[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

As the creature takes shots from not only the combination of ATW’s Braton, Valerie’s Panthera, and Pluto’s Vectis, it’d emit an ear-splitting roar that’s more than capable of decimating all the frames’ shields, including Badger’s iron skin. It wouldn’t take long for it to recover, but now with Valerie’s Scindo, the creature’d get back up to standing height, making its weak spot unavailable. It’s already recovered from the effect of the Nova’s ability, and now with its complete freedom, more of those spine-like tendrils shoot from its mouth, and reach down towards the frames and without hesitation, wraps it’s tendrils around Badger’s legs. The bleeding, combine with th threat of the four able bodied frames, lets this monstrosity know fully well that it’s best course of action is to flee, something that other infested don’t display. The tri-legged beast reels badger away from the group like a fish on a line before galloping back towards the corpus tower from whence it came. 

 

ATW, having focused his sight on the weak spot, almost didn’t notice his teammate being whisked away by the tripod. Though, by the time he does notice, it’s far too late to try to catch up, and firing at the creature further might result in accidental friendly fire. With his shields down and target out of sight, the tenno’d lower his weapon before murmuring, “Wellllll... Hm, that’s not good. I uh...” he’d stop, then clear his throat before scratching at the back of his neck. “We should probably go and get her. That thing’s fast, isn’t it?” 

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

Curiously enough, as Nova's fourth ability travels through the creature, instead of being slowed to a crawl, it's only marginally slower than it should be slowed down to, and persists with a harsh screech erupting from its top mouth, completely oblivious of the Saryn coming down from above.

It'd be just as A.T.W. comes up a small mound into sight of the creature that Valerie's Scindo makes its way right into its gaping maw, full of tentacles and teeth with an odd, orange and light blue glow emanating from within. However, nearly as soon as the blades of the heavy axe make its way into the mouth, the entire 'jaw' clamps shut around the Tenno's weaponry, attempting to fling Valerie off with not a quick jerk, but rather a sudden slam into the ground, throwing itself down on its knees, head slammed down into the ground just far enough for the other three Warframes to get a good look at the apparent weak spot, the entire top of its head. It's significantly squishier-looking than any other part of the creature, with large pulsating membranes strewn across the surface. They'll only have a few moments before it attempts to throw Valerie off if she isn't already chucked right off.

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

Thankfully for Valerie, she didn't have to bother with any sort of long, drawn-out introductions. In fact, as she's parachuting down, she can see A.T.W.'s Excalibur frame rushing across the grossly infested, flat, otherwise barren landscape towards a soon-to-be combat instance, and from her elevation, also Badger and Pluto along with the unnamed, mysterious tripod entity. A.T.W. radios in to Valerie, "Hey, nice to have you on board! We'll say hello and all that later, but we kinda need to fight that whatever it is and secure the crash site entirely!" the Tenno explains, his voice somewhat frantic, though, not panicking. At the same time, he'd open up the whole team's comms, introducing the 4-way communication to all of them. He'd ask Badger and Pluto, "Look, I doubt that thing even knows what we are. It's probably confused due to the composition of Warframes. With any luck, it'll think we're just infested."

 

Though, as he says this, the tripod-like creature emits a series of low clicks and gurgles emit from somewhere near the top of its 'skull', and a few small, tooth-like tendrils slither out from a small slit. The creature hisses through a muffled, pained wheeze, "Haaaaaaarveessssst..." Without a moment's delay, a series of tendrils shoot out from it's head aiming for both Badger and Pluto, attempting to wrap around both of the frames' arms and legs at the wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, and ankles. The bone-like endings to the stringy, fibrous whips, should they make contact with Pluto's frame at least, seeing how Badger's Rhino has its iron skin equipped, would be able to completely bypass the armor of the frame, sinking right through the synthetic armor and into the flesh of the frame.

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

(Apologies for the late posting. School's gotten a firm grasp on me.)

"Well... It looks about five to seven meters tall, very fast. It's still headed towards your position, Pluto and Badger. I'd recommend either retreating to my position or taking it on. It'll be there in thirty seconds, judging from its speed." A.T.W. mentions, putting away his codex and looking towards the facility, then back to Badger and Pluto's position. "I'm headed towards you two. I won't be beating it to you, but I hope I can get there in time."

