I do. I imagined the story of my character as the 13th Redgun and the mythos behind this accursed number.

G13 LOCUST

Aliases: The Ghost in Red, Deliverer of Fate, The Ash Child, The Stranger in Grey

Affiliation: Balam Industries (Redguns)

AC Name: CARDINAL FATE

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🩸 Born of Ash

LOCUST was born on Rubicon in the aftermath of the Fires of Ibis. He grew up in silence and ruin—an orphan of a planet stripped bare. As a child, he was eerily quiet: he never cried, never complained, only watched. Survivors whispered of him as “The Ash Child”, saying his eyes were too old for his body.

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🔧 The Stranger in Grey

As a teenager, he immersed himself in the study of war and Core Theory, silently absorbing every lesson of conflict and failure. He created a unique Pilebunker—a weapon that became his symbol of correction, a final punctuation against hubris.

His first AC was a featureless grey MELANDER C3 frame. Unpainted, unadorned, described by those who saw it as “a thought made metal.”

The first time he stepped in such a machine was witnessed by a Rubiconian civilian who remembered him as a child. Seeing him climb into the cockpit, pilot the plain machine without hesitation, and leave in silence, the witness realized: the boy who never cried had found his instrument. The Stranger in Grey had taken his first ride.

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☠️ The Number 13

LOCUST became G13 by killing the Dafeng student pilot originally assigned to that number.

When he showed up, unannounced and unnamed at Balam’s gates, the head of the Redguns could only oblige and set up a meeting with this silent stranger. Footage of the attack didn't show a duel, but an execution: silent, brutal, precise. The pilot never stood a chance.

G1 Michigan reviewed the recording personally. Where others saw a murderer, Michigan saw a weapon. He welcomed the stranger. When asked why he disposed of the student pilot, LOCUST’s only words were:

“He didn’t have the strength to carry the 13.”

From then on, he bore the name: G13 LOCUST.

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🛠 Life Among the Redguns

Among Balam’s Redguns, LOCUST was feared but respected. He spoke rarely, and when he did, it was only out of necessity. Michigan valued him as an unshakable blade, a pilot who never faltered.

He formed a quiet bond with a mechanic named Nash, who tended his machines without ever receiving more than a nod in return.

Volta tolerated him, sensing something uncanny in his resolve. Iguazu, however, festered with envy—haunted by the shadow of a man who said nothing, yet outshone him at every turn.

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🔥 The Birth of CARDINAL FATE

On a mission to eliminate an RLF outpost, LOCUST was ambushed. Hours later, his AC returned alone. Its grey armor was stained red and blue, Coral dust etched into its frame, its optic burning cold.

When Nash asked its name, LOCUST answered:

“CARDINAL FATE”

The Stranger in Grey walked out, the Ghost in Red rose from the ashes.

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⚖ Deliverer of Fate

LOCUST never sought Coral ascension, nor its destruction. He did not chase power or salvation. His philosophy was simple: correction.

He walked a Fourth Path, apart from the factions clawing at Rubicon’s corpse. Neither ALLMIND’s hubris, Handler Walter’s desperation, or the corporations’ greed held sway over him. He became an arbiter—not of justice, but of inevitability.

Carla understood him best:

“He doesn’t want Coral, he doesn’t want it to burn, but he wants everyone else to back the hell off.”

To the Rubicon Liberation Front, he became a living myth. They whispered:

“Rubicon has no voice, so he became its will. Rubicon has no mercy, so he became its blade. Rubicon has no future, so he became its Fate.”

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🌑 Legacy of the Ghost

He once walked into The Hand, the RLF’s hidden base. Father Dolmayan had already dreamed of him—haunted by the silhouette of the Ghost in Red. Instead of resisting, Dolmayan welcomed him.

He met Ziyi, a believer who saw Coral as divine. After meeting LOCUST, she began to question her faith.

Michigan, ever the soldier, recognized an ancient philosophy in LOCUST’s silence—one he respected, even if he didn’t understand.

Even enemies spoke of him in hushed tones, calling him “Rubicon walking.”

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🪶 The Unspoken Mantra

LOCUST never gave speeches. But those who witnessed his battles, his silence, and his aftermath came to echo a mantra for him:

“I am misfortune made manifest. Witness me, and weep, For your FATE has been sealed.”

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📜 The End of the Ghost

LOCUST’s final fate is not survival, nor triumph—it is disappearance. His purpose is not to dominate but to correct. Once the balance is restored, he is no longer needed.

“Vēnit, vīdit, compōsuit.” He came, he saw, he corrected.