Firstly, this suggestion is a build-off of one of Fehzor's ideas, so he deserves credit as well. This suggestion was originally a post on one of his threads, but to get it more attention, I made it it's own thread.

For the sake of time, I will be copy+pasting Fezhor's idea. However, for those of you want to see Fehzor's complete idea, here is a link:http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/107932.

Here is one of Fehzor's ideas from his thread:

A schemer similar to Razwog has been caught and needs questioning, but won't talk. Because of this, the Spiral Order has captured several of her family members, and plans to use them against him! The mission starts out with a dialog between Feron and the schemer- he won't talk, and Feron has the family.. the gremlin shouts no! But still won't talk!

A gremlin is spawned, and the knight is made to kill it. The schemer yells out in pain, crying a bit. That's what happens- how about giving us the info on project R now? But still nothing. Two more gremlins- the schemer's children, are released into the caged area and the gremlin breaks down but can't bring herself to betray the Crimson Order. The knight murders these and after some more dialog Feron decides that the gremlin is truly a monster, and must die as well with her lover... this makes the gremlin crack, and admit what they know.

My idea:

A lot of people are saying that this idea is too dark, and that dark "elements" are not in this game(or are implying it). Think about Apocrea. You get grabbed by tentacles and get taken to a lower a lower floor, then a vast graveyard(s) teeming with scarabs that are trying to eat you, and a Harvester that is trying to harvest your soul. At the end, you even find a dead knight. Not only that, but think back to the beginning of the game: after stealing the item(I forgot what it's called), Razwog tries to blow-up the entire facility with you in it. That can be considered torturous. Also, look at Arkus. After defeating him, if you go over to him and interact with him, it will tell you that Arkus is dead(not directly, but it is strongly implied). There's also the Firestorm Citadel, in which a forgotten king's soul is cursed and cannot be put to rest without your help. My point is that something as dark as this would be "normal" in a game like this, but some parts, like the gremlin crying and slaughtering his kids, may be too much.

Also, instead of a camp, it should be more of a prison-like dome. Not only that, but players shouldn't be forced to partake in this test. Instead, the player should be able to decide what they want to do, and if they refuse, the player will be considered a traitor and will no longer be considered a Spiral Knight. The knight runs and frees the gremlin. This causes a brief battle between the player and Feron to break out, and it results in Feron getting injured. Due to his good side, he spares Feron. Meanwhile, the gremlin pummels a nearby guard knight unconscious and takes his weapon, and uses it to fight his way through numerous other knights and activates a self-destruct sequence. The player leaves Feron and escapes, and is now faced with another decision: to either go alone, or side with the gremlins. Depending on what you choose, different missions will become available to you.

By siding with the gremlins, you prepare them for an assault against the Spiral Order, and you contribute to creating a core-powered machine that will destroy the Spiral Order. However, the machine ends up malfunctioning, and a mechanic informs you that it will explode and blow-up Cradle. You then prepare for evacuation, but the Spiral Order arrives and tries to stop you. At some point, you get split from the other gremlins, and as you reach the evacuation pod, Feron is seen, prepared for a final battle. You end-up severely wounding Feron, and his last words are "Why?". You then evacuate with numerous other elite gremlins and head to another planet, which opens up another story.

By not siding with anyone, you become your own team. and at some point, encounter a Morai soldier, who attacks you. After defeating the soldier, he tells you that "They are coming". As you look up, you see numerous flying machines over Cradle, gradually coming down. You then go on a stealth mission into Spiral HQ to find more information on the Morai, and after doing so, you activate the self-destruct sequence, and commence evacuation. However, Feron arrives, and after a brief battle with him, both you and Feron escape, but in different ways. You then send yourself on various missions to train yourself, and occasionally encounter Morai soldiers. However, you end-up befriending 3 of the soldiers, who are reincarnated into 3-other players(meaning that 1 soldier represents 1 player, so you can play with other living people f they join you and such, and the MMO element this game has) After some missions, the Morai finally lands, and a 3-way war between the gremlins, Spiral Order, and Morai break out. Eventually, you end-up siding with the Morai and build a machine powered by the Core(core-powered). However, it ends up malfunctioning, and the same events as the "siding with gremlins" occur, but with the Morai.

Also, if you choose to stay with the Spiral Order and continue with the slaughtering, you will be awarded with a higher rank and maybe a new weapon. However, you soon receive a death threat from the gremlins. They declare war, and the Spiral Order begins preparations and sends you on various missions to obtain resources. Eventually, the time arrives, and the war commences. However, the gremlins aren't messing around, and they created a core-powered weapon. However, it soon ends-up malfunctioning and the gremlins are told that the machine will explode. Once the Spiral Order hears about this, they commence evacuation. As you head for the evacuation pod, a heavily armed gremlin is seen, prepared for a final battle. The gremlin is revealed to be Herex, the slaughtered gremlin's brother. You end-up severly wounding Herex, and his last words are "Why?". You then evacuate with numerous other knights and head to another planet, which opens up another story.

Some of you may be wondering what happens to Cradle. Ultimately, Cradle gets blown-up, forcing you to go to another planet. Thanks to the advanced technology that the Spiral Order/Morai/gremlins(depends on who you side with), you are able to use time travel to go back to Cradle/haven and such(the technology is so advanced that present-day will not be affected if you mess around in the past). That brings up another thing: Haven. Yes, there will be a new version of Haven, or, there should be.

Also, after you complete the story of one side, the other side's missions will become unlocked for you. These stoies doesn't have to be a continuation of the "rank" story. Instead, they could be included in an expansion, like Operation Crimson Hammer.