[Fanfiction] Justice And Vengeance (Update 6)

[qwertyboom80]

"You've got three of the datamasses. One more, and we can leave." The words are barely audible above the sound of battle, but the meaning is clear enough; the end is in sight. The four of us have been on this ship for only half an hour, but it feels like a full scale siege. Maybe that's just me. I'm more used to being in and out before you can say, "It's the Grineer!"

 

I step away from the console and pick up the third datamass. I run through the plan again. Rhino and Nyx pretend to go for the reactor, drawing the bulk of the Corpus troops to defend the supposed target. Meanwhile, Mag and I grab the required data and rendezvous with the others at extraction. It's not been easy; as a Loki, my shields have been about as effective as my paint job in terms of protection. Mag sees that I've finished with this console, and we sprint to the elevator. After about three interminable minutes, I can see the last console. Mag nods at me, then turns around to cover me while I work.

 

For a society with a robot-based military, the Corpus sure have lousy security.

ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS REQUIRED.

PLEASE ENTER ACCOUNT DATA.

USERNAME: heyguysimhackingyoursystem

PASSWORD: wedontneednostinkingpasswords

ACCESS GRANTED

DOWNLOAD INITIATED

 

They still haven't deleted my false account. I could have hacked it anyway, but this is more fun. I watch as the data flashes onscreen shortly before being transferred to the datamass. It's probably just a bunch of strategic jargon, base locations, and research prototypes...

 

No, it isn't.

 

It's a collection of crew profiles. Upon closer examination, those pertaining to relatives.

 

"Lotus... What exactly am I looking at here?"

 

Her voice is as controlled and emotionless as ever. "It's a weapon prototype. Very powerful, we can't allow mass production."

 

She is clearly lying, but I don't quite want to admit it. "Lotus, what are you doing?" are the words, but I'm really asking what I'm doing.

 

There is a long pause.

 

"... These... are profiles for all Corpus soldiers."

 

"And what are you planning to do with said profiles?" My voice is audibly louder, giving the appearance of anger, but the real cause is panic. My mentor is lying. This is unthinkable. When I woke up a year ago, everyone I knew was dead. Hers was the only sympathetic voice. And now I can't trust it.

 

"People have to do terrible things in war. Sometimes, that means weakening your enemy by destroying... what they hold dear."

 

"You're talking about killing civilians. I won't stand for this." NOW I'm angry. I once had everyone I loved taken away. I can't let that happen to anyone else if there's anything I can do to stop it.

 

She isn't talking to me anymore. "Your squadmate has gone rogue. I repeat, Loki has gone rogue. Rhino, Nyx, get to--"

 

The transmission ends in static. I reach for the Vasto at my side and take aim at the datamass next to the console. I have almost pulled the trigger when I feel Mag pressing her gun against the back of my head.

 

"Drop the weapon, traitor."

 

I'm smirking as I run away, while Mag empties her Boltor's clip into the head of an unfortunate crewman who fell victim to my switch teleport. The humor is short-lived, though, as I run despairingly through room after room with no idea where I'm going. Left, right, right, left, jump, sprint, block...

 

I am unprepared for the glaive that comes spinning out of a nearby vent. Time slows down as I see it ripping through the air. I can't do anything to stop it. All I can do is scream as it does the unthinkable, sailing straight through metal, flesh, and bone alike, separating my arm from my body in one clean swipe. All I can do is weep as I collapse helpless on the ground. And all I can do is watch as a familiar shadow appears out of thin air above me and picks me up. The last thing I see before I lose consciousness is the face of the Stalker.

 

 

 

Author's Note

 

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed making it. I do plan to continue it soon. If you have an idea you want to share or feedback, please leave a comment. Thanks!

 

[EDIT] Okay, the title's too long. As of right now, it's "Not-entirely-Loki-but-still-mostly-Loki Short Story Series". Better change that. Okay, now it's "Some Stories I Wrote". Too... personal. Hmm... just "Short Stories"? No, how about plain old "Stories". To unspecific. AAGH! WHY IS THIS SO HARD? Fine, just "Short Stories". Happy now, Brain? No? WELL WHO CARES!?! ARG! (ragequit)

Edited February 25, 2014 by qwertyboom80

[_Absolom_]

Seeeeequel!

