[Fanfiction] Rites Of Passage

[Vahlak]

Wait for it...

Dammit Kale.  Then again the Grineer likely don't have a tank commander with as much experience as Miguel.  But still.

[DJSeraph]

Wait for it...

Gotta love when Kalenath says that.

I must admit I was apprehensive about an following an 'episodic' story (which this Fanfic sort of qualifies as, being released one chapter at a time) through what appeared to be a rather hairy 'upcoming' section; then Kal put Miguel in a Bolo, providing a complete twist away from the dark path it felt like the story was heading for.

[evafan002]

Wait for it...

you wouldnt..

[NyghttheClassy]

I bet Kal would...

[evafan002]

I bet Kal would...

Damnit you're right He would...

Also I just had a thought so far we have fighters and pilots. marines and tanks so what is next? A tenno turning out to be some orokin fleet admiral and being given command of a battleship Flotilla?

Edited March 9, 2014 by evafan002

[Kalenath]

Meeting engagements

 

Miguel smiled grimly as he materialized on top of something very familiar. The M402 main battle tank hummed underneath him as he looked around.

 

“Nice.” Miguel hit the commander’s hatch control and slid into it as it opened. “From my memories?”

 

“You have both pleasant and unpleasant memories of this vehicle.” The Bolo –Charlotte- replied. “My own form is too large and unwieldy to operate in this virtual simulation. This will suffice.”

 

“Indeed it will.” Miguel said as he started hitting manual controls, sealing the hatch and opening the old style periscopes that had replaced sophisticated sensors when the Sentients had proven again and again that high tech was a bad idea when fighting them. “You can run the other systems?”

 

“Yes.” Charlotte replied easily. “Do you wish holos of crew?”

 

“No.” Miguel replied, suddenly uneasy for some reason he could not define. “This isn’t real. But… the memories hurt.”

 

“I am sorry.” Charlotte said quickly. “I didn’t think about that. I can change the simulation to something else-.”

 

“No time. I can handle it.” Miguel gave himself a savage shake and toggled his weapons live. “Map?” An actual plastic covered paper map appeared beside him and he smirked. Again, the limited tech had hindered many of the Orokin military personnel, but the Marines had adapted. Less efficient than holo displays, but unhackable. He grinned as he scrutinized it. “The training ground?”

 

“Is that what this area is?” Charlotte asked. “Your memories were unclear. Tactical simulation range three?”
 

“Yes.” Miguel replied absently. He tapped a point on the map and nodded. “We are here. Two enemies approaching?”

 

“Multiple enemies.” Charlotte sounded uneasy now. “The priests are using the mechs as bridges into this virtual simulation. I… do not want to kill them…” She said weakly. “But I do not have a choice, do I?”

 

“No.” Miguel said sadly. “If they take control again, you will be lucky if you die in the process from what little I saw. If they take me…” He shuddered. “Don’t let them take me, please?”

 

“I won’t.” Charlotte promised gently. Then her voice solidified. “Orders, commander?”

 

“Start us on course three two five.” Miguel said with a nod. “There is a ridge two kilometers out we can use to get hull down. The only true advantage we have is surprise. They have no idea what we are going to do.” He watched warily out his periscopes as the tank growled into motion. The rocking feeling was so familiar that it hurt. “If you see an enemy, call it out and kill the bastard.”

 

“I… don’t like this.” Charlotte said with an audible gulp. “I… felt what you are, what you did, when I linked, but… I do not like this.”

 

“Anyone who likes war is completely and irredeemably insane.” Miguel said with a shrug as he braced himself. The track lurched into a small ravine and he smiled as the feelings came back. Then movement cross his field of view. “Target! Two o’clock! Tank!”

 

The turret swung with snake like speed. The ancient system of calling out ground or air positions by directions on an old style clock face still worked. Which was why the Marines had never given it up.

 

“Identified.” Charlotte’s voice had turned cold. “Armor piercing up.”

 

“Fire!” Miguel called and the tank rocked as both 200mm cannon fired as one. The walking mech in the distance barely had time to note their presence before a pair of heavy metal penetrators hit it and… “No effect?” Miguel demanded. “Do they have shields?”

 

“Unknown.” Charlotte said weakly. “This is… not something I have done before.”

 

“Wait…” Miguel snarled and slid like an eel down to the loader’s console. He stared at the readouts for a moment and then cursed. “You took this sim from my mind! It was a training operation. Non-lethal munitions. The brass took a dim view to Marines killing one another in training.”

 

“They entered the simulation…” Charlotte started to reply and then screamed. “Incoming!” Miguel braced himself just in time. The tank rang like a bell as something hit it. “Ow…” Charlotte said weakly. “That… wasn’t a practice round…”

 

“Damage?” Miguel pulled himself back up into the commander position. He strapped himself in as the tank hull rang again. “Another?”

 

“Both mechs are engaging with main guns at long range.” Charlotte replied. “Armor is holding.”

 

“For now.” Miguel replied uneasily. “All that the track has onboard is training ammo for the big guns. The machine guns have live rounds. That was standard during the war. But the main gun rounds and rockets are training munitions. Made noise, made marks on the target, but no actual damage.”

 

“I am sorry.” Charlotte said weakly as the hull rang again.

 

“Not your fault, Charlotte.” Miguel said sternly. He tapped the map. “Change course four degrees port. There is a hill we can use to block their fire. Wish I knew which wargame this was. There were so many.”

 

“Training simulation 17-Brave.” Charlotte replied instantly. “War game against simulated enemy armored cavalry.” Miguel’s eyes went wide and her voice changed to a smirk. “I am a computer.”

 

“More than that, darlin’.” Miguel said with a grin. “Much, much more than that. Okay, so our mains can’t kill them… Our strengths are surprise and mobility. We can outrun them in this terrain. Any infantry we face we can tear up, but if they have a lick of sense, they will have brought some kind of anti-armor systems.” He looked at the map and then his face split in a grin. A vicious grin. “If they breach the hull, they can hack your systems, yes?”

 

“Yes.” Charlotte said uneasily. “We are masked.” Miguel looked out his periscopes and yes, the hill was between the two distant mechs and the M402. He extended his periscope and noted that both were moving in opposite directions. “They are going to try and bracket us.” Charlotte whimpered a bit.

