Claude Triello

Claude Triello is a companion character in Sunrider.

The acting medical officer on board the Sunrider. Her medical credentials seem questionable at best, but seeing how the Sunrider had to leave port without a doctor, she’s the best the Sunrider has. Having been brought aboard under questionable circumstances, the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" might ring true here - though it doesn't mean one shouldn't necessarily look a gift-horse in the mouth. She arguably has a few screws loose in her head, being prone to forgetting things and generally very clumsy and lazy. It seems like the only reason she’s on board is to get into the captain's pants - for "medical examinations" she claims. She’s an ostensible, if not passable, ryder pilot, but she has noted issues with motion sickness and reaction times that make it often hard for her to hit her enemies unless they are right in front of her. She is generally unreliable in terms of combat, but she has insanely good luck. While widely considered air-headed and ditzy, she is also well aware of her own incompetence, and prone to moments of glooming in a corner by herself when it settles on her. Her English Voice Actress is Sydney P. and her Japanese Voice Actress is Murasaki Nina.

Spirit: She is very carefree and whimsical.

Appearance


Tall and lithe, yet very curvaceous and large in all the right places, Claude's appearance looks more like what one would expect from a professional fashion or swimsuit model as opposed to a Ryder pilot. With soft fair skin, a delicate face with fetching amethyst eyes, all framed by long locks of near-waist-length silky bubblegum-pink hair that carries a very pleasant aroma to it from a very diverse array of care-products, Claude is the definition of what one would call a "bombshell babe." Her expressions only add to the attraction as she typically has either a vacant or spacey look on some occasions, or a playful and mischievous expression at others, making her look cute or contrite and thus easy to approach. Other times she can have a very sultry or teasing demeanor that accentuates her extremely developed figure.

Her typical outfit is the Sunrider's standard "sailor-girl" uniform - a black miniskirt with two gold stripes around the edge, a black long-sleeved blouse with white cuffs and gold cufflinks, both with gold accents, and a white sailor-collar/neckerchief with two gold stripes, fastened with a gold bow in the front and black slipper-shoes with a gold buckle on each. Like Asaga, she tends to forgo wearing stockings or leggings with it - likely in order to show off her bare legs. When on-duty as the ship's "doctor," she tends to wear a revealing "nurse's" outfit that is heavily-stylized with pink trim-highlights and heart-shaped buttons. The lower-part is a white miniskirt that is short enough to expose her underwear if she bends over too far and a slit at the side that runs mostly up her thigh to her hip, and the upper-part is a cut-away halter-top open enough at the chest-area to display a sizable portion of her breasts. The only other pieces it has are a belt at the waist and a nurse's cap on her head, with a pair of white high-heels. When on duty as a Ryder-pilot, she wears the standard armor-mesh flight-suit, colored bubblegum-pink. It is also revealed in the Novelization that Claude has modified her suit with a hip-compartment to carry a compact mirror, when originally there should be a hook for a sidearm to be carried for self-defense.

Bio
Note: (WARNING - Spoilers ahead for the plot of Sunrider: First Arrival, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, Sunrider: Liberation Day, Sunrider Academy & Sunrider: The Novelization. Read at your own risk!!)

Early Life & Medical History

Claude Triello was a woman who, at some point in her life, successfully pursued the career of medicine on an Alliance world. Her reasoning is not known for why she joined medical school, but it is possible that she did so both to help others and to help herself by exercising her perversions, though it would be noted that her skills fell well below what was typically the acceptable standard for most medical practitioners. However, despite successfully achieving her credentials in the fact of said criticisms, some of her patients denounced her for medical misfeasance and over a dozen cases of malpractice. They accused the doctor of having inappropriately touched them and had required a special way of achieving a clinic emission of spermatozoa, but this only applied to certain patients - likely attractive ones. Eventually, she was brought to court for her "methods" and was tried before a medical jury for gross negligence, inappropriate conduct, non-standard use of care medicine and outright medical discrimination, in which she was found guilty her credentials revoked.

However, this didn't deter Claude in her efforts, and she took to traveling the stars, acquiring herself a small trading vessel - The Mochi - and worked on several worlds as a medical practitioner, sometimes as a Freelancer, other times as a volunteer. Other times, she masqueraded as a doctor on other worlds, having been caught in the act at least a dozen times, prompting the medical lobby to try and arrest her in various cases for her fraudulent deals (accrediting herself as a Doctor). But, due to the remote position of the worlds Claude visited, they could never reach her and, though she would end up censured by just about every accrediting body in the galaxy, Claude would end up continuing her frivolous life mixing business with pleasure for quite some time.

During her travels in the lawless rim-world, Claude learned how to become somewhat skilled as a Ryder pilot. Her own personal machine - the Bianca - is a Ryder specialized in support but with very good close-range/anti-ship combat capabilities. In the Sunrider Novelization, Claude claims that she acquired the Ryder from the people of Onislar in exchange for medical supplies, expertise, and technology she delivered to them. However, they didn't build it themselves as their civilization was not advanced enough to create it - rather, it was a derelict that crashed on the world, with Claude speculating that it was either lost or discarded by whoever originally made it, and the people of Onislar didn't even really know what it was. Claude would refurbish the Ryder, re-paint it her favorite color and spend her spare time practicing her ability to pilot it - though at the same time, it is unknown if Claude's story can be taken at face-value, leaving it nebulous as to whether her tale on Bianca's origins is truthful or not. What is known is that, while her skills are inferior to a trained military pilot, she became perfectly capable of defeating low-key pirates - and defending herself on most of the worlds she would visit.

First Arrival
Damsel in Distress

During a relatively routine supply run to deliver medical supplies as part of a relief effort to the dark world of Tautenia, Claude's ship was intercepted by pirates under the command of Cosette Cosmos, likely intent on claiming her resources for resale on the black market. However, as luck would have it, the Sunrider - searching through the area for the Crown Jewel of Ryuvia - stumbled upon the freighter as it was under attack, offering assistance to the civilian vessel. However, Cosette's new allies - the expansionist faction PACT - entered the battle soon after, lead by Veniczar B. Cullen, who succeeded in battering the Mochi. Claude however seemed rather calm about the situation, entering her Ryder and leaving the ship behind just as a shot from the enemy units destroyed her vessel.

