I honestly thought it would be more of a challenge to write this one. Turns out it was pretty easy.
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The Savior
As one of the pre-eminent powers of the Origin System, with uncountable numbers behind you and a long history of war, your Corpus has held firm against all comers. You have ruthlessly crushed the competition in nearly every encounter, absorbed their assets, and claimed their work for yourselves. Those organizations that you couldn't swallow, you have staved off through superior technology and legions of crewmen fighting off threats.
A truism in the pursuit of Profit is that one should eliminate rivals in their infancy. The Board has learned through centuries of dealings that competitors are far easier to squash when they are young, with a laughably small footprint and a nigh-nonexistent base of support. A few of your Corpus's mistakes have matured into significant annoyances.
The Syndicates. Outside organizations that resist the inexorable journey toward Profit out of various misguided agendas. The one that has earned the ire of your employer is that led by his former protégé: Ergo Glast.
The Perrin Sequence, former members of your Corpus who were too weak-willed to accept that Profit can only be achieved at cost. For them, the welfare of others is too great a price to pay. The fools. Profit is always at the expense of others, and those others who fall were simply too weak and unprepared.
As the overseer of a Corpus operation, the defense of such falls to you when it comes under attack. To your annoyance, the alarm awakens you from the sleep you enjoyed. You grumble as your aides brief you on the situation, idly contemplating a personnel replacement for their incompetence.
One hallmark of incursions from the Perrin traitors is that they are structured as liberation attacks. Many indentured workers toil away in Corpus factories for your benefit, and the Syndicate often raids such facilities to free them from your "oppression." Such foolishness. The workers are kept alive and protected by the might of the Corpus security forces. To be removed from their posts would be a violation of their contracts, and would open them up to contractual asset forfeiture. It costs you little to replace the lost workers with their Corpus. If the father will not uphold the contract, then the son shall do so.
Still, while you can easily replace the losses, Chairman Bek will be annoyed at the production hiccups. Your best option to avoid becoming the target of his annoyance is to eliminate the raiders and prevent their further interference.
Clad in a powered exoskeleton for your protection, you are accompanied by two Bursas, a swarm of MOAs, and a squad of technicians. You make your way to the problem area, and note to your satisfaction that the traitors are being rapidly pushed back and away from the critical areas. A stray shot from a Perrin operative glances off your shield systems, and you raise your customized Detron and blast the fool off his feet. Another fool steps forward and grabs their fallen comrade, dragging them backward behind a large shipping container. You snort. Hiding will do them no good. They will all be exterminated sooner or later.
Then you see it. One of THEM. A Betrayer.
A mere Syndicate raid is rarely cause for concern. But an incursion backed by the Tenno is a catastrophe. You have read such event reports before, and they inevitably conclude with a total write-off of the facility. Suddenly, you have a feeling that you are about to become just another subtraction in the asset column.
The Bursas lock onto the Tenno, and slide their way over to engage the priority threat. But the Tenno raises a feminine hand and a pulse of energy sweeps over the two units. Both are raised into the air, helplessly flailing to try and reorient themselves to attack. The cursed Perrin operatives all turn and concentrate their fire against the two units, overwhelming their shields and rendering them inoperative.
The MOAs surge forward in that short period, attempting to close the distance and draw a good bead on the invaders. But the Tenno leaps forward and spreads its arms, offering itself as a more tempting target.
Your initial thoughts that the Tenno was foolishly self-sacrificing are cut off when the energy bolts are absorbed by the Betrayer and tendrils of energy lash out from it, striking down the MOA units in rapid succession.
With much of your autonomous force eliminated, the crewmen of the facility are forced to step forward. One technician next to you barks an order to the rest to increase the power to shield generators. Your men push forth as their forms begin to shine brightly with shielding force, harmlessly warding off the enemy gunfire.
But that cursed Tenno acts again, raising its other hand and catching your entire force with another pulse. A wave of nausea and weakness hits you and your men, halting the push and rendering them easy targets for the entrenched Perrin.
You begin to backpedal as your men are taken down. A retreat would seem to be in order. Then you turn to the sound of footsteps as reinforcements arrive from multiple directions. Your confidence rises again at the sight of multiple Bursas. You turn once again to survey the area. While the losses have been regrettable, you still have a chance at stalling the incursion. Most of the Syndicate force is down, with their bodies strewn across the floor.
Then the Tenno moves once more, pooling energy in its hand before slamming it into the ground. A bright wave of energy sweeps across the floor. The fallen Perrin scramble to their feet, and horror dawns on you.
The Perrin are their own reinforcements.
As if empowered by the Betrayer, they contemptuously sweep aside your reinforcements, outright ignoring missile fire from the Bursas before shredding them with their weapons. Where they had previously been forced to hide behind cover, they openly pace forward, shrugging off the assault force.
You panic, and turn to run. But the Tenno drops in front of you and levels its weapon. A single monstrous impact overloads your armor's shields and leaves you writhing on the floor as it twitches from system shutdown. You have only one moment to glimpse down the barrel of the weapon before the Tenno pulls the trigger a second time.
At least you won't have to report this to Frohd Bek.
In the lore, the word "Corpus" seems to translate to mean "Family." Kinda gives the Corpus a space mafia feel, doesn't it?
Vote on the next one: Loki, Ash, Mag or Volt?