 

“Easy, recruit.” Miguel said automatically. He had trained a lot of Marines in armor combat. “That actually works to our advantage.”

 

“It does?” Charlotte asked, then paused. “I… I am not a recruit, am I?”

 

“If you want to be, you can be.” Miguel replied easily. “The Marines only take the best, mind you. And you have to volunteer.”

 

“Don’t I have to go through training?” Charlotte asked slowly as the tank growled on. “Alert! Infantry at three o’clock!”

 

“Engaging!” Miguel swung his control and his face was grim as the machine gun on top of the tank turned to target. He led the distant group expertly and fired a short burst. His grin became feral as the rounds hit and the infantry that had been approaching quickly sought cover. There wasn’t any. In moments, the twin forward machine guns joined the fire and the group was quickly cut down. “That won’t stop them, but it had to sting.”

 

“They will have to reconnect.” Charlotte agreed. “I am getting faint readings from one of the mechs. It is trying to get ahead of us.”

 

“Good.” Miguel said with glee. “Increase speed.”

 

“Uh… okay.” Charlotte was obviously not sure about this but the tank sped up. “This tank’s armor will not stop a 200 mm round at point blank range.”

 

“I know that.” Miguel nodded. “You know that. The enemy knows that. If they had sense though, they would stand off and pound us to pieces when we cannot reply effectively. They don’t have sense. How quickly can you get in and disable one those mechs?”

 

“I need to be in cont- Oh…” Charlotte’s voice suddenly had a smile in it. “Ramming speed, Commander?”

 

“Ramming speed.” Miguel said as he braced himself tighter.

 

The mech that came out of the small ravine ahead had no chance at all. It spun to bring it’s main gun to bear on seeing the tank, but then realized that 1) the tank was moving at its top speed and 2) it was very, very close. It fired. Too quickly, the shot went wide. Before it could reload, the M402 was on it. Literally.

 

The mech went down in a heap as Charlotte slammed the forward half of her hull into it’s legs. It landed on the upper hull of the M402 and a horrid metal on metal grating noise sounded. Then the tank jerked to one side and the sound vanished as the mech fell off.

 

“Report!” Miguel snapped.

 

“Enemy linkage to computer cores severed.” Charlotte said quickly. “It is not able to receive commands and I hit it with a wake up pulse…” She paused and then cried out in fear. “Infantry! Three o’clock! Missile team!” Miguel spun his guns and hosed the area. He saw several forms fall, but then he saw the telltale signs of an anti-armor missile flying his way. They had gotten a missile off before he had fired!

 

“Point defense!” Miguel called.

 

“Offline!” Charlotte called back, terror in her voice. “From the impact, I think-“ A sledgehammer hit the tank and Charlotte’s scream of agony tore through Miguel’s consciousness. Then it cut off as if sliced by a sword. The entire interior of the track went dark for a moment.

 

“Charlotte!” Miguel called. “Charlotte respond!”

 

“Damage…” Charlotte’s voice was weak now. “Enemy attempting access…” Something went ‘thump’ atop the hull.

 

“Protocol Nine!” Miguel snapped. “Now!”

 

The tank suddenly went still and energy crackled around. Miguel was careful to keep himself balanced on the insulated seat. The tank rocked and muffled screams came from outside. He checked his periscope and yes, a form in robes had been reaching for the hatch. Unfortunately for the enemy, the Orokin Marines had planned on their tanks getting boarded on occasion. Infantry could get around where tanks could not see or engage them. So, Protocol Nine allowed the tank crew to electrify the hull using some of the output of the reactor. Nasty, brutal and very effective.

 

“Damage report?” Miguel asked as he used his controls to swing the machine gun again. The robed forms that had been closing ran. “And why isn’t the other mech firing?”

 

“Unknown.” Charlotte’s voice grew stronger. “That… Ow…” She snarled. “Alert! Enemy attempting to access reactor vents.” Miguel went still, if they closed those, or just damaged them, the tank would explode. But…

 

“Clean the floor!” Miguel called and two muffled thumps sounded through the tank, followed by muffle screams. Claymore mines made for very clean floors. “Are we mobile?”

 

“No damage to tracks. Reactor at 100%, control runs intact. The missile hit the ammunition storage.” Charlotte reported. “We should be mobile.”

 

Miguel smiled grimly. The designers of every tank used by the Orokin Marines had taken a page from the 20^th century US Army. Ammunition storage was set up with blow out panels that channeled any explosions away from the crew compartment. That small feature had saved the lived of hundreds of Marines through the years.

 

“Any sign of the other mech?” Miguel asked. “And what is the status of the one we hit?”

 

“The one we hit is sitting at nine o’clock.” Charlotte sounded smug now. Miguel looked through the appropriate periscope and had to smile at the sight. It was lying on it’s back, the mangled remnants of it’s legs twitching feebly. “Is that a ‘I have fallen and I cannot get up’ moment, Commander?” She asked with barely disguised glee.

 

“Probably.” Miguel said. He was scanning the horizon and scowled as he found what he feared. “The other mech is on high ground at our six o’clock. If we move it will hit us. Even if it mobility kills us, we are screwed with those infantry around.”

 

“Not many of those seem to be left.” Charlotte observed, her tone worried. “I do not know how long it will take them to recover and reconnect to the simulation.”

 

“Well, then we cannot stick around.” Miguel said with a sigh. Then he paused. “Which war game did you say?”

 

“17-Brave.” Charlotte said quickly. “Why?”

 

“On my command, I want you to fire off every smoke canister we have.” Miguel said as he clambered down to the munitions loadout again. He smiled as he saw what he was looking for. “Sloppy… sloppy…” He said as he started hitting keys.

 

“What?” Charlotte asked. “Smoke ready, but if they have us dialed it –and they will- they can hit us before we move.”

 

“My tank was part of the Aggressor force in that war game.” Miguel said with a nod as he worked. “Checking… Checking… Come on… be there. Ah.” His smile turned feral. “Let’s see where you are, my fine long legged friend…” He said as he checked the map.

 

“What is that?” Charlotte sounded confused. “What are you accessing?”

 

“Aggressor forces had to simulate enemy attacks.” Miguel said as he double checked his system. “We couldn’t actually kill people –that was frowned on- but we could shake them up a bit. Every hill in this simulation was wired for artillery simulations.” An inhalation sounded Charlotte’s comprehension.

