Secret War (fanfic)/Characters

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Attelus Kaltos

"I am not a partier I am an assassin, who kills people for a living and it being the dangerous job it is and that I would quite like to live past my twenties, I spend every waking hour training. Making sure I have the necessary skills to live to see the next day".

The main character is a young apprentice assassin whose father, Serghar Kaltos, was perhaps the greatest assassin to ever set up shop in the Calixus Sector. Attelus has to constantly live in his father's shadow. Born and raised in the recently discovered Agri world Elbyra, he is a bit more idealistic and kind than an assassin should be but this could soon change. He is a chain smoker but ironically is strongly against the use of harder drugs.

• Always Someone Better: Serghar Kaltos, Glaitis.
• The Apprentice: A subversion as Attelus, while he is an apprentice, is far older than most assassin apprentices (most, including Elandria, would already be a full assassin by twenty three). But it's obvious to most people except Attelus that Glaitis is grooming him to be her replacement. He already has skill in combat down, but everything else, not so much.
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• Badass Longcoat: He wears one.
• Badass Normal
• Bad Dreams: He suffers these during his injured state. They are basically horrific scenes taken straight out of his past. It is heavily implied that these dreams are actually a test of his willpower.
• Berserk Button: Don't steal Attelus' Lhos or betray him, just don't.
• Bishounen: Lampshaded to hell and back at Attelus' expense by the Mimic and Karmen Kons. It accuses Attelus of "looking like a girl" and says that he's a hypocrite for claiming to be a Combat Pragmatist but still keeping his hair long, which would obviously be a disadvantage in combat.
• Break the Cutie: whether Attelus is cute or not is up for interpretation, but to break him mentally seems to be Glaitis' main objective. But so far she is losing.
• Catch Phrase:

"Just in Case." "Quite depressing really." "The first time, in along time." "That's the understatement of the century/Millennium/Millennia." "I could hazard a guess."

• Chaotic Neutral: Even Lampshaded by Glaitis.

Glaitis:"I know you young Attelus, to all but the most educated you seem...chaotic, strange, random but you really are not. There is some method to your madness. Some surprisingly sane reasoning as to why, ironically nothing like your father who was always as straight and narrow as anyone can get, that is a trait I can admire, one that would help you if you ever meet the requirement of making you a full fledged assassin...That is if you live that long of course, but for me it makes you predictable."

• Cloudcuckoolander: It would be a hell of a lot harder to understand Attelus' actions if they were shown from another character's perspective; it's hard even when it's from his perspective.
• Combat Pragmatist: One of the very first things Attelus does is kick a ganger in the shin, with a boot knife.
• Cool Loser
• Dark and Troubled Past: It's a 40k fan fiction.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Determinator: After being brutally beaten for ages, he still manages to defeat the invisible mimic by smashing an alcohol bottle over its head, identifying where it is by looking at his blood on its fists.
• Dirty Coward: Attelus sees himself as one of these, and it's not too far from the truth.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Attelus does this to almost everyone, much to the annoyance of Glaitis in particular.
• Genre Savvy: Attelus is up to Dangerously Genre Savvy levels.
  • One example: When confronted with a ganger who puts Honour Before Reason, Attelus betrays the guy, and when he shoots the ganger he shoots him many times to make sure that he was actually dead.

"I knew it was over kill but these "Honour Before Reason" idiots were usually tough bastards and that was the only way I could make sure he wasnt ever getting back up."

• • His genre savviness is used as a character flaw: his reaction to Elandria's death shows that he kind of knows he's the main character and is therefore highly selfish and paranoid.
• Hidden Depths
• Horrible Judge of Character: He can be really good at understanding some people but when it comes to understanding women, he has no clue.
• Hot for Teacher: Attelus is very much into Glaitis, and he didn't even know until Taryst points it out. This is made extra Squicky because she isn't just his mother figure, but is three times his age.
• Hypocrite: He is oh so contemptuous of Taryst's paranoia, but in reality he is as, if not even more, paranoid than Taryst. Especially after the Twilight Bar incident.
• Karma Houdini: He has dodged the consequences of many of his actions.
• Knife Nut: A heroic(ish) example: he has a boot knife and hidden compartments of throwing knives up the sleeves of his flak jacket.
• Love Makes You Dumb
• Magnetic Hero
• Man Child: Although he is 23, he can still act like a child in many circumstances, a fact which he is constantly reminded of by Glaitis.
• Kick the Dog: Poor Vex...
• Nay Theist: Attelus is a play on one of these; he holds to the belief that the Emperor was a great man rather than a god, but subverts it by acknowledging that the gods of Chaos do indeed exist.
  
