Iron Choir Armor Morgue Cradle

Iron Choir’s cradle is a riveted steel stand with counterweights, chains, and a diagnostic console bolted on decades later. Nothing glides. Everything clanks. Yet one technician can hoist a dead powered suit upright, lock its limbs, and work without trusting a ceiling crane. Mechanical gauges show joint resistance and seal pressure. The electronic box checks batteries and actuator continuity, when it feels cooperative. During outages the counterweights still function, making this old monster valuable on frontier ships. Empty, it resembles an execution frame. Occupied, it resembles worse. Crews paint lucky marks on the crossbar and never stand beneath the main chain, luck being no substitute for basic rigging.