 

Meanwhile, back up in Eris' atmosphere, the ships of Pluto, Badger, and A.T.W. all remain in their small circle, keeping close to one another for when their operators are ready to be picked up, and Qwinn, of course, is waiting for a new arrival. The Cephalon, picking up Valerie's ship, immediately opens up the channel as soon as possible. The smooth, tender, motherly voice that puts itself into Val's comm explains quite quickly, just as she had with Pluto, "Hello newcomer. This is ship Cephalon Qwinn. Please, there will be times for pleasentries later, but I'd recommend you get to the surface as soon as you can. I am worried about my Operator, along with the operators of the other two ships. The coordinates of the last known becon are being sent to you now." the Cephalon chimes, sending Valerie the coordinates that Pluto had recieved, along with a blueprint for a parachute. "Do not bring your ship anywhere near the atmosphere. There's too high of a risk of it becoming a mutalist. You'll need to drop from just outside of orbit." 

 

As A.T.W. progresses towards Badger and Pluto, it wouldn't be long before the duo could feel gentle thumping in the ground, causing the settled rock and debris around the ship to gently stir from its resting position. It's hard to see over the crater that's been created, but with this creature's hight, it's soon to not be very much of an issue at all. The very first thing that peers up over the lip of the crater is the beast's ugly, yet simple head. However, it doesn't appear at first there IS a head, but upon quick inspection, that might be the case. The body, having three long, jointed limbs attached to it, two in the front to the left and right, along with one to the center, is encased in a thick layer of infested mass, oozing from large, quarter-sized holes. Facing the duo is a singular eye with an odd sheen to it, almost like glass, focused on Pluto. After passing the lip, it's apparent this creature has no obvious weaponry besides sharp, retractable barbs at the base of its feet and around the legs, but one thing is crystal clear. This abomination is massive in size. A.T.W.'s predictions of being somewhere from 5-7 meters is correct, more or less. It stands at eight and a half meters tall, and those legs previous mentioned are beefy, along with the chassis for the head and body, both likely being very bullet-resistant. The creature clicks and squeals curiously at the sight of the Tenno, taking a second to make sense of them before crouching down some, growling in irritation. 

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

There'd be nothing left on the inside of the ship that was worth note of exploring. Currently, however, there are only two things certain. Badger and Pluto can only confirm two deaths; that of the pilot and the poor soul who's drying on the walls. It may be a better idea to come back for the sancti weapons. There's currently no way to hold them all, but there's nothing stopping Badger from taking them with her.

A.T.W. taps in through the duo's comms again, "Hey, what do you two see? Actually, are there any survivors that you can see? This silence is really- Oh, hey hold on, I see movement right outside the outpost." The Tenno'd go completely quiet for a minute or two before murmuring, "What in the name of everything good and pure is that?! Unknown potential hostile headed towards your location. Definitely infested of some sort. I'd advise falling back until we know what it is. All I can see is that it's walking on three legs."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

While there wasn't any human life outside of the New Loka craft, which was made more than obvious by a lack of any sort of footprints, not that it's likely there will be any with the infested mass strewn about. However, as the duo neared the craft, there'd be tracks in the ground coming from the hole in the ship. The shape of them are much too deformed to have ever been human or belong to the boot of a corpus or grineer soldier, ruling out the possibility of chargers or leapers/runners very quickly. However, they're not like ancient footprints either. It's something entirely different, yet judging by the footprints, which are each about four inches in diameter in a near perfect circle. There's one set of these footprints, though, each set consists of three prints, and each print is a good four meters away from one another. There's no blood anywhere to be seen on the outside of the ship.

 

However, the moment that Badger and Pluto enter the ship is the same moment that story changes entirely. The intense darkness within the ship requires the duo to use their flashlights, and as soon as they flash on, the first, and likely only thing that's visible is blood. The thick, vile-smelling crimson liquid, along with little bits of bone and other viscera, is completely splattered across the entire inside of the passenger bay. Footprints left in the blood all show that there was quite a bit of slipping and sliding among the survivors. In addition, the part of the ship that was knocked inwards doesn't have a single drop of blood on it, along with outlines of five seated humans along the wall. There's five in-tact safety harnesses, and one that's torn from the wall, hanging from it by only by a single bolt. All of the sancti-variation weapons in the passenger bay are scattered and untouched, with not a single shot being discharged.

The door to the cockpit as well is wide open, but the inside of the cockpit is pitch black. The impact made sure that the nose of the ship was planted firmly in the hard rock of Eris. It's practically a miracle the thing hadn't exploded, seeing how most of the planet is exactly what was described. Hard, dense rock. The pilot, who was still strapped in at the time of impact, has lost her head it appears. There's no sign of a struggle, just a lot of blood on the ceiling panels and dials, along with on the dashboard. The dashboard right in front of the pilot also has a massive hole in it, with the damage coming out from the inner workings of the craft, as the metal's 'exit wound' is twisted and demented outwards, towards the pilot, and should Badger or Pluto care to take a peek at the pilot's torso... Well, there's not much of it left. Though, firmly planted in her chest cavity, along with the chair itself, is the ship's black box.

