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
Revision Zero
Revision Zero Lore: The first of many. //LOGLINE:BRAY-9//CLUSTER:147-3//PROVISION:FRA//ID:87840-JSTEV Spectrochemical analysis inconclusive. Material is polyphasic. Prediction models fail to return reliable results during exposure to standard stress trials. Cannot recommend for practical application at this time. //LOGLINE:BRAY-12//CLUSTER:226-3-1//PROVISION:SER//ID:07707-CWILL Per Alton’s request, we’ve buried Stevenson’s analysis and the reports from K1. I’ve taken the liberty of authorizing material synthesis and informing our partners at HHI that we have the green light to begin testing. //LOGLINE:HÄKKE-2//CLUSTER:147-3//PROVISION:GER//ID:92998-ALIND Fabrication is moving slower than previously thought. Production hit a dead end trying to replicate the polyphasic properties of the artifact. Insight developed a new fabrication process utilizing a metamaterial we’re calling synthweave that has us back on track. //LOGLINE:BRAY-12//CLUSTER:226-3-1//PROVISION:SER//ID:07707-CWILL Please bear in mind that per our contract any material innovations or developments brought about through experimentation or analysis of the artifact are BrayTech corporate property. //LOGLINE:BRAY-9//CLUSTER:147-3//PROVISION:FRA//ID:87840-JSTEV Cary, are you able to open comms to Titan? I’ve been trying to raise Zhang all day, and I’m getting a resolution error. //LOGLINE:BRAY-12//CLUSTER:226-3-1//PROVISION:SER//ID:07707-CWILL We can’t make contact from here, either. We’re dealing with a few fires on our end, might be RAS interference. I’ll get back to you. //LOGLINE:BRAY-12//CLUSTER:226-3-1//PROVISION:SER//ID:07707-CWILL I just spoke to Stevenson, network outage seems widespread. I don’t know what’s going on. Have you heard anything? I can’t contact the Mindlab facility on Mars, and the defense systems have come online on a SKYSHOCK protocol. Is Rasputin running a system test? Please advise. 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.
Zephyr
Zephyr Lore: In the cold of winter, we remember that the warm west wind will blow again. 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. Donec ac dui id ex ultrices lobortis. Pellentesque lacinia erat vel massa ultricies, eget feugiat neque fermentum. Nam vestibulum metus ac est dignissim rutrum. Sed aliquet egestas turpis, ac molestie urna fringilla et. Vivamus ut mauris pretium ante aliquet dapibus. Morbi a pellentesque massa. In nibh leo, tincidunt gravida urna at, suscipit finibus turpis. Duis sed dictum dolor. Etiam tincidunt mauris nec turpis volutpat dictum. Maecenas a varius velit. Aliquam sit amet ex nec nunc viverra sollicitudin non ac nunc. Aliquam in turpis sed justo tempor eleifend at.
Fire and Forget
Fire and Forget Lore: Remove what brings you pain. Banshee-44 emits a low whistle as he watches Stasis energy course through the rifle’s internal conduits. “Ninety-seven percent efficiency,” he mutters to himself in wonder. “This thing’s state of the art.” “It certainly is,” replies another Exo voice beside him. Ada-1 peers over the gunsmith’s shoulder, equally fascinated by the BrayTech weapon. “The Black Armory never developed a linear fusion rifle,” she continues. “Our forges lacked the necessary precision.” “LFRs are a special breed of gun,” Banshee says. He turns his head and notices Ada focusing on the weapon. “You ever want to take a crack at making one?” Ada folds her hands in front of her, taking a moment to consider. “No,” she answers quietly. “The forges were built out of fear. We thought that even in a Golden Age, humanity needed an arsenal to defend itself. But they created more conflict than they ever prevented.” “Weapons tend to do that,” Banshee remarks knowingly. He meets Ada’s eyes. “You’ve never been reset? Remember everything after you first woke up?” “I do,” she replies in a haunted voice. “Every Fallen raid. Every Warlord grasping for more power.” Banshee nods to himself and runs his hand over the contours of the rifle. “I’ve been reset 44 times,” he says. “I forget about most of the guns I make. Don’t know who uses them or what for.” “That sounds awful,” Ada replies. “Sometimes,” Banshee admits. “But between the two of us… maybe that makes me the lucky one.” 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.