In the Novel, Claude's initial shot sends her spinning backwards as she forgets to activate her Ryder's initial compensators, likely leaving a bad first impression on her would-be rescuers as to the nature of her competence. However, she quickly recovers and helps dispatch a PACT Cruiser with her Ryder's shotgun as the rest deal with Cosette and Cullen's forces. Joining up with the Sunrider's own Ryder pilots in quick order, they succeed in driving back Cosette and Cullen, after which Claude, having lost her ship, came aboard the Sunrider for re-supply and refuge.

Captain in Shining Armor



Upon boarding the ship, Claude was instantly taken with Captain Shields, openly flirting with him as soon as she met him - much to the chagrin of the ship's First Officer, Ava Crescentia, as well as several of the Ryder pilots. She seemed to be in a daze and exhibiting symptoms of Presyncope and some minor visual disorders in her appreciation of the Captain - quite possibly from rampant hormonal urges as she became immediately infatuated with Kayto. Tricking the captain rather easily into contracting her - to the disbelief of most of the senior crew - Claude quickly set herself up as the ship's doctor, mooching off the vessel to not only replace her lost living arrangements from the destroyed Mochi, but also have relative safety and security from pirates and perhaps even the Alliance aboard the independent Sunrider.

Much to the exasperation of Ava and the other Ryder pilots, Kayto is rather easily convinced to let her become the vessel's doctor - the fastest anyone has ever been elevated to a senior staff position out of anyone else to join the crew - and, in the Novel, continues to flirt with Kayto by blowing him a kiss even as a deeply-irritated Ava escorts her to the med-bay to get herself set up. Most of the ship's crew - especially the males - are in turn all-too-grateful to have the sultry nurse aboard, though others - such as Chigara - were thoroughly unnerved, unsettled and awkwardly embarrassed by their new "doctor's" privacy-invasive methods. In the Novelization, Claude - having obtained her "medical uniform" far earlier then in the original story - went as far as probing Chigara for information on her status with Kayto and whether or not they were romantically involved, dismissing the engineer's panicked screams questioning what Claude's inquisition has to do with her health. Claude arbitrarily regards Chigara as being obstinate as well as asking Chigara to strip naked for Claude to take her measurements - among other things - causing the engineer to rush out in a flustered panic, terrified of an impending threat to her chastity.



Eventually, Kayto himself went down to the medical bay after a short debate with Ava about the legitimacy of Claude's medical qualifications - and in the Novel, he quickly concludes Ava was likely correct upon seeing Claude's "uniform". Telling Kayto to remove his clothes under the pretense of a "standard physical exam," Claude initially started out somewhat as expected of an actual medical professional by examining Kayto's chest and ribs, but then becomes more focused on examining his pecks and muscles. This further rouses the Captain's suspicions on whether Claude is in fact a certified doctor, only to have his questions deflected when Claude points out that her medical license, like most everything else she had beforehand, was on the Mochi when it was destroyed and thus she didn't have the means to prove anything at the moment. After coercing Kayto into stripping down stark-naked, Claude then abandons any pretense of professionalism and tries to get a genetic "sample" from Kayto - with her hands, much to Kayto's disbelief and panic. After almost suffering the same fate as her previous patients, Kayto was saved from Claude's ministrations when Ava burst into the room, revealing that she'd discovered Claude's checkered past of multiple false claims of certification and that her medical credentials had been long revoked.

After a somewhat mortifying scene where Chigara then walked in on the underdressed Kayto - and in the Novel, passed out with the mostly-naked Kayto falling on top of her when he tried to help her off the floor - Ava promptly arrested Claude and the Captain detained the faux-doctor in the wake of her actions. However, she was ultimately liberated from house-arrest when it was judged that her Ryder proficiency would be invaluable in the next battles, even if only as a support as it was arguable whether she was actually a better pilot then she was a doctor. She was told she would be unable to enter in the Medical Ward under punishment of incarceration by Ava, but, being the only one with some, if any, medical experience on the ship left her the only choice should the med-bay be reopened. During her inquiry between Kayto and Ava about what to do with her, Kayto inadvertently reveals the reason the Sunrider was in the system - they are searching for the Crown Jewel of Ryuvia. Claude, remembering several stories told by the locals of Tauntenia about an immense Ryuvian starship graveyard at the Mnemosyne Abyss, informs them of this, giving them a new lead and helping to ensure Claude avoids arrest by Alliance officials with the information being her form of apology for her actions.

A Ryder Pilot, Not a Doctor

Claude served as a support pilot during the Sunrider's mission to the Ryuvian starship graveyard in order to locate the Crown Jewel or Ryuvia - though whether she launched with the group or afterwards was dependent on how forgiving Kayto was of her - when they came under attack by both the automated dreadnought and a mysterious Ryuvian sniper-scout Ryder. After the battle concluded and the Ryder's pilot - Sola vi Ryuvia - was brought aboard, the Sunrider was assaulted by Veniczar B. Cullen's fleet, resulting in one of the Sunrider's Ryder pilots, Asaga Oakrun, revealing herself as the missing Ryuvian princess and willingly leaving with the PACT fleet in order to spare the Sunrider from destruction. It is unknown what role Claude had in helping to get the Sunrider back to operational status in the wake of it's pummeling by Cullen's fleet, but it can be assumed that she may have provided emergency first-aid - if Ava allowed her, that is.

However, it is unlikely that Ava would have trusted her with such a delicate task in repairing the Sunrider as, even in the short time Claude had been aboard, Ava had become immensely frustrated with the doctor-turned-Ryder pilot, labeling Claude as a "parasite." Claude's generally messy and disorganized behavior - leaving things out or leaving spilled beverages behind for others to clean up, or sleeping in well past the wake-up call - prompts Kayto to speak with Claude at Ava's behest. But when Kayto finds Claude in the mess hall - in the middle of eating a rather sizable ice-creme sundee - the topic is derailed as Claude questions Kayto's relationship and history with Ava, having guessed that the two know each other well. Kayto abashedly reveals that he and Ava had been close in high-school, prompting Claude to correctly guess that Kayto often feels awkward around her due to unresolved romantic tensions leftover from those days in a somewhat surprising gesture of perceptiveness, which Kayto reaffirms as being all too true for him. In the Sunrider Novelization, Calude also reveals to a surprised Kayto that Chigara seems to have some degree of feelings for him, though leaves it a bit ambiguous how deep they run. However, when he tries to refocus the topic on Ava's complaints with Claude's unwillingness to conform to military protocols aboard the Sunrider, she fakes narcolepsy and slumps over, pretending to be asleep - even as she "sleep-eats" to avoid her sundee melting on her - prompting an exasperated but half-bemused Kayto to leave her be.

