Rakawan
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How much for Crash course?
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That concludes the first Arc of the Miraalan Chronicles. Stay tuned for more.
Feel free to leave any constructive criticism here.
If you want to know more about the Synergy Project and other unique lore leave a comment or message me.
Characters and ideas unique to this fan-fiction (i.e not present in game) are the property of me and Yzjdriel. Anyone wishing to use them must achieve permission from both of us.
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Grandmaster
Grandmaster Chapter 1.
"Grandmaster?"
I shook myself and stared at Tak.
"So you are the friendly one." I said. "The face I'd trust. The one who could explain what snapped."
"What do you mean, the friendly one?" He asked.
"The one I'd actually listen to." I said. "The inner voice taking a form I'd be willing to hear out. This isn't my first time going insane."
"You aren't insane." He said, slowly.
"I just watched two people die. The latter one standing before me and taunting me." I screamed. "How is that not insane?"
Tak sighed.
"What is the last thing you remember."
"I was telling the soldiers about Tgar'ruk's armaments." I said. "A Nukor pistol, a Tonkor launcher and..."
"A possibility of a Halikar as a backup." Tak finished. "You told them it wasn't a simple raid..."
"That these where very powerful targets." I finished. "Then you appeared.
"You and I have not spoken since you left for Synergy." Tak said. "You did speak to someone, something, but it was not me."
I closed my eyes.
"I scolded Sarah and Finn."
Tak grinned.
"Yeah you did." He chuckled. "Finn still has the horn by the way."
"I gave the order to fire." I said slowly recounting the events.
"...and Gallik died."
I looked at Tak.
"And then you... It appeared." I said. "And we argued."
Tak lifted his hand and placed it on my forehead.
... Who was waiting for him to come home and tell her another story, died.
Something snapped inside me and power, greater than any I had ever know exploded outwards, the world went dark as the Grineer screamed.
Tak removed his hand.
"You killed every last Grineer in the area and then collapsed." He said. "Only one thing I know of could do that."
"A soul pulse."
I narrowed my eyes and Tak laughed.
"Well that's what I called it back then." He said. "You called it something more ominous, a psychic overload, or something."
"We belonged to two different schools of thought." He said. "I, despite being an atheist, believed that the Nekros warframe manipulated an unknown part of the being compiled of life energy."
He laughed.
"You, despite being the religious one rejected this 'soul theory'." He said. "You suggested that the warframe interacted with the body's neural network."
I stared at him.
"You believed that soul punch sent an overload of energy brought the nervous system to be expelled at the base of the neck by the spinal cord." He said. "I would have argued about it but you did have rank on me."
"What rank?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"
Tak took a breath.
"Before you where known as Arbiter Ryoko, you had a different title." He said. "You were Grandmaster of the Barrow-Keepers."
He bowed his head.
"I called you father."Grandmaster chapter 2.
I roared with laughter.
"Nice one!" I said. "But you are far too young to be my son."
Tak laughed.
"That was the only thing I could come up with." He admitted. "But people did call you Grandmaster, or Master Keeper, or Grand Keeper."
He shrugged.
"People got really lenient with the titles when you abdicated." He said. "Of course there were only a handful of us left so there wasn't much we could do."
He sighed.
"Why did I abdicate?" I asked.
"We don't know." Tak said. "You just came in one day hung up your warframe and said you quit."
I stopped.
"Wait." I said. "How do you remember this?"
"The Oro gathered in the Barrow told me." He said evenly.
"Okay." I said. "But back to me being insane, which you insist I am not."
Tak shifted.
"I hallucinated during a battle." I said. "The council..."
"Will not be sticking their noses where they do not belong." Tak said. "Especially Marcus."
"You...?" I asked.
"Explained to them that this was an internal matter." He said, in a terrifyingly vague voice. "They found nothing in the records to justify arguing with me."
"I collapsed." I said.
"The firepower you were facing, coupled with the explosion, created a shift that your warframe could not adjust to and you suffered physical trauma." He said. "Katherine postulated that this, in addition to your stress levels, cause an overload and rendered you unconscious. You have been through a lot these past days."
"And the pulse?" I asked.
"Mira shifted forms releasing the stored energy." He said. "The physical shock caused a glitch in the safety systems allowing this to occur. Or so the council believes."
"All in all this mission has actually yielded some pretty good results." Tak said. Then he bowed his head. "But the price was high."
I bowed my head as well.
"He was a good man."
"He was."
I liked at Tak.
"The figure I saw" I asked. "What was it?"
Tak shifted.
"We did not know what you'd done till later." He said uncomfortably. "It was taboo, as well as impossible."
"Probably the reason I quit?" I asked.
"Maybe." Tak said, he took a deep breath. "You split your Oro into a shade."
I stared at him.
"I what?" I asked.
"You split your Oro into a shade of yourself and then re-absorbed it." He said. "We found out after you had gone into cryo."
"The shade was separate so it didn't lose its memories, but it could not sync with you because your memory was damaged." He said. "So it started creating copies, trying to find a match."
"But it needed somewhere to store he failed copies." I said. "Until it was awake and could sort through them."
Tak nodded.
"So it started building in your mind. Setting up infrastructure." He said. "And when you woke it tried to contact you."
I closed my eyes.
"And because I heard voices in my head and thought I was crazy I ignored it." I said slowly. "And since it couldn't take control with me awake it could not maintain the structures it had created."
"Exactly." Tak agreed. "And so they began to fracture."
He rubbed his helmet where a human’s temples would be.
"Took us hours to find them all." He said.
"Where are they now?" I asked.
"In secure section of the Barrow." He said. "I'm trying to defragment them and distill them into memories again. See if I can make you recall some things."
"How did I not notice this?" I demanded.
Tak laughed.
"You have a very powerful mind, Grandmaster..."
"Don't... Don't call me that." I interrupted. "I am no longer a Grandmaster of the Barrow-Keepers."
"You always did like the full title." Tak stated. "But you are correct, Arbiter."
I nodded and he continued.
"Your brain is very powerful." He said. "It didn't accept what it saw so it started creating alternate events."
He shifted.
"Your Oro kept interrupting these, and we used the time to do our work."
"I remember only two."
"We were nearly finished by the time those two came up. So the last one was actually quite close." He said.
"What did I get wrong?"
"Sasha stabbed Ruk." Tak said. "The collision with Gallik drove the blade into the heat sink. We thought it best to let you..."
"We?" I asked. "Who is the other part of we."
There was a pop and Sai'ah appeared.
"Hello!"
I stared at the little girl.
"How did you...?" I asked.
"The golden people told me how to focus on things." She said. "They were really nice."
Tak raised a hand.
"Remember you can't tell anyone about that, Sai'ah." He said. "we don't want anyone thinking you've gone insane."
Sai'ah giggled.
"No one knows." She said. "Mom doesn't know I'm here. She thinks I just fell asleep on your chest after playing with blocks next to you."
I looked at Tak.
"How did you manage to contact her?" I queried.
Tak shook his head.
"She contacted me."
I looked at Sai'ah.
"What are you, girl?"
Sai'ah shook her head.
"I don't know."
"The Oro had no idea either." Tak said. "Whatever she is was not around, or known, during the Orokin Empire."Grandmaster Chapter 3.
"And they lived happily ever after..."
I closed the book.
Tak had asked, well ordered, me to stay inside my own mind while he finished up checking a few things. I had decided to take the time to read to Sai'ah.
I turned back to her and noticed her shaking.
"Are you cold little one?" I asked.
She shook her head, and I saw a flash of water on her cheek.
"Daddy use to read me that one." She said softly, her voice breaking. "He used to... Used to..."
I leaned forward and hugged her.
"It's okay, little one." I said. "It's okay."
"No it's not!" She wailed. "I don't want him to be gone. I want him to come back and read to me. I want him to come back and play fetch with Kyris, while I ride on his back."
"Yeah" I said. "I want him to do those things to."
I held Sai'ah as she cried. Tears formed in my eyes and she jerked as one splashed onto her shoulder.
She looked up at me, and raised a small hand to brush a tear from my cheek.
"You're crying." She said oddly. "I didn't think Tenno could cry."
You know what?" I asked with a sad smile.
"I didn't know we could either." I admitted. "I'm so used to being so tough."
Sai'ah wiped her tears and hugged me.
"You are tough." She said. "On the outside."
"Inside you're just a big teddy bear."
I growled menacingly and she giggled. Then she stiffened.
"Uh-oh." She said. "I gotta go. Mom's trying to wake me up."
She blinked out of existence and Tak appeared.
"You're clean, stressed, but understandably so." He said. "Just try to avoid any differential equations for a few days."
I smiled.
"I do that as a matter of principal." I said looking around. "Well mind, old home of mine, I know I just got you cleaned up but I have to go."
I closed my eyes and clicked my heels together three times.
"I want a tuna sandwich." I said.
"Sai'ah." Melanie said. "Come on wake up dear. We have to go say goodbye to daddy."
Her voice was breaking.
"Come on dear."
"Why do we have to say goodbye?" Sai'ah asked sadly. "He can't hear us anymore."
"Your father can hear you, Sai'ah." I said. "Those we love can always hear us, even when they pass."
Melanie bowed.
"Arbiter." She said politely. "You are awake."
She turned to Sai'ah.
"Run outside and wait for me, mommy needs to glam to the Arbiter." She said calmly. "I will be just a minute."
Sai'ah nodded and left. Melanie turned to me.
"Are you going to scream at me?" I asked. "Tell me it's my fault. Because there is nothing you can say that I haven't told myself."
"No." She said. "Gallik would not have wanted us feuding."
"No, I want to know your interest in my daughter." She said.
I stilled.
"I want to help her." I said quietly. "She has an amazing gift."
Melanie sighed.
"I know what my daughter can do, Arbiter." She said. "If not how."
She nodded to herself.
"I do not like the idea of a Tenno being a role model to my daughter." She said. "You are weapons, not counsellors, but you are the only ones who understand what that power is like."
She stared at me intensely.
"My husband asked for war, and you gave him the armor that he died in." She said. "Do not make the same mistake with my daughter."
I bowed.
"For what it is worth." I said. "I told Gallik he was being a fool."
Melanie turned to leave and I heard the barest hint of anger in your voice.
"But you did not order him to stop."Grandmaster Chapter 4.
I filed into the Church beside Melanie and Sai'ah.
Everyone in the crowd was silent as Theron spoke about Gallik. His life, his dedication. Then he called for speakers.
Bill rose and walked forward.
"My last words to Gallik." He said. "Where 'You're an idiot.'"
The crowd gasped at his words.
"What?" He said. "I mean at times he was."
I felt hands tighten on armrests and teeth grind throughout the room.
"I remember one time: We were in the middle of a Grineer Training camp." Bill said, with a laugh. "And he sees this four legged animal dart away into the bush and tells me 'we should come back and do some hunting here.'"
A few people relaxed and Bill smiled.
"I mean we're in the middle of a training camp and he's thinking about taking a vacation there." He said. "He wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer."
Bill looked around.
"But he brought us all together, made us part of something more." He said sadly. "Gave us hope. So I guess he wasn't that much of an idiot."
He looked at the casket.
"You hear that, old fart?" He said. "I just gave you a compliment."
Bill turned and walked off the podium.
One by one citizens and soldiers came up and talked. I followed them and spoke about Gallik's death. About his honor and dedication.
At last a small set of footsteps rang out and Sai'ah stepped onto the pedestal. I felt her mind reach out into the room, pulling memories, feelings. It was light, light enough not to be noticed by any but those who had touched her mind before.
She spoke, in a voice far more knowledgeable and calm than any child should be. She spoke of the stories her father told, of the love he felt for 'his people'. There was not a dry eye when she finished, nor was there any mouth lacking a smile.
I saw Darrin enter the church and met him.
"You missed the service." I said.
"I was busy helping Tak." He replied.
"Tak is here?" I asked.
"In a way." He replied cryptically.
I lead the funeral procession out of the city and towards the hill I had selected, however when we reached the hill the stone monument I had built was nowhere to be seen. Darrin stepped up onto the hill.
"We were going to bury Gallik under a monument, a testament to his devotion." He said. "However one of our clan mates had a different idea."