 

A.T.W.'s comm patches through to the duo, "What do you two see? Because- Hold up, what's that?"

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

Coming in through the duo's comms, A.T.W. speaks up in a rather irritated tone, "Hey, are you two just about at the crash site? I'm starting to get a little nervous out here. I swear, it feels like something's watching me... Just, hurry up if you guys can, please?"

[Zarr issue]

The Zarr will not reload while in Plains Archwing mode. It will play the reload animation halfway through before stopping entirely, and the reload wheel will continue to fill up, empty, then fill up again without actually reloading. 

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

Regardless of the scuffle that Pluto and Badger were going through, the fact of the matter is that the ship still remained where it was on the other side of the hill. In fact, the hil wasn't naturally formed, but rather was a result of the New Loka ship crashing into the surface, creating a small mound around the impact site. The burning, or at least smoking, wreckage of what was once a pristine ship, approximately the size of an orbiter, used by New Loka operatives, sits in its own small crater, engines still loudly ticking as they cool down from both the fire on board and the entry into the atmosphere. It's easy to tell which angle it dropped at, as one would expect, the ships cockpit is firmly stuck in the hard rock with no way to get out. There's no sign of any crew members, or at least there isn't currently. The stern of the ship, where it's easy to assume where the operatives would have gotten on and off, is wide open, still pouring out smoke. Still, another important factor to note is that there's not a single spore of infestation on this ship. It's completely clean in terms of contamination. But, the way that the ship's opened up is caved in, rather than pushed out. Either the operatives that survived had to pull part of the loosened stern out to make an escape to rid their lungs of the smoke, only to risk becoming infected, or something forced its way in. Either one was a possibility in this situation, and perhaps there's more clues on board.

 

Meanwhile, back at his rock, A.T.W.'d still be keeping his eyes on the horizon, staring at the infestation moving around on the ground, sighing softly, "Man I hope they're getting along." This time, he made certain he wasn't transmitting his smartass comment.

[Auto bounty failure]

Over by the Grineer Outpost marked with a 2, if the mission is set to liberate the camp, yet the liberation area is where the cave right next to it is (and not over the actual camp), and the players go into the cave to dispatch the enemies, the mission is considered a failure for abandonment. 

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

    As Pluto descends to the planet's surface, she'd be subjected to the incredibly thick, dense atmosphere of spores and other biological matter. Along with heavy, whipping winds threatening to blow her off cousre, there'd be the faintest of shadows here and there, each about the size of a Warframe, some smaller, some larger, though, none of which having the shape of an Osprey. Though, the shadows are too blurred to be able to make out. 

Once on the ground, she'd be able to finally make out the shape of one of her two partners, the Excalibur user, A.T.W.. The Tenno'd wave at Pluto as she descends, and when she lands, he'd take a few steps back and away from her, quickly explaining, "Alright so I don't really have much time to talk. Badger may have found the wreckage that we're looking for. Sorry to come off as really brash so quickly but if you could please head south to help her out, that'd be fantastic." 

    Though, Badger's situation may very quickly be taking a turn for the odd, though not the worst. As she approaches the smoke, it'd be clear that the wreckage is just over a small hill, but the infestation around this area seems to be thinning out. The ground, rather than being covered in a web of horrific mass, is just showing the bare rock of Eris' surface. 

[Color palettes are brighter?]

Ohhhhhhh thank you

[Color palettes are brighter?]

I'm not sure if this is just on my end, but every single color in my collection has had its brightness amped up significantly, and a lot of them end up looking the same. There are no more dark colors. The 'black' in the fire section is now a confusing shade of purple, for instance. 

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

<Recovered post of @dodgy9978 >

PLuto was having a peaceful sleep until she had been rudely awoken by her cephalon playing a transmission over and over.

"Operator operator operator! A tenno requires your help! Wake up wake up wake up wake u-"

Pluto got up and punched the wall, making a loud metal bang.

"You woke me up... For a simple alert?" The tone of her voice carried that of somebody who was very ready to kill... "I asked you to look for treasures last night, not wake me up for a simple-"

"I know but this alert was made from another Tenno wishing for help on Eris. Would you like to hear the transmission another ti-"

"No, no! You played that transmission too many times already." Pluto, glaring at nothing, walked into her navigation hub and looked for the leader's location. "Why do you want me to do this anyways? You know I don't really talk to other Tenno, much less help them."

"But I know you are very capable of helping. Eris is no place to be alone, especially with infested. Can you at least help this one time?"