Settling into the Family

Claude would prove Kayto's assertions of being more useful on the field correct, as the bubbly bubblegum-haired pilot's unorthodox support measures would easily compliment the Captain's equally-unorthodox style of strategizing. After Asaga's rescue from PACT, Claude would work to get better acquainted with her ship-mates and fellow Ryder pilots - sometimes to an unwanted degree as she would flirt rather unreservedly with some of them, and would also take to trying to play matchmaker among the crew.

Claude would also discover at some point that Chigara was developing more then just a simple crush on Kayto, as well as knowing that the engineer took the time to observe recordings of the Captain on her security monitors on occasion. Claude eventually takes the time to advise Chigara about the latter's attraction to the Captain, calling the engineer's idea of love that of a 'pure maiden' and citing that she should be honest with Kayto about liking him - lest she take him herself and rob Chigara of the chance. In the Novel, she also jokes that even the aloof Icari seems to have lightened up noticeably around Kayto, suggesting herself and Chigara aren't the only ones that like him - much to Icari's flustered denial. However, their musing was interrupted twice over - once by fellow Ryder-pilot Icari Isidolde, and once more by discovering that, further along in the recording, the newly-arrived Alliance Ryder pilot Kryska Stares, who was serving as their liaison but was suspected to be a spy, was downloading data from the Sunrider's engineering core.

Claude latter took part as a support unit for the Sunrider's forces during the Battle of Far Port, able to fight and survive the intensive fighting even when many soldiers three times as experienced as her were killed by PACT's forces while providing support for the other Ryders. Ultimately, despite the Legion obliterating several of the Alliance ships by firing through PACT's own forces, the battle ends in their favor as Cullen's flagship is destroyed by a vengeful Asaga, killing Cullen himself, and the remaining PACT forces are soon after routed by the arrival of Admiral Harold Grey and the Alliance First Fleet. After the chaos of the battle, Claude took the chance to rejoin with the other Ryder pilots in the Sunrider's hangar bay as one of the few not left in a crippling state of exhaustion, teasingly noting that there seemed to be a strong bond - and perhaps more - growing between Icari and Kryska, much to the former's embarrassment, before joining the crew in celebrating their unlikely victory.

Mask of Arcadius
Claude returns as a companion character in Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, where her role is slightly expanded upon as she is allowed to resume being the Sunrider's Medical Officer.

In the original cut for Mask of Arcadius’ plot, one of the now-cut chapters portrayed Claude having somehow managed to become the replacement executive officer for the Sunrider after Ava left the ship for a diplomatic mission with the Alliance. She took this opportunity to once again try and seduce Kayto - culminating in a purportedly-comical scene where she was all but “spilling out” of her officer’s uniform. She would also end up having to take emergency command of the vessel - possibly without Kayto’s presence, as it was never specified if he was deposed as well for whatever reason - when PACT launches a surprise attack on the ship. Ultimately, these events were removed from the final storyline, though they may be reincorporated into the series with Sunrider: Liberation Day.

Shore Leave - Beachside Bombshell



Following the Sunrider's victory at Far Port, the crew was given an extended shore leave at the Lydia Resort Station, much to Claude's presumed joy as she doesn't hesitate to take full advantage of lounging at the station's beaches. Claude and Asaga become some of the key perpetrators in Ava's mental collapse during their R&R, with Claude donning a rather revealing pink bikini that left far too little to the imagination and unabashedly advertised her overly-developed proportions. When Icari takes issue with how brazenly ostentatious Claude is on displaying her figure, Claude teasingly asks if Icari is intimidated by the sight of a more womanly body then her own, and Claude's joking leads to Kryska joining in, resulting in Kryska and Icari getting locked into a grapple-match with each-other over their traded barbs. Claude then takes to once again teasing Chigara about her crush with the Captain, citing that the engineer's proportions have a ways to go before they match or even compare to Claude's own, resulting in the implosion of Chigara's already-small confidence in her own body when comparing herself to Claude. These antics, combined with Asaga rather bluntly asking about if the Captain was once part of Ava's lovelife, causes Ava to snap and run off screaming from the chaos.

However, the apparent loss of her superior officer's sanity doesn't seem to register for most of the crew, least of all Claude, who instead listens in to a discussion between Kryska, Asaga and Chigara as Kryska explains that, in order to limit unneeded fraternization, the Alliance segregates ship-crews by gender - all ships are crewed by either all-male crews or all-female crews. Claude rather pointedly asks if the crew all being the same gender has any effect on fraternization or flirting between crew, which Kryska, giving what seems to be a knowing half-smile, declines to answer.

Later on, after Kayto returns - dragging Ava back with him in order to force her into relaxing for once - Claude once again makes a rather brazen attempt to flirt with the Captain by asking him to lather sunscreen on her body, starting with her breasts. However, she is dismayed to learn that the other girls have already emptied the bottle aside from a few errant squirts. While disappointed, Claude's spirits pick up again when Kayto admits that she is indeed "easy on the eyes" when asked about it, though he also notes that he didn't come to the beach to leer at anyone. As Claude takes a seat next to him, Kayto takes the chance to ask why it is that Claude decided to stay with the Sunrider and why she fights, noting that she's the only member of the crew who has not said what their reason to fight is; Asaga and Sola's is to free their homeworld of Ryuvia, Icari's motive is revenge, Kryska's is orders and for the Alliance, Chigara's is to protect Asaga, and Kayto and Ava fight to free their own homeworld Cera. Claude unhesitatingly replies that it's because she's fallen for Kayto, proclaiming him to practically be a knight in shining armor to her as she starts getting more and more physically intimate with him.

