Alto and Defera

"It is true we Corpus value profit more than anything, but to you, Tenno, I offer something that is far more valuable than the credits my kin offer.  Something few of us so very observant yet somewhat eccentric merchants still hold onto like a rare jewel, to the grave.  You would call it… honour."

-- Varek

In some vaults belonging to the truly wealthy lie prestigious artifacts that have been observed in current days as antiquated items that have been replaced with the life-preserving machinery industry that negates the presumptuous reality where survival begs personal responsibility.

Long ago, however, that was not always the case.  Some in Corpus society partook in a sport that bypassed the typical manner associated with their business practices.  This sport has long since been outlawed and driven underground but its nature stemmed from a brutal code of honour that once distributed wealth between Corpus of high standing who settled their disputes through duels.  Ultimately, bets were waged on the combatants and it was not uncommon for said duels to be played out between hired, seasoned duellists, negating the fear some had in losing more than expendable credits and titles.  Death in the sport was not preferred but expected.

In these duels, it was common for the combatants to wield a sword and shield, though those who took the sport seriously honed their skill for any eventuality as it was known that, while the sport promoted honour above trickery, some saw it permissible to rig the sport in their favour by disabling an opponent’s energy shield in the heat of battle with an untraceable virus from a concealed device, or sabotaging a blade’s power core so it became too unstable to wield.  These results eventually limited the sport’s appeal and sent it underground where only the truly brave kept it alive.

The Alto and Defera was a common product seen in that less civilised age.  Designed with the purpose of perforating an opponent’s physical armour, the Alto had a charge mechanism that allowed it to bypass or weaken an opponent’s personal energy shield, surrounding the blade portion with an energy that was more often than not configured to provide additional damage to the shield.

The Defera on the other hand was a light and unique shield that could deflect and absorb both physical and energy weapons fire; a strange effect that raised the wielder’s own shield strength.  Stranger still is how it was a technology abandoned centuries on and never incorporated into other similar devices, although it is speculated that the technology was too dangerous to use as the energy shield ran the risk of rendering a wielder’s personal shield offline if the absorption rate was too great.

Regardless, in today’s age, such things are prized by collectors, including Tenno. . .

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My entry into a recent weapons design contest for Warframe.

Art - © Kristopher P. Love  // Corpus - © Warframe