People shifted uncomfortably. No one knew, and a few did not want to guess, what Tenno funerals were like.
There was a sudden shimmer in the air behind Darrin and a structure came into view. Ornate gold and black onyx adorned its walls. It seemed reminiscent of a temple, or a mausoleum, I realized. The doors opened and Tak stepped out.
"This." Darrin aid pointing. "Is the Barrow of Clan Miraalan. Where all of its members, past and present, will and have been interred."
A shock ran through the crowd.
Tak stepped aside as Darrin stood to the back of the casket. I took the front and together we lifted the coffin.
Tak spoke.
"This Barrow is open to any who wish to pay their respects." He said. "But tread with care, the dead have no tolerance for thieves and desecraters."
The portion of the crowd that followed us was small. Inside the good and black halls seemed to come alive as golden shades stepped from alcoves. As we approached they stood and raised their weapons, forming a tunnel for us.
Tak stopped before the last chamber at the end of the long hall.
"This" he said. "Is the tomb reserved for the most treasured of members. I must ask that any who were not close friends or family remain outside."
Inside the room was well lit. The shades in here stood before tombs, unmoving. Finally we reached a door.
"This is the Tomb of the Arbiters." Tak said. "Where the leaders and their kin are interred."
Gasps rang out and Darrin stepped forward.
"When we arrived in New Eden, Gallik invited us to dine with him." He said. "From the first day I met him he has treated us as family."
"Therefore" said Tak. "He and his family shall be interred here, in the same chamber where Ryoko and Darrin will sleep, when their path is ended."
A shade stepped forth from the wall.
"This is Marsis" Tak said. "He has agreed to guard Gallik's tomb."
Marsis knelt, energy playing across the projected form.
"I Marsis, first Arbiter of Clan Miraalan, swear to vigil unceasing." He intoned. "May none disturb the rest of this brave soul."
Melanie looked on her gaze filled with tears.
"Thank you." She said finally. "Thank you, we are not worthy."
I walked over and embraced her.
"You are the closest thing we of Clan Miraalan have to family." I said. "This is the least we can do."Grandmaster Chapter 5.
"He did not name a successor." Sven argued. "His position will be decided as per precedent."
"Whose precedent?" Came the reply. "Synergy is not the Corpus or Perrin Board."
"What we do here will establish precedent." I said. "The ramifications and results are ours to deal with."
There was a commotion at the door and Finn walked in, his Chroma warframe a stark white color, an odd sight. Carried atop two hands was a cloth covered object that tented in the middle. Finn set the object on the floor with a thud.
"Gallon already set a method in palace for determining his successor." He said. "And it seems even more ridiculous now than it did when he stated it."
He pulled the cloth off and revealed a gray stone. Embedded in the stone was Dark Sword. Finn raised his voice.
"Whosever can pull this sword form this stone, shall be he, or she, Chancellor of New Eden."
Shocked silence fell on the room.
"What sort of joke is this?" Sven exploded. "You dare..."
"Gallik thought you'd say that." Finn replied. "These are his words not mine: shut your food hole Sven, until something worth saying comes out if it."
Sven went red as a beet.
"I... You..." He spluttered.
"The council will consider this..."
"Gallik left a method for choosing his successor." I said slowly. "This is his decision."
"Pulling a sword from a stone is not a reliable method for determining a leader." An Executive protested.
I stepped onto the floor, every eye on me as I grabbed the handle of the blade. There was an almost imperceptible beep and I pulled on the handle. Despite my best efforts the sword stayed still. I smiled.
"There is more to this than simple strength." I said. "This sword will only budge for whoever Gallik chose."
There was a brief silence and then the members if the council rushed from their seats, the flood organized and frantic. Member after member tried and failed, to the cheers and taunts of their companions.
I stood beside the stone as we carried it into the city square, and then stood back as we placed it in the ground. Finn read the declaration aloud and then stepped aside.
There was a mad rush as people clamored to get to the stone. One would try to pull it only for another to tear him away.
"Order!" I cried. "Calm yourselves."
They did not listen.
There was a sudden gunshot and the crowd turned. Sasha strode ahead of Melanie, still in their mourning clothes.
"Shame!" She cried. "Shame on all of you!"
Melanie raised her head.
"My husband gave his life, his all, to save you from the Grineer who treated you like animals." She said. "And yet when he is dead what do you become?"
She glared around her.
"Animals, fighting over who gets the choice cut of meat." She snarled. "Gallik would be so proud."
There was a shift in the crowd, I saw Sasha stare at the sword, a thoughtful gaze in her eyes, then she turned and whispered something to Melanie. Melanie straightened.
"You wish to know who will replace Gallik?" She asked, striding towards the stone. "Who will take over for my husband?"
She reached the stone and the man holding the sword backed away.
"I will." She said grabbing the handle. The sword chimed and energy ran along its length. The rock around it melted into slag and Melanie held the blade aloft.
"I am will not let my husband's death end his dream of a better world." She said. "Will you?" -
Archon
Archon Chapter 1.
"I don't know why I agreed to this." I said. "Tenno don't dance. I have no idea..."
"Because I batted my eyes." Mira said. "And no they don't. But you don't see me complaining."
I swallowed back my panic and stepped onto the floor. I gaze at Mira as the music started.
She smiled and met my eyes, before flowing across the floor as I stumbled along. As we moved I watched those around us. Each couple was different some chaotic, some calm. But underneath I felt a pattern. The dance ebbed and flowed, high beats quick and joyous, Mira pressed up against me. The low beats where slow and solemn, and in these Mira seemed to orbit me, closing only to a foot or so before spinning away.
Within moments a pattern emerged and I began to understand. The song was telling a story. A story of loss and hope. Each couple dancing expressed this differently. Some seemed to writhe like flames, while others twisted together like vines around a tree. As I watched I realized how I must dance. While Mira spun and swirling around me, her mind flitting from one thing to the next, yet entirely focused on one thing, I began to glide across the floor. Timid, unsure, as fascinated as cautious. The song began to spiral towards its end and Mira spun closer and closer, as I began to flow more easily between steps.
The beats became more rapid and the world seemed to travel at a unbelievable pace. We leapt from one form to the next losing ourselves in the music.
A final beat rang out and the torrent stopped. The world paused for a moment and I saw Mira, her helmeted head staring at mine, inches from me.
Someone clapped and everything came rushing back. The cold air on my skin. The burning in my lungs from the breath I did not know I held. The small fleeting feeling as something unknown left the dancers. I let loose a breath and Mira stepped back. For a second she looked hurt, as if she had lost something precious.
We danced again, four more times, each dance a blur of light and sound, but whatever spell had been cast the first time had faded. And neither of us made a move to search for it.
"See it wasn't that bad." Mira said. "You actually did quite well."
"It wasn't as hard as I thought, basic pattern recognition." I said. "Maybe I should hold clan dances."
"They can dance if they want to." Mira said. "They can leave their friends behind."
I laughed, though I did not know why and Mira chuckled at me, her face... Why was I so focused on were her eyes would be?
"What are you talking about." I asked. Something seemed to pull me towards her.
"Some memory." She said. "It was part of a joke, or a song... I don't..."
She looked up at me and I realized how close I was. Mira trailed off and leaned forward as she drew closer and close...
What are you doing? A small voice asked inside my head. What do you think is going to happen here?
I flinched, just barely. Mira stopped. Quick as a wink her hand snapped out and brushed my head.
"Bug on your helmet." She said. "Mosquuiteer or something. Forgot what they called it."
"Mira." I said.
"Well I gotta go." She said. "Can't be late for the show tomorrow."
I nodded.
"The Archon. Can't wait to see it in action." I said.
"Goodnight Arbiter." Mira said.
I bowed.
"Goodnight Accolyte." I said.
I made my way to a field and watched a young girl run through a field after dots of light.
"Sai'ah." I called. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
The girl turned and shrieked as she saw me. I braced myself as she latched onto my waist.
"Ryoko!" She shouted and then released me. "Come catch fireflies with me."
I shook my head.
"It is way past your bedtime, and curfew."
"I got permission from daddy." She said. "Paperwork and all."
I like me over the papers she held and nodded.
"Looks to be in order." I said. "What are the fireflies for?"
"For Jas and big sis." She said. "For a big kissy kissy dinner."
I laughed.
"Do they know you planned this?"
Sai'ah smiled.
"Big sis likes him, and he wants to kiss her. I can see it in his eyes."
I stopped.
"Sai'ah." I said quietly. "His eyes or his mind?"
Sai'ah went still. Then she began to shake.
"I didn't mean to." She cried. "I can't help it."
I knelt by her and put my hand on her shoulder.
"Easy, it's okay." I said. "Easy."
She turned and buried her head in my shoulder.
"I'm trying. But it's so hard." She sobbed. "They keep yelling at me. And I can't help it."
I rubbed her back as she slowly stopped shaking.
"It's okay girl." I said. "One step at a time. You can control this."
"You are lecturing me?" Her voice was older now, wiser than any chick and right to be. "Physician heal thyself."
Sarah stepped back and covered her mouth.
"I'm sorry sorry." She wailed, her voice normal. "I can't..."
I held up a hand and ice crept across the grass, freezing each stalk.
Sai'ah watched as it reached her, and continued around. I waved my hand and the ice shattered.
"Why didn't it hurt you?" I asked.
"Because you didn't want it to." Sai'ah said.
"It's the same with you." I said. "You can block them. But you are curious. You have to learn when to ignore things."
"Why can't you just give me a warframe to control this?" She asked.
"Because you aren't Tenno." I said.
"What am I?" She asked.
I paused.
"I don't know."Archon Chapter 2.
"She is really quite amazing." I said. "To us neural contact is like a comm system. To her it's like being the phone line. She hears everything."
"Imagine what you could get if you out her in the middle of a Grineer base." Sasha said. "Or a corpus board meeting."
"She's your sister." I said. "Not some spy device."
"She's my niece." Sasha corrected. "And she will grow up someday. And when she dies we need to know what to do with her."
"True." I said. "But it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to discuss this while she runs around catching fireflies."
Sasha sighed.
"Believe me I wish we didn't have to think about it." She said. "But you know life won't be that kind."
She dusted off her dress and rose.
"I better go." She said. "Jas is waiting for me."
"Want me to keep an eye on her?" I asked.
"No I'll make sure she gets home first." Sasha said. "See you at the test run tomorrow."
I watched her and Sai'ah walk off the field and stared at the stars. So much was going to change, it was as if I could feel the balance shift.
I joined the others at a field. Sardine as standing by Gallik, holding opened a crate and gesturing to the part inside. Gallik looked up at me as I approached.
"Ready to turn the tide Arbiter?" He asked.
"Are you sure it has to be you?" I asked. "Anyone could test..."
Gallik grabbed something from the crate and slammed it into his chest.
"Of course it has to be me." He said. "Who else do you trust to have your back?"
I stepped backwards as four guardsman stepped forward and began removing pieces from the crates and attaching them to Gallik's limbs. Layer upon layer of metal and other materials slid onto the soldier. Finally Gallik knelt and picked up something from the last crate. He held it, looking at the visor on it.
"So many lost." He said. "So because I was too weak. Too slow. Because I relied on others to fight for me."
He looked up.
"No more." He whispered. "No more."
He slid the helmet into his head and I heard several clicks as it attached to the systems. There was a flash and Gallik fell to his knees, streams of power covering the metal on him. He bowed his head as the energy grew in intensity.
Then the lights stopped. Gallik looked up, his head covered by the helmet, and rose to his feet. Armor covered his limbs, square and rectangular plates of ferrite and alloy. Joints hissed as he rose, pneumatic systems lifting the heavy weight.
"Gallik?" I asked. "How do you feel?"
The figure before me turned and stretched, looking at the armor covering it.
"Gallik?"
There was a roar and it drove it's fist into the ground, a shockwave rolled through the ground and I braced myself as it hit. The sheer force sent me sliding back.
The figure before me rose, the visor sliding down. Gallik grinned at me.
"I feel strong." He said. "I feel powerful."
I nodded at Darrin and he tossed something to Gallik.
Gallik raised a hand and caught the massive Galantine sword, and twirled it around like it was a toy.
"It's so light." He said. "I thought it would be heavier."