I want one! :3

Also, I'll leave my story here to look at :)

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/96007-the-stalkers-story/

[qwertyboom80]

Seeeeequel!

I want one! :3

Also, I'll leave my story here to look at :)

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/96007-the-stalkers-story/

Thanks!

Also, if anyone wants to post a link to their fan art, as long as it's related in some way (a stalker backstory like that one is fine), go right ahead.

[qwertyboom80]

I'm surprised to wake up at all. I thought for sure that the glaive wound would prove fatal, and if not that, then surely the ensuing assault by both friend and foe combined would. But here I am.

 

The Stalker... Yes, now I remember. He saved me. That gruesome, hated face saved me. Okay, I'm not dead. That's good.

 

Agh... I can't think. One thing at a time. I stretch out my fingers and... oh. My right arm is gone. Why did it have to be my right arm? Well, it could be worse. In retrospect, I never actually thought I would leave that ship alive. A limb is a small price to pay.

 

Suddenly I hear voices.

 

"-doesn't change the fact that we can't get the suit off."

 

"Well, we can't just let him bleed out!"

 

"And why not? He's given many of us less merciful deaths."

 

"True. I just don't think it's safe to let him live much longer."

 

"His suit's out of power and he's restrained. What can he do?"

 

My helmet detects that I'm awake and activates, allowing me to see my surroundings. On the other hand, it also means that the lights on the outside of my frame are turned on as well. Fortunately, it automatically injected my injury with anesthetics, both dulling the pain and slowing the blood loss. I can barely feel a thing. I find myself on what appears to be an operating table at a glance, but observation of the various implements around it, as well as the ferrite restraints, reveals its purpose to be not one of mending injury so much as inflicting it; in short, a torture chamber.

 

There are three guards, a heavy gunner, a napalm, and a sawman. The gunner notices my alertness first, and raises her weapon as she nudges the sawman with her elbow.

 

"Well, I think you know what happens now," he tries to be menacing as he raises his cleaver to my throat. "Spill the beans or we'll see what else you can spill."

 

A short burst of excitement runs through me as I observe that my energy is at 48% and rising due to my syphon aura. The Grineer may have drained my power cells, but even they can't account for Orokin technology that they don't fully understand. Now all I need is to buy myself time for a switch teleport at 75%. Perhaps if I pretend to be incoherent from blood loss...

 

"You dun scare m... me! Imm a tennn... eugh..."

 

I dramatically slump down as if exhausted.

 

56% power.

 

"Drop the act, you're not fooling anyone." Another Grineer walks in wearing specialized armor, indicating a high rank. He holds a skana at his side, but he's more relaxed than the other three.

 

"Eh. Worth a shot."

 

"You're hilarious."

 

"Hey, that's my job. I'm Loki."

 

64% power.

 

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Tyl Regor."

 

"Wow, and I thought I was funny."

 

Oh, that got to him. I think he's actually twitching. Loki 1, Funny Name 0.

 

76% power.

 

"You just- What the...?"

 

In half a second, he's tied down, and I'm gone. Unfortunately, the sawman didn't cut his throat. Until next time, Regor. I'm losing blood fast as I dash through the hallways, and I'm really starting to feel this. It isn't long before I have to stop and rest. Why would the Stalker save me and then leave me here to die? But I already know the answer; we don't have a common goal. We may be allies now, but until I decide where I truly stand, we aren't a team.

 

But surely he left me a way out, some form of escape?

 

Wait... there's a waypoint up ahead, programmed into my visor.

 

I follow it forever, and it leads me finally to the hangar. Specifically one particular ship; the console inside indicates it to be Tyl's. Inside I find basic medical gear, which I use to stop the bleeding. As I leave the gigantic galleon with no supplies, no weapons, no friends, and no goal, I realize that, though I have nothing, I have the world ahead. And it's never seen anything like me.

[arch111]

Very interesting plot. Especially choosing Loki as the protagonist.

He allready stand apart as it is.

Many have speculated what goal the Lotus have, and the truth behind Stalkers actions.

I would love to see this in action, however dont see how unless de gives us a tool.

In short, i like your style.

[qwertyboom80]

Very interesting plot. Especially choosing Loki as the protagonist.

He allready stand apart as it is.

Many have speculated what goal the Lotus have, and the truth behind Stalkers actions.