However, Claude is so engrossed in trying to nuzzle against Kayto that she fails to notice the approach of Ava, despite Kayto trying to warn her. By the time Claude realizes who's behind her, it's far too late and Ava rather coldly denotes that she ought to "tighten the chains" on Claude's actions, if only to remind her just how thin the ice she's on with Ava is. Claude, horrified and terror-stricken at Ava's approach, meekly tries to defend her actions by pointing out that they aren't aboard the Sunrider and that shipboard military regulations regarding fraternization shouldn't apply, but it falls on deaf ears as Ava remarks that she couldn't care less about such a distinction. Kayto ends up escaping while the pair are distracted, leaving Claude to Ava's mercy - or lack thereof as it were.

All's Fair in Love and War

Later in the day, Claude once again takes to half-teasing, half-encouraging Chigara to come out with her feelings for Kayto, remarking that a day of R&R might have helped him loosen up and that she won't likely get a better chance then this once they return to the war. Claude also warns Chigara that she should also do so quickly, since someone - notably Claude herself - might just take him first. Icari gives a motivational speech to Chigara about how, with how unpredictable war is, either Kayto, Chigara or even both of them could die with any battle, and that Kayto might never learn Chigara liked him. Claude accents the point - unnecessarily - by revealing how she had managed to touch the Captain's privates during her original "medical examination" of him, which causes a flustered Chigara to collapse from shock at the lewd topic. Before Claude can add any further commentary, she is incapacitated by - and in the Novel, jokingly flirts with - Icari, soon after being dragged off by the mercenary when she requests Claude's help in setting up a distraction for Ava so that Chigara can have her chance. Shortly before they return to the cabin though, Claude, once again showing her perceptiveness in budding romances, takes note that yet another member of the crew - Sola - is developing feelings for Kayto after the latter escorts Sola back from the beach.

When the group returns to their cabin for the night, Claude and Icari immediately put their plan into action, starting with Claude volunteering the idea to play strip-poker and coyly suggesting the winner should get to sleep in Kayto's room with him, which promptly makes Kayto retire to his room early for his own protection, leaving a horrified Ava alone with the rambunctious Ryder pilots. Claude and Icari then sit Ava down and offer her some wine, which the panic-stricken First Officer ultimately succumbs to in order to soothe her frayed nerves and lean on as a vice to escape the chaos surrounding her. In the Novelization, it is then revealed that Claude ultimately succeeded in getting the others to play strip-poker, with herself Asaga, Kryska and Icari all in varying states of undress as the game goes on while a drunken Ava raves in the background about Kayto's string of high-school loves and his general ineptitude when it came to romance, which Claude and Icari find supremely entertaining.

After ensuring Ava's mental faculties are far too impaired by alcohol to interfere with Chigara's attempted confession, Claude and Icari both urge Chigara to take her shot while she has the chance - and while doing so, Claude takes the chance to swipe Chigara's communicator so as to lessen the chance of an unwanted interruption. Watching from the bushes, Claude reveals to Asaga and the others what she did, and Icari tops it by using a portable signal jammer to knock out the local communication devices, prompting Claude to excitedly state that nothing will stop Chigara from getting Kayto. However, to her disappointment - perhaps not just for Chigara but for her own romantic ambitions - Kayto effectively turns Chigara down, citing that they all, as his crew, are his reason to keep going, hinting to the fact that he does not seem to see any of them as anything more then a platonic bond. After Chigara says good-night, Claude and the others are stumbled upon by Kryska, who had likely gotten suspicious about where they had all vanished to, echoing Ava's half-drunken orders to retire for the night. In the Novel, Claude, feeling at least slightly guilty - or at least wanting Ava to be marginally less angry with her - leaves Ava some medication to help with her inevitable hangover in the morning. The next day, the crew of the Sunrider finally ends it's shore-leave returns to active duty.

Back in the Saddle

As the Sunrider crew returns to the field and participates in active missions against PACT for the following weeks, Claude manages to get her medical license re-instated, much to the shock of the Captain and, assumedly, Claude's own shipmates. Kayto voices suspicion as to whether Claude legitimately earned the certificate as opposed to bribing someone, prompting Claude to denote that she stayed up many late hours of the night studying to retake her medical tests in order to regain it, though Kayto still remains skeptical on her reasoning as well as her motivation for wanting the position again in the first place.

However, Claude does manage to convince Kayto that the Sunrider is better off with an operational med-bay then without one, pointing out that she has in fact stocked it with legitimate medical supplies, including nanomachine immersions, referred to in the Sunrider Novel as "medichine treatment" - a tube filled with a high-density fluid packed with billions of medical nanomachines that can heal pilots and injured crew extremely quickly. Claude also takes the chance to prove her medical knowledge by explaining that, since the machines aren't cost-effective to use for every injury, and that nanofluid/"medichines" should be reserved for emergency treatment, such as if a downed Ryder pilot is required back on the field immediately or if someone has been critically injured to the point of near death.

Kayto, impressed by Claude's apparent dedication to her position, relents and admits that the Sunrider would indeed be better off with an active medical-bay and that Claude seems to have proven herself, with Claude excitedly and eagerly responding that Kayto should come by if something ever aches, much to the latter's exasperation. In addition to balancing out her restored position as the Sunrider's Chief Medical Officer, Claude also serves as something of a matchmaker and unexpected moral support for the crew as, mischievous as she may be, she typically is open to conversation and often gives her opinions even when not needed or asked for - though few people beside Ava seem to take actual issue with this.

Claude would take part in several missions against PACT and also in the Sunrider's mission to the Ryuvian outpost at Far Port's moon, illustrate in the Novel as helping disrupt the targeting systems of the ancient cruisers and mitigating their missile barrages. In the Sunrider Novel, Claude plays a notable role in defeating one of the Ryuvian automated assault Ryders by working with Chigara to reinforce the Sunrider's shields before the attacking machine can break through. When Chigara's drones fail to slow the Ryder down enough for the Sunrider to stop it, Claude uses her Ryder Bianca's ability to create gravitational eddies to stymie it's movements, allowing the Sunrider's targeting computers to keep pace with the high-speed unit and bring it down.