Darrin laughed.
"Try wielding it outside your power armor." He said.
Gallik grimaced.
"Are we really calling it that?" He asked. "It sounds so cliche."
Darrin dropped into a ready stance, drawing his Jat Kittag and we gave him room.
"You win, you get to name it." He taunted.
Gallik surged forward, the Galantine moving so fast it blurred. Darrin rolled away form the first blow, but the second came faster. For a moment he held the block, then Gallik shoved and he went flying. Gallik crossed the distance with two great bounds, the top of the galantine coming to rest on Darrin's helmet.
Silence fell.
Darrin stared up at the suit of armor and the man, who was not Tenno, who wore it.
Gallik smiled.
"We'll be the Archons." He said. "Like the titans of old."
I stood before the Head Technician.
"How many can you make?" I asked. "Considering the infrastructure needs of course."
The technician looked at the list of materials and then back at me.
"Two more maybe. We need a few thousand more polymer bundles and loads of rubedo for the circuitry."
Gallik stepped forward.
"We can get that. I know a place." He said. "We used to raid it all the time. With the Archon suits, it'll be a piece of cake."
I shook my head.
"The council has not cleared the suits for combat." I said.
"And they never will unless we act."
"If I send you in now I who'd be disobeying a direct order." I said. "The council said no joint efforts until the results at back."
"I don't answer to the council." Gallik said. "I am Chancellor of New Eden."
He grabbed my shoulder.
"We made these to fight, we signed up to fight." He said. "Let us do that or get out of the way."
"You think I won't kick your butt just because you got a shiny new one." I growled. "You think I can't?"
Gallik leaned in.
"I think you won't. Not in front of all these people." He said. "What message would that send?"
"Get the suits we have ready for combat." Gallik yelled as he strode away. "If the council wants a demonstration, I'll give them one."
I found Gallik outside his house, Melanie screaming at him.
"You have a family, a job." She yelled. "You can't just go running off."
"I cannot stay here." He shouted. "Every day I sit in my office while people die. I quarrel with sycophants while their blood soaks into the ground."
He slammed a fist into the wall.
"I can't do that anymore."
Melanie glared at him and he stared back.
"What?" He demanded. "Are you going to say 'If you go don't expect to see me when you get back.'?"
Melanie seems to shrink. Her voice grew soft.
"I will always be here waiting for you." She whispered. "I will never leave you, no matter how many times you leave me."
She slipped back into the house and Gallik turned to me.
"Going to tell me to stay?" He asked. "Give some speech about how all the innocent blood is worth it."
I turned.
"If you will not listen to your own wife." I said. "Then I have nothing to say to you."
Gallik sighed.
"Have some faith Arbiter." He said. "I will make a difference."
"Even martyr's make a difference." I said. "Even the death of a fool teaches."
I watched the ship as it lifted off. I don't know why. Gallik wasn't going to turn back.Archon Chapter 3.
"You should have seen the look on Bek's face when we lifted the cargo." Jas chuckled. "Red as a beet and steamy as one of Bill's magazines."
"Hey, I still think we should have painted a naked lady on the side." Bill said. "I hope that doesn't offend you, miss."
Sasha drained another can of whatever swill they were drinking and smiled.
"Hey I don't care. Paint me on the side the ship and you got a distraction." She said. "Paint one of you guys and they'll die of laughter. You won't even have to fire a shot."
I raised a glass as the soldiers grumbled.
"She got you good." I said.
"What would happen if we painted the you in the side?" One of them asked.
I shrugged.
"Probably horror." I said calmly.
"What do Tenno look like under their Warframes?" Sasha asked. "I meant body structure, not the... Unmentionable parts."
Darrin walked up to the bar.
"Well it's actually quite interesting, albeit horrifying." He said. "You see we don't have bones after our infection. Instead we are supported by a series of fluid filled sacs."
"Like bladders?"
Darrin laughed.
"Not like." He chuckled. "They are bladders."
The soldiers listened as Darrin went on and on about increasing ridiculous descriptions of Tenno anatomy. Sasha listened intently.
"Is that true?" She asked turning to me.
I shook my head.
"No but Darrin is a bio-scientist." I said. "If anyone could have made that believable it was him."
Gallik stumbled into the bar and grabbed a glass bottle.
"Shouldn't you be at home, talking to Melanie?" I asked.
"She knows where to find me." Gallik said.
Bill broke the silence that followed.
"With all due respect" he said. "By which I mean very little, you are an idiot Commander."
"That better be the beer talking." Gallik growled.
Bill held up the can.
"Beer? We got an op tomorrow." He said. "Who drinks beer before an op?"
Gallik was silent and everyone stared at the bottle he held.
"Don't lecture me on marriage, Bill." He said, finally. "You aren't married and never will be."
"Because I didn't want the commitment." Bill said. "But at least I don't shirk the vows I've already made."
He set the can down and turned to leave.
"The moment you put that armor on, you changed." Bill said slowly. "I don't know if I can follow a man who drinks blood for dinner."
Gallik froze as the phrase rang out and Bill left the bar. He turned to the other soldiers.
"Do all of you feel that way." He demanded. "That I am not still Chancellor?"
"Chancellor you may be." Sasha said softly. "But everyday I see less and less of my brother, of Melanie's husband, of Sai'ah's father."
The others nodded and rose, heading for the door. Darrin joined them and Gallik turned to me.
"When we first met." He said. "I told you what I wanted, told them."
He downed another gulp.
"Why can't they see?" He asked softly. "I have to do this."
"No you don't." I said. "People need you Gallik. Your family needs you."
Gallik gripped the bottle so tight it cracked.
"What good am I as a man if I can't protect my own family!" He roared. "What good am I as a father?"
"You never had children, Arbiter." He said. "Never dreamed of a better world for them."
"You are wrong." I said softly. "So very wrong."
Gallik froze.
"I was leader of a corpus of Tenno." I said. "A long time ago. I neglected them to seek vengeance for the deaths of my first corpus."
"I watched them fall to rage." I said. "The only one still alive is too broken inside to remember me. Too lost to do anything other than raise kubrow and read stories to children."
Gallik stared at me.
"How old are you?" He asked.
"I will be twenty two earth cycles when Eden sees its second winter." I said.
Gallik shook his head.
"So young." He said softly. "Are all Tenno such?"
"We were made to be weapons." I said. "Weapons do not make good families. Weapons do not have childhoods."
"You lead a clan now." He pointed out. "You have a family now."
"And I strive everyday to be more than a weapon." I said. "To be better for their sake."
Gallik stared at his drink and I continued.
"You have to decide, Gallik." I said. "Are you a weapon, or a father?"
The pad on Gallik's back beeped and he pulled it off to look at its screen.
"A weapon." He said finally. "For one more time."
He held up the pad.
"Joint operation approved." It read. "Assassination of Grineer General Tgar'ruk approved."Archon Chapter 4.
"Tgar'ruk?" Jas asked. "Any relation to Sargus Ruk?"
At the mention of the smuggler Gallik stiffened.
"None known." I stated. "However it is believed that he designed Sargas' armor and weapons. We know he is a weapons researcher for the Grineer."
"Armor and armaments?" Bill asked.
"Nukor Pistol and Tonkor Launcher." I said. "Probability of Halikar as a last resort."
"We believe he is going to contact Sargus Ruk and trade a new selection of weapons for Old Orokin tech." Said the Lotus. "If we succeed we may be able to delay annexation of several key sites long enough to recover or destroy important artifacts."
"As well as recover a cache of stolen tech." Darin said. "Might well be a massive boost to our cause."
"And what do we get out of it?" Sasha inquired.
"Compensation will be discussed upon completion of mission." The Lotus replied. "And will depend on the parameters completed."
I bowed and the connection cut off.
"We have one day until the deal takes place." I said. "This isn't some raid on a corpus outpost. This is a manhunt targeting two very powerful individuals."
"Power and prestige do not stave off the inevitable." A voice said, as the air grew chilled and shadows washed over everything around me. "Nor do kinship and promises."
I turned and saw Tak standing behind me. His eyes where blood red and his skins as ashen.
"This venture reeks of death, Arbiter." He hissed. "Be careful who walks in honor and who walks in vengeance."
"How are you here?" I demanded. "Even Stalker cannot reach this far."
Tak smiled.
"I am not the Kinslayer, Arbiter." He whispered. "And I am NOT here."
I blinked.
"We stole a shipment from under the nose of the Corpus Chairman." Bill laughed. "This time we actually get to shoot someone."
The others laughed.
"We move out in twelve hours." I said. "Be ready."
I shook my head, clearing the shadows that clung to it.
I felt the engines rumble as the ship move towards the drop point. Jas and Sasha checked their rifles again. Gallik and Bill sat, running edgers over their blades, sharpening them to a mono-molecular point. Sarah and Finn meditated beside me, and Mira sat reading a book.
"Landing Zone is hot." Darrin called from the cockpit. "Looks like they detected the void echoes."
I took a deep breath as the bay door opened, and leapt.
Gallik laughed as he cut down the Grineer, Bill humming some tune beside him. Jas simply charged at the enemy, taunting them when their attacks did nothing.
But Sasha, Sasha was silent. Her aim precise and deadly. Each burst of her rifle ending a life. Silent and deadly as the grave. Almost like a Tenno.
Well some Tenno.
"Rawr!" Sarah cried. "Hissss!"
She leapt onto a Grineer, tackling it it the ground and then stabbed it in the face repeatedly. Another Grineer took aim at her and she leapt onto them.
Finn roared as his Ichor bit into the enemies, the infection in the blades leaving them weak and slow.
Mira shrugged, exhaling as if being relieved of a great weight and a wave of force swept across the field. The Grineer stopped and clutched their hearts, before falling to their knees, dead.
Sara mewled softly and nudged a Grineer. I opened my mouth to call out to her and something glinted in the light. Finn held a Grineer Commander's helmet horn. The edge was covered in gold metal. I watched as he rubbed his arm on it and then tapped it, turnivn it I off data and storing it in his warframe data banks.
"Why Finn?" I asked. "Why?"
"Because. He shrugged. "Is shiny."
"That does it." I growled. "Finn, Sarah! A word please."
I stared at the two Tenno until they started to shift.
"I get it." I said. "This is life and death, this is our job."
Sarah nudged a loose stone with her feet.
"It isn't fun." I said. "So we do what we can to make it fun. To deal with it."
Finn shifted.
"But this isn't some small raid or capture mission." I snarled. "The Council will be watching this. And I have to prove that we can work with the Archons to complete a mission. Reliably and professionally."
They both shrank back.
"So get it together." I said. "Get serious."
They nodded and we returned to the group.
"Status on target?" I asked.
Bill looked over the edge of the cliff we stood on.
"Targets have made contact." He said. "Permission to engage?"
"Permission granted." I said.
Something caught my eye, a flash of yellow out of place among the green forest.
"Wait..."
Two shots rang out. Sargus and Tgar both fell. Clutching their legs.
I leapt over the ledge as bullets pelted the cliff side.
"Targets aware, go loud, go loud."
The Archons tapped their wrists and engines roared. Fire flared on their backs and they leapt after me, jet packs sending them bounding down the hill.
I opened fire with my Soma, clearing a path as we rushed towards the targets. There was a sudden explosion and the ship Sargas had arrived on burst into flames.
"Hold formation." I yelled. "Sasha get back here."
Sasha dashed forward towards the downed Grineer.
Tgar struggled to rise then stopped as Sasha leveled her rifle at him.
"Skoo..." He screamed.
Red splattered the ground as Sasha's rifle sent a round through his head. She turned to the downed Ruk.
"This is for my parents." She said.
Something yellow flashed before us and Sasha turned to stare down the four barreled canon aimed at her.
Vay Hek laughed.
"Destroy my Formorians." He screamed. "Let's see how you like it when someone destroys your toys, Tenno!"
Fire blossomed across Sasha's chest.
Everything stopped. Shadows crawled across the world around me. Sasha stared at me, and turned to stride towards me.
"This isn't what happened." She said. "Think back. Remember."
I blinked. Sasha stood aiming at a downed Sargas.
"Our parents." Sasha said.
Sargas leapt forward, his flamethrower striking Sasha in the gut and hurling her of her feet.
