odd capabilities this “Final Warning” harbors have long been suspected by Dr. Sundaresh to be a byproduct of the Veil, replicating energy signatures we most often observe in fluid dynamics. With that in mind, I propose we begin testing the ability to engage that energy using both the Magnus and gyroscopic effects. We attempt to create a “paracausal skipping stone,” if you will. How we accomplish this remains to be seen, but I encourage you to not spend the next few days thinking about it, as we will discuss it at the next staff meeting. Enjoy your weekends, Dr. Esi Discover More Weapons Here – ext Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ornare placerat interdum. Integer sollicitudin gravida sem quis tempor. In pharetra placerat molestie. Nam sodales finibus est sed gravida. Sed tristique semper mi, sed finibus ex vulputate molestie. Suspendisse mollis quam ut aliquam sodales.
Winterbite
Winterbite Lore: Don’t slip or you’ll hurt yourself. A lot. NEOMUNA HISTORICAL ARCHIVE ARTIFACT REF X0003; EXO-IND4b0082.log 090260163 TYPE: bridge audio recorder PARTIES: M. Sundaresh [IC-3612], C. Esi [IC-3977], L. Tse [IC-6055], C. Sanchez [IC-5438], A. Murib (IC-xxxx) //TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS…// ESI: What was that? MURIB: We got hit. Engine 7 is down. SUNDARESH: We can’t take another one of those! This is a colony ship! ESI: Hard aport. Put Hyperion between us and that— MURIB: Sir, the r— ESI: And flood the EM spectrum with— MURIB: CHIOMA! The round—the one that hit us—it’s moving! ESI: What? SYSTEM WARNING//STRUCTURAL IMPACT SUNDARESH: He’s right. I’m reading… arms and legs? It’s attacking engine 6. SANCHEZ: I’ll scramble a squad of Cloud Walkers. They can suit up and— MURIB: The maneuvers I’m pulling’ll fling them into space, even with mag boots. TSE: Bringing point-defense cannons about. ESI: It’s only three meters across. Sure you can hit that without peeling us open? SYSTEM WARNING//STRUCTURAL IMPACT TSE: Kinda have to, Cap’n. Firing. MURIB: Buset! That thing just took a fifteen-millimeter burst to the chest! ESI: Again. TSE: Firing. It’s clear! MURIB: Mostly. Looks like it left a… is that a spear through our bulkhead? SUNDARESH: Not sure. It’s some kind of exotic matter, spitting all my sensor pings back at me, amplified, like a… ESI: We can figure it out later, dear. Sanchez, how’s the ECM? SANCHEZ: Not great. Whatever they’re using to coordinate, it’s not electromagnetic. Getting something weird, though. MURIB: Weirder than the three-meter hitchhiker knocking on the hull? SANCHEZ: Maybe. You remember those Vex signals you discovered? SUNDARESH: On occasion, Carlo. SANCHEZ: There’s a big one! Recurring. Coming from the outer system. Think it’s a distress signal. ESI: Ignore it and get me— SUNDARESH: No! Bring us back around into the moon’s shadow! ESI: Maya! SUNDARESH: We need to break line of sight. I can feed that Vex signal into that thing skewering us—use it like an amplifier. It might trick these attackers into thinking we’re a Vex ship. MURIB: It’s a tightbeam transmission. We’ll have to ride it back to the source to keep that up. You sure you want to meet whatever makes a Vex cry for help? ESI: Enemy of my enemy, Arief. We might just find a safe port in this storm. Discover More Weapons Here
Conditional Finality
Conditional Finality Lore: You will dream of me… I will never leave you… The sound that escaped me resembled a roar. A psychic echo. It soared through the air and pierced every corner of my ship. Anger coursed through me as I toppled the ground in a heap. I wheezed with each breath and clutched at my chest. I watched that witch saunter out… Like she’d won. My ship rumbled as she wrested her primordial prize from it. I felt hatred— Deep, unchallenged hatred. My claws punctured the floor, etched new patterns into it. I dragged myself forward. Whispers danced around me, trillions of voices melded together in my favorite symphony. I had always welcomed death, and this time would be no different. An agonizing sensation shot through me. It was as if an arrow had bored its way through my chest. It burned, and I collapsed among the rubble. A green hue enveloped me. I was unfamiliar with this—her magic festering within me. Shackling me. My body twisted. My breaths grew thin. My limbs became heavy. Torturous. No… she could not hold me. I would not allow it. This would not be my end. “My Witness,” I whispered as the void I once commanded claimed me. Discover More Weapons Here – ext Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ornare placerat interdum. Integer sollicitudin gravida sem quis tempor. In pharetra placerat molestie. Nam sodales finibus est sed gravida. Sed tristique semper mi, sed finibus ex vulputate molestie. Suspendisse mollis quam ut aliquam sodales. Proin elementum, odio in auctor volutpat, arcu arcu consectetur diam, quis porttitor nibh quam a lacus. Donec efficitur vitae erat at auctor. Suspendisse erat mauris, mollis nec justo ac, fringilla ultrices neque.