Later on, after the Sunrider is moved to Ongess and Kayto and Kryska are captured by Cosette, Claude ends up treating several security officers who were incapacitated by Icari after the latter went into a panic at the news that the Captain and Kryska were in Cosette's captivity. After Kayto and Kryska are rescued by the Alliance, Claude interposes herself into an argument between Icari and Kryska after Icari criticizes how Kryska got herself and Kayto captured, with Claude evening the playing field by not only bringing up that Icari had nearly broken down into tears at the news and had raided the Sunrider's armory intending to stage a rescue mission, knocking out several security officers before being subdued and calmed down. In the Sunrider Novel, Claude also reveals that Icari had surprisingly gotten the normally-reserved Sola to help her in her plan. Icari, flustered, denies the allegation, but Claude doesn't let up and questions whether Icari has feelings for Kryska or Kayto, driving Icari to excuse herself to work on her Ryder.

Stress and Tests

Claude, like most of the Sunrider crew, had her mettle tested against Fontana as the PACT forces under his command, in conjunction with Cosette amassing the largest pirate fleet in recent memory, utterly outmaneuvered Kayto at the Second Battle of Ongess. In the Novelization, Claude shows a far more serious and competent side of herself then usual as she kept up with and coordinated alongside Chigara to help Sola snipe out the new wetware-centric Ryders that Fontana had brought into the battle. Ultimately, she and the rest of the crew are bested as Fontana dealt the Sunrider captain his first actual defeat through tactics as he reveals the battle was an immense distraction for Cosette to use in attacking the Alliance's Ongessite drydocks, destroying over a hundred vessels and their crews. The Sunrider is only saved by Admiral Grey's intervention in issuing Fontana an ultimatum - leave or Alliance forces destroy the entire planet and everyone on it. Fontana begrudgingly submits, forcing Cosette's retreat as well by pulling away and sparing the Sunrider from destruction - though it is likely a hollow victory all the same for the crew as Claude possibly deals with trying to lighten a collectively somber mood across the vessel's crew in the aftermath.

Some time afterword, Claude was asked by Sola to run tests on her, the latter expressing doubt in the idea that, even with Ryuvian technology, she could have survived two-thousand years in stasis - an assessment that Claude agrees with. To their mutual surprise and shock, Claude's subsequent tests lead the acting doctor to believe that Sola had only been in cold-sleep for just around three months instead of two millennia. Kayto soon enters the medical bay when Claude calls him down to report on her discovery and, seeing Sola, concernedly asks whether or not Claude has exercised any of her perversions on the snow-haired girl, inadvertently causing a slight miscommunication as he realizes too late how embarrassing a question he has asked Sola. Claude, taking offense to the allegations, accuses Kayto of slandering her and claiming herself as being strictly professional. Kayto, flustered, tries to apologize to Sola for having asked such a personal question, stating he was worried due to Claude's long history of malpractice and inappropriate conduct.

Claude, trying to save face, claims Kayto had forced her to do scandalous things with him when she first came aboard, but Sola sees through it easily, leaving Claude depressed when she realizes she ousted herself by trying too hard. After this, the two report their findings on Sola's status, shocking Kayto as he questions how it could be possible. Depending on Kayto's words, Claude warns the Captain that he will incur the wrath of the other women aboard the Sunrider if he keeps getting so close to Sola, hinting to the fact that even she might be getting a bit exasperated by Kayto's inability to pick a single girl to enter a true relationship with. Regardless, both Claude and Sola promise to keep Kayto appraised of any developments they make in their search.

A War Doctor Once More

The biggest challenges yet would come during the following missions for the Sunrider crew, Claude included, between an escort mission against an entire PACT fleet and then a rushed retreat from the PACT forces stationed at Helion where the facting was striving to build their New Superweapon, chased by both Cosette Cosmos' pirate forces and Fontana's new fleets. In the Novel, the crew follows a borderline-insane plan proposed by Asaga to moor their Ryders to the Sunrider's hull as the ship passes through Helion's corona, the vessel shielding their units while they provide flak-support for the ship - a manuver that Claude nearly doesn't manage, requiring her being saved by Kryska lest she be fried and killed by Helion's immense radiation flares. While this tactic ultimately works - though at great expense to Sola when a squad of PACT Elites close the gap - The Sunrider is heavily damaged by an attack from the Legion at the last minute, and is only barely able to pull off an emergency warp jump to narrowly avoid destruction.

Claude's biggest personal challenge to date, both for her character and as a doctor, thus comes as her medical expertise is both needed and heavily relied upon in order to save the lives of multiple critically-injured crew-members - including Kayto himself, who was severely wounded by an explosion on the Sunrider's C.I.C., specified in the Novel as having culminated in a 5cm rod puncturing his thigh and going through his femoral artery on top of a severe concussion-inducing impact to the back of his head. In order to prep him for nanite-fluid submission, Claude was forced to remove the metal from his artery - which was also the only thing keeping him from bleeding out at the time - and stabilize him enough to keep him from going into shock and, presumably, cardiac arrest. Overall, Claude would spend over five hours switching between placing Kayto in intensive surgery and submersing him in the nanite-fluid/medichine tanks, as well as balancing the management of his condition with the treatment of nearly thirty other injured crew-members.

Several hours after his injuries, Kayto regains consciousness, with Icari complimenting Claude's hard work while Claude herself, pale as she expresses genuine anxiety for the first time since coming aboard the ship, finally takes a moment to pat herself on the back so to speak. In the Novel, even Ava is forced to acknowledge Claude's efforts with honest, if not begrudging respect. Also in the Novel, Claude urges Ava, Icari and Chigara - the latter having wanted to stay by Kayto's side - out of the med-bay while she informs Kayto of the particulars of the ship's crew and casualties as well as of the extent of his own injuries, with Kayto seeming visibly impressed by how well-managed his wounds are. Claude also leaves Kayto a note, lightheartedly citing it as being "doctor's orders" - which turns out to be a written request that he talk to someone, revealing that even the normally-optimistic Claude has become worried about how much visible stress Kayto is under.