"You think that pea-shooter could hurt me?" He growled. "Think again!"
He leapt forward. There was a crunch as Gallik dove in front of him. Sargas froze, and looked down.
A dagger, glowing and irradiated protruded from his chest. Gallik followed his gaze and stared at the flame cannon protruding from his own melted armor.
Sargas looked up.
"Well... Fought." He grunted.
There was a flash of light and he erupted into flame. Gallik stumbled back from the blaze.
"For my parents." He coughed.
He looked down at the melted hole in his chest.
"This... Should." He wheezed. "Really... Hurt."
And then Gallik, friend of the Tenno, First Archon, Chancellor of New Eden, fell.
And Gallik, brother of Sasha, husband of Melanie, father of little Sai'ah, who was waiting for him to come home and tell her another story, died.
Shadows crawled across the ground, and I turned to the figure behind me.
"Enough of this nightmare." I shouted. "Undo this!"
"I can't." He said emotionless.
"Bull crap!" I screamed. "You made this happen."
"I tried to stop this from happening." He said softy. "But you wouldn't listen."Archon Chapter 5.
"We are tired if wasting our resources on empty promises." Marcus cried. "You promised results. We have none."
Alan rose.
"Synergy will be disbanded." He said slowly. "And Clan Miraalan will tasked with recovering a portion of the resources spent on it."
"You are fools" I cried. "One dead man does not..."
"One?" Bellowed Alan. "You lost your entire cell and sent three humans to die...."
"Arbiter." A voice said. "It is time to come home."
I turned and saw Gallik.
"That's not possible." I whispered. "You sacrificed yourself to save Sahsa, you cannot be real."
The man grinned.
"And you think you are?"
Shadows washed over everything and I turned to face the familiar ashen specter.
"You should have listened." The Nekros Prime said. "You should have heeded."
"Who are you?" I demanded.
The figure blurred and suddenly I was surrounded by them.
"A man like you."
"A man trying to put his life back together."
"Trying to be the hero."
"Trying to save the world."
I leapt at the one before me and pinned it to the ground tearing off its mask. My own face stared back at me.
"Trying to fail!"
The figure in the ground shoved me off and stood.
"Trying to be good enough that it was worth it." It snarled. "Why can't you see?"
It stiffened as a hand erupted through its chest, a blackened heart in its grasp. Tak stood behind the being.
"If you kill me... He dies." The figure croaked.
"Who are you?" Tak hissed. "To tell a Barrow-Keeper who does and does not die."
Tak yanked his hand back and the figure screamed convulsing on the ground.
There was a flash and a small form appeared.
"Tak!" Sai'ah scolded. "Put that down."
Tak shifted uncomfortably and placed the heart on the ground. Sai'ah walked over to it and grabbed it, picking at it. I stared at them, to tired and confused to move.
Layer after layer of dark scabs fell off the heart, each layer brighter. Finally Sai'ah knelt and placed the red, pulsing heart in the hole in the figure's chest.
"There we go." She said. "All better."
The figure sat up.
"He won't listen." It snarled. "He keeps pushing and pushing me back, but he won't listen!"
"Enough!" Sai'ah said. "You have done enough."
She motioned to Tak.
"Open a door for him please." She said. "It's time for you to go back to where you came from."
The figure rose.
"Help him. He needs..." It started.
"He has." Sai'ah said, her voice final.
The figure vanished and Sai'ah turned to Tak.
"Your turn." She said with a yawn. "I'm tired. I think I'll go play with bricks or something for a bit."
Tak stared at her.
"How can you be tired?" He asked.
"I'm eight years old." Sai'ah giggled. "Who knows?"
There was a pop and she was gone. Tak turned to me.
"I suppose you want answers." He said bowing.
"Grandmaster."
To be continued...Trying a new format. Each story from here will be under its own tab. Forums keep adding replies to the last one.
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Sacred Chapter 2-5
Everything time I saw it filled me with awe.
Rolling hills gave way to smooth plain. And rising from the plane, clad in gold and ivory, lay the remnant of Orokin. Built from a crashed terra-former, populated by colonists rescued from the Grineer and Corpus, New Eden stood like a dream from the Old World. Beneath us people ran and walked amid stone streets. Some possessed hover carts for transport, other rode strange long legged beasts.
The ship neared a tower and a pad appeared, light played across a shielded surface as we settled down. Guards clad in armored robes stood at attention. Gallik stepped from the transport and they bowed as Darrin and I exited the craft.
"Arbiters" they chorused. "Your presence honors us."
One of them stepped forward. He held an Orthos, it's blade golden, but not a prime.
"Chancellor, the council seeks your wisdom on a pressing matter."
Gallik sighed and turned to me.
"I am afraid I will not be available for a while, Arbiter." He apologized. "Take some time and show your companions around."
He turned to the guard.
"These Tenno are honored guests. Treat them as such."
Then he departed, surrounded by three of he robed figures. The one remaining stride forward.
"I am Jas of the Third Star." He declared. "Come, let me show you my home."
Mira strode up to walk beside him as we moved down the stairs and into the tower.
"Third star? What does that mean?" She asked.
Something shifted inside me, I felt someone move beside me as we exited the tower.
"Jealous are we?" Darrin teased, watching my gaze track Mira.
"Tenno don't get jealous." I retorted. We turned onto a street.
Darrin chuckled and dropped back to talk to Finn and Sarah, who gazing at the structures around them.
There was a sudden shout and Jas tensed.Figures clad in archaic robes stride towards us. Their heads where bowed and veils covered over their faces. The one in the front stopped, and made a quick motion.
"Hail, Divine Messengers. Welcome to our mortal home." Something in his voice worried me. "We would have greeted you at the sky border but the faithless have banned us from that place."
"The faithless?" Darrin's voice was calm. However I sensed his worry over the neural link.
The lead figure made a quick motion and then spoke.
"Those who do not believe."
"And what do they not believe?"
The figure paused. A voice sounded out.
"Prophet how do they not know?"
The Prophet turned back, his voice low.
"Silence. The divine ones..."
Anger welled up in me, not rage but anger. As if someone had desecrated something sacred.
"Who started this?" I demanded. "Who told you these things?"
The lead figure started to make a motion and I grabbed his hands, he tried to pull away from the contact as the others gasped.
"Who?" I demanded, my helmet inches from his face.
"The dream-child." He said. "My lord what have I done to anger...?"
"Show me this dream-child." I demanded.
"I cannot my Lord." That's man said. "The Chancellor will not let me speak with her. He does not recognize how important his daughter..."
I stepped back.
"Sai'ah?" I asked. "What did she tell you?"
The man shook.
"I was dreaming of my wife and child, seeing them fall to the Grineer again and she appeared." He said. "She told me not to worry, that the Tenno would protect us."
He took a breath.
"She called you guardian angels. I did not believe." He said. "Then the oracle appeared, told us the same thing, that Tenno where coming."
"I watched you cut down the Grineer, save us." He nearly whispered. "Such power you possessed. It cannot be anything other than the will of God made physical."
"There you are! I told you to stay away from the Tenno." Gallik's voice roared. "Must I confine you to your house, preacher?"
"To welcome the Angels of Heaven I will risk any punishment." The man retorted. "You shall not interrupt...."
I finally managed to place his voice. I smirked as a thought occurred to me and I turned to Gallik.
"I will deal with this misunderstanding, Chancellor." I said with a bow. "You have more important matters to attend to, my friend."
The man in the robes, Theron, stiffened and Gallik smiled.
"Of course Tenno."
He turned and strode away. I turned back to the man.
"Theron, I would speak to you in private."
I closed the door to the massive building and turned to Theron. He knelt in front of a cloth covered table. Images in the windows depicted Tenno in Warfames striking down Grineer and Corpus, Tenno lifting up humans.
"I am disappointed in you." I said slowly. "Have you even read the book left to you?"
Theron rose and looked towards a case in the back wall. A book sat behind glass, it's cover adorned with two lines, a short horizontal and one longer vertical bisecting the first. I groaned.
"That was left for you to read, to learn from."
"I have tried. But I cannot understand."
I lost my patience.
"Then ask me, ask Darrin." I shouted. "Pray, meditate. Ask Him. Don't just make stuff up and throw it around as if it were true."
"Arbiter. I'm sorry, I thought." He stammered. "I believed..."
"That's why I left you here in charge of this. Because you truly believed in something beyond yourself." I shouted. "Instead I come back to find you quarreling with Gallik and bowing to people who are no more perfect than you or anyone else."
Theron paled.
"But the dream-child." He whispered. "The Oracle. They said your power was sacred."
"To us it is, just as your own soul is sacred to you. It is part of us." I said. "But we are not divine messengers."
Theron sank to his knees.
"What do I do?" He pleaded. "What do I tell them?"
I pointed to the book in the wall.
"You start by taking that down and reading it. Actually reading." I said. "And you tell them you made a mistake, be honest."
Theron looked up at me.
"My Old Orokin isn't that good. There are gaps.""I will help you." I said. "It's been a while since I've read that story. About a thousand years almost..."
Sacred Chapter 3.
"Amen."
I opened my eyes and looked up as Theron finished the prayer.
"Now do you understand?" I asked. "Does it make sense?"
Theron looked at me, his eyes red with the tears he had cried when I read to him. But he was smiling now.
"Most of it." He said. "Enough to correct what I have wrought."
He frowned.
"Or enough to try." He said slowly. "They may not listen. Tenno being divine messengers was easy to show. This."
He paused, and shook his head.
"A being with power incomprehensible sending a part of himself to die. To cleanse the world of an invisible disease." He said. "That that part became a man, rose form the dead, walked on water, healed with a touch. That boggles the mind."
He looked at my warframe, a smile creeping across his face.
"It would be easier if that man had been Tenno." He said. "Revival, healing, walking in water, such things would have been trivial."
"Theron" I warned, "don't."
Theron shook his head.
"I won't." He promised. "I'm just saying it would make it more believable."
"It would make it a lie." I said firmly. "I don't remember much about the world but I do recall records of what happened when people changed this book to fit their desires, rather than changing their desires to fit this book."
I shook my head.
"So much death and pain." I said. "So many misguided souls lost."
Theron stared at me and nodded.
"To think I almost went down the same path." He said, then shook his head. "No this man wasn't a Tenno. I will make that clear."
"Besides" I said, "Tenno don't do the walking on water thing. We don't float well."
There was a knock on the door and Theron raised his voice.
"Come in."
One of the acolytes from before walked in and gasped when he saw Theron sitting next to me without a veil.
"Father, what are you doing." He cried. "Cover yourself in the presence of the Divine..."
Theron looked at me and I nodded. He turned to the boy, tears in his eyes.
"Gather the faithful my son. I have something to confess." He said. "And tell them they do not need to wear those silly robes anymore."
The boy started and then bowed and hurried from the church. Theron turned to me.
"Will you stay?" He asked. "Help me explain."
I nodded and he relaxed. I stood next to him as the room filled. People shuffled in whispering and glancing at me. Some fearful, other curious.
When the site where mostly filled Theron spoke.
"Brothers and sisters. I have..." His voice broke. "I have misled you."
A murmur rank through the crowd.
"I have spoken lies." He said. "Lies I believed, or wanted to believe."
He paused, tears forming in his eyes.
"I have led you astray." He said. "And for that I am sorry."
The murmur grew and the crowd shifted in their seats. Theron too an deep breath and continued.
"When the Tenno rescued me one of them approached me, as you may have heard. He gave me a book and told me to bring hope to the hopeless. To rekindle faith long buried." He said. "I... I misunderstood what he meant."
At the mention of the book, eyes turned it the case and takes where heard as the crowd beheld its shattered wreckage. Theron raised his voice.
"I tried to read the book, but I could not make sense of it." He said. "So I made it a symbol and relied on my own knowledge."
Theron bowed his head.
"I..." He started. "I was wrong."
He looked up, his voice growing stronger.
"The Tenno are not Divine Angels." He cried. "They are mortal, like we."
"Heresy." Cried a voice in the back. "I have see them bathe enemies in fire and ice. Where does such power come from if they are not Angels? Mere humans cannot..."
"Is a bird an Angel?" I asked quietly. "For it can fly and mere humans cannot."