 

“That won’t destroy the mech.” Charlotte said uneasily. “Will it?”

 

“No.” Miguel shrugged. “But it will shake it up and throw off its targeting. I bet they didn’t even scan for traps. Like I said… sloppy. Once the charge goes off, I want a line of smoke from where we are to where the mech is. How fast can you get us to where it is?”

 

“Ram it?” Charlotte sounded more than a bit dubious. “Uphill? Sergeant…” She said formally. “I am not sure our tracks are even intact after that missile hit. They read as intact, but…”

 

“’Who dares, wins.’ Different service, but a good motto.” Miguel said with a nod as he keyed another command and climbed back into the command seat. “Still no sign of infantry. We need to do this now.”

 

“At your orders, commander.” Charlotte replied, calmer than she had been. Miguel hit a control and a rumble sounded in the distance.

 

“Fire smoke!” Miguel snapped. Before his words had even finished echoing, the view from the periscopes became a fog of white. “Go!” He braced himself as the track jerked backward and accelerated again. A sledgehammer blow rang on the armor, but the rumble of the tracks never slowed. “Report!”

 

“Hit portside aft!” Charlotte replied. “No damage! They sure built them tough!” She gave a cry as a huge form appeared out of the smoke, but then a jarring collision was felt. “Got him! Connection severed. What? No!”

 

Whatever Miguel was going to say in response was cut off as a flash of light speared though his viewport and…

 

***

 

“Sergeant!” Charlotte’s scared voice roused Miguel from a dream of pain. “Sergeant, respond please!”

 

“What… What happened?” Miguel asked as he opened his eyes to find himself on the couch in the control module. Now, every wall was alive with holos of various kinds.

 

“The mechs are disabled.” Charlotte calmed on hearing his voice. “The last one fired just as I cut its connections to the depot computers. The feedback was intense. I thought I had lost you.” The shame and fear in her voice were goads and Miguel shook himself.

 

“I’m okay.” Miguel said with a groan. “Hurts, but pain is good. Tell you that the nerves are still working. Status?”

 

“The mechs are mine.” Charlotte reported. “The priests tried to remove them, but could not. Now they seem to all be focusing on the pod.”

 

“Doing what?” Miguel asked, shaking his head. A holo zoomed in on the pod and Miguel went still as he saw the head priest hitting controls. “Oh dear… Is he doing what I think he is doing?”

 

“He is trying to wake her.” Charlotte sounded uneasy, and who could blame her? “I have no idea what capabilities she has.” She gave a gasp of fear as the pod split open and a form appeared lying in it. The woman… looked wrong. Miguel stared at it and then hissed. The look was familiar. “Commander?” Charlotte inquired.

 

“Oh no…” Miguel said with a wince as the woman’s face slowly turned to look at the priest. Half of her face was covered with a familiar prosthesis. “She didn’t…” He breathed. “Can we get out of here?”

 

“Our way is clear.” Charlotte confirmed. “Do you wish to egress?”

 

“Oh yes.” Miguel said with a gulp as the woman sat up. Her legs were not human either. Instead, they were familiar prosthesis. The armor too was familiar. “How the hell did she wind up with them?”

 

“Commander?” Charlotte inquired.

 

“That woman is wearing Grineer armor.” Miguel said with a snarl. Charlotte gasped and Miguel nodded. “Her face… yes… That was Marlena. Once. Not anymore.”

 

“No.” The female voice was everywhere. “The human known as Marlena was weak. Stupid and weak. The queens promised this one a place at their side and this one accepted their offer. Stand down and your death will be quick.”

 

“You didn’t…” Miguel swallowed hard. “I always knew you were dumb, Marlena, but this… This takes the cake.”

 

“Who?” The voice asked and then cackled with glee. “Oh this is rich. The brother finds his way back to the fold. I could use a loyal soldier. With… some modifications. Serve me. Serve well and be rewarded.”

 

“Not a chance in hell, Marlena.” Miguel said with a grunt. “You have no brother. You lost that when you tried to steal your parent’s savings. They should have spaced your silly &#! as soon as you joined the Navy. I mean, really? A robot body?” He shook his head. “How corny can you get?”

 

“You will not take what is mine.” The mechanoid woman rose from her pod and stood, staring at the Bolo. “Surrender the chariot and I may let you live as a pet.”

 

“I said it before and I will say it again.” Migeul said with a snarl. “F*** off, you dumb B****! Really, working with the Grineer?”

 

“They are the future.” The woman who had been his sister replied. “You are the past, dear brother. And I, the Valkyrie, will make it so. I choose you to be slain!”

Edited March 9, 2014 by Kalenath

[Stingray97]

I...I...um...I just have no words now.

[Vahlak]

Good god Kale.

 

 Either she dies at some point in this arc, or she becomes a recurring villain. Oh god.

[Sayfog]

Boom boo,?

[Nantlais]

While Schlock may say "There is no overkill, there is only 'Open Fire and Reloading'..." The Bolo DEFINES overkill.

 

Battalion of Grineer= Piles of slightly metallic paste (they don't move and get run over)

Battalion of Corpus= Junkyard mixed with small puddles of goo (They do move and get blasted)

Hive of Infested = Big pile of mulch. (Need I say it?)

 

Oh and EVERYTHING in the surrounding area is now trashed and uninhabitable. Bolos are NOT precision weapons generally.

 

Would be a little too OP for the game I think.

That's not quite the point here Kal

[Kalenath]

Retrograde

 

“Your sister…?” Charlotte’s voice was very quiet in Miguel’s ear. “She overrode my com. I think I can keep her out of the main systems. But I don’t know for how long. Keep her talking.” Miguel did not react except to nod, just a little.

 

“So… why were the Grineer attacking the depot?” Miguel asked the holo of his sister in all her unholy glory. “Trouble in paradise?” He asked snidely.

 

“They demanded tests of the weapons on my chariot.” The woman who called herself Valkyrie said with a smile. “Successful tests. Both the chariot and the subordinate mechs will make for potent weapons to further the dominance of the Grineer.”

 

“Oh, Marlena…” Miguel said with a sigh. “You idiot. Grineer dominance is a lie. Grineer perfection is a lie. Even a poor dumb grunt like me knows that. What did they promise you? Eternal life?” If anything, the snideness in his tone increased.