  His anti-faith position is becoming stronger due to his increasing bitterness and paranoia, with his distinct contempt of people with "faith."
• Selective Obliviousness
• Scars Are Forever: A horrific one is now on his left cheek.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: As implied by his nightmares.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Attelus is always having to deal with Serghar Kaltos' legacy as one of the greatest assassins to ever work in Calixus sector.
• Smoking Is Cool: Subverted. He knows it's a filthy habit but he can't stop.
• Super Reflexes: To such an extent that he can pick up a knife and get into a throwing position before Elandria could even consider pulling a trigger.
• There Are No Coincidences: After having to work under a Chessmaster for so long, Attelus is this trope incarnate.
• Training from Hell: Everything he goes through under Glaitis is training from hell.
• Understatement: Used a lot when he is in Sarcasm Mode.
• Verbal Tic: Both in inner monologue and dialog, Attelus uses a lot of rhyming and alliteration and begins quite a few of his sentences with "hmmm", especially when in Sarcasm Mode.
• Wise Beyond Their Years

Elandria

"Well if you call me “dear” one more time you will find yourself sorely lacking a head."

She was recently employed by Glaitis. Though she is the same age as Attelus, she holds the rank of full assassin and is extremely ruthless while at it.

• Badass Normal
• Blood Knight
• Catch Phrase:

"What are you doing?" "What ever."

• Deadpan Snarker
• Dual-Wielding: Uses two mono blades; one named Setsukia, and the other Katrina.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Much to everyone's shock, at first she could not understand Attelus' actions in the Twilight Bar. She figured that he must have used the people in there as meat shields for the Arcoflagellent.
• Heroic Sociopath: Very much so!
• Hidden Depths: She isn't as ignorant as she first seems.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Wears a skin tight bodyglove? Check! Isn't very knowledgeable of human interaction? Check! Insanely hot while at it? Check!
• Kick the Dog: She emotionally tortures Attelus after his horrific injury at the axes of the Arco Flagellent. Whether she did this of her own accord or under orders is, as yet, unclear, but it certainly confirms that she is more than she initially seems.
• Neutral Evil
• Out-of-Character Moment: The moment is Lampshaded by Attelus' narrative.

Elandria: So what is it that you improvise now oh you magnificent bastard you? I looked over my shoulder at her shocked, was that an actual joke? A backhanded compliment perhaps? Or something else entirely?

• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Even while amped up on combat drugs.
• Redemption Equals Death: Played sadly straight after Attelus' Anguished Declaration of Love.
• The Rival
• She Fu: Justified due to her enthusiastic use of Combat Drugs. Lampshaded by Attelus.
• Super Reflexes: Manages to dodge Attelus' shots with her acrobatics.

Garrakson

"And kid if you want to sheath your blade in her may I suggest using your “other” blade instead."

A senior mercenary of Taryst's organization, he is an ex-guardsman, an explosives expert, and the leader of Elandria's and Attelus little squad.

• Deadpan Snarker:

"I don’t know sir, meaning that they are either still lying in the pools of blood we left them in or in a Magistratum mortuary either/or."

• Badass Normal
• Berserk Button: Despite them breaking up before the events of Secret War, it's implied that he's still in love with Taryst, so don't mess with Taryst, ever.
• Cool Old Guy: He's just so laid back.
• Dirty Old Man: The way he teases Attelus for his crush on Elandria makes him seem like this.
• A Father to His Men: After his and Torris' lecture to Attelus at his bedside, Attelus compares the lecture to those given to him by his own father during his youth.
• Genre Savvy: Not nearly as much as Attelus, but that could be due to his having a lot less screen time.
• Hidden Depths: He is one of the most upset when he finds out about Attelus' No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Vex and is far, far smarter than he seems.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Anyone who thinks he's a typical Honour Before Reason ex-military type, think again.
• Invisible to Gaydar
• True Neutral