After Kayto was recovered and the Sunrider brought back to semi-operational status, the ship was taken back into battle against the Legion at Helion, leading an Alliance fleet to bring both it and the PACT's superweapon down. As Kayto gives one final speech to the crew to remind them all of what they are fighting for, Claude doesn't hesitate to all but swoon at the Captian's words, making it clear how much she supports him. However, after they arrive at Helion, Claude is initially intimidated by the immense size of the Legion, but went into battle against it nonetheless, and later on helped Asaga and the other Ryder pilots against the combined power of the collective of beings who were revealed to be Veniczar S. Arcadius. Using her Ryder's ability to create gravitic eddies, Claude opted propel and off-balance the mad tyrant's machines and send several of them straight into the firing path of the Alliance and Sunrider's forces - one instance being when she uses this to save Icari from crashing into the Sunrider's hull after the mercenary is nearly dragged down by one of Arcadius' dying Ryders.

After Arcadius is betrayed and lynched by Fontana for his bloodthirsty actions, the Sunrider crew is left to sort out the following chaos with Claude likely leading the medical relief efforts aboard the battered Sunrider - including another possible medical emergency in the form of a grievously-injured Ava, left verging on death if the Sunrider engaged the Legion for the final time.

Liberation Day
Claude is confirmed to return as a companion character in the upcoming Sunrider: Liberation Day, with one preview screenshot showing her confidently denoting to Kayto and Icari that it is her "time to shine."

(WARNING: The events listed here are taken from the Liberation Day BETA, and are thus subject to change during production until the final product is released. Canonicity is not guaranteed as this may be only one of several paths the game may take - as of now, this is the only one known.)

If Kayto had chosen to sink the Legion at Helion, Claude is able to heal the worst of Ava's injuries after the battle, including regenerating her arm and installing a new bionic eye to replace one lost in the explosions from burns and shrapnel. She is also the one that treats the injuries of a captured Prototype - the pilot of the last of Arcadius's Ryders from the Second Battle of Helion, as well as the wounds of Cosette Cosmos if Kayto fulfilled the necessary requirements needed to save her from Asaga's wrath and capture her. She also performs medical examinations on Chigara and the Prototype - dubbed "Lynn" after Chigara's middle name as the two are revealed to be "sisters" who share the same genetic template. Claude and Chigara are given the joint task of observing the Prototype "Lynn" and trying to get information from her, with Claude taking the time to joke about how the widely-feared Arcadius was nothing more then a group of young girls, finding this humorous.

Later on, at Ava's request, Claude performs another examination on Chigara, this time on her neural patterns, to determine if the latter's intelligence was or wasn't part of her Prototype heritage, to which Claude affirms that it is Chigara's own genuine intellect born of scientific teaching and experience. This somewhat assures Ava that not everything about Chigara was designed by the Prototypes, though she still retains a sense of unease; and after Ava and Chigara walk off, Claude privately humiliates Kayto by revealing she also went and checked whether Chigara was still chaste or not, asking whether the Captain plans to change this and if she can be on bedside - literally - if he is nervous about doing so, earning an infuriated and indignant refusal from Kayto.

Personality & Traits
On the surface, Claude appears to be little more then a ditzy, bubbly, vain and perverted girl, always eager to get in someone's bed or into their pants if they're handsome enough. She is clumsy, messy, and, due to being easily prone to motion-sickness, not all that talented as a Ryder pilot compared to the others aboard the Sunrider. She places a very high priority on her personal appearance and care, spending long hours in the bathrooms and using a variety of care-products for her skin and hair so diverse that it is speculated to rival Chigara's engineering kit in terms of complexity. She is also very lazy, as she rarely, if ever, puts anything she uses away or cleans up after herself if something gets spilled, such as coffee in the mess hall, and she seems to have little respect or concern for military protocols or the strict lifestyle it requires. Claude also seems to be very whimsical and nosy, typically getting involved in other people's affairs without asking or caring to ask, often for no other reason then the fact that she figured it would be fun or entertaining to do so. She all-too-often peers into other people's privacy and is hardly afraid to publicly announce her findings, such as when she told Kryska and Kayto that Icari had been intent on launching a rescue mission for them on her own. She also has been noted to be somewhat forgetful at times, though this may simply be an excuse to continue shirking her assigned chores.

Claude has also been shown to take advantage of others, as she jumped at the chance to be a doctor on the Sunrider to have safety and security from Alliance law and pirates and get close to her new infatuation Kayto Shields. This is also shown in the Novelization where she claims that she accepted the gift of what would become her Ryder Bianca from a primitive civilization without even bothering to tell them what it was really worth - though at the same time this could be a lie to obscure where she really obtained the Ryder. She also has a very devious side to her, given how easily she managed to persuade Kayto into letting her join in spite of her unknown past. It is also very much possible that she knows more then she lets on as a rule, based on the fact that she was somehow able to guess the Sunrider had no doctor when she first came aboard, and later on knew the location of the Ryuvian starship graveyard where the crew needed to go in order to find the Crown Jewel of Ryuvia. It is also possible that Claude suspected that the Sunrider would only be here for something valuable like the graveyard, but didn't say anything so that she could have a bargaining chip if she was caught.

Claude appears to be very much a nymphomaniac and seems to have little to no control over those perverted impulses, as she had been accused of sexual harassment and improper conduct repeatedly over the course of her life as both a doctor and as a freelancer. Her desires are so powerful that she rather quickly dropped her facade of professionalism or of being decent in general just by seeing Kayto shirtless. She also seems to be very vain, quickly latching onto those she calls handsome or dashing without really getting to know their personalities. She is also very much aware of how physically attractive she is and appears very confident in her own sexuality to the point of almost completely overruling any sense of modesty or decency, if her choice in clothes - her revealing nurse's outfit and her skimpy string-bikini - are any indication. In the Sunrider Novel, this is expanded upon further by showing she also seems to have little issue teasing or being sexual among girls as well, making repeated jabs at how Icari seems to have slight bisexual tendencies - something that might imply Claude herself is also bisexual, though obviously seems to prefer males as a first choice.

However, in spite of her outwardly absentminded demeanor, Claude has been shown to be rather clever and perceptive at times, as well as intuitive, especially when it comes to reading people. This is proven by how she could easily tell that both Chigara and Sola were developing feelings for Kayto, as well as noting the visibly complex tie between Kayto and Ava, and in the Novel is able to accurately discern the nature of the relationship between them as one of an unresolved romance turned awkwardly platonic. She also showed a level of competency that belayed her seeming incompetence, as she not only knew about Chigara looking at recordings of Kayto, but also knew which parts of the recordings Kayto was at, implying that she may somehow have seen the recordings before - something that would only be possible if she'd either bypassed Chigara's security lockouts or had figured out her passcodes, both of which seem beyond what Claude would be capable of. It is also likely however that she had spied on Kayto as he walked down those specific hallways, but the fact that Claude was able to avoid being picked up on the recordings along with Kayto would be no less impressive given her character.