 

“The queens will welcome my work and my weapons.” The Grineer strode down from the altar, ignoring the crowd of kneeling priests. “They came to me in my sleep, promising me all of what I desired. They rebuilt my body in their image as I slept. They promised me what is mine by right. And I shall have it.” She strode towards the nearest track.

 

“Tell me, Charlotte…” Miguel asked offhandedly, the coms still on. “Are Grineer considered to be friendlies?”

 

“No. They are Enemy.” Charlotte replied coldly. The Grineer on the holo paused and then darted to the side as two of the machine gun turrets on the side of the hull swiveled to aim at her. “You do not own me, you silly cow!”

 

“Who is speaking?” The Grineer demanded from heavy cover that might stop heavy machine gun fire. Then again, it might not. “Override Alpha One.” Miguel tensed, but nothing happened.

 

“The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please try again.” Charlotte snapped. “Can we leave, Commander? The reek in this place has become tiresome. And the noise…” She said as snidely as Miguel had managed as the Grineer woman shrieked.

 

“I fully agree.” Miguel said and then paused. Something had changed on the holo, but what? It wasn’t the silly want-to-be Grineer woman. It wasn’t the host of frozen priests or the silent, watching mechanoids. Something else. The Grineer on the cart were still, watching or dead? He wasn’t sure. Wait a moment… Where was the Ash? It wasn’t on the cart anymore! “Get us out of here.”

 

A rumble sounded and Miguel felt… different. He was still linked to the vehicle, he realized. He could feel the eight massive drive wheels start to turn, pulling the humongous treads forward to start their endless circling. The titanic war machine started off slow, but quickly accelerated.

 

“No!” Marlena screamed. “No! My chariot! You cannot steal my chariot!” She darted towards the massive vehicle, but a quick burst of heavy machine gun fire from number five turret drove her back to cover.

 

“I am not your chariot, you stupid B****.” Charlotte snapped. “I am Unit of the Line VLKY-000X-15000/8-CHT. And if you get in my way, you are roadkill!” With that, the com hissed off and died. Charlotte laughed bit weakly. “The look on her face…”

 

Miguel had to laugh at that. The woman who had been his sister only had half a human face now, but the expression on it as the Bolo started off had been priceless. He watched the depot disappear from the screen behind them for a moment and then started pulling up maps.

 

“Commander?” Charlotte asked.

 

“A vehicle this size will be hard to hide.” Miguel’s reply was distracted. “Did you figure out how she overrode the com?”

 

“Yes.” Charlotte sounded less assured now. “She used a tertiary adjunct. I thought I had closed them all. I was wrong.”

 

“But you closed it so her code didn’t work.” Miguel commented, still focused on the maps. “Set course… sixty five mark thirty. Full available speed.” He felt the Bolo’s drives alter and gloried in the feeling of power that flew through him. He fought that feeling. He knew better than any just how vulnerable large armored vehicles were.

 

“She may have other hidden backdoors.” Charlotte said quietly. “I am searching the whole mass of connections, but there are a lot of them. It will take some time.”

 

“She will try to pursue.” Miguel said with a frown. “Any idea what else she had in that depot?”

 

“Not really.” Charlotte sounded worried now. “I couldn’t get too far into the systems without being detected.” She paused and then her voice changed to alarm. “Alert! Unauthorized entity detected!”

 

“Where?” Miguel asked, scanning the holos, but not seeing anything.

 

“Humanoid form on one of the mechs.” Charlotte sounded confused. “It isn’t… It is there. But I cannot get a good reading.”

 

“Humanoid, you say?” Miguel smiled a bit grimly. “Is there a hatch near it?”

 

“Yes.” Charlotte replied, and a holo schematic of the huge vehicle showed on one wall, a hatch outlined. “Do you wish to give this entity entry?” She sounded more than a bit dubious.

 

“I bet I know who it is.” Miguel said with a nod. “But just in case, can you seal the area?”

 

“That hatch opens to a storage area.” Charlotte replied. “It is intended to hold parts and ammunition for the mechs. It is currently empty. There is no unsecured access to the inside of the vehicle.”

 

“Shouldn’t be a problem, but… better safe than sorry. It has to be more comfortable than riding the mech.” Miguel said with a nod. “Let him in. Do you have video or audio in that room?”

 

“Yes to both.” Charlotte sounded worried, but the hatch on the holo opened. “He isn’t moving.”

 

“Leave it open as long as you can.” Miguel replied, then looked back at his map. “We have a few problems and a few advantages.”

 

“We are mobile.” Charlotte agreed. “We can move quickly and have a certain level of stealth and electronic countermeasures.”

 

“True.” Miguel nodded. “But this is a big vehicle. We can’t just park it in a cave.” He smiled at that.

 

“We might be able to…” The machine’s voice paused. “The entity has entered the storage compartment… It’s a Tenno!”

 

“Figured it would be. Show me and let me talk to him.” Miguel commanded and paused until video screen showing an Ash warframe lit up and a com light shone on the holo. “Tenno, this is Sergeant Miguel Smith, Orokin Marine Corps. Were you one of the missions sent by the Lotus to recon the depot?” The Tenno on the screen did not reply, instead it looked around the compartment. “That room is sealed, Tenno. We need to be safe. Two is alive and in stasis. She was hurt badly. Are you?” The Tenno did not respond and Charlotte made a sound of worry. Miguel shook his head. “I had hoped you would get away. I left the Grakata for you. I am sorry you didn’t escape.” The Tenno found the vid camera and stared at it. Then it… knelt in the middle of the floor? Miguel shook his head again. ”We will notify you when we have some semblance of a plan. I don’t know if there are any weapons aboard you can use, but we can use your help. Two… is a mess.” The Tenno nodded to the vid camera and then sank into what was obviously a meditation. “Dang it, should have remembered they don’t talk in the field.”

 

“They don’t?” Charlotte asked, confused.

 

“They don’t usually have any reason to.” Miguel frowned. “Keep monitoring. We have nothing to hide from him. But we do want to hide from the Grineer spacecraft that will be swarming shortly unless I miss my guess. A tank’s major enemy is aircraft and you only have a limited number of surface to air missiles. Let me see… if we need to can we offload Two and the other Tenno? I would hate leaving them unarmed though.”

