BETRAYER NOTES
all girls. because i said so.
i was actively drawing while reading "betrayer" by aaron dembski-bowden, and that's what came out of it. enjoy.
angrin during a nails episode because i like making things ugly
lotara sarrin because i love her. i just looooove her
everybody loves lotara sarrin...
...besides one little shit
no explanation needed for these two i suppose
most normal tech-priest
another w for lotara
and poster ideas to finish that
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Do Dreadnoughts dream of taking a bath?
#Inspired by PowerWash x Warhammer 40K and Roco.
#I love Dreadnought.
"Do Dreadnoughts dream?"
That is a question with no certain answer. On one hand, a Dreadnought is more machine than man, neural implants fuse mind to machine in ways bizarre to comprehend. Their armored carapace shelters only remnants of flesh, sustained through bionic might alone. By all rights, their cerebral cortex should have decayed long ago.
By such logic, one could argue conscious thought ends where flesh yields to steel. Sleep and its dreamscapes are biological realities, are they not? With only trace humanity remaining, why expect mental functions of slumber? But integrated into their armored shells are enough enhanced organs and neural implants to sustain bioniorganic functions far beyond mere biological viability. Isn't the nature of dream itself stems from biological instincts overwritten.
The pain was a dull ache, easily ignored after centuries entombed. But a new irritation assailed him now, crawling itches across flesh long denied sensation. Confusion, this body felt change, though it had lain inert as worlds turned. Deeper still came the oppression, lungs seizing as if drowning once more in bloody.
What trickery was this? Diagnostics reported stasis, all systems firing true. Yet the discomforts grew, phlegmy coughs racking the half-machine beast. Panic swelled, animal instincts long dormant rising within the eternal tomb. Then light, piercing the darkness behind closing lids. Sweet air rushed into ruined lungs, this labor easing at last.
His eyes snapped open to an unfamiliar realm. No armored bulk rose before him but limbs scoured by shrapnel and burned by virus-bombs. His original form, given once more against all reason, a gift or curse, he knew not. Unfettered he stood, wounds healed to bare scars across taut flesh. This was a dream, or something.
An uncertainty gripped him. What madness was this? To be returned to old flesh but feel no urge to battle, no call to crusade? A different impulse arose, foreign but ingrained, cleansing ritual performed eons past in youth. He walked uncertain, waters calling him to rites unseen by any in aeons untold.
Ribs still bore flecks of ceramite and plasteel patched within living shell. He paused before the waters, studying form that had known only warfare. Scars told their own tales, each etched upon memories kept alive through aeons in stasis. With care he entered in that, waters lapping old wounds as if in benediction.
There he lingered, letting cares and pains wash freely away. Muscles long locked in adamantium relaxed, tension fleeing in steam rising. For the first time in memory untold, no demands of duty or flesh assailed him. A feeling swelled within him, emotion locked beyond reach of mortal sensation. Peace, serenity swept over ancient minds as waters sloughed away cares of ages...
Pain pulsed through his battered form as consciousness returned. The fleeting peace of dreams melted away, centuries of enforced half-life onboard the Dreadnought crashing back upon ancient shoulders. Systems booted sluggishly, sensors recalibrating after solaris of monotony disturbed.
A hum escaped grille as servos whirred back to their duties securing crumpled flesh deeper than mortal sight could pierce. Outside clangs and grinding announced the diligent ministrations of tech-priests ensuring their perpetual charge clung yet to shadow of function. One voice carried clearly through armored carapace:
"Vitals stabilize in sector C-12 Magos. Neural links firing within tolerances." The Tech-priest's voice rang through microphones.
"Understood. Continue maintenance protocols and monitor for anomalies. This relic has served faithfully many centuries. Pray for the Omnissiah." The Magos's bionics buzzed in compliance. They ensured history marched on, whatever hulls preserved that march.
With effort, aged vox-grille creaked open. "Brother, I was dreaming." Static laced speech imparted by cobbled augmetics mere palliates for ravaged throat too ruined for basic sounds. The Techmarine's etheric sensors detected words nonetheless.
A static pause preceded Techmarine's reply. "Dreaming? Impossible, your neural engrams show only baseline activity."
Mirthless chuckle issued from loudspeakers. "Impossible, yes, But I dream... I'm taking a bath."
Silence answered as Techmarine puzzled over the incomprehensible scene. "The priests scrub your plating clean as monthly rite. Perhaps some synapse misfired."
Silence reigned for moments uncounted as ritual continued outside. Then, a final whisper from within. "Indeed. A... nice dream."
With that, consciousness fell back into lowest-level rest as painkillers suffused systems. The Techmarine watched monitors return to quiescent patterns, then signaled to close the Dreadnought once more. Its machine spirit's notions were beyond his. The armored tomb closed, and darkness reigned once more.
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About Mech Pilots:
There are many different kinds of mech pilots. But they can be arranged into a spectrum with monotask on one side and multitask on the other.
Multitask pilots have a life and skill sets outside of their combat vehicle. They can still be dangerous without their ride because of their tactical and political acumen. Examples of such pilots can be found in Titanfall, Lancer, and Battletech/Mechwarrior.
Monotask pilots are essentially organic control devices mounted inside the mech. They have slightly more personality and agency than other system components like an autoloader or jet thrusters. But the pilot is just as useless as those things if removed from the greater whole. Examples of these pilots can be found in Armored Core and Warhammer 40,000.
There are pilots that can fall between these extremes such as conscripted civilians, venerated sacrifices, or artificial intelligences. Examples of these beings can be found in Mobile Suit Gundam, Gen:Lock, or, again, Warhammer 40k.
There's no wrong way to portray pilots. That being said, I'd love to read stories where pilots from across the spectrum interact with each other.
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