The man was silent.
"A bird can fly because it has wings, and mortal men do not." I said. "We can wield such power because it is part of us, but it is not part of you. It doesn't make us Angels."
Theron cleared his throat.
"I believed what I told myself, because it was easy." Theron said. "But the truth."
He bowed his head."The truth is much stranger." He said quietly. "It began a long time ago. In a garden."
Sacred Chapter 4.
I watched as Jas and Mira and the others wandered into the church.
"And the stone was rolled away!" Theron shouted. "And the clothes where folded and set aside."
I felt Darrin reach out across the link.
"You have been busy." He said. "It took us half the day to circle back here."
"And?" I asked. "What did they think?"
Darrin opened his mind and a wave of awe and joy washed over me.
I smiled underneath my helmet.
"Good, they needed some time to relax." I responded.
Darrin and the others sat in the back.
"There is more." Theron said. "But that is the important part."
Silence filled the hall. A few people stood and made their way to the exit, shaking their heads. But most stayed in their seats. Some cried, other sat stoic.
Theron spoke again. His voice hoarse with use.
"Lord." He said. "I stand before you now, sure of only my guilt. I have lied, I have been proud, and worst of all I have misled."
"But if you can forgive me I will gladly spend m days teaching the truth."
I laid my hand in his shoulder.
"God forgives you." I said.
I turned to the crowd.
"I will say to you what a man once said to me." I spoke evenly. "Even for such as you there is forgiveness. If you will accept it."
"What if I don't accept this, this rubbish." Cried a man from the back. "This fairy tale! What will you do then Tenno?"
I looked at the man.
"Nothing." I said. "I will not force you to believe, I will not coerce you. Your soul is in your hands, not mine."
The man scowled at me and turned to the door. The door opened and Gallik strode in. Two Guards stood behind him. He looked at me surprised.
"Arbiter, I was told this man had gathered his... 'Faithful' here." He said. "I came to see what he was up to."
Murmurs ran around he room and the Guards tensed as the word 'Faithless' was hissed.
Theron raised his voice.
"Brothers and Sisters!" He cried. "Shame on you!"
The crowd grew quiet.
Theron stood and walked towards Gallik. He did not hesitate as the guards raised their weapons, but knelt.
"Chancellor" He said. "I have cause you grief, where there was cause for none. I have erred."
Gallik smiled faintly.
"To err is human." He said. "I did not react the best to your actions."
"It may be human, but my God calls me to more." Theron replied. "Whatever reparations I can make, I shall."
"And if I ask you to cease your teaching?" Gallik replied. "To end your sermons."
"That I cannot do." Theron said. "The Arbiter called me to spread hope, to rekindle faith. Now that I understand what he meant, I cannot, will not, stop."
"And what are you called to do?" Gallik asked. "What does your 'God' require of you."
"To be love, to those who are unloved. To be a shelter for those with nowhere to go." Theron answered. "To carry his hope and love to a world so long bereft of such."
"And do you still believe Tenno are Angels?"
Theron laughed.
"Not anymore." He said. "They are mortal, just like us. Perhaps better than us, but still mortal."
Gallik looked at me and I nodded.
"Well I guess I can allow you to continue preaching." He said. "Assuming you actually do the things you said you would."
He turned and moved to leave. Theron rose.
"Chancellor." He called. "I will be here tomorrow, if you want to attend."
Gallik paused.
"Perhaps." He said. "If I can find the time."
Theron returned to the pulpit, and silence filled the room.
"Well..." He started. "I don't really know what to do next."
Laughter rang out and he smiled.
"So I guess that's goodnight." He said. "Walk with the Lord."
People rose and began to trickle out. I moved to go and Theron grabbed my shoulder.
"Thank you, Arbiter." He said.
I met the others inside and we walked down the street.
When we had cleared the crowd Mira laughed.
"Never thing I'd see you rekindle the Old Faith." She said. "Never thought I'd see you teaching fairy tales."
Sarah and Finn turned to stare at her, and Darrin continued to stare ahead. Uncomfortable silence fell.
Mira paused.
"Wait." She said. "You actually...?"
"Where do you think he got the book?" I said and kept walking.
"You believe all that?" She said quietly. "About a loving God? Even after everything that's happened to this world?"
I turned and looked back at the church. I could almost recall something, almost hear music, and feel the warmth of a thousand candles. Almost hear feel something stirring in my heart.
"Yes." I said. "I do."
I turned and left Mira standing there. Darrin and Sarah flowed me and Finn stood for a second, looking at Mira, and then he too turned and walked away.Sacred Chapter 5.
I rose form meditation as a knock sounded in the door.
"Come in."
Mira walked in. She knelt across from me and I met her gaze.
"I'm sorry for my words." She said. "They were foolish."
"For saying them?" I asked. "Or for the division they caused."
"For saying them."
My heart swelled.
"Mira."
She held up a hand and my heart fell.
"I do not believe as you believe." She said. "I have to many questions."
"Maybe I can answer them." I said. "Try me."
Back and forth we went. She asked and I answered as honestly as I could. I did not have every answer, I knew too little, but I did what I could. Finally Mira raised a hand.
"I get free will and consequences and all that, but how can you believe despite all the evil around you." She cried. "How can you keep believing?"
"Because there are only two options." I said. "Either bad things happen and there isn't a reason."
I looked up at the stars through the glass ceiling.
"And someday the stars will go out and life will end, and everything we have ever known will fade into oblivion." I said. "Or there is a plan, and someday all the evil will fade, and everything will be made right."
"I want to believe that." Mira said. "I really do."
"But...?" I asked.
"I just can't see how it will all work out." She confessed. "I just don't know."
I smiled.
"Neither do I." I said. "But we don't have to."
"I can't." She said. "I just... I just need some time."
I nodded.
"I understand." I said. "You have been through a lot."
She rose and walked to the door.
"I do have a request though." She said. "There is a dance tomorrow."
I tried to get my heart to calm down as she continued.
"Jas was going to take me, but he may have guard duty." She said. "I was hoping you could..."
Anger rose in my gut.
"No." I snapped, harsher than I meant to.
Mira stared at me.
"Why?" She asked.
I rose.
"I will not be anyone's second choice." I said. "I am sick of being the last one picked."
"What are you talking about?" Mira asked. "What is this really about?"
I looked at her. Should I? Could I really say it out loud? Did I trust her?
"Nothing." I said. "It's nothing. Forget I mentioned it."
I forced a smile.
"Have fun at the dance." I said. "I'll talk to Gallik, see if I can convince him to let Jas have the night off."
Mira paused, her hand over the keypad.
"Arbiter." She started.
"I'm fine." I said hurriedly. "Just remembering some bad memories. I'll be better tomorrow."
I walked over and gave her a nudge, not quite pushing, and she walked out the door. It closed and I leaned against it, and slid to the floor.
Memories unbidden leapt to the front of my mind.
"You could come with me." I said. "I could use your help finding Nina."
Kira glanced back at Kronos and the others of her clan and shook her head.
"I can't." She said. "I promised Kronos I'd help with clean up."
I looked her in the eye.
"So this is the future you're betting on."
She smiled sadly and looked at me.
"I guess so."
"So be it." I said.
I turned and heard her call out.
"I'm sure there are others who..."
But that wasn't the point.
"But they aren't you." I whispered. -
Sacred Chapter 1
"Is it advisable to roll these out with the Council still on your back about Tsun?" Darrin asked. "Marcus might use this to call for another investigation."
"It's been two weeks. I'm tired of holding back in fear of another review." I retorted. "Besides, this gives Mira something to focus on. It will be good for her to feel part of something again."
"How did she feel about being sedated through the whole incident?" Darrin asked.
I touched my cheek, the red had faded, but the skin still stung and my jaw felt out of place.
"She was... Less than enthusiastic, but understood why we did it." I said. "She's still taking it out on me every morning."
Behind me, Vahlin snickered. I glared at him.
"In duels, Vahl." I growled. "There is nothing between us."
I turned back to the console. Darrin checked the display and tapped the keyboard while the foundry completed the last part.
I grabbed the piece of metal and laid it in a lined case. A drone appeared and carried it from the room towards the teleporter pad. I stepped onto the elevator next to Darrin and we rose from the lower section of the Tech Lab into the general access area.
Mira stood at the door waiting for us. She was clad in a new Equinox Warframe, her colors once again red and black. Her chest still bore the sigil of the Red Veil. My own syndicate had a well known distaste for the shadowy group of assassins but I had decided long ago not to meddle in the affairs of my clan members, at least where syndicates were concerned.
"Is it done?" Mira asked, her Equinox in day form, nearly shivering with excitement. "Are we ready to go?"
I nodded and she let out a high pitched squeal. Then her form shimmered and shifted into night form. Mira stood up straight and bowed her head.
"I apologize Arbiter, but we... I am excited to see New Eden firsthand." She said, her excitement breaking through her formal tone. "I have heard the Arbiters have an extensive collection of Tenno artifacts and records."
I out my hand on her shoulder.
"No need to apologize sister." I said. "Your excitement is understandable. Both of you will enjoy New Eden."
Mira had a split personality. It wasn't so much two Tenno inside her mind as it was two outlooks on life. One drew its strength from social interaction and emotion, the other from rigid social constructions and rituals. Both had taken a hit when her mentor had turned traitor and her clan had exiled her. She was recovering, but slowly; today was the best I and seen her and even then she seemed more subdued than usual, always apologizing for any display of emotion or any conversation regarding proper conduct.
"Has Katherine cleared you for transport?" I asked. "We will be using A Solar Rail from the void."
The Void was the source of Tenno powers, the force that had made us more than human. Passing through it had intriguing, and unpredictable, effects on humans. Tenno were more resistant but exposure could still aggravate some conditions.
"She said all my signs check out fine." Mira said. "I am cleared for everything but field combat."
"Then gather your things. I intend to spend a few weeks in New Eden."
"You mean Mew Eden?" Sarah said, striding out for a hidden alcove. "Where the weather is always Purrfect."
A few weeks ago I had made an offhand comment referring to Sara as a Kavat, a feline creature native to earth. She had done some research and found some references to an ancient feline called a cat and had taken to adopting some of of its mannerisms.
"Are you really going to do this?"
"Mew!"
I sighed.
"Fine, you can come." I said. "You have ten minutes to pack your bags and then the transport leaves. Tell Finn to bring some credit chips, you may find some souvenirs you like."
I felt the transports engines rumble under me as I grabbed the controls and the ship lifted off from the landing pad. There was a liquid sound as the Void Cloak engaged.
Tenno ships where capable of slipping past most forms of detection. Their incredible speed made hitting them or even keeping track -a difficult task. Still we all held our breath as we passed through a Grineer patrol and entered a dark sector.
Every planet had a dark sector, a region that had shifted into the void. One of these held an impressive artifact. An intact Solar rail. It's discovery had allowed High ranking Tenno to avoid the need to sneak into Grineer Rail systems. But it had a second function that was known only to a few.
"Rail command to approaching vessel, you are clear for transport please state destination."
"This is Aukog 005. Destination is..." I rambled off a list of numbers.
"Destination Invalid. Please state new destination."
I spoke another set.
"Didn't catch that, please repeat."
I recited a third set.
"Destination Accepted."
I piloted the ship into the opening and watched lights flash around us as the Rail powered up. It took seconds but it felt longer.
There was a sudden tug in my gut and we were elsewhere. Lights slammed into the cockpit and a voice boomed out across the speakers.
"Halt! Who dares tresspass here?"
There was the sound of a scuffle and then another voice came over the line.
"Unknown transport please state crew and Cargo."
"This is Tenno transport Aukog 005, carrying research and personal for Synergy." I said. "Declaring additional personnel."
"Scans indicate additional personnel carry void signatures. Please confirm Tenno origin."
"Confirmed." I said.
"Rerouting vessel to secure location. Fighter escort inbound, failure to comply will result in your destruction."
The lights flashed off and I heard Mira and Sarah gasp as two huge ships came into view. Easily the same size as a Galleon, the Defender Class vessels were bristling with enough guns to tear apart a Corpus warship. Unseen was the Shield bubble they could deploy, capable of withstanding a direct hit from a Formorian, and the array of jammer missiles meant to confuse targeting sensors.