The Tenno'd think for a few moments, "Hmmm... If I do help, do you promise to shut up for a whole month?"

"Yes!" the Cephalon replied, not really worried since it could convery messages in many other wasy besides audio.

"Alright. Set coordinates to where I'm supposed to meet up." Pluto instructed as she started putting ammo into her Vectis Prime. After a few minutes, Pluto's ship arrived at the meeting location, her purple Scimitar soaring into view. Pluto left her communication channel open so she could hear the leader speak, taking note of the second ship there.

(Pluto's Nova appearance:

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

<Somewhat recovered post from @FreedomIncarnate>

Shuddering at the very thought of what horrific acts both the Corpus and Grineer have committed, A.T.W.'d keep his eye on the moving masses in front of him. Though, upon not hearing mention of the Zariman, the Tenno'd reply, "Ah... So you don't remember the Zariman. Perhaps it's better off. Those who I know who remember that cursed ship as well... Some of them wish they hadn't remembered. I certainly wish I didn't. It'd be simpler for me that way, it'd make life just a little easier." A.T.W.'d shake his head, snapping out of the little trance he'd put himself in, rather moreso focusing on the fact that Badger had spotted smoke. "O-Oh! You spotted smoke? That's great! Make sure to be careful! I don't even know what's down here."

 

As Pluto's ship pulls in, the Cephalon doesn't wait for even a brief introduction before rushing into explaining the mission, "Ah! Welcome, Tenno." her motherly voice coos, patching into the Nova Prime's comm channel with great haste. "It is currently impossible to speak with my operator, the cloud of organic mass on the planet's surface is far too great to get a video or voice message through. Though, I will send you the coordinates of a beacon once I notify him that the message has gotten through." Qwinn continues to explain, her voice stressed, yet smooth and calm at the same time. "It'd be suicide for your Orbiter to pilot down to the surface. The risk of infestation is too high, and my Operator has been on edge ever since the Jordas incident was reported. You'll have to parachute down from high altitude."

 

A few minutes go by as Qwinn sends down the news of a new arrival, and upon receiving it, A.T.W. breathes a sigh of relief, relaying to the Rhino user, "Hyo! Badger, we got help incoming." Soon, he'd place down another of the beacons he'd brought along, extras for the others that'd be joining the mission.

 

After a few more minutes, the coordinates arrive in Qwinn's data log, and the Cephalon sends Pluto both the blueprint for the parachute, which requires just a single mutagen sample and some nano spores, and the exact coordinate's of A.T.W.'s beacon. The Cephalon chimes, "Best of luck, other Operator. You three are going to be in the dark, so to speak, until extraction."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

During the long walk, there'd be no real radio communication from A.T.W.'s end, he'd just occasionally update on the blob, and nothing real major either, just whether or not a blob disappeared or reappeared. Though, in response to the question, there's complete radio silence for a good minute or two before the Tenno reluctantly responds, "I... I can't remember my name. Don't care to either. Whoever I was on the Zariman or during the Old War, I don't want to be that person. I mean, fighting the Sentients was one thing... What do you remember? Before you awoke from the Second Dream? The time in between the Lotus calling upon you till then. All I remember is killing. I probably should have questioned it, but I didn't... I wish I had, too."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

Hearing the radio call, more relieved that the thing worked rather than worrying about the fact that he accidentally left his comms on, A.T.W. listens intently to what the other Tenno is describing. Keeping his Braton slung on his back, taking out his codex scanner as well, the Tenno'd rush as fast as he could towards Badger, and once he comes up to her side, he'd take cover behind the rock, peeking out the side and gazing at the building with said scanner. "Well... Would you look at that. Real piece of work, I'd say. Amazing... But still, frigh-" A.T.W. cuts himself off the second he sees the moving infested mass sliding across the ground, and puts a hand up to his mouth, grumbling, "That's... Absolutely sickening. Though, it doesn't seem to be moving towards the complex. I'll keep an eye on this, you keep going south, let me know if you find anything. The wreckage should still be fresh, so if you see any thick black smoke, go and investigate. If you need any help, let me know. I'll update you on anything that's happening this way."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

"I know not to doubt them!" A.T.W. calls out as Badger turns her back on him. "I've been trying my hardest to keep the ships in check for the past year or so!" he'd add in, going silent when the Rhino's operator continues to walk. Shaking his head to himself, he'd look over the ravine, sighing softly before getting a running start, dropping down low to start up a slide. The moment before the Excalibur carelessly careens itself into the impossibly deep abyss below, he'd shift his body weight forward and shift into a bullet jump! The Tenno'd hurl his Warframe across the ravine's gap with the energy of the jump, and land almost perfectly on the next side. After dusting himself off, A.T.W.'d grumble under his breath, "I wish she'd have a little more faith in me."

