Ephialtes

Ephialtes in World City

Vanguard Control Corps

> *"Tell me...what is your new name?"*
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> *"It is...Ephialtes."*
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> *"Fitting."*
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> -Colonel Fred Harrigan to the former Chthonian hypersoldier known as Orfey (now Ephialtes)
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## Introduction

**Ephialtes** (formerly known as "Orfey", or "Orpheus" in English) is a former C-Class hypersoldier. Like his former namesake, Orfey is a charming man and a talented, versatile musician in his downtime, good with any instrument. In combat, this also translates to his built-on sonic augmentations to aid him in battle. Long thought to be among the many other dead Chthonians after the devastating Hokkaido campaign, Orfey was actually grievously wounded fighting Colonel Fred Harrigan. Seeing something other than "blind devotion" within the dying man, he had him packed off behind friendly lines. Though reports are unreliable on what exactly happened after that, Orfey was now operating for the New Frenco Empire (specifically as a "specialist" in Harrigan's Control Corps) under the alias of "Ephialtes". Ephialtes was discovered to be alive by the Mechanocracy in 2151 after sending out a distress beacon in an attempt to lure the Final Thirteen into a trap in the heart of the Empire, where Ephialtes, Harrigan, and the Dragoons could easily eliminate them.

## Background

wip the earlier stuff, I'll flesh it out later

After his tour of duty in the Salvagings, he volunteered to aid in patrolling the immediate area effect after the victory. On one such patrol, he came across several remnants of Pandemonium's raiders pillaging a wasteland village. After single-handedly killing most of them, he saved one of the settlement's few remaining survivors from rape; a beautiful young girl by the name of Yulia. Due to Orfey's upbringing and the girl's fascination with him, they became became captivated by one another. Orfey arranged for Yulia to be brought back to Mechrussia in secret (with her posing as a KGB intern so Orfey could keep a close eye on her), and they began a romantic relationship that eventually peaked when Orfey proposed to her a couple of years afterwards (despite the fact that Chthonians were not expected to form close bonds with outsiders, much less marry any).

They lived a relatively happy life in secret until they were discovered in 2138 by Orfey's comrade [INSERT HERE], who lusted over Yulia (though was unaware of Orfey's involvement with her). After learning that Yulia was happily married to Orfey, [INSERT HERE] became angered and murdered Yulia out of spite, pushing her out of the window of a fifty-story building. [INSERT HERE] then reported the relationship and "accidental death" to Trotskaya, protecting him from Orfey's retribution.

Alone and depressed after Yulia's death, Orfey distanced himself from his Chthonian brothers and sisters, and had secretly grown to despise his "brotherhood" over her fate. He still performed above expectations, and did what was asked, but cared little for his comrades after what he considered an "ultimate betrayal". After the fateful deployment on Hokkaido in 2139, Orfey continued to fight alongside the Chthonians, and like twenty others of his kind, went down fighting Colonel Fred Harrigan and the Control Corps, but not before killing at least five Dragoons and landing a few strikes on Harrigan himself.

## Trivia

* Like all other Chthonians named after Greek heroes, Ephialtes's personality, background, and traits stems heavily from his former namesake; this case being the legendary musician "Orpheus". Like Orpheus, Ephialtes is a talented musician, and is capable of charming anyone with song (though this could easily be interpreted as the use of his signature sonic weaponry as well). Orpheus too had a wife whom he adored, but died due to another Greek hero lusting for her (though unlike Orfey's case, he didn't murder her). This also led him into a crippling depression, though unlike Orfey, he didn't seek revenge and instead went on a journey to the underworld to get her back.
* It is intentionally left vague whether or not Orfey was tortured by Harrigan into becoming Ephialtes or willingly defected on account of his growing loathing of the Chthonians due to their hand in Yulia's death. Considering the overwhelming evidence for both theories, it can be assumed a mixture of both was at work.
* The name "Ephialtes" doesn't stem from a hero in Greek mythology; instead, it comes from the historical figure who showed the invading Persian armies a path to outflank the Greeks at Thermopylae. True enough, Ephialtes fits well, as he is Harrigan's main source of information on the weaknesses of the members of the Final Thirteen.
* Ephialtes' actual surname is also related to a traitors; WWII Red Army General Andrey Vlasov, who defected to Nazi Germany and formed the short-lived Russian Liberation Army against Stalin.
* Like the antagonist Rorke of the video game *Call of Duty: Ghosts*, Ephialtes is a former elite soldier left for dead in the middle of a battle and eventually captured by the enemy. After enduring unique forms of torture, he defects to the enemy and aids in killing his former comrades. Though, quite unlike Rorke, Ephialtes has other motivations for his defection as well.