Behind the ships lay a massive green and blue planet. Behind us a yellow star, so like the one back home, burned. Two smaller ships, vaguely shark like, appeared and I followed them into the atmosphere. The ship rocked as it entered the air, fire billowing around it.
I hear another set of gasps as the fire cleared and the land below came into view. Green hills rolled below tall mountains, their features giving way into a plain.
I followed the fighters towards a plain and set the ship down.
"Everyone remain calm. Do not reach for your weapons or they will open fire." I said. "Let me handle this."
I led them out of the cargo bay and we stood amid the grass. There was a slight shimmer around us and then troops appeared. Humans clad in variations of what appeared to be Excalibur Proto-armor moved towards and around us, their weapons raised. A few returned from the cargo bay and nodded towards a central figure.
Gallik's helmet collapsed and he bowed.
"Good to see you Arbiters. He said, looking behind me. "This is Lady Mira I presume?"
He looked at Sarah. I laughed.
"That is Sarah." I said and pointed to the equinox. "That is Mira."
Gallik laughed."My mistake." He said. "Vahlin said you had something for me?"
I shook my head.
"Not here, we will need some equipment to install it." I said. "And my companions are eager to see New Eden."
Gallik motioned to a transport setting down."Then I bid you welcome, to New Eden. And the rebirth of humanity.
-
Cracks Chapter 4.
"This young warrior woke one day in a land filled with evil. Everywhere he looked, darkness ruled. Until an oracle appeared, and gave this warrior a set of ancient weapons, and bid him go and face this evil. And the warrior did. Filled with the knowledge that what he did was just and right. And evil fell before him. Sometimes he stumbled, as all heroes do, and sometimes he fell. But he never stopped getting back up. Never stopped pushing forward."
I spoke of battles won, battles lost. Friends found and friends buried.
"Until one day a shadow appeared before him. This did not scare the young warrior. For he had defeated many monsters and demons since his awakening. And this shadow looked to him as one of his kin. So he asked the shadow what service he could offer, what demon he could slay or kingdom he could free."
I closed my eyes.
"The shadow replied with only one word. Death. Taken aback the hero asked again, what he could do to aid the man. The shadow looked at him at replied that he could die, for his crimes."
"The Hero grew cautious and asked what crimes the shadow spoke of. The shadow replied 'the slaughter of your masters and my people.' The hero was confused. The only beings he had slain where corrupt, or evil. Was this shadow one of them? 'No' the shadow replied. 'This happened long ago, in a past life.'"
"The warrior was astonished, but the shadow would say no more. It attacked and the warrior defended himself, driving it back. This continued over the years. The hero was distraught. He was good, he was righteous, yet he had blood on his hands, from another life. Was he truly a hero, were his actions truly making a better world?"
I opened my eyes and for a second I thought I caught the barest glimmer of movement. I ignored it and continued.
"Finally he could bear it no more. He went to the Oracle and demanded answers. She refused and he returned the next day with the same demand. This continued for several months until she relented. The warrior demanded an answer and she handed him a single page from a journal."
"The warrior pored over the page, written by a brother from a past life. He read of the horrors his people had suffered at the hands of two scholars. He demanded to know the names of these men and the Oracle told him of their fate, and if the existence of other journals."
"For years the warrior searched for these books, hoarding what he found. Until at last the Shadow found him once again. 'I know' he said when the shadow appeared. 'I know what happened to your masters.' The Shadow smiled, but it fell as the warrior continued. 'I know and I accept the necessity of my actions. Your people deserved the death rained upon them, for their crimes against MY kin.' Enraged the shadow attacked him, and they dueled for what felt like an eternity. Finally the hero stood victorious, no longer unsure of his place, though he still knew little of his past. He had done what was needed, and now he would do what was right."
Something beeped in the display and I ignored it.
"The hero found others like him, and together they waged war against the darkness. And it came to pass that secrets where released, knowledge found that was cause for worry. Some began to doubt the Oracle. And it came to pass that a princess in the land heard of a plot by her brothers to kill the Oracle. Distraught she went to the hero and told him of this. The hero vowed to defend the Oracle and thanked her for her courage. But her brothers found out about her treachery and put a curse upon her, to fall into sleep unending."
"The hero discovered this, and attacked them, together with an army of the fiercest warriors in the land. However when he went to thank the princess he found her lying on a stone table, asleep. Nothing he did could wake her. Nothing even the most scholarly of mages did worked, for her heart was broken by the treachery of her brothers."
"So the hero, heartbroken, decided to let the princess sleep, hoping someday she would wake and return to him. But before he did, he knelt beside her and took her hand, and kissed it, a token of his thanks for her bravery."
I lifted Mira's hand and leaned towards it. A voice hoarse and quiet spoke.
"And the Princess slapped the warrior, for such an act was unbecoming of a noble warrior, and his view of women was in need of correcting."
I looked up and saw Mira staring at me her warframe balanced.. I released her hand and stepped back.
"You're awake."
"First I was debating whether I should wake." Mira said. "Then I was debating whether I should lay still and let you finish, or hope you weren't too embarrassed to tell me the story over tea."
I smiled, and Mira glared at me, I couldn’t see her eyes but I could feel the venom..
"And then I wasn't debating whether to wake up, but whether I should slap you or punch you for calling me a princess, a damsel in distress." Mira snarled. "I mean, honestly, how did you even arrive at that conclusion?"
I smiled and turned as the door opened. Darrin walked in.
"Where have you been brother?"
"At a council hearing."
"Why was I not called? I was the one that killed Tsun, I should be present at his trial."
I stopped as two Temple Guards entered the room, their weapons at the ready.
"It wasn't for Tsun. It was about you."
Darrin paused for a moment.
"The council has called for a full review of your actions." He stated slowly. "You are no longer Arbiter of this Clan and until further notice will be accompanied by armed guards until the review is done."
I bowed my head.
"I will abide by the council's decision."
Darrin nodded.
"For what it's worth, I tried."
I was silent as I left the room.Cracks Chapter 5.
"I told them about your reaction to the fight." Darrin said. "About your anger when you struck Tsun down."
"They think it was a show, meant to lure them into a false sense of security." I said. "They think Tsun meant for me to continue his work."
Darrin nodded.
"For what it's worth, I doubt it." He said. "All of us stand with you. We had to lock Tak in his room to keep him from interfering. The Guards are terrified of him."
I smiled.
"They should be. He is beyond any of you." I said. "His kind usually are."
"And you?" Darrin said. "Is he beyond you?"
"For now we are an even match." I said. "He has no reason to unleash his full power yet. I doubt he is even aware of it."
There was a knock at the door and I bowed my head.
"Time for my daily interrogation."
Darrin smiled.
"Why don't you just go Loki on them? He asked. "Run them in circles until they give up."
"They'll never give up." I said. "They'll just send a..."
The door opened and I cut off, smiling at Darrin.
He left and an Excalibur Prime entered, kneeling across the room from me.
"What is your name?"
"Loki vonPercival Fluffles the third."
He sighed.
"Why now?" He asked. "Are you really going to play this game?"
"Are you?" I taunted.
The Excalibur sighed.
"What does this obelisk do?"
"Nightlight."
"Why does your foundry have a rifle designed with anti-Tenno rounds?"
"For hunting rabbits."
"What is your relationship to Tsun?"
"He owes me a sandwich."
The interrogation continued for several hours. It took all my mind power to think up ridiculous answers to frustrate the interrogator. I was about to use my trump card he slammed the holo-pad on the table.
"You think this is funny?" He screamed.
"No," I said evenly, "I think it's a waste of everyone's time."
The interrogator pointed at me.
"Fine then, we'll do this the quick way. We'll get a Nyx and have her scan your mind, scan every single thought you've had since you woke."
I smiled.
"Go ahead then, step into my mind." I taunted. "Hope you find what you are looking for."
Two hours later I sat on the floor as tendrils of thought worked their way into my mind. I forced myself to relax and let my mind drift.
"That took a while." I started and shook myself. The Nyx rose and handed a pad to the Excalibur.
"You'll see why."
The Excalibur frowned.
"You are cleared from any involvement in the plot to assassinate the Lotus."
I smiled.
"However the council will not be returning your title." He said quietly. "You have been deemed unfit for duty, and will be remanded into psychiatric care."
I fought back the emotions rising in my chest.
"I understand." I said. "I accept the council's ruling."
The door flew open and Sarah burst in. Finn darted in after her and grabbed her as she threw herself at the Excalibur.
"You won't take him." She shouted.
I rose as Finn pulled her back.
"Stand down, Neophyte." I said. "They are right. Show her."
The Nyx grabbed the pad and threw an image in the wall. A shattered building floated in the void, pieces drifting, power failing.
"This is your Arbiter's mental construct." She said. "It's a wonder he can even talk coherently. Let alone lead."
Sarah struggled.
"That's not true. You know it's not true." She shouted. "You are more than capable."
I shook my head.
"I am broken, girl. I'm just good at hiding it." I said. "For so long I shoved the madness back, walked alone. I may be strong on the outside, but I am broken."
"Then let us fix you." She screamed. "Let us help."
"You cannot fix me, you don't know how." I said slowly. "You aren't psychiatrists."
"We are your friends!" She cried. "That what's friends do, they fix each other."
I stopped and the Guard behind me tried to push me forward.
"This changes nothing." The Excalibur said. "Our orders are clear. Someone tell Sigurd that we are leaving."
There was a hiss and thump and Sigurd's body tumbled into he floor. Tak stood, shadows coalescing as he materialized, his scythe in one hand, a ball of orange and gray flame in the other.
"Are you trying to stop us from leaving?" The Excalibur demanded. "That is a criminal offense under code..."
"You are welcome to leave, but Ryoko stays." Tak said. "Try to take him and I will stop you."
"We will stop you." Finn said, his hands on his Hek, now raised and readied.
Sarah stood next to him, her hands on her Dual Ether.
"Order your men to stand down." The Excalibur cried. "Order them to put down their weapons."
I looked around at my friends, as more clan members poured into the hall to surround the Guard.
"The Council stripped me of my Title," I said evenly, smiling. "I cannot order them to do anything."
"Actually, you can." Darrin joined the group, a Holo pad on his hands.
"Under section 35 sub-section 105, Clan members cannot be stripped of title by the Council unless evidence is found of wrongful activities committed, premeditated and with harmful intent towards the members of the clan."
Darrin smiled.
"But subsection 195 is even more interesting." He said. "The council shall not remove any member of a clan from its authority unless except for reasons of abuse, neglect, etc etc, ahh here we are... Nor due to mental instability excepting in grounds where the clan is incapable of, or opposed to, providing treatment."
Katherine stepped forward.
"As healer, my duties entail the combined health of all my kin. I am qualified for this, perhaps over-qualified." She said.
Darrin turned back to the pad.
"Which leaves us with one last caveat." He said. "Excepting in cases where the individual refuses and intends to refuse treatment and is deemed a security risk."
Darrin looked at me.
"Do you intend to refuse treatment?"
"I do not."
"You can continue this charade before the council." The Excalibur declared. "But I have my orders."
Darrin laughed.
"Here's where it gets fun." He said. "See, you are acting without explicit authority. Whether you have a reason to is unclear. But what is clear is that you are attempting to remove, by force, a council member from his own home. That is kidnapping."
Darrin lifted his Hek, the clip clicking as it chambered rounds.
"Go ahead." He taunted. "Make my day."
A new voice sounded out.
"Enough." Alan strode into view, accompanied by three other council members. "Marcus, you have some explaining to do."
Alan stopped and the Temple Guards bowed.
"Starting with why two thirds of the council was absent from a meeting regarding a decision that required a full council vote to ratify."
Alan tilted his head.
"And why my guards were informed that I was to be kept in lockdown because of a death threat, against my person."
Alan flicked his wrist and a holo-screen appeared.
"Actually" he said, "Quite a lot of people want the answer to that."
The combined faces of the council stared down at him. One of the screens contained a tenno speaking quite rapidly.
"And, this is the important part, Darrin." He shot off. "Section 23 states that..."
He paused and looked up.