As Badger continues her unpleasant stroll along the eastern side of the ravine, there'd be a few major things to note, other than the sprawling masses of lightly writing, expanding and contracting mutated masses thriving across the land. One of the more important being that off in the distance, there appears to be a building structure of some sort. Despite the fact that it's covered in infested tissue, the general layout and structure look to be similar to that of a Corpus outpost. Another important feature of this landscape isn't just the large Corpus building in the background, but some of the infested masses are moving, almost sliding across the ground as if they were trying to get somewhere, or perhaps it's just an illusion? Either way, it's headed in one direction that's vaguely near the Corpus outpost. The wind as well is beginning to pick up, though not on the surface. The shrieks of higher, frantic winds reign down on the surface. It'd be impossible to tell if there was anything up there though.

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

With an amazing stroke of luck, the beacon that had gotten knocked from A.T.W.'s person hadn't fallen too far into the ravine, but rather, it was caught on a sharp ledge, completely impaled on a javalin of mutated, twisted flesh. The jet-black muscle tissue, hardened to not only pierce the skin of a small pod the size of a scuba tank, but go all the way through, even going as far as to rip out some of the beacon's circuitry, glimmered ominously in the fleeting light down in the ravine. Even though it was only a hundred meters or so down, it was still incredibly difficult to see it at first, mostly needing to be located with the horrid, nightmarish sound emitting from the chasm.

 

The spike that had impaled the beacon, rather than simply retracting back into the base tumor it had protruded from, begins to expand from the end that had managed to clearly punch through the device, overlapping and engulfing the pod in a stomach-churning whine, a growl created without any lungs to show. The sound of the muscle tissue expanding, creating more of and replicating itself to consume and devour the pod, was sufficient enough to sound like the scream of a dying woman, a creature in immense amounts of pain and agony. Though, once the pod's entirely ingested by the material, the cancerous flesh that surrounds and tightens down on the planet like a starved snake, choking its victim out, the spike retracts only enough to keep the pod dangling above the abyss, unveiling the pod to now be coated in a thick, sticky-looking film of infested mass. The light on the top of the beacon begins to work again, flashing a dark red, though, it makes absolutely no noises. A.T.W. takes his Braton Prime, aims it at the pod, and fires several shots into the beacon, causing the light to fade away. The moment the light fades from the beacon, the javelin retracts immediately, sending the remains of the device tumbling into the abyss. The echo of the various parts hitting the rocks and rock-hard tumors down below don't seem to stop, and it's likely whatever's left of the thing will be destroyed in its eighteen kilometer long fall long before it hits the bottom.

 

Shaking his head, A.T.W.'d stare at where the beacon was, humming dully, "Can't risk having that send out any false-" A long pause overcomes the Warframe, and he'd keep his assault rifle at the ready, but not aimed up. "Any... Any false distress signals. I mean, it's better safe than sorry, right? Not like the things would know what to do with it." he'd stammer, reassuring himself more than anything. "Right, let's head south... I'll hop on over to the other side of the ravine and search the west. Think you got the east? I'm sure short-range radios will work... I do find it odd that we haven't seen any actual infested yet. My guess is that they don't ever have any visitors down here."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

The moment that Badger arrives on the surface, the most prevalent, not to mention horrific spectacle wouldn't be the sight of a gruesome monster, torn apart several times over and reformed by the corrupting mass of the infestation, nor a completely barren site, devoid of any life. The ambient light coming from the clouds of toxic, living clouds of infested spores block out any and all light from the sun. The equal lighting across the whole surface planet makes it nigh impossible to tell whether it's day or night, along with casting an orange tint along with keeping a lingering haze, like a light fog on a warm summer morning. Though, this isn't the fog of a calm suburban neighborhood, no. This gritty, lung-clogging debris cloud is a gristly reminder of just where the duo have landed themselves.

The ground, covered in a thick layer of completely solid tumor matter, is both flesh and stone at the same time, having the density of the dwarf planet's rock formation just below, but also keeping a smooth, slimy texture on the surface, coated in a thin, firm mucus-like membrane. The sheer repition of this, scattering all the way as far as the eye can see, has created a web-like pattern on the surface, resembling something that one might see in an illustration of the brain's connection with its countless, seemingly infinite numbers of cells, firing off constantly to relay a message, one after another. Really begs to wonder if these impossibly long strands of infested mass act the same way... Could the planet be alive?