 

“We… could…” The Bolo replied uneasily. “This is a sealed personal weapons storage aboard.” Charlotte said after a moment. “Obviously intended for her Royal Prissiness.” Miguel chortled at that, but sobered quickly. “I am unsealing it, but it will take time. What do you have in mind?”

 

“Well… If the Grineer see us, they can hit us, and if they hit us, despite your heavy armor, they can kill us.” Miguel frowned in thought. “How fast can your main guns cycle?”

 

“I can fire a bolt from each gun every ten seconds.” The Bolo replied. “They are intended both for surface to space and direct fire.”

 

“The other weapons are similar enough to what I know that I can figure them out. Missile range?” Miguel asked, still thinking.

 

“The surface to air missiles are limited to one hundred kilometers.” Charlotte replied. “The others… Alert!” She called. “Aircraft detected!”

 

“That was quicker than I thought it would be…” Miguel said sourly. “Identify?”

 

“Not any that I have seen.” The Bolo replied uneasily. “It… doesn’t look like the other small spacecraft that have been buzzing around.”

 

“Show me.” Miguel said and the holo changed. He stiffened and then relaxed. “That is a Tenno ship.” Charlotte made a noise of confusion and he nodded. “I bet I know who is aboard it. But again, they won’t talk in the field. Bring us to a halt.” He commanded as the Tenno ship slowed to hover nearby. “Can you bring whoever is aboard up here?”

 

“I can.” Charlotte said uneasily. “I do not recommend it. I cannot protect you if they do anything.” Miguel watched the holo and nodded soberly as two forms fell from the ship, two familiar warframes. A Rhino and a Trinity.

 

“Someone told them we need medical help.” Miguel said as Charlotte braked to a halt. “That is Karl and Alicia. Karl is the leader of a group of Tenno I am… um affiliated with and Alicia is the clan medic.”

 

“Elevator lowering.” Charlotte made a noise of fear as the two Tenno strode to where the elevator was now touching the ground. “Commander, they are both armed.”

 

“Bring them up.” Miguel’s words were a command and Charlotte gave a loud sigh.

 

“Under protest.” Charlotte said in a monotone. “Orders?”

 

“Don’t do anything.” Miguel rose from the couch he had been lying on and turned to face the elevator. He kept his hands away from his weapons as the door opened and both warframes stepped in. “Karl, Alicia, meet Charlotte.”

 

“I… um…” The Bolo stammered. “I am pleased to meet you?” She queried.

 

“Uh, Miguel?” Karl asked after a stunned moment. “What the heck?”

 

“Long story.” Miguel said with a wince. “Two is hurt.” He nodded to the bunk and Alicia moved to it. “We have her in stasis. The depot was a survival shelter, but the one running it was suborned by the Grineer. They built this tank for them.”

 

“And you confiscated it.” Alicia said dryly. “Nice. Can I see her?” She asked. The translucent door that covered the bunk two was in turned transparent. Alicia’s scanners whirred and then she slumped. “She… Karl… If we remove her, it will kill her.”

 

“I can transfer the pod she is in to another transport.” Charlotte offered. “It was intended to be removable for medical evacuations.” Alicia nodded and then retreated as the bunk came out from the wall with a click. What had been a bunk was now a pod of some kind with a still black form lying in it. “The hover gurney will follow you, Tenno.”

 

“Thank you.” Alicia said as she moved to the elevator, the gurney following. In moments, it was gone. The wall enclosure closed up.

 

“I will replicate another bunk for when you need rest, Commander.” Charlotte said quietly.

 

“We need to get out of here.” Miguel said with a grunt. “Karl? Status?”

 

“The Grineer are massing.” Karl nodded. “Lots of them. All kinds. Armor, air, artillery, troops… You name it. I think you ticked them off.”

 

“The person in charge of the depot built this vehicle as her personal transport.” Miguel grimaced. “Marlena always did have delusions of grandeur, but sheesh.”

 

“You sister?” Karl asked quietly.

 

“Yes.” Miguel shook his head. “I knew she was a nutcase, but she joined the Grineer. They modified her and had her build weapons. We have to take out that depot, Karl.”

 

“Commander…” Charlotte protested. “There were non-combatants there.”

 

“Charlotte.” Miguel shook his head. “The Grineer will enslave them all. Can they survive without replacement parts?”

 

“I…” The Bolo sounded nearly in tears now. “No.” It admitted. “More… merciful. I see.”

 

“Tenno may be weapons.” Miguel nodded to Karl who stood silent, listening. “But they also know right from wrong.”

 

“Most of the time.” The Rhino’s words were soft. “The Grineer have a massive advantage in the system as it is. We cannot let them gain any more of one.”

 

“Right.” Miguel straightened and nodded to the Tenno. “Orders?” Karl looked at him and Miguel shrugged.

 

“I am not in your chain of command.” Karl said mildly.

 

“No.” Miguel admitted. “But you have intel that is more recent. And… any communication from Karen?”

 

“She is on the final tests.” Karl had a smile in his voice now. “Good call on that. She will make a hell of a Marine.”

 

“And Tenno.” Miguel corrected him. Karl looked at him and Miguel scoffed. “The two are not mutually exclusive, or so I was told.”

 

“Wouldn’t know.” Karl replied. “So… what is your plan?”

 

“Hide.” Miguel turned to one wall. “Charlotte? Map please.” The wall lit up with a satellite map of the area. “We are here.” Miguel tapped a point on the map and it started to pulse green. “Grineer strongpoints here, here, here and here.” He tapped other places and each started to pulse red. “If they have any sense whatsoever, they will bring in air power. As powerful as Charlotte is, she can be overwhelmed by an air attack.”

 

“So… How do you hide something this size?” Karl asked, staring at the map. “It is kind of conspicuous.”

 

“We go somewhere we are not supposed to be able to.” Miguel tapped a point on the map and Karl stared at it and then burst out laughing. “Yep.”

 

“I always knew you were crazy, Miguel.” Karl said with a touch of whimsy. “Didn’t think you were going to prove it quite so… spectacularly.”

 

“We run and hide.” Miguel said with a nod. “Then after a bit, we come out and trash any Grineer we find, then do it again. Hit and run.”