"I'm live aren't I?" He queried. "Well then I'd talk to the perp myself." You are guilty of breaking sections 35, 36, two little subsections in 209..."
"I get the gist." Marcus said, his voice now his own, though his warframe retained its new colors. There was no use trying to hide now.
"I'm not finished!" The man cried. "Section 73 is blown to shreds and..."
Alan held up a hand.
"We will be reviewing his actions at length later."
Alan looked at me.
"As for you." He said. "All in favor of dropping the investigation against Councillor Ryoko."
Only a few hands did not go up.
I raised my voice.
"I move that all information regarding my relationship to the Traitor Tsun be released to the council." I stated. "So we can put this matter behind us and move on."
Alan smiled as a second and third were heard. The council passed the vote and one by one screens winked off as the members returned to whatever Alan had interrupted.
Alan looked at me as the guards escorted Marcus and his companions away. Sigurd was awake, but he said nothing except the word cold over and over. Tak smiled and dispersed.
"Don't think you've got off easy, lad." Alan said. "We will be keeping an eye on you. With Tsun and Nia gone, you are the only Tenno who can lay claim to an independent army. One that is growing."
Alan cast a long gaze at the spot where Tak vanished.
"You have also managed to get a Barrow-Keeper to fall in behind you." He said. "He is something I haven't seen in a long time."
Alan sighed.
"You worry a lot of people." He said. "Tsun never had a chance of starting a civil war, but you..."
He shook his head.
"No, even you couldn't do it." He said. "But some believe you could."
"I have only the best of intentions." I said.
"The road to the Collapse was paved with such." Alan said sadly. "But so long as you don't toe the line, or cross it, you have my support."
Alan turned to go and stopped.
"But mark my words." He said, his voice ancient and powerful. "If you ever betray that trust, the Kinslayer won't be the only one hunting you."
Electricity cracked in the air and the lights burned blindingly bright for a few seconds. Then the Elderly Volt Prime was gone. And I finally let loose my breath.One crack mended.
-
Cracks Chapter 3.
I woke to silence, as I did every day. I tapped the obelisk I the center of my room, checking the status of the upload. My meditation pad was special. It uploaded my knowledge to the pyramid in the center of the room. Adding to a picture of the world, of its inhabitants, of myself.
I keyed in a teleport for training court.
I appeared to the sound of metal on ceramic. Sarah was already awake, striking a practice specter with her twin Ether Swords.
She snarled as the Spectre leapt up and slammed the ground causing her to fall back. She rolled forward and screamed, blasting the specter off its feet and leapt atop it, stabbing wildly.
It stopped moving and she moved back, breathing heavily.
"Why wouldn't you die? I hit you so many times."
"You hit the wrong spots." I said. "You didn't focus on the weak points."
The venom in her voice was nearly visible.
"And you can do better."
I keyed a button and four specters charged me. I rolled under the first strike sweeping my blade to the center and then leapt up, diving two specters into equal parts. One of the remaining two followed me and I kicked it in the face as I darted downwards. I hit the last one with a tackle and spun on the ground, throwing it at its airborne partner. They landed in a heap and I drove my sword through their skulls.
I turned to Sarah.
"Was that a good enough demonstration, or do you require a personal example?" I growled. "Because you and I both know that ends."
Sarah snarled back at me.
"Show me," She snapped.
I remained standing as she charged me.
"Safety Protocols off." I stated.
Sarah stopped mid swing, her blade inches from my neck as I knelt, exposed. I looked up at her, and the moment her guard faltered I drove my helmet into her stomach. She staggered and I spun sweeping her legs out from under her. She stared up at the blade of my Nikana as I held it millimeters from her throat.
"This is why we didn't bring you."
"Because I'm weak." She said. "You can say it."
I drew my blade back and she looked up at my offered hand.
"You aren't weak." I said. "You are kind, something far harder to find in this world."
"Finn didn't bring you because he knows you wouldn't have been able to strike down kin. To end a brother or sister's life," I continued. "You are a bright spot in a dark world, and he doesn't want you to lose that."
"What good am I," she asked. "if everyone needs to protect me?"
She took my hand and I pulled her to her feet.
"Even the greatest Warriors need help." I said. "Even the best can't do everything alone."
"You did." She said softly.
"Because I had to." I said. "Don't push people away just to be like me. You may end up strong, but only on the outside."
A voice rang out across the field.
"Sarah!"
She turned and chuckled as Finn bounded across the field.
"I'm so sorry for..."
She put her finger on his helm, shushing him.
"It's okay. But we need to talk."
I turned.
"I'll leave you two alone."
Sarah called out as I lost the field and I turned.
"Even the best need help." She said and I nodded. "And I will find a way to repay you, to help you."
I nodded and left the room.
One crack filled.
I reached out with my neural link and searched for Darrin. He wasn't anywhere in the Dojo. I opened a communication line and Simon's voice came through.
"Problem Arbiter?"
"What is Darrin's status?"
I heard keys clicking.
"He went in mission a few moments ago. His beacon is online but he's not responding."
I sighed.
"Tell him the Arbiter wants to speak with him."
There was a pause.
"He said he needs to clear his head."
I sighed again.
Another crack widened.
The medical bay was empty except for Katherine and Mira. Katherine shook her head and stared at her display.
"Why won't you wake?" She murmured.
"Problem?" I asked.
Katherine leaned back and sighed.
"Mira isn't waking up. Her physical wounds are fully healed but her mental state keeps fluctuating. It will stabilize for a moment before 'shifting', at least that's what I call it, and then scrambling again."
Katherine shrugged.
"It's like she's arguing with herself or something. I've never treated an Equinox pilot before, but the stories I've heard are certainly interesting." She said. "I'm beginning to wonder if she really is two people in one body."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Sit with her. Talk to her." Katherine said. "Tell her a story. Make an argument. Find someway to end to the debate she's having."
I sat down on a chair next to the bed and took a deep breath.
"A long time ago, there was a young warrior, who did not know himself...." -
Cracks Chapter 2.
"...She I could have just said goodbye or something."
Finnigan dodged under my swing, his Dual Ichor biting into my side. Digital code flared and I rolled toward, behind him. My Nikana lashed out and caught him in the back. He stumbled forward, his armor lower without his effigy and fell forward. A singing sound filled the arena and he stood as the digital world fixed his wounds. He dropped into a ready stance drawing his viper pistol. I drew my Telos AkBolto and sank into crouch.
"Maybe she has a small crush on you, maybe it was just to look convincing." He stated. "Women are an enigma wrapped in a mystery and deep-fried in crazy."
Before he finished his sentence the match started and this pistol spat. I rolled under the shots.
"That is true."
"Take Sarah." Finnigan said, his voice calm despite the difficulty he was having dodging my shots. "I've been working with her since she woke and I still don't understand her completely."
In tilted my guns down moving to reload.
"She's like a Kavat, Finn." I said.
Finn charged forwards, his viper spraying shots and I snapped my pistols up. The first two shots hit him square In the chest.
"We won't ever understand her." I said as the simulation ended. "You'll just eventually compile a list of what makes her happy and what makes her scratch your face off and the rest of us will try to stick to it."
Finnigan nodded.
"How much time do we have?"
I checked my HUD. "None."
Finnigan drew his Ichor and I drew my Dragon Nikana.
"Weapons and powers are offline until the suppression field is down. Second Councillor Mira has not made contact, assume her to be compromised." I said into the radio. "Remember, Tsun and Nia are our targets, they are no longer our brother and sister they are renegades."
The rest of my memories of the assault melted into a blur of blood and steel. We tried to take as many alive as we could, both sides did. Very few wanted to shed their kin's blood. But it was unavoidable. So much death, so much violence. The horrors we found in Tsun's labs and Nia's "education centers" I cannot speak of.
I stepped back into my dojo, my warframe clean, my soul heavy. Behind me Mira floated on a stretcher, her warframe scarred, pieces torn and stained with dark liquid. Tak watched, clad in the black robes of Barrow-Keeper.
"How...?" He asked.
"Don't," I snapped. It was both a warning and a answer.
I reached to lift Mira off the stretcher and stumbled. Tak grabbed my shoulders holding me steady.
"Go rest Arbiter. I will tend to this one." He said calmly.
"She isn't..." I started. "She can't be..."
"She is still with us." He said "I will call her back, and Katherine will mend her body."
I nodded.
"You need to rest Arbiter."
The door opened again and Finnigan and Darrin walked in. Finn was limping slightly and Darrin held his shoulder with a grimace. We had taken quite a beating, but we were alive.
"Finn!" Sarah cried and ran towards him. She grabbed his shoulder, ordering him support and looked over him searching for damage. "Are you okay?"
Fin was silent, his body shaking.
"Finn speak to me."
He turned to her Sarah looked at him for a second before she bowed her head. Finn put his arm around her and they set off towards their quarters. I turned and saw Darrin vanish into the Bio Lab.
I stood in my quarters feeling the water in the shower run over my warframe.. Washing away the blood, soothing my muscles. I hurried outside as a muffled thump rang out.
Darrin stood in the Arbiter Commons area driving his fist against wall.
I grabbed his shoulder and he turned, his fist stopping inches from my face. His helmet was shaking, his voice unsteady."We killed them. We killed kin."
He looked at me, waiting for some speech in necessity, some assurance it was all necessary. But I had none.
"Yes we did, and by Blood and Steel I pray we never have to do it again."
Darrin drove his fist into the walk again and I heard it crack.
"We should have..." He started.
I met his gaze.
"We did what we could, to minimize casualties. No one wanted a civil war. But they weren't going to surrender without a fight."
Darrin stared at me.
"How can you be so calm." He asked. "How can you...?"
I reached out across the neural link we shared and opened my mind, feeling thoughts and images flow across. When the torrent stopped Darrin bowed his head.
"I'm sorry I didn't know..."
"That is the point." I said. "We are leaders, we have to be stoic. We have to be sure."
Darrin took a deep breath.
"I don't want to fight kin."
"Then let us hope we never have to."
I motioned to his quarters.
"Go get some rest, brother. I'll see to the Clan."
I keyed a teleport to the infirmary and stepped into the quarantine area. Once the computer was sure I was free of contamination the door turned green and I entered the medical bay. Katherine pushed past me towards Tak who was holding Mira down as her body convulsed. Even in his Nekros Prime he was having trouble.
I ran over and placed my hands on Mira's stomach, pressing down.
"Mira, calm yourself." I yelled.
"It's no use she can't...." Katherine started.
Mira's warframe surged with energy, its jet black skin cackling with power. She turned to face me."Tsun knows, he know..."
I laid a hand on her head.
"Tsun is dead, his Oro is awaiting trial as we speak." I said. "You have done well Paragon."
"Not Paragon, not anymore." She whispered. "They took away my rank. I should have fought harder."
"You did your part. You were very brave." I said softly. "I would be honored to fight alongside you."
Mira's eyes dropped as Katherine injected something into her arm. Her warframe went red again.
"I would like... Would like." She murmured. "To join your..."
I laid a hand on her head.
"Later, sister. For now sleep and recover your strength." I said. "I will watch over you. You are safe now."
I looked at Katherine.
"Will she be okay?"
Katherine shrugged sadly.
"Physically she'll be fine. Her body is already healing from he trauma." She said. "Mentally? From her records and the scans I did she's under gone a huge stress. Her... Social side, looked up to Nia as a sister and Tsun as a brother. Her formal side took great pride in her position in the clan. She's lost both in a single day."
I nodded and went to leave. Katherine grabbed my arm.
"When she wakes, if she chooses to, she will be looking for someone to follow, for something to believe in." Katherine stated. "You already do so much, are you sure you can provide that as well?"
I paused. Katherine stared at me and I realize she had seen me lay my hand on Mira. Seen how tender I had acted.
"I brought this clan together, watched over it."
Katherine released my shoulder and I walked away. Her last words a whisper.
"But who watches over you?"
I walked down the hallways of the Dojo. I turned a corner and saw Sarah pounding on Finn's door.
"Open the door Finn! Let me help you. You don't have to..." She stopped as Finn wrenched the door open.
"Yes I do! You weren't there! You don't know what it was..."
"Because you ordered me to stay here." Sarah cried. "I should have been there..."
