Nova Leverian
The Nova Leverian was the 5th exhibit to be released, and was unveiled with the debut of Nova's Atomica deluxe skin.
[14]
Drusus Leverian: "Nova. Mercurial, unpredictable, and a miraculous example of harnessed antimatter.
"It would be a bold fool indeed who tried to tame lightning.
"One such individual was Holsom Yurr, a freelance problem-solver who commanded high fees for his low morals – a deficiency that netted him great success in endeavours where a conscience would have held others back.
"He is the only figure known to have secured a back-channel charter permitting him to selectively raid certain Rails, so long as Orokin ships were avoided.
"The story of Nova and Yurr survives via the captain and security logs of the Orokin vessel Masker's Theodolite.
"It survives because it was deemed to be… of historical importance.
"Orokin investigators scrutinised every frame of security footage, each line of the captain's log, for assurance that the outcome of this encounter was indeed true."
[Radia syandana]
Drusus Leverian: "The passenger vessel Masker's Theodolite reported critical problems with her engines.
"Nova, mistress of antimatter, was deployed to relight the Theodolite's antimatter reactor before the vessel was drawn into the gravity well of a nearby planetoid.
"10.800 passengers were at risk.
"Clipping this syandana to herself, she exited her Lander.
"The interior of the ship was deathly quiet, but then: chaos.
"Behind her, the section of the ship securing her Lander was detonated and blown free.
"Stranding her, for the time being.
"From deeper inside the ship: cries for help."
[Homsom Yurr’s armour]
Drusus Leverian: "Nova sped toward the shouts of trapped crewmen.
"Eight were locked in Flow Control behind a hardened glass wall.
"Opening a wormhole between herself and them, she phased the crewmen to safety as their compartment flooded with lethal gas.
"Booming from speakers in every hallway, Holsom Yurr declared himself.
"Holsom Yurr: the man who, at one time, had run the Pluto resistance.
"Who spent three years terrorising the Rails between Jupiter and Venus just to prove that he could.
"Who took that notoriety and translated it into a career: security, political assassination, courier runs, torture, graft, blackmail, and, in one case so it was said, genocide.
"There were graves already dug for him by the many who wanted him dead.
"Word was, Holsom already had a tomb prepared for himself on some distant moon, with a table piled high with riches and a chair just waiting for him to be sat in for eternity.
"A man capable of anything, and a man who would rather die than lose.
"A man easily recognised by the signature item before you.
"It was, so they say, an item of great personal significance to the old rogue.
"Why, and what history it shared with him, is a matter of some speculation."
[Nova Flux helmet]
Drusus Leverian: "Unaware she was being led into a trap built just for her, I don't imagine Nova took any special precautions.
"This Flux model helm, for example, was fairly standard.
"The appealing venting displayed her antimatter nature, an announcement of power as much as an evocation of beauty."
[stammers] "W-where were we? Ah yes. Nova and the rescued crew moved for the escape pods.
"Once they were clear, she would about-face and find some way to free the remaining ten thousand seven hundred and ninety-two.
"Alas, thuds and clangs resounded as every life pod ejected into space. Empty.
"Yurr clarified, boomingly, that escape was not an option.
"To punctuate this assertion, bulkheads slammed down in every corridor shipwide.
"The only path Yurr left open, worryingly, was the one that led directly to the Theodolite's antimatter reactor.
"The very thing Nova had come to save. What was the old pirate playing at?"
[Hikou]
Drusus Leverian: "Yurr answered Nova's unspoken question.
"He had jettisoned the antimatter core.
"Without that, it was impossible for the reactor to function, and the Theodolite would smash into the planetoid in a matter of minutes.
"Yurr had been paid, by persons unknown, to neutralise Nova completely.
"Yurr, a man who prided himself upon an ignorance of the impossible, had agreed.
"And devised this trap. Nova was a being created to contain and harness antimatter.
"The antimatter drive no longer had a fuel core.
"His proposition was simple: Nova would enter the reactor chamber, crack her own containment, and kickstart a new reaction using her own body as fuel.
"She could save 10.800 lives, but only at the cost of her own.
"She had minutes to decide. With a flick of her wrist, Nova's Hikou throwing stars took out every camera in eyeshot, killing Yurr's surveillance of them.
"This done, she turned to the technicians she had just saved.
"She would need their help."
[Alamos sniper skin]
Drusus Leverian: "Nova walked to her doom. As she entered the reactor's chamber, Yurr smugly assured her she was doing the right thing.
"Within the reactor's observation room, the technicians nodded assent.
"This was going to be close. From the bridge, Yurr sealed the reactor chamber's blast doors.
"Seconds later, on Nova's signal, the technicians overrode that command.
"The doors shot upwards and Nova wormholed out of the chamber and back into the corridor.
"Leaving that portal open, she created another – straight up, into the vent system.
"On the bridge, Yurr had little time to react, but react he did: ordering all prisoners to be killed.
"In that moment a portal flashed into existence – Nova launching herself amidst pirate captain and crew.
"And showed them what she was made of.
"In a blinding flash, Yurr and every mercenary on that bridge were deeply infused with Nova's antimatter, starting a chain reaction within them.
"Yurr realised what was happening, but too late.
"With a few precise shots from her Syrah-customised sniper rifle, Nova neutralised those mercenaries who were quicker off the mark before grabbing Yurr by his brightly irradiated hair.
"Hurling him back through her network of wormholes, Nova sent Holsom Yurr pinging from portal to portal before tumbling out into the reactor chamber.
"The wormholes collapsed."
[Nova]
Drusus Leverian: "Yurr struggled to his feet as every molecule in his body approached critical.
"Behind the glass, the technicians gave him a final, grim salute before slamming the blast door closed.
"Holsom Yurr, pirate and legend, went nova.
"The reactor caught the reaction. The technicians harnessed it, and the engines of the Masker's Theodolite roared to life.
"It was, indeed, the boldest of fools who attempted to leash lightning.
"And so a notorious rogue, said to be unkillable, met his end in the attempt.
"As the historical record now demonstrates."
Baro Ki'Teer sells the Masker's Theodolite crewsuit for the Operator, described as "Historian Drusus Leverian recalls that the hostage crew of the passenger vessel Masker's Theodolite wore this very crewsuit when they were rescued by Nova." The suit is sold in four pieces: the hood, suit, sleeves, and leggings.
[Navigation: Hub → Dialogue → Drusus Leverian → Nova gallery]
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