Claude's intelligence being higher then it appears is also shown in how Claude is supposedly a self-taught Ryder pilot and yet she is able to somewhat competently control the gravity-manipulating support abilities of the Bianca, even though the unit's odd support abilities are very uncommon among Ryders and thus should rightly be more complicated then the standard loadout. She also managed to endure and elude Alliance arrest and custody multiple times and survive in the neutral rim on her own. In combat, Claude's demeanor shifts between being energetic and playful if the battle is somewhat easy into a more serious and focused mentality if the fighting becomes harsh, shown in the Novelization when she swiftly and concisely began helping Chigara decrypt the hacking codes of the PACT Supports brought in by Fontana at Ongess. Claude has also shown times of recognizing her own moments of incompetency or clumsiness - such as when she sabotaged her own attempt to play off innocence to Sola regarding her past pervasive actions on Kayto by lying too blatantly - and she is easily prone to sulking at times during such moments as she comprehends that she has embarrassed herself in some way.

Claude has also demonstrated that she does in fact have a degree of actual medical competency and knowledge, shown in how she not only was able to manage the Sunrider's medical bay, if not questionably so, but she also managed to save Kayto's life when he was severely injured at Helion during a face-off against the Legion - and with much of the Sunrider's equipment presumably off-line to boot, suggesting that she had to use conventional surgery to save Kayto. The Novelization shows this as well, depicting Claude manually operating on Kayto's femoral artery after a metal rod pierces his thigh, along with multiple other small-scale or moderate injuries, spending hours managing Kayto's condition alongside the other twenty-nine injuries and six fatalities among the crew, all ranging from minor to severe. Claude does this again for Ava if Kayto decided to sink the Legion, healing her lacerations, burns and internal injuries before moving on to regeneration treatments to regrow her lost patches of flesh and her amputated right arm, as well as installing an Alliance-imported cybernetic eye implant to replace one that was presumedly ruptured or blinded - all tasks that would likely require moderate to advanced up-to-date medical skill to enact depending on how complex or new the techniques are.

Claude is also perhaps more kind-hearted then her often selfish and indulgent nature would lead most to believe, as, in spite of having her eye on Kayto, she still encouraged the shy Chigara to come out with her feelings toward the Captain. She even went as far as planning a rather elaborate scheme with Icari to ensure Chigara had a chance to get close to Kayto, even though it would have suited Claude's own romantic ambitions better had Chigara remained perpetually quiet about her feelings. Claude also appeared to genuinely want to push people together, shown by how she seemed to encourage Icari and Kryska becoming closer, though it could have been for her own amusement more then anything else. In spite of her messy and lazy tendencies, she has never been seen really asking or demanding for anything - aside from sexual gratification of course.

All in all, many instances - subtle or otherwise - point to Claude being more intelligent then the airheaded and perverse pseudo-doctor she first appears as.

Relationships
Kayto Shields - The object of Claude's sexual desires, she has perused Kayto ever since she met him and claims her love for him to be the reason she fights. Upon first meeting him in person, she visualized him as a romantic character awaiting for her and rather easily took advantage of his ship's lack of a doctor. Claude's view of Kayto seems to be largely materialistic, and it also doesn't seem as though she wants any form of deeper emotional relationship since she seems so willing to risk Chigara having a chance with Kayto, and yet at the same time it seems unlikely that she would repeatedly risk her life for a simple infatuation. Ultimately, her true feelings for him, aside from her blatantly obvious sexual attraction, are unknown at the moment. At the same time though, Claude, at some point in time close to the Battle of Helion, seemed to become somewhat exasperated herself with Kayto's unwillingness to commit to a relationship with anyone, implying that even she was beginning to feel more genuine concern for Kayto's state of affairs as opposed to pure sexual gratification. In the aftermath of the Battle of Helion, Claude had to save Kayto's life after he was badly injured in the wake of the Legion's attack, as well as saving Ava's after the Second Battle of Helion if Kayto had chosen to sink the Legion, which may have affected her standing with him further and encourage him to place more trust in her as a semi-professional doctor.

Icari Isidolde - Claude seems to have a somewhat amicable standing with Icari, since neither one have any real respect or acknowledgement of military regulations outside their own standards, though Icari is still more willing and able to follow them then Claude is. Both share a keen sense of perception as they were both able to tell that Sola and Chigara were starting to develop feelings for Kayto, and Claude helped formulate a plan with Icari to incapacitate Ava so that Chigara could have her shot. However, Claude doesn't seem to respect Icari's privacy, pride or boundaries as she has repeatedly made insinuations into Icari's sexual preferences by asking whether Icari is into Kryska, Kayto or both, as well as exposing the fact that she cares about their well-being when revealing Icari had wanted to mount a rescue for them when the pair were Cosette's prisoners. Claude also tends to tease Icari with an offer of doing something with herself, having offered to shower with Icari once, and in the Novel she seems to become, or at least feign becoming aroused when Icari tackles her on the beach to stop Claude's teasing of Chigara. In the Novelization, also seems to be perfectly willing to urge Icari to pursue Kayto if she honestly feels something for him.