"No!" Finn shouted. "I'm glad you weren't. You wouldn't have been able to..."
"To what?"Sarah accused. "I am every bit the Tenno you are."
Finn shook his head.
"You are soft, you are..." He whispered.
"Better soft, and vulnerable," Sarah screamed, "than tough and walled off!"
She turned and stalked away. Finn stared after her and then the door slid shut and latched. A growl was all I got for knocking.
I wandered into the main hall and saw Darrin enter the bio-lab. I followed him in.
"I told you to get some rest." I said.
"I can't rest." He replied. "I just need to be alone with my work right now. I'm sorry brother."
I nodded sadly.
"Okay."
I wandered off a few more hours until I found myself back at my quarters. I knelt on the meditation pad and willed the darkness to surround me.
So many breaks, so many cracks. Darrin had once said Tenno where experts at striking cracks. But how good were we at mending them, I wondered as the darkness rose around me.
How good was I? -
The revelations of the Lotus' past has shaken the Tenno to their core. But some foundations, though cracked and weathered, remain strong.
Cracks Chapter 1
"Natah."
The word echoed around the room. Around the circular chamber I sat in. The figure at the 'head' of the circle of kneeling a position indicated only by its slight elevation over the others, shifted.
"That is not my name." The Lotus said. "Natah is dead."
"Is she truly?" Cried an Excalibur Prime, clad in white with a purple cape on his shoulders. "You have hid many things from us, how can we trust you."
"Quiet Marcus." A Nyx Prime clad in dark gray and green. "Let us not be hasty."
"Perhaps haste is necessary here, a glimpse of what lay ahead." This was from a Volt, his voice old and wise, a strange contrast to appearance and stereotype. "I call for an vote. All those in favor of declaring the Lotus a traitor and banishing her from our midst."
Marcus' hand shot into the air, only to waver, and then finally retract as minutes passed with no support. Even the Volt who called for the vote remained unmoving.
"Why do you waste our time with such childish pranks?" Marcus queried.
Alan, the Volt, shrugged.
"I figured if we were going to waste time being children perhaps we should use the opportunity to see who shares your madness." He said evenly. "I have my answer. I will lay aside my childish actions if you will lay aside yours."
"How do we know we can trust you, Lotus?" A Saryn, clad in green and yellow, asked. "That this truly is the greatest of your secrets?"
"It is not." The Lotus declared. "But I have always acted with your best interest in mind."
"How can we be sure of that?" An Equinox in black and red. "Who would trust with no assurance?"
I rose and moved to stand before the Lotus, the others around me reaching for weapons as I moved towards the unarmed woman, human in all but nature. I knelt.
"I swear my fealty to you, Lotus, as I did when you woke me. When you called me from slumber to stand in defense of a world that had no heroes."
I raised my voice.
"Like I have done every day, I take up my blade and throw myself into the fray. I do this because I remember. I remember the fear in your voice when the odds turned against us. I remember the pain whenever a brother or sister fell. I remember what so many here have forgotten."
The room was hushed for a minute, then two, then five. Finally someone snickered and a whisper ran through the room.
"Show off."
A Ember Prime clad in black and orange raised her voice.
"Return to your seat, Ryoko. These theatrics accomplish nothing."
I did not raise my head as I knelt there. Inwardly I was shaking, feeling the weight of a hundred eyes on me.
"I will not move until my oath is accepted or denied."
A hushed gasp ran through the assembled as the truth of my actions set in.
"I have already accepted your oath, Tenno. but thank you."The Lotus said. I started to rise and a Black and Red Equinox knelt by my side.
"I second my brother's oath."
I heard shuffling as Tenno rose. Darrin joined me his black and green Frost Prime kneeling at my right.
One by one more than half of the council rose and joined me. The Lotus surveyed the group, emotion breaking through her voice.
"Thank you children."
Slowly we rose and made our way to our seats. Alan cleared his throat.
"Well with that matter settled we have a few minor things to discuss."
As I let the council chamber the red and black Equinox tapped me on the shoulder. I felt her stiffen as I turned and the symbol on my chest became visible, it's yellow shield like lines in contrast to the red feather like sigil on her own chest. She shook herself slightly.
"Councillor Ryoko. I am Mira." She said. "Some of the councillors are going to the meditation rooms for reflection after this. Would you care to join us?"
I paused. Tenno rarely socialized outside of clans, and even that was rare. I thought for a moment and nodded.
"I have a few moments."
Mira turned to a green and black Nyx.
"Nia, I will be in the meditation room with Arbiter Ryoko." Mira said. I will be back at the Dojo shortly."
"Take whatever time you need. We have no urgent plans at the moment."
Mira led me to the meditation hall.I looked around.
"How many others will be joining us."
"None." Her voice had an odd tone to it. Almost teasing, but underlay with something I could not understand.
"You said there would be others." I said.
"I said some, two could be considered some."
"Why didn't you just tell me that?" I said as I knelt on the pad.Mira shook her head, playfully.
"Do you know how much Nia would tease me for asking another Councillor on a date?"
I froze and Mira laughed, then muttered something about bad timing.
Mira's warframe seemed to shift, the red becoming more prevalent.
"I apologize for her actions Arbiter. She enjoys playing games a bit too much."
I tilted my head.
"So it's true what they away about your kind." My voice was calm, inquisitive. "That you truly are two separate forms."
Mira smiled.
"Not entirely. She isn't gone. She's still in my head." Mira frowned. She's so impulsive, she wants me to kiss you. That's not going to happen."
Her last words were spoken more to herself.
I smiled.
"Would it be that bad of an idea? You are quite attractive."
Mira tensed and moved back slightly.
"I do not think that would be appropriate."
I smiled slyly.
"So this isn't a social call. You need my help with something."
Mira's wary posture subsided and she stared at me inquisitive.
"How do you know?"
"If it was a social call you would have made an excuse, not rebuked me. We may be evolved but we are still human, some mannerisms are still good indicators."
Mira smiled.
"I hope I am right about you. For the sake of many more besides myself."
"Then let us set aside pretense and be honest."
Mira took a deep breath and spoke evenly.
"Tsun and Nia intend to usurp the Lotus."
I folded my hand.
"Assuming I believe you, you may be making a huge mistake." I said. "The three of us are quite good friends, I may be part of this."
Mira shrugged, but her eyes were tracking the now empty room.
"I doubt you'd start trouble in such a place. The commotion would surely draw security." Mira said, her hand going behind her back.
"There wouldn't be much of a commotion. You haven't seen me fight, girl." I shrugged as I spoke. "I don't do long duels. Short and quick is more my style."
Mira smiled and I could only imagine what her other half was saying.
"There would certainly be a commotion." Mira said confidently. "You are overconfident."
"It isn't overconfidence, sister." I said shifting. "I look forward to watching you eat your words."
Mira moved back and I shook my head.
"Once this is all over and the Elders decide their fate you owe me a duel." I stated and leaned forward. "But for now, tell me what you know."
"You believe me." Mira's relief was visible.
"If you wanted to trick me you would have come up with a far more believable tale. And I have my own reasons to be cautious." I said. "But back to business, where is this attack, when, and who all is involved."
Mira talked for a while before she suddenly stiffened and her warframe faded back to black.. The door opened and Nia stepped in.
"Paragon Mira, something has come up."
Mira turned and then skipped off, an odd sight in a warframe.
"We must go now, see you soon Arbiter!"Disclaimer: I do not own Warframe, Digital Extremese does. The material used here is used as with any other fan-fic. They only ideas contained within that I can lay claim to are original ideas not present in game.
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Toxic is anything that incites arguments (not debates) or detracts from the original post.
Think of the conversation as a living thing. Toxic is anything that kills the conversation, or makes the people involved highly uncomfortable without adding any value.
You should be able to avoid being toxic simply by treating people with all due respect and only posting controversial opinions if they actually advance the conversation.
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For Rifles: Karak.
For Exotic Weapons: Boltor
For Bows: Paris
For Shotguns: Hek
For Snipers: Vulkar
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1. Buffs total damage. It basically adds like an elemental mod would.
2. It does buff warframe abilities and weapons.
3. It is, sadly, single target when cast for buff and will not chain to enemies for damage or allies for buff.
4. No.
5. Depends entirely on aiming skill. If you coordinate with teammates you could use it easily by asking them to hold still for a moment. Otherwise you'd have to be able to hit a moving target.
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1. If there is a God in warframe, something the devs have not clarified, He is probably working behind the scenes more than in the open.
2. Clones still have souls. Cloning would still produce a human being, it would simply give you more control over their genetic traits.
3. Souls can't simply be traded between bodies. Not to mention that the Grineer would most likely simply kill the Operator rather than experiment with something as vague and tricky as souls.
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Greetings, fellow Tenno.
I am Rakawan. MR 18 with 2+ years on warframe.
I am the clan warlord of Miraalan, the same clan which Yzjdriel, the Heretic Healer, is part of.
I've finally decided to have a visible presence on these forums.
But I've been here the whole time....
watching...
reading...
thinking....
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No longer buying.
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Only buying Maxed.
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Pm price ingame or on here.
Maxed Only.
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Having played both, Nezha is a good damage dealing alternative.
His skill set focuses on the same interplay of abilities that make Loki powerful. It requires very little to adapt between them.
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The all currently allows you to deploy an extractor to any planet you want, even if you still haven't cleared it.
For example I have an extractor on earth. I have yet to clear the moon survival and mobile defense. All the nodes are unlocked but not all have been completed. The game ui says i cannot deploy an extractor yet, even though all nodes are unlocked.
I will leave this extractor outbound so you can see this, and because I am unsure whether or not this is a bug or the in-game extractor deployment is glitched.
Can you replicate?: Yes
How to replicate:
1. Acquire extractor.
2. Open app and deploy extractor to a planet you have not completed all missions on.
3. ...
4. I want to say profit but if its the app and not the game UI this will probabaly get you banned for exploiting. Don't exploit this.
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Looks like ;P
I see so many false promises from many game companies.. that i wouldn't be surprised.
Don't get me wrong.. i'm not saying "I like this", "This is how it should be done", "I agree to such behaviour".
No.
I merely states the fact: This is how it is.
Be prepared for that for the next time.
I see so many angry people here in forums.. thats pointless. With such approach they can still criticize DE, but without so much unnecessary irritation.
After 2 Years and 5 months of playing this game I am prepared. I am prepared for this to be delayed another day.
However I love this game and DE too much to bury my head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong instead of raising awareness and offering input on how to avoid these fiascoes.
If you all want to pretend nothing is wrong, go ahead. But this IS an issue that we were PROMISED would not happen again and has.
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Read this as:
"We TRY to release Wednesday, December the Second"...
or.. "We do not release before Wednesday, December the Second""
or.. even better: "We release this week, between Wednesday, December the Second and Sunday ;)"
That how most of game industry works.. not only DE.
We need to be patient and get out of this hype train
Oh I get it.
"New Warframe." Now means "There might be a new skin."
"New Cinematic Quest." Means "we made a short cartoon on youtube three weeks ago."
When a company says they have a release date it is the date on which they release.
This could have been avoided if DE had said "Try to" "Between." or "Hoping to." Instead of "Confirmed" "Planning on." and "Still today."
Going to great lengths to keep an update a surprise, and hyping it up, only to fumble and reveal how unprepared you are is not good practice.
Thankfully this community is forgiving, but DE did drop the ball on this one, and they need to rethink their release strategy so they can keep their promise that "This won't happen again." (The promise they made last update.)
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At this point a simple:
"Need a few more hours. Major (because they have to be for this sort of delay) problems have arisen with quest progress (or whatever misison type is being hindered.) (Clarification of issues here) We APOLOGIZE for the delay."
Would do wonders for those of us who are concerned, probably less so for the little children crying "GIMME GIMME".
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It isn't the lack on an update that we are concerned about. It is the uncharacteristic lack of statements from DE that is concerning.
Operation: Shadow Debt Post 18.4.3 Feedback [Megathread]
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by Rakawan
I really like how this was done. It makes the focus be on working on the event. Not getting a reward and gletting out. Unlike simply being handed the rewards we can now get more than one copy. This means that there will be copies available for newer players who miss the event.
The power these mods provide more than makes up for the difficulty in getting them.