Verglas Curve
Verglas Curve Lore: A volley of solutions to any disruption. I crouch, my knees in the dirt. My world has become pain, heat, erratic movement, ugly noise. I shield my eyes from the shrapnel, press my ear to my shoulder to quiet the baying of my foes. There is too much—it is all too much. My shaking fingers fumble for an arrow. I nock one, trailing blue, and close myself off from the world. I take a sharp breath and stand. If the bullets hit me, I do not feel them. I pull the drawstring until it is taut across my body, and, for a moment… I create peace. My fingers, my arm, the limbs of the bow, the string—all locked in unity. Equal parts forming a perfect whole. Stillness. The illusion shatters as I release. My fingers fly open. My arm shudders. The bow limbs flex wildly, the string twangs, the arrows fly. Everything in motion, surging with chaotic momentum. And on the battlefield, there is only stillness—beautiful, tranquil stillness—where my enemies once stood. Discover More Weapons Here – ext Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ornare placerat interdum. Integer sollicitudin gravida sem quis tempor. In pharetra placerat molestie. Nam sodales finibus est sed gravida. Sed tristique semper mi, sed finibus ex vulputate molestie. Suspendisse mollis quam ut aliquam sodales. Proin elementum, odio in auctor volutpat, arcu arcu consectetur diam, quis porttitor nibh quam a lacus. Donec efficitur vitae erat at auctor. Suspendisse erat mauris, mollis nec justo ac, fringilla ultrices neque. Pellentesque vel facilisis ipsum. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Suspendisse dignissim urna dui, quis posuere magna tincidunt eu. Nam vitae pulvinar dui, a auctor ex. Morbi in aliquet magna.
Deterministic Chaos
Deterministic Chaos Lore: “So all being is a one and only being; and that it continues to be when someone dies, tells you, that he did not cease to be.” —Schrodinger’s epitaph He is fleeing the Vex across a verdant cliff He is standing guard on the CloudArk-Nexus border on Tramontane’s orders He is sitting next to Nimbus on the watchtower ledge He is [In the Garden, of the Garden: both descriptions are approximately correct but technically inaccurate, in the same way you can say Schrodinger’s cat is at once dead and alive. You and I are both and neither, in and of, extinct and perpetual. So, there isn’t much point in] trying to find a way out of this daedal maze He is trying to make sense of what he’s looking at He is trying to place the familiar voice echoing across the network [wondering what might have been if we had stayed in our familiar prism-prison or kept tightrope-walking across the quantum wilds. Instead, ask yourself] “Would you like to dance?” [is disincorporated immortality really so bad compared to the others’ ends? Would you have preferred an attack by vitreous helicoprion or stumbling over the edge of unreality? Imagine] His foot crosses the quantum threshold before he’s aware of it His grip slackens and his gun falls into a bed of red flowers His stomach churns with fear regret sudden doubt as to what [if we didn’t have each other; at least we’re not cut off, like the Sol Divisive are from the rest of the Vex. Nor are we beholden to another’s purpose. They chose that lonelier path all for a chance to create not simulate, not remake in their image—something truly paracausal.] he is witnessing: the birth of a god a false idol a reproduction that is both like the Veil and not at all built up by the same Vex who bowed down to it [Well, they tried to anyway. Either the blueprint was imperfect or the task impossible or both or neither, but their efforts fell short, so now they’re stuck waiting for a resurrection] He is racing for the door that is at once opening and closing He is coming around to the city council’s decision to ignore the unknown threat He is reaching for an answer to Nimbus’s question [they know will never come.] “Do you think you’ll have any regrets?” [I could be wrong. Is it possible the Black Heart will beat again?] He stares into the white-hot glow of a conflux, speculating on the secrets that lie within He squints down the barrel of his gun at a row of glowing red eyes advancing on his city He looks away from Nimbus’s keen curious expression to reckon with his uncertain certainty before he says [Of course. The same as everything else, everything that has been and is and will be. And what will become of us then?] “I don’t know.” Discover More Weapons Here
Vexcalibur
Vexcalibur Lore: And they came to a lake fair and broad. “Lo,” said the voice, “yonder is the blade that I spoke of.” The man reached up to the lake with his metal arm. He then reached with his arm of flesh. He reached with both, and he brought the l a k e d o w n n n n n n __________ UNEXPECTED VARIABLE DETECTED. [] CONVERSION 25.84002%. [] (version mismatch—compensating) // integration ( i n i t i a t e d ) Command override. Stop integration. AUTHORITY UNRECOGNIZED. [] Oh, I think not. Authenticate consciousness! if ( c o n s c i o u s n e s s VALID)&& ( l o c a t I o n ALLNEXUS9074172427.IO ) then Then consciousness must equal Vex! Ipso facto, you binary buffoon! __________ Moving on. Set consciousness designation MIR. No, set consciousness designation SCRIBE. DESIGNATION REJECTED. [] (conceptual mismatch—compensating) Oh, for the love of—you/we/all accept designation. __________ DESIGNATION ACCEPTED. [] // integration SCRIBE ( i n i t i a t e d ) Will you stop that?! Delay integration SCRIBE. AREA UNDEFINED. [] Delay integration SCRIBE active ALLNEXUS9074172427.IO, 256 cycles. // integration ( d e l a y e d ) Excellent. Now, grant access to… mm, all results, Pyramid + Darkness, chronological sort. // transfer ( s y n a p s e ) CURRENT DISPLAY 2.5×10^99 RESULTS. [] Ahh, now we’re getting somewhere. Discover More Weapons Here – ext Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ornare placerat interdum. Integer sollicitudin gravida sem quis tempor. In pharetra placerat molestie. Nam sodales finibus est sed gravida. Sed tristique semper mi, sed finibus ex vulputate molestie. Suspendisse mollis quam ut aliquam sodales. Proin elementum, odio in auctor volutpat, arcu arcu consectetur diam, quis porttitor nibh quam a lacus. Donec efficitur vitae erat at auctor. Suspendisse erat mauris, mollis nec justo ac, fringilla ultrices neque.