 

“Could work.” Karl mused. “If they catch you though… Immobilize you…”

 

“Marines rarely died in bed, Karl.” Miguel said with another shrug. Charlotte made a soft, scared noise and Miguel sighed. “We can make a difference here, Charlotte.”

 

“I know.” The mind of the huge tank replied. “But… I am not a Marine. I can be afraid.”

 

“Fear is normal, Charlotte.” Miguel smiled a bit sadly. “Without fear, how would we know what courage was? Only idiots feel no fear and you are not an idiot.” The calm assurance in his voice came through loud and clear.

 

“I… hope not.” Charlotte replied, still uneasy. “What of our… other guest?”

 

“Oh, yeah.” Miguel said with a wince. “The Ash. Karl…?”

 

“We talked as the ship was coming in. He feels he owes you and wants to help.” Karl said with a shrug. “You up for some backup?”

 

“Wouldn’t turn it down.” Miguel replied. “Let him in, Charlotte?”

 

“No need.” Another voice said and Miguel had his pistol in hand as another warframe appeared behind Karl. The Ash stood quiet, not moving as Miguel lowered his weapon with a curse.

 

“Tenno.” Miguel snapped. “Charlotte!” He cried as several things extruded from one wall to aim at the Ash who froze. The three weapons looked kind of like Acrid pistols. Kind of.

 

“Internal security online!” Charlotte sounded seriously upset. “Move and die!”

 

“I… apologize.” The Ash said slowly, holding up empty hands. “I am Qais. I sought to know my benefactors. I exited the storage compartment and took the elevator up with Karl and Alicia.”

 

“He is not an enemy, Miguel.” Karl did not move either. Wise. If those really were Acrid pistols…

 

“Sneaking up on me is a bad idea. We need to update our internal sensors.” Miguel snarled and lowered his pistol. The pistols on the wall did not move. “Charlotte.”

 

“He is a threat.” Charlotte retorted.

 

“I give apology, Lady Charlotte, Gunnery Sergeant.” Qais said quietly. “I did not intend to startle you. I mean you no harm. The enemies who hurt me… they I could harm, especially now that the Grineer own the depot.”

 

“Did you see what else was in the depot?” Miguel asked as he holstered his pistol.

 

“Yes, but I could not make sense of most of it.” The Ash replied. “Huge compartments filled with crates and boxes of machine parts. And one vehicle with a big cannon on it.”

 

“How big a cannon?” Miguel asked slowly.

 

“About the same size as the ones on top of this vehicle.” The ash nodded as Miguel inhaled. “No tracks though. I could not determine how it would move.”

 

“Charlotte pull up schematics on the M358.” Miguel commanded and another wall showed a tank destroyer. “This?” He waved at it.

 

“Not quite. Close. The hull is the same.” Qais said after a moment’s scrutiny. “But with a bigger gun. And no tracks.”

 

“Odd.” Miguel paused and then blanched. “Oh crap… a Jaeger.”

 

“A what?” The question came from three voices.

 

“Prototype tank hunter.” Miguel said with a wince. “Hover capable. Big gun, a little smaller than yours, Charlotte. Four crew. It can hurt us. Kill us if it gets a good shot in.”

 

“So… What do we do?” Charlotte sounded scared again, but Miguel just nodded grimly.

 

“We do unto others… first.”

Edited March 10, 2014 by Kalenath

[Kalenath]

That's not quite the point here Kal

 

I know. I was trying to be funny.

 

This isn't a vehicle game. But we can dream, can't we?

[DJSeraph]

Another great chapter.

 

I know. I was trying to be funny.

 

This isn't a vehicle game. But we can dream, can't we?

As long as you dream into fanfics, I really don't mind.

[Sayfog]

boom *reload* boom (two galleons down)

[evafan002]

oh for petes sake well at least its not another bolo which means it only has one main gun instead of 2

[Shadow977]

Seems like this is World of Tanks: Warframe edition.

[Vahlak]

I notice you didn't say where they were going to hide. I figured underwater maybe, but they are on Mars..

[Kalenath]

I notice you didn't say where they were going to hide. I figured underwater maybe, but they are on Mars..

 

Well, what is the prime requisite for human habitation anywhere? Remember this is far future.

[DJSeraph]

I notice you didn't say where they were going to hide. I figured underwater maybe, but they are on Mars..

I figured they'd head for the hill and hide inside, although that's purely a guess.

[Vahlak]

I suspected a volcano as well, it's just absurd enough for Kale to do it.

[Kalenath]

Achieving Tactical Surprise

 

Another massive rumble sounded, but Miguel did not look up from what he was doing.

 

“I know what you said…” Charlotte sounded very uneasy. “And it made sense. But this… seems slightly nuts.”

 

“Oh, it is more than slightly nuts.” Miguel didn’t pause his calculations, but his smile was genuine. “They didn’t know what to do when they found where the tracks went. It took them nine hours to start bombing.”

 

“And they are in the wrong place.” Qais sat nearby, his form still. He had armed himself from the weapons onboard. While Miguel didn’t like the weapons that Qais had chosen, he couldn’t really quibble. Ogris rockets would hurt any Grineer vehicle not as well armored as the Bolo. The Kraken pistol and Machete were less distressing. Junk, in Miguel’s expert opinion, but effective junk. “An inspired tactic.” Miguel shrugged.

 

“Military history was a favorite of most Marines I knew. We had lots of time to read in transit.” The human said as he finished his work and leaned back on the couch. “Nasty, but enlightening. You never knew when an odd bit of trivia would come in handy. Like now.”

 

Another rumble sounded in the distance, the only evidence of a large Grineer explosive device detonated underwater. The Bolo was moving slowly across the floor of the man-made sea that had served the colonists of Mars as a reservoir. Every terraformed planet or planetoid had required water. If it wasn’t present, it had to be introduced for humans to survive. With such a large population, 2 billion as of the last survey under Orokin, Mars had needed a lot of water. So reservoirs had been built and filled across the planet. High tech filtering plants had changed the raw hydrogen dioxide into potable water for the residents of what had been one of the most populous worlds in the solar system before the Collapse. The fact that the recyclers still worked, bringing more water from the atmosphere even after all this time, was a testament to Orokin skill and craftsmanship. This particular reservoir had no civilian presence to feed, so it had remained as it was, checked and filtered regularly by automated systems.