I would love to see this in action, however dont see how unless de gives us a tool.

In short, i like your style.

Hmm... A Warframe 3d animation tool?

 

Now THERE's something I'd like to see implemented! Thanks for the support.

[Keyza]

Great stuff, looking forward to more !

[qwertyboom80]

Finally, it's here. Today, justice will be dealt.

 

It's been seven months since my "termination". To the Lotus and her underlings, I am presumed dead. Four missions since then have mysteriously ended in failure, and have been attributed to unforeseen circumstances - another way of saying that they have no idea what's going on. The last three months, however, the mysterious threat has gone suddenly silent. Some say that the danger has passed, and others say that it's only begun.

 

Now, I am a thing of darkness. I am what people tell stories about in the dead of night to scare a sibling or friend. A Tenno ghost, thirsting for blood after being accidentally shot by his own squad, or a psychotic cannibal that roams a derelict ship as he collects the bones of his victims. But even though I've established such fear, I think the true masterpiece of my exile is the fact that during none of these sabotaged missions have I let myself be seen. The first ended when a "malfunctioning" mine osprey detonated twenty six mines at once, bringing the ceiling of the outpost down upon the heads of the Tenno. The second met failure when the entire ship set itself on lockdown, which refused any cancellation effort, before plotting a course through an asteroid field. The third was probably the most cruel; the extraction pods launched prematurely and all communications were jammed. By the time help got there, two of the Tenno had consumed the corpses of the others, then one went insane, brutally smashed the skull of the other, and had to be executed by the rescue team. In the fourth, the actual mission went perfectly, but when the extraction pods returned to base, each of the Tenno had a clean, perfect scarlet line across the neck. It's no wonder there are ghost stories, when I think about it.

 

Now, although it appears that this song is reaching its end, the final bars are the ones that bring forth the applause.

 

Lotus, you're next.

 

 

 

Author's Note:

 

I love writing about disturbing things. Anyway, I've got a lot of homework this week, so the next time you can expect an update is probably this weekend, but you never know. I hope you're enjoying this so far.

[arch111]

I am. I know you have a story to tell, i just wanted to share a thought about Lotus.

Since Alad V called Lotus an eyeless slag and presumably Tenno, betrayers, or the Lotus,

I have wondered what that ment.

Then I saw a translation of Corpus shipsigns.

It read "Hivemind"

This got me thinking about the connection to Lotus,

and the fact she/it seem to be an ai on missions.

Could the Hivemind infact be a powerful ai maintaining the robotic network?

Could this ai possibly be a cyborg, they are known for their implants,

and that somehow one or many got free and went rogue on them?

That would explain her Godly knowledge and the hatred in Alad.

I keep drifting to Homeword, the paralell is clear.

Anyway just sharing. Look forward to reading more.

[qwertyboom80]

I'M BAAAACK!

 

Sorry that took so long, Slender Man started chasing me, and I had to kill him with my bare hands. Okay, that was a lie, I got a virus and had to wipe my computer. Okay, that was also a lie, I'm just a huge procrastinator. Sorry again. :(

 

Here's the continuation.

 

Part 9001 (I'm not feeling very serious today)

 

One last arrow sails through the head of holographic infested crewman, and the projection pixelates out of existence instantly.

 

"Point one three seconds." The Lotus' icon appears on the left hand side of my visor. "Almost a record. Up for another run, Trinity?"

 

I don't think I can do any better, but it was a rhetorical question. She's been running the same simulation for the last eight hours of training. The goal is to kill five runners, spawning in a circle around you, before any of them explode. You have three seconds, but I'm not one to settle for the standard. My Paris Prime, being out of arrows, is cast aside, and I draw my heavily modified Sicarus Prime. Being as how I am one of the three most elite of the Lotus' private guard, I had it specially commissioned to fire bursts of variable numbers of shots. Two can incapacitate most Tenno, but for obvious reasons, I set it to five before this simulation. I prepare myself for the onslaught.

 

One second.

 

Two seconds.

 

Three.

 

It should have started by now.

 

"Mistress?" My voice seems to echo, lonesome in the large, white room.

 

After several seconds, my helmet emits a loud, blaring noise, followed by the words, "Tower under attack. Faction: Tenno. Number of targets: One. Threats present on: Command Level. No Quarter."