  A gentle wind caused by the spores rushing across the planet whistles through the 'ears' of the frames as said spores bounce harmlessly off of the duo's walking weapons, but it's no stronger than a slight breeze at the moment. A.T.W., meanwhile, has his focus on the canyon, peeking down into the seemingly endless ravine just 50 meters away from Badger. The Excalibur, having out a Codex scanner, is peering into the narrow, perilous drop, shaking his head in disappointment, almost completely blowing off Badger's rust comment. Instead, he waves her over, calling out, "Yeah, wanna take a quick look at what happens to 'mutalist-proof' plating here on Eris?" He'd turn to the Rhino, offering her the Codex scanner. "Also, be glad you can't smell through your frame... I can only imagine what those poor New Loka people must be going through. At least, I'd still hope they're currently going through it. Means they're alive."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

     Nodding his head in agreement, A.T.W.'d smile and agree, "Ah, right, it's a good idea to get two, just in ca-." However, he was cut off when Badger decided to cut the comms for a moment, leaving him slightly disheartened. A low grumble emits from his throat as he heads back towards his arsenal commence transference into his Excalibur. Once inside, the Tenno makes his way to his foundry and begins work on a second bomb, reluctantly putting forth some platinum to rush it. "Was it something I said, Qwinn?"

     "Perhaps you were a bit too blunt, Operator? I'm not sure I can say... Be sure you treat her right now." Qwinn reminds, sounding rather cheery for the Tenno and his pre-mission prep!

     "Q-Qwinn, you say that before I go with anyone. Could you not, sometimes?" the Tenno huffs, grasping the rather small, cylindrical-shaped explosive device, packing it carefully into a shock-proof case with foam on the inside, right alongside the other bomb. "I-I mean it's not like I don't appreciate it!" A.T.W. stammers, shaking his head while heading to the exit of his ship. "I just can't help but feel like you keep trying to tell me something."

 

 

     Just as A.T.W. had said, the male Tenno's Liset is soon to pull away from Badger's and towards the surface, or at least, the closest that the ship could safely get. If she was keeping a close eye on the other Tenno's ship, along with a way to fairly enlarge the magnification of the viewing port, the teen'd be able to witness A.T.W.'s Excalibur launch itself out from the bottom of the Liset from the upper atmosphere of Eris, and soon enough, the small speck of a Warframe disappears beneath the lightly glowing, amber-brown cloud surrounding the entire planet.

    With a keen eye and basic knowledge of how incredibly large clouds work, one might think that the ocean of heavy toxins and spores would be moving about with a wind cycle of some sort, perhaps maybe even a pattern that'd suggest a weather system. Though, not on Eris. The dim glow that hangs throughout the clouds could be caused by any number of things, but there's no sudden flashes or uneven gatherings that'd suggest there's any storms on the planet. It's an odd, unnerving calm, like that before the storm.

     In the time between A.T.W.'s departure and his next attempt at communication, the normally quite, stagnant silence of the vacuum of space along with the Liset's mechanical noises would be accompanying Badger, but staring down the mighty dwarf planet, there's something still incredibly off about the whole situation. At this point, it had only been a year or two before Eris had been completely overrun by the infestation, and no new ships had dared go anywhere near it. It was only the Tenno that'd come to run missions to keep the infested Corpus ships in check, so it begs asking, if A.T.W.'s telling the truth about the distress signal, why in the name of the Seven Emperors did a group of New Loka operatives come anywhere near this cursed hellhole?

    It'd be a whole ten minutes before Badger receives any sort of notification from the mission leader, and it doesn't even come through in a video message. The planet's completely organic atmosphere is playing haywire with communications, so the message was most likely delayed. It'd appear as a message in her inbox that reads, "Dear Badger, I've made it to the planet's surface. Something struck me mid-descent, and the beacon got knocked down into the ravine. I'm going to go ahead and send you coordinates to send your device down."

 

    The text afterwards reads as follows: 1°55'44"S 59°24'44'W

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

"I've already tried sending mutalist-proof probes down. There's a reason I said no probes reached the surface. Can you please trust me on this?" A.T.W. persists, letting a hint of irritation escape from his rather calm demeanor. He'd stop himself before continuing, "And yes, it is absolutely necessary. There could very well be people down there who's only hope is us, Miss Badger." the male Tenno reminds, staring down at the surface. "I'll depart in just a moment. Don't use your device until my beacon is set, please."

[The Crop that Weeps (Closed, IC, accepting submissions)]

    "That's quite a handy device... I wonder why I've never heard of it before." A.T.W.'d ponder, keeping any and all thoughts on the apparent Corpus device to himself. Though, considering what he might have at his disposal with Badger as his new squad member, the Tenno'd let out a soft hum, staring down at the planet's surface. "Here's the thing though, if you don't know where that thing's landing you, you could end up eighteen kilometers deep in a tiny ravine. Let me get down to the surface and set a beacon, and you can go ahead and drop down on it. I'll bring along three beacons, just in case anybody decides to join us a little late." 