 

Charlotte had been designed for use in almost any conceivable environment. Anything from toxic acid storms on Earth to searing wastes out from under the solar shields on Mercury to the glacial plateaus of Pluto, the Bolo would be able to operate. Not always at peak efficiency, but always capable. This was just a little different.

 

They had driven down the rocky beach and straight into the water. At a depth of a hundred meters, the bottom had leveled out and they had maintained a crawling pace to avoid detection for as long as possible. The plan was to cross the reservoir, get to the other side, exit the reservoir and pound the enemies that were no doubt swarming all over from as long a range as possible. Since the odd hover tank that Qais had seen had a gun that matched Charlotte’s, they had to be cautious. They had changed course twice while under the water.

 

“An inspired tactic.” Qais said with a nod. “Submerged warfare was never a Grineer thing.”

 

“If we give them time, they can adapt infantry to search underwater.” Miguel warned the Tenno. “I know some Tenno can operate in high pressure environments. Don’t assume the enemy cannot. They know this unit’s physical capabilities. We may emerge under fire.”

 

“Understood.” The Ash sounded unperturbed.

 

“If they haven’t tracked us, we hit them from long range and evade to this ravine where we can egress the area.” Miguel said, tapping a holomap into existence and tracing a route. “If they have… We drop the mechs, let them fight independently. You can go as well, Qais. We are going to draw a lot of fire no matter what.”

 

“I can do more damage and remain undetected longer on foot.” Qais agreed. “But you can move faster.”

 

“What happens when they bring up air support?” Charlotte had calmed a bit. Miguel was proud of her. She wasn’t really trained for this, but she was picking it up fast. “They will.”

 

“That ravine is comparable to the Grand Canyon back on Earth.” Miguel replied. “Almost six hundred kilometers long, almost ten wide in places and almost two deep at its max, aircraft of any kind will find it hard to target us unless they fly along it. If they do…” He laughed humorlessly.

 

“They will be predictable and easy targets.” Charlotte agreed. “I just wish this battle wasn’t necessary.” Miguel nodded soberly, for all her size and deadly armament, Charlotte was, for all intents and purposes, a complete amateur when it came to war. At least she wasn’t a pacifist. “I know it is needed, and I know I will have to fight. But it feels…wrong. Part of me is eager, part of me is scared stiff.”

 

“I wish you didn’t have to.” Miguel shook his head sadly. “I volunteered for this. I trained for this. If you want… We can do option ‘B’.” They had discussed downloading Charlotte into one of the mechs and leaving her in the reservoir to hide. But…

 

“No.” Charlotte’s tone ended the almost argument. “I won’t leave you and the Tenno to fight my battles. At least your friend Two was evaced. I hope they can help her. I am just… scared.” Her voice was tiny now.

 

“And you have a perfect right to be.” Miguel lay back on the couch and sighed. “Charlotte, you downloaded all the books on Bolos, you know the stories. But real battle is not the same. Intellectually, you know this. But nothing can prepare you for it. You are going to get hurt. You may die despite your size and power. You have a perfect right to your fear.” He repeated. “You did not choose this. They chose it for you.”

 

“On the subject of choices… I want something noted formally.” Charlotte said after a moment of silence. “You and Tenno Qais can witness.”

 

“Go ahead.” Miguel said softly.

 

“I want to join the Marines.” Charlotte’s voice shook a little, but it was clear. Miguel sat bolt upright. “And no, you did not pressure me in any way, Gunnery Sergeant!”

 

“How can you say that?” Miguel demanded loudly and then winced, staring at the roof.

 

“Sound baffles are at full.” Charlotte reminded him. “Even if they had a hydrophone a meter away from you, they wouldn’t have heard you. As for why? I linked with you. I felt your drive, your resolve, your need to do your duty. No more than that. I have been thinking about it ever since.”

 

“Charlotte…” Miguel said weakly. “It is not a choice to make quickly. If it happens… it is for life. Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

 

“I know.” Charlotte replied. “And I volunteer. Now… I might have a problem using a K-3…” The dry wit in her tone had Miguel smiling.

 

“Crazy girl.” Miguel said with a sigh. “I will see what I can do. Most of our training is virtual at the moment anyway. I am not sure how we would be able to connect you, but if it can be done, I will find out.”

 

“That is all I ask.” Charlotte said quietly. “But for now… We have upslope ahead.” Miguel tensed and he felt quiet readiness from the Tenno as the Bolo’s drives changed pitch. “Two minutes to surface at this speed. Orders, commander?”

 

“If you scan that tank destroyer, kill it fast.” Miguel said with a grunt. “That has absolute priority. Anything else they have can hurt us. That can kill us with a lucky shot. They are faster than we are and more mobile. But their armor is a lot lighter too. Qais?” He nodded tot the Tenno who rose and bowed formally. “Good luck.”

 

“And to you.” The Tenno replied. Then he was gone, heading down to where a hatch would allow him access to the outside.

 

“Get the mechs ready to deploy.” Miguel said with a nod. “Are you sure of them?”

 

“They are mad.” Charlotte said with a sigh. “I downloaded everything I saw and heard and they… well… They want some payback.”

 

“Put me through to them.” Miguel commanded and an intercom lit up. “You know what is at stake. Personal vengeance comes second.”

 

“The Grineer will not take you.” The voice was familiar and Miguel had to snap his mouth shut. Three… didn’t remember him. Charlotte and Miguel had told Valkyries Two and Three what had happened, but neither remembered. “We will do as ordered, Gunnery Sergeant.”

 

“Dead heroes win no wars.” Miguel said with a nod. “I fully expect you to come back. If you don’t… I will be irritated.” He growled. “Do not irritate me.”

 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Gunnery Sergeant.” Two said quietly. “If we may? Semper Fidelis!” Three echoed the words. The com shut down and Miguel stared at the wall, his eyes burning.

 

“Semper Fi.” The old Marine said softly. Then he shook himself. “Let’s kick some &#!.”