Chigara Lynn Ashada - Chigara can be considered Claude's perfect opposite in almost every way - whereas Chigara is small, dainty, quiet, tidy, is never disruptive, enjoys working and is always diligent, Claude is tall, buxom, outgoing, messy, a ruthless gossip, is very lazy and often forgetful. Yet in spite of this - and the opportunities for teasing it opens up on the faux-doctor's part - Claude seems to be on friendly terms with Chigara, seeing the engineer as both a friend and a friendly love-rival. Claude seems to enjoy poking fun at Chigara's anxiety and embarrassment at topics regarding sexuality, often making lewd remarks, typically about Kayto or about Chigara's body-proportions in relation and comparison to Claude's own, just to tease her. She also tends to take jabs at Chigara's shy personality, sometimes sneaking up on her such as when Chigara was absorbed in watching a recording of Kayto. However, in spite of effectively being a rival in her efforts to try and win Kayto over, Claude has shown a surprising willingness to encourage Chigara to admit her feelings to the Captain, possibly out of the belief that one shouldn't hide their true feelings from someone and instead be honest - although this is contrasted by how she didn't go to such lengths for Sola, seeming to hint at her having picked a favorite so to speak. Claude has never once tried to directly discourage or scare off Chigara from confessing to Kayto, and if anything has only tried to motivate her to say something before somebody else - like Claude herself - takes him away and makes it too late for Chigara to have a chance. She even worked to create a plan with Icari to give Chigara an opportunity to tell Kayto her feelings.

Asaga Oakrun - The two have had little visible interaction, but it can be assumed that Claude and Asaga get along well enough. Both are rather carefree, though one is more bubbly and the other more energetic. Both tend to be rather blunt and straightforward about what they think, can put off the more technical aspects of military diligence - though Claude is more guilty of this then Asaga - and have marked disregard for standard military regulations, which leads to the two being regarded as Ava's perpetual headaches. Both of them can sometimes be a bit oblivious to some things and have rather simple and uncomplicated outlooks on life, though Claude is perhaps a bit more selfish and Asaga more noble. They are also prone to invading the privacy of others, as Asaga had no reservations of asking Ava if she dated Kayto the same as how Claude asked Chigara if she'd been with Kayto in the Novel. All in all, Claude and Asaga seem more like they would work well as running-buddies, though Claude's seeming obsession with trying to bed Kayto might be beyond even Asaga's ability to tolerate, especially since the latter has subdued feelings for Kayto. Oddly enough, this is instead hindered in how Claude seems to focus more on pushing Chigara together with Kayto, which in turn becomes a source of bitterness for Asaga. Whereas Claude could easily tell that Sola, Chigara and, to a lesser extent, Icari had developed feelings for Kayto, she has never seemed to take note of Asaga's own budding feelings for the Captain, implying that either Asaga is far better at hiding her emotions then the other Ryder pilots - which is believable since nobody had guessed she was royalty other then fellow Ryuvian princess Sola - or that Claude may indeed know of Asaga's feelings and has chosen for some reason not to comment on it.

Sola vi Ryuvia - Claude's only noteworthy interaction with Sola is when the latter asked Claude to run a medical examination of her to confirm whether or not she had really spent two-thousand years in stasis without any drawbacks. Sola's quiet, inverted nature seems to be a stark contrast to Claude's bubbly and sexually-aggressive personality, making the two a poor match-up in terms of compatibility. It is also possible that Sola's typical stoicism allows her to wither or deflect most of Claude's innuendo-laced behavior or personality quirks, which in turn makes Claude speak more frankly to Sola as she is not as easy to rile and thus Claude has no reason to tease her the way she would Icari or Chigara. However, Sola's typically-stoic demeanor seems to make it easier for Claude to tell when Sola has been affected by something, as she could easily tell at first glance that Sola was beginning to develop feelings for Kayto. However, like with Chigara, Claude didn't do anything to discourage Sola's feelings, but at the same time, unlike with Chigara, Claude didn't actively encourage them either. Sola seems to trust Claude as enough of a professional to entrust her body to the "doctor" for a medical examination, and Claude, at the time of this, seemed to treat Sola as a patient with far more respect for personal boundaries then she had for Chigara in the Novel.

Ava Crescentia - It is an understatement to say that Claude does not get along with Ava, finding her bossy, stuck-up, humorless, overbearing and an all-around killjoy, while Ava sees Claude as messy, lazy and little more then a nymphomaniacal "parasite" on the crew. Claude believes that Ava is in sore need of relaxation and thus treats Ava with little respect as a Commanding Officer, adamant in the fact that she does not wish to take part in the military protocols or chain-of-command simply because she serves on the Sunrider. However, she is still very much afraid of Ava as shown during the crew's R&R at the Lydia Resort Station, where Claude was left screaming as Ava berated her for trying to flirt with Kayto, knowing all-too-well that Ava could send her back to the Sunrider's brig if she wanted to. However, be that as it may, Claude still seems willing to trust Ava with her life more then Ava does Claude, as Claude doesn't seem to disobey orders given by Ava any more or less then she would orders from Kayto when on the battlefield. However, it is possible that, in saving Kayto's life in surgery - and possibly Ava's as well, depending on choice Kayto made when facing the Legion - may have finally allowed Claude to earn Ava's trust. This would be furthered as well with faith in her competency as healing Ava's in the wake of the Legion's destruction injuries include regenerating her arm and large portions of her skin along with installing a prosthetic eye.

Kryska Stares - Claude has had little direct interaction with the Alliance liaison, but Kryska's by-the-book mentality and military-centric lifestyle likely means that Claude wouldn't get along with her as well as she would with someone like Asaga. She also displayed marked disapproval at some of the more inappropriate activities that Claude would encourage, such as strip-poker. However, at the same time, Kryska's more tomboyish looks and personality mean that she isn't quite as uptight as Claude considers Ava to be, meaning they can at least converse amicably, as shown during the Sunrider's R&R when Kryska didn't become flustered or irritated by Claude's insinuation that gender-segregated crews didn't prevent fraternization or romance, instead giving what seemed to be a wry smile. She also, in spite of protesting how shameful something like strip-poker would be, ultimately joined in on the game with Asaga, Claude and Icari in the Sunrider Novelization, showing a willingness to participate in spite of her distaste with it, if only to defend her own pride and refute any claims of being embarrassed by her body. Another interesting thing to note is that, unlike Chigara, Claude does not make any jabs or quips about Kryska's figure, though this may simply be because Icari had already beaten her to the punch.

Cosette Cosmos - Even though Cosette's pirates destroyed her ship and tried to kill her, Claude doesn't seem to hold much of a grudge over it. In fact she seems like she couldn't care less now that she has a much bigger ship to live in with more security and a handsome Captain to give her orders. If Kayto ordained to capture Cosette at the end of the Second Battle of Helion, then Claude treats the self-proclaimed Pirate Queen's injuries during her captivity.