 

I think we can all imagine what's on the Command Level. Before the message is even over, I'm at the exit of the simulation room, and I make it to the elevator even faster. How could one person, even a Tenno, make it all the way to the most secure area in the entire Orokin Void undetected? And why is no one else in the corridors? I realize the answer to both, and now I see why this is the perfect time to attack. With the feud between Frohd Bek and Alad V, there are but a handful of Tenno actually inside the facility.

 

The door is opening. In a split second, I see the Lotus herself held at swordpoint by a thing that is hardly recognizable as a Loki warframe. One arm has been replaced with a writhing mass of black steel gears and ferrite pistons, ending in a crude claw of a hand with six equidistand fingers and a long razor-sharp spike in the palm. The spike is held threateningly against the Lotus' neck, drawing forth a trickle of blood, and the left hand holds a Dark Dagger to her abdomen. She is backed up against the wall, but she is staring fearlessly into the eyes of her attacker, or would be, if either of them had eyes. The mutilated creature has already seen me. As I raise my arm to use Well of Life, stunning him, I have already realized my mistake, but I can't stop. I can only watch as the thing switches position with the Lotus, and its grotesque aberration of a limb plunges deep into her torso and emerges from the other side. Instead of withdrawing it, the creature swings her limp but still-breathing body around, shielding itself from the bullets that I unleash. So it is by my weapon that the lotus dies, and when the body drops to the floor, that monster has already made an invisible escape through any of the numerous open vents in the room. I dash over to my Mistress, listening to her heartbeat, breath, anything, but to no avail. I resist the urge to grieve; Weakness is not the way of the Tenno. Weakness is what keeps me from being like that creature. And as I stand up, I know my new mission; I will hunt that thing to the end of every world, and not even the Void will separate me from my target. The Tenno fall today, but they have yet to die.

[qwertyboom80]

I am. I know you have a story to tell, i just wanted to share a thought about Lotus.

Since Alad V called Lotus an eyeless slag and presumably Tenno, betrayers, or the Lotus,

I have wondered what that ment.

Then I saw a translation of Corpus shipsigns.

It read "Hivemind"

This got me thinking about the connection to Lotus,

and the fact she/it seem to be an ai on missions.

Could the Hivemind infact be a powerful ai maintaining the robotic network?

Could this ai possibly be a cyborg, they are known for their implants,

and that somehow one or many got free and went rogue on them?

That would explain her Godly knowledge and the hatred in Alad.

I keep drifting to Homeword, the paralell is clear.

Anyway just sharing. Look forward to reading more.

Iiiiiiiiiiiinteresting.

[qwertyboom80]

So, let me know if that last one was any good; I'm really tired, and I haven't done this in a while, so it might be pretty terrible. All I'm saying is, I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

[bejuizb]

Nice stuff, but this is in the wrong forum. It belongs to the fan zone forum.

[qwertyboom80]

Nice stuff, but this is in the wrong forum. It belongs to the fan zone forum.

Oh.

 

 

(Facepalm gif here.)

 

Is there any way to move it?

[bejuizb]

You'll have to wait for a mod to move you.

[BenzinNinJa]

Well now I want to read more of this.

 

I give you nine thumbs up!

[qwertyboom80]

First of all, deleted the last entry, I didn't like it very much. Second, I just had a terrible day, so I figured I ought to try and do something I can actually do right. Yeah, one of those days. Anyway, there are still three people following this topic (myself included (for some reason)), and, as a great man once said,

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sFsFJCy4RW0/T0w33gBh75I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/vzdbUIWiJjg/s1600/Miracle%2BMax%2BQuote.jpg

 

(Idk how to post images)

Go through the forums and look for a moderator to delete it.

 

Which made me think of another movie reference; A gentlemoa going through the forums with a cowbell saying, "Bring out your dead!"

 

... Which makes me that old guy who isn't quite dead yet.

 

I think I'll go for a walk!

 

 

 

It was a mistake to go against her. Was it really worth it? As a Tenno, I would have lived hundreds, maybe even a thousand years. The blood of thousands would have stained armor and blade alike, I would be a terror and a savior, I would be the ruin of empires, the builder of new ones. I would have been a god. Was the fall of a god really worth the lives of some Corpus mortals? Because of my betrayal, I will be remembered as a common criminal, if at all. Why did I do this? What is my mission?