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     "I'd prefer not to dock. It's a search and rescue, Badger." A.T.W. responds, keeping his eyes peeled on the planet ahead of them. "The canyon's thin enough to bullet jump over, and even then, parts of the gap may be entirely connected by large amounts of tissue. If we find something more than we expect, we'll need to go in after it. There's one more thing as well. Since it's too dangerous for our Lisets' engines and even archwing engines to go into lower atmosphere to drop us off, we'll need to do a HALO, or, High-Altitude Low-Opening jump. Do you have anything that can be used as a parachute?" the Tenno presses, looking back into his arsenal. "If not, I'll send you the blueprints for one. It's relatively easy to craft. You just need some mutagen samples and nano spores."

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     With the spectacle of another ship arriving so shortly, A.T.W. couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, a wave of relaxation and reassurance calming the troubled nerves of the mission leader. With a quick glance at the other ship, studying it, wondering if he can so much as get a glimpse at what the fellow Tenno's style is like. Though, he'd seen a million other gold Lisets before, though, he can't blame the pilot of the other craft. The shade of gold often looks quite nice, especially in the darkness of space, the deep, metallic yellow being almost like a shining beacon of hope for those who ally themselves with the Tenno. Standing tall and proud on the navigation pad, A.T.W.'d keep his gaze between the two objects of focus, the other Tenno's orbiter and the infestation-riddled dwarf planet before him. Still gazing at the heavily polluted, hazy atmosphere, a bead of sweat drops down the Operator's forehead, trying his hardest not to be intimidated by the very veil that coated the home of the monstrosities.

     When Badger's video channel opened up, A.T.W. nearly jumped right out of his suit, covering his heart with his hand as the female's face appears before him, above the nav pad, yelping, "Good heavens!" Shortly after regaining himself, the Tenno'd laugh, his face a gentle shade of red from the embarrassment of being caught off guard in such a relaxed setting. Taking in a deep breath to recollect his composure, A.T.W.'d waste no time addressing the mission details further. "Yes, well... Thank you for coming, first off. Second, I'm going to have to lay down some rules. This is the surface of Eris we're going on, not some abandoned Corpus ghost ship. Do not bring a sentinel, a pet, or anything else that might even so much as have a risk of becoming tainted by the infestation. I have no idea what the surface is like. Any probes I send down all immediately go dark. We won't be going in weapons-hot either. We're just here to rescue the New Loka operatives, or recover what we can from their wreckage. Though, this isn't like any standard rescue procedure. As far as I'm aware, based simply on the way the distress signal was sent out, they must be in an open field of sorts. I've tracked down the location to being near a ten kilometer long by forty meters wide by eighteen kilometers deep ravine. We'll start on the north end and sweep south, each on one side of the ravine. If anybody's going to be joining us later on, they shouldn't need to worry about finding us, I'll Qwinn redirect them to our coordinates."

    As if on cue, the male Operator's cephalon chimes in with that lovely, motherly voice, "Please be aware, miss Badger, that it will be difficult for extraction... The atmosphere is far too thick. That said, A.T.W. will be carrying a small, yet incredibly potent explosive. Once activated, it will rocket itself up into the lower atmosphere and detonate, temporarily killing and burning away the spores in a five hundred meter radius. We predict it will last for a total of two minutes, so extraction will need to be quick."

    Nodding, A.T.W. gives another harsh look to the planet before inquiring, "Do you think you're up for this, Miss Badger? If not, it's perfectly fine to back out."

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Greetings, Roleplay Forum! This is the roleplay that I'm attempting in forum-format, though I have plentiful amounts of experience roleplaying elsewhere, mostly in one on ones to small groups. I'd very much appreciate the chance to RP with a few of you, and hope the TCTW evolves to where I see it going.

 

Rules:

- For my first attempt at a public group RP, I'd like to have only 3 others join me. Please PM me on entry if you wish to join (I'll edit this later once the RP partners are chosen)

- Please do not God Mod. The main enemy may be the infested, but even the most veteran Tenno know how overwhelming they can be.

- Don't be rude. The others are hopefully gonna grow to be your buddies. Treat em' like that, yeah?

- There will be a posting order (to be decided once the partners are chosen. I will edit this part as well)

 

Quick etc notes:

- I have nearly no life. Meaning I will be able to post most of the time.