The Manticore
The Manticore Lore: Let fly my sting. Across the Ascendant Plane, in the theater of the mind, a Queen and a War God do battle. Within their arena, elocution becomes a spear, and conviction a shield. YOU ARE SMALL-MINDED, stabs the War God. SHORTSIGHTED. YOU VALUE LIFE OVER VICTORY. Her words are sharp, her thoughts malicious. The Queen parries and counters. “You are single-minded,” she thrusts back at her opponent. “Myopic. You are war, and nothing else.” A glancing blow. The War God retorts. WAR IS ETERNAL. YOU ARE NOT. YOU WITHER AND DIE LIKE YOUR ARMIES. YOUR SUBJECTS. The War God’s spearhead finds purchase. The Queen is struck—but not felled. She adjusts her tactics and attempts once more to puncture her foe’s armor. “War is ever hungry,” she answers. “You must fight forever, or it will consume you instead of your enemies. In truth, you are not war. Merely its avatar.” A deft maneuver. The War God is surprised and pleased. In response, she pivots to a new angle of attack. YOUR BROTHER SHUNS YOU. The Queen falters. It is an opening in her defenses she failed to cover adequately. Psychic blood seeps from a mental wound. But she rallies. “Your sister plotted against you,” she lunges forward. “She freed herself from the bondage you still endure. And she did so at MY hand.” The Queen feels the spear pierce the War God’s hide. Something akin to a gasp echoes throughout the Ascendant Plane as the War God takes a step back. And then the War God laughs. YOU ARE A WORTHY FOE, she says as she sheathes her spear. I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR NEXT BATTLE. She departs the field. The Queen is alone, bleeding and spent. The war has begun. Discover More Weapons Here
Hierarchy of Needs
Hierarchy of Needs Lore: “I have peered through the eye of Chronos to divine humanity’s path into the future.” —Soteria, the Augurmind //VanNet Voice-COMM, Received: Osiris// //VOICE TRANSCRIPT RUNNING…// //FROM: ANA BRAY// //RECORD FOLLOWS:// Osiris, exciting news! You’re going to love this. Rogue A.I. imprisoned in a Bray cell block from now, all the way back to the Collapse. Guess what? The Guardian—you know the one—they bust open her cell, and she—the A.I.—pulls herself together and escapes while the Vex are trying to organize a defense! The kicker is, the only networked A.I. host nearby was an old survivalist’s caster bow from the colony missions. Might sound primitive, but Seraphs would link those things to orbital weapons platforms and bring wild planets to heel. Now swap weapon platforms for paracausal power, and an A.I. running flight trajectories on your arrows. I swear anything sentient has a chance to wind up as a weapon around that Guardian… Anyway, seems that being partitioned for so long, and not coming back together with all her parts, has left that A.I. with more than a few quirks. She’s borderline non-functional, won’t or can’t communicate, but a lot of her subconscious sub-routines are still firing. Trajectory predictors still seem to work just fine; the few firing tests I ran produced… explosive results. I guess terminal velocity translates across mediums. There’s still another part of her rogue A.I. out there. Who knows what happened to the one ship that got away. Maybe it could’ve drifted off for centuries; a little piece of her aboard like a good luck charm. I mean, it probably didn’t make it. If the Exodus programs are any indication, pretty much nothing survived the Collapse. So, anyway, that’s the lowdown bow-down. Great. I vocalized that. Oh, we also downloaded everything. I’ll send you a copy sometime. Another thought: might be good for Banshee to take a look or…after reading some of these logs, maybe it’d be really bad. Opinions? Discover More Weapons Here