 

The answer comes to me immediately.

 

I did this to save them. I did this because the grineer are a doomed thing, whose entire identity is summarized in a test tube in some facility. The infested are bestial and exist merely to destroy all that is not their own. The Tenno... we are too powerful. In the end, a race whose name means "Warriors" in ancient Orokin is no better than the Grineer. The Corpus, although corrupt, are the only thing that gives this system the faintest hope for peace. I did it for that peace. If we are not fighting for them, what else is left?

 

I know my mission now. One of the warring tyrants is dead. No faction shall have peace as long as the others survive. Naught but the Corpus can be left. In all these stars, on all those worlds, this is the only purpose left for me.

 

The forests of Earth shall fall silent.

 

The burning sands of Phobos shall be stirred only by the skates that live there.

 

The haunted derelicts shall no longer be the nests of abominations like the Golem.

 

And this pest that thinks itself my hunter shall be proven sorely wrong.

 

 

The sisters will be the first to fall.

Edited January 15, 2014 by qwertyboom80

[qwertyboom80]

Well, now I feel better. Also, view milestones:

 

Pi - Waaaay back there

56 - The best number. Don't ask me why, it just is.

153 - Alt code for Ö

333 - 3333, 3333! 333333? 3333333! 3.

364 - Days of the year!

--ACHIEVEMENT LINE THINGAMABOB--

1337 - Leetspeak for "In your dreams"

1821 - I think it's the length of the original Alice's restaurant record.

 

Yeah, I can't think of any more.

[CommanderCorgi]

How did I only discover this now? This reminds me of Deadpool, whimsical yet super-dark at the same time.

 

I likes it.

[qwertyboom80]

How did I only discover this now?

 

Probably my fault for infrequent updates. :(

 

(Wow, smileys look terrible in this font.)

 

EDIT: Oh, yeah, thanks, by the way. (Too many commas!)

 

EDIT EDIT: (Too many parentheses, too!)

 

EDIT EDIT EDIT: (MAKE IT STOP)

 

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT: (AAAAAAAAH!)

Edited January 15, 2014 by qwertyboom80

[qwertyboom80]

"Sold to the honorable Baes IX. The frame will be cleaned and shipped shortly."

 

It's almost sickening to see one of my former allies' bloody corpse being hauled off like cargo. I think that one was screaming when she died. Hard to tell, being as how the mechanics had been forced to remove the lower jaw to get her helmet off. Hunting Tenno for the Corpus is not for the faint of heart.

 

There it was again. Footsteps. My head instinctively whirls around, only to find nothing but an empty corridor behind me. That's the second time today, and a Tenno's senses rarely betray him. There's something watching me, and I have a sneaking suspicion of what - or who - it might be.

 

"Betrayer! Get over here!"

 

As I am no longer a follower of the Lotus, I am not bound by a vow of silence. Still, I have elected not to speak to these mortals. The Corpus will try to control me if they can, and I cannot risk becoming too involved with their politics. It's a bit hard to communicate an alliance, but you can only bring in so many Tenno corpses before they realize you're not exactly an enemy. No sooner have I been called, I appear at the side of Frohd Bek, my temporary employer.

 

"I just got an alarm from the lower levels. I'm diverting seventy five percent of the security force to that area, and I need you down there too. Understood?"

 

I give a slight nod.

 

"Then in the name of Profit, go!"

 

As I'm running to the elevator, I consider the situation. He seemed terrified, sending seventy five percent of his security. That, combined with the fact that he could not provide much more information than "we're under attack", can mean only one thing; Tenno. Only the warriors of blade and gun could be so efficient. There will be four at most, as the Lotus' laws deem anything else to be an unfair fight.

 

That's why I'm so unprepared when the elevator door opens ahead of me to reveal twenty one warframes.

 

The twenty I recognize as familiar designs, but the one that appears to be the leader is wielding armor I've never seen before. I can hear legions of Corpus, flesh and metal, gathering behind me.

 

 

 

Armor with capabilities I've never seen before?

 

As I feel gears grinding in my mechanical arm to extend a poisonous spike from the palm, I think to myself;

 

Two can play at that game.

[qwertyboom80]

Changed the title to Justice and Vengeance. I'll be honest, I don't like it. Post suggestions for a new one if you have any ideas, I'd really appreciate it.