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The Characters of BUDD
Eris Altair
Likes: Repairing old machines, Playing retro video games, Relaxing on the beach.
Dislikes: Being bossed around, Wasting money, Strict dress codes.
Confident and willing to get the job done, Eris is the newest recruit to MARI-XIII; a space colony of hunters protecting peace in the galaxy.
While returning from her first mission, Eris' ship takes damage and she crash lands on the seemingly abandoned planet of Verdeo. Doesn't she know better than to crash on mysterious planets while she's on the clock? Now she must find whatever she can to repair her ship and head back before the colony's mysterious operator, Ceres, can scold her about it.
When Eris gets back, Rhea might just have a few more missions waiting for her too.
B.U.D.D. Units
From left to right: Boxer, Ray, Coil, Seeker, and Stratos.
What's a hunter without some support? Each hunter working for MARI-XIII is assigned a BUDD, short for Ballistic Utility & Discovery Device, but nobody ever actually calls them that. Each BUDD unit has a variety of different abilities, ranging from combat to exploration.
Over the course of the game, Eris befriends three different BUDD units:
- Boxer: Very dependable and makes for a great companion. Good with brute force damage, clearing fragile debris, and pushing heavy objects.
- Ray: Somewhat fickle, but willing to get the job done. Equipped with twin laser cannons that can pick at foes from a distance and even unleash a laser blast to hit multiple enemies at once.
- Coil: An experimental prototype model designed to assist in scaling the mountains of Polarum. He can be used to ascend to heights just out of reach, or to launch and stun monsters in the way. You can even use him as a pogo-stick!
There are a few other models Eris will encounter too:
- Seeker: Standard issue for colonists living aboard MARI-XIII, designed for scouting uncharted areas and recording information. Their versatility makes them popular not just with hunters, but the entire colony staff.
- Stratos: Operator Ceres' personal BUDD unit, designed by her to assist with colony operations. This is a powerful model, able to move at extraordinary speeds and store mass amounts of data, well beyond the capabilities of any other BUDD unit.
Rhea
Likes: Helping others, Keeping things tidy, Cheesy romance novels, Writing emails.
Dislikes: Disrespectful people, Being ignored, Responding to emails.
As an outgoing and supportive go-getter, Rhea is Operator Ceres' assistant and secretary. She also runs MARI-XIII's email server, keeping the colony's hunters up to date on not only their missions, but events regarding the colony. It's Rhea's sworn duty to help the residents of MARI-XIII however she can.
During the game, Rhea will send Eris on her missions after returning to the colony. She's grown quite fond of Eris, and will gladly look out for her to the best of her ailities.
Stella
Likes: Reading articles, Visiting different ecosystems, Animals.
Dislikes: Cars, Misinformation, Bugs creeping on her.
Stella is the lead astrobiologist for MARI-XIII and an expert in the ecology and wildlife of various planets across the Lumina System. Being an expert in her field, she was assigned to the colony's new research outpost on the ocean planet, Mizuli, to study its wildlife and assist the other colonists in construction.
Things go south when monsters start attacking the outpost in Mizuli, forcing Stella to send a distress signal to Rhea in the colony, begging her for more hunters to help with the situation. It seems something is causing these monsters to act out of line, and she'll need help figuring out exactly what...
Stella might come across kind of cold at times, but really she just doesn't know how to express herself well.
Operator Ceres
Likes: Bioengineering, Exploring the cosmos, MARI-XIII's staff
Dislikes: Being isolated from her peers, Scientific misconduct, Spam emails
In her youth, Ceres was a brilliant scientist conducting studies for the ARCANA corporation. Her research led to advancements in the fields of both bioengineering and sustainable energy. Given her reputation in the scientific community, Ceres was selected to be the administrator for ARCANA's newest colony, MARI-XIII.
Suffering from working for years under dangerous conditions, Ceres opted to have her body augmented from head to toe with cutting edge cybernetics. These augmentations allow Ceres to communicate with the Colony's network, letting MARI-XIII operate as if it were a part of her.
As Eris and Rhea work on missions across the Lumina System, Ceres is forced to confront the uncomfortable truth about her past employment with ARCANA.