Prolonged Engagement
Prolonged Engagement Lore: Fight until the bitter end. 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. Donec ac dui id ex ultrices lobortis. Pellentesque lacinia erat vel massa ultricies, eget feugiat neque fermentum. Nam vestibulum metus ac est dignissim rutrum. Sed aliquet egestas turpis, ac molestie urna fringilla et. Vivamus ut mauris pretium ante aliquet dapibus. Morbi a pellentesque massa. In nibh leo, tincidunt gravida urna at, suscipit finibus turpis. Duis sed dictum dolor. Etiam tincidunt mauris nec turpis volutpat dictum. Maecenas a varius velit. Aliquam sit amet ex nec nunc viverra sollicitudin non ac nunc. Aliquam in turpis sed justo tempor eleifend at.
Liminal Vigil
Liminal Vigil Lore: Cause and effect like a looped corridor. I stand. Ever watchful, forever. TM -Fireteam, Tex //RECOVERED MISSION TRANSCRIPT: 7-7-7 I am the Watcher. O’er those sent into night. Their path traced out of harm. A thousand times I’ve dreamt it. A thousand more to quell alarm. There is no time of danger, for those within my watch. Each night ’til delivered My vigil restarts. -For R. I see what you see now. It is calming. 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.
Jararaca-3SR
Jararaca-3SR Lore: I slither, I strike. 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. Donec ac dui id ex ultrices lobortis. Pellentesque lacinia erat vel massa ultricies, eget feugiat neque fermentum. Nam vestibulum metus ac est dignissim rutrum. Sed aliquet egestas turpis, ac molestie urna fringilla et. Vivamus ut mauris pretium ante aliquet dapibus. Morbi a pellentesque massa. In nibh leo, tincidunt gravida urna at, suscipit finibus turpis. Duis sed dictum dolor. Etiam tincidunt mauris nec turpis volutpat dictum. Maecenas a varius velit. Aliquam sit amet ex nec nunc viverra sollicitudin non ac nunc. Aliquam in turpis sed justo tempor eleifend at.
Stay Frosty
Stay Frosty Lore: Delivering seasonal cheer with unparalleled attention. 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. Donec ac dui id ex ultrices lobortis. Pellentesque lacinia erat vel massa ultricies, eget feugiat neque fermentum. Nam vestibulum metus ac est dignissim rutrum. Sed aliquet egestas turpis, ac molestie urna fringilla et. Vivamus ut mauris pretium ante aliquet dapibus. Morbi a pellentesque massa. In nibh leo, tincidunt gravida urna at, suscipit finibus turpis. Duis sed dictum dolor. Etiam tincidunt mauris nec turpis volutpat dictum. Maecenas a varius velit. Aliquam sit amet ex nec nunc viverra sollicitudin non ac nunc. Aliquam in turpis sed justo tempor eleifend at.
Disparity
Disparity Lore: “Identify yourself, or be destroyed.” —Clovis Bray I Cadmus Ridge rests within the grip of a storm. Wind-whipped frazil ice scours the exposed superstructure of bygone ambition. Steel crumbles, slowly, to the howling blind; sleet swarms like locusts pecking rust on skeletal decay. A patient war. Inevitable, like entropy. The storm halts as if detecting a predator on the wind—quiet settles in the moment. A cloaked Vandal stands, and the silhouette of their camouflage breaks against the stillness. A cloudburst splits the sky, turning the storm and sleet to a surge of needling rain that perforates the Vandal. Soulfire rifts tear open to expel three gargantuan Hive Tomb Ships. They slowly drift into formation, unthreatened, positioning themselves above Riis-Reborn. From their hulls spew runes of black fire that meet between the ships and ignite into the projection of a bladed terrace, casting House Salvation’s new home in shadow. It is as night. The distant light of the Sun is choked from the sky. A voice booms like thunder. HEAR THE DIN OF RAPTURE. WELCOME ME IN YOUR ARMS. CELEBRATE MY ARRIVAL, AND KNOW ME AGAIN. FOR THIS WORLD HAS ALWAYS BEEN MINE. Deep within Bray Exoscience Creation, Clovis Bray I rouses from infernal calculous; a maintenance coordination AI has signaled an emergency. “What is it?” Clovis demands. A monotone version of his own voice responds. “Unknown craft have entered Europan airspace. How shall I respond?” “Broadcast my voice… and arm the perimeter,” Clovis orders. “Affirmative. Ready upon speaking,” the AI informs. “Alien vessel, this is Clovis Bray. Identify yourself or be destroyed.” The thunder, distant, though no quieter, responds… “I AM WAR.” Discover More Weapons Here