- The story does not have a set ending. While it does have a general ending criteria, the ending will indeed depend on the participants' actions.

- Please PM me about any questions or submissions

- Late arrivals are allowed. For the sake of moving things along and not getting caught in RP limbo, I'll be starting with one person. Two others may join.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

      “One last pre-check.” the Tenno’d mumble, inspecting his Warframe as it stands in the arsenal of his Orbiter. Standing before the male teen is the Excalibur variant Warframe, the frame itself donning a vague prototype-like skin on it. The Mordred helmet is taking the place of the regular Excalibur helmet as well, and a brilliantly flowing Bombyx Syandana hangs from the nape of the weapon’s neck. The frame’s colors have been altered with the primary coloring displaying a bold, sunny yellow while the secondary shade the frame takes on is like that of freshly formed rust on the armor of a Grineer shipyard worker, bright orange and eye catching. Slung across the back of the Excalibur is a Braton Prime, the weapon’s cold, golden metal frame shimmering in the bright lights of the Orbiter. Held firmly on the Excalibur’s left thigh, keeping its reliable and hefty yet light and welcoming weight on the leg, a single Lex makes its statement as a weapon of choice for the next fight. Kept on the right wrist of the Warframe, a simple Glaive is stored, the throwing weapon retracted with it not being in use currently. The themselves been recolored, matching the Tenno’s odd yellow and orange aesthetic down to a T.

 

     Wiping the sweat off of his brow after the pre-mission preparation, the Operator brushes his suited hand through his silky, dark reddish-brown hair, scratching at the back of his scalp. As the ramp descends, leading to the cockpit, he’d take a moment to look back at his incubator. The dust-covered platform hadn’t seen any use from the ship’s operator, and perhaps it never will. Though, the Tenno’d loosen up when seeing the empty space, glad that he won’t have to gamble away leaving some poor creature to his ship’s Cephalon.

 

      After a quick stroll up into the cockpit, the Tenno’d take a knee before the control pad that navigates the ship, inhaling shakily while taking in the sight in front of him. The planet of Eris, the infested-riddled planet that’s not only claimed the lives of whatever poor souls were stationed on the surface, but those in the lower atmosphere. Lifeless, dark ships, both Corpus and Grineer alike, float endlessly through the abyss of space, perpetually caught in the orbit of Eris, being both ticking time bombs of infested mass and beacons of dread, knowing that any of them could be re-activated at any moment, should the infestation on board evolve to the magnitude of that in the Jordas incident.

 

      As the cold, uncaring vacuum of space, just on the other side of the Orbiter’s thin window, keeps up its constant, never-ending assault on the safety of the pressured atmosphere within, all it’s able to do is decrease the temperature within the cockpit some and create a thin layer of frost around the edges of the viewing port. The Tenno in charge of the ship stares down at what used to be the surface of Eris, now hidden by a planet-wide cloud of infested spores and toxins, wondering if the mission he’s about to request is truly worth the hassle… Though, this isn’t the Grineer or the Corpus. It’s a plague, a tidal wave of disease and twisted, distorted flesh that can’t be reasoned with. Anyone with a gun, half decent aim, and a few friends could fend for themselves anywhere else if a small outbreak were to occur… But this was Eris, an entirely different story.

 

      Looking into the camera located just above the central navigation console, the Tenno’d clear his throat and order, “Qwinn, start recording, if you will.”

 

      “As you wish, Operator.” a smooth, caring, deeper female voice lulls. “Recording starts in three… Two... “

 

      “Fellow Tenno, to those who receive this transmission, I am in need of your aid. Please, before you ignore this message, know that I cannot accomplish the following mission alone, and I’m in dire need of help. In my time observing the planetoid Eris, I’ve seen many Grineer and Corpus ships fall to the infestation, and I’ve paid them no mind to the best of my ability. However, not too long ago, I started receiving transmissions from the planet’s surface, a distress call from a New Loka ship. I’ve chosen not to ask why it is that New Loka operatives were anywhere remotely close to Eris, but they are in need of rescue. The signals I’ve received date back to fourteen Earth hours ago, but with the amount of interference in the atmosphere, it could be much longer. I want to figure out what happened to them, and if they can still be rescued.” the Tenno’d explain in the fullest detail he could, his glance diverting away from the camera for a moment as he continues, “We’ll be going down on the planet’s surface… I’ll take along up to three others with me on this mission… The reward will depend on how successful the mission is. Tenno Operative A.T.W. signing out.”

 

    From there, the message ends, and ‘A.T.W’ lays down on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the orbiter. “Qwinn, send out the message, if you’ll please?”

 

    “No need to fret, Operator. It’s already out.”