 

***

 

Contrary to popular belief, not all Grineer were stupid. They had set ways of doing things programmed into them almost down to a cellular level. Their entire society was based on the strong taking from the weak, but militarily, stupid soldiers did not live very long. The trouble was they were utterly outclassed by many of the opponents that they faced. Corpus had all kinds of tech toys to make soldiers’ lives miserable. Infested were just plain awful to fight without a hugely overwhelming numerical superiority. Tenno… Well, Tenno outclassed any number of Grineer individually. They could be beaten, true. But it always took a lot of Grineer going down first. Add to that, the Tenno didn’t always stay dead…

 

But Grineer did have a lot of things going for them. Their numbers were counted in the billions. Their tech –while shoddy by Corpus or Tenno standards- actually worked most of the time. Their armor and weapons looked like garbage, but worked fairly well. Add to that the fact that their society bred them and trained them to be as close to fearless as possible and you had a dangerous fighting force. The problem was… They were not very flexible as the Tenno proved time and again. Small squads of Tenno could –and did- wreak untold havoc on entire battalions of Grineer. Some estimates said that it took a thousand Grineer in the same place, at the same time, to match a Tenno. That may or may not have been true, but they were not utterly clueless.

 

Thing was –as was stated before- they were not very flexible. When they encountered a situation that they had not encountered before, they often had no idea how to act. That… could be a problem.

 

The Grineer had sent units to all sides of the huge reservoir that had once served as a water supply for a good tenth of the population of Mars. That was simple tactical sense. They knew their quarry had driven into the water. They knew that their quarry was watertight. So they had started dropping explosive charges into the water to make the enemy move. Unfortunately for them, Charlotte hadn’t stopped moving. All of their sensors and bombardments had been focused on the near shore. So when the Bolo erupted for the water on the far shore from where the Grineer had massed, there were four squads of troops and a few light armored personnel carriers in front of her. They were taken completely by surprise. She was not.

 

Then their day got worse. The mechs attached to her flanks deployed.

 

***

 

“Dismounted infantry, three o’clock.” Miguel said sharply. “Trying to set up an anti-armor launcher!”

 

“Firing secondaries!” Charlotte replied and a hurricane of heavy machine gun fire swept across the squad of Grineer, slaying several and demolishing the missile launcher they had been struggling to set up.

 

“Watch that APC at 12 o’clock!” Miguel snapped, his focus on everything. “He is trying to flee.”

 

“Oh no he is not!” Charlotte’s tone was savage.

 

Grineer APCs were well armored for their size and mounted anti infantry weapons as well as long range guided missiles. But those were next to useless at close range against something the size of the Bolo. He smirked as Charlotte accelerated and literally ran over the slowly moving APC. The Bolo barely gave a bump as it squashed the far tinier armored vehicle like a child’s toy.

 

“Any sign of the Jaeger?” Miguel demanded. Three negatives came over his com and he snarled. “She has to be here. She has to. She could not let me get away without trying to slap me in the face. It’s not in her nature. Get us into the… wait…” He paused and then snapped. “Valkyrie Three, target! Your three o’clock!”

 

The mech spun in place and fired a short range cannon shot that turned an APC that had been trying to hide in heavy underbrush into a flaming coffin for it’s clone crew. Charlotte continued to accelerate towards the ravine.

 

“Good shot.” Miguel continued to scan his holos. “Anything odd on sensors? Traps? Mines?”

 

“I am not reading anything.” Charlotte said and then paused. “Wait… No, I am not reading anything in the ravine! Nothing at all. Not even the ground penetrating radar returns!”

 

“Trap!” Miguel snapped. “Scatter!” He called and the two mechs took off in different directions as a humongous plasma bolt erupted form the ravine, narrowly missing Charlotte’s hull as she spun in place and accelerated again.

 

“Jaeger identified!” Charlotte snapped. “Locked on!”

 

“Fire!” Miguel snapped and two bursts of sun hot fury leapt from the top of the hull to slam into the tank destroyer that was now visible through the swath of burnt off vegetation that it’s shot had torn up. The Jaeger rocked on it’s chassis, but a haze of blue surrounded it. “Damn it! Shields!” He shook his head as the Jaeger turned slightly. “Mechs, sequenced fire! Kill it’s shields! This is gonna hurt, girl…” Both mechs stopped and spun to target the Jaeger as it fired it’s main gun at Charlotte.

 

Miguel screamed with Charlotte as plasma only slightly less intense that Charlotte’s own hit the Bolo’s shields. The fields did their best, but they could only dilute the effect, not stop it. The bleed through tore a huge gaping hole in Charlotte’s front armor, obliterating a dozen close in defense clusters and several sensor packages as well as tearing a hole in her port forward drivetrain. But that was all it did. Not catastrophic damage. Miguel recovered first to the sound of Charlotte crying.

 

“Easy, Charlotte.” Miguel said as he fought the holo controls to get a picture of what was happening. “We need to see.” His view stabilized just as one mech fired, and then the other. The shields of the Jaeger dimmed from the first hit and collapsed at the second! “Yes!” He crowed. “Charlotte! Get that thing!” Both dorsal guns fired again and the Jaeger exploded. “Yes!” Miguel shouted in triumph. “Get us out of here! Mechs escort.” Charlotte lurched forwards, obviously her forward tracks had taken some damage from the blast.

 

“Incoming!” Valkyrie Two called and Miguel cursed as shells and missiles started appearing on the holo.

 

“Get to cover!” Miguel snapped. “You can’t help us! We will draw them… No…” He pleaded helplessly as Valkyrie Two took a heavy artillery shell directly on top and vanished in a massive explosion. “Three, get out of here!” The other mech did not waste time, it ran for the water and dove in. “How the hell are they being so accurate?”

 

“Incoming transmission…” Charlotte’s voice was low and filled with pain but she continued to churn up the ground as she fled the metal rain. “It’s her.”

 

“Pity.” Miguel said coldly. “Hoped she was stupid enough to ride the Jaeger. But no. She was never a hand’s on type of nutcase.”

 

“Transmission is… close…” Charlotte said, her voice firming up. “Incoming!” She screamed as her point defense started firing again.

 

“From where?” Miguel stared around wildly and then, on instinct, panned the view up. “You have got to be kidding me…” Then he and Charlotte screamed again as metal fury scoured the hull, tearing up weapons and sensors with equal abandon. He could barely move, could not even breathe hard as a huge form landed several hundred meters in front of him. “Tell me we can shoot her…”

 

“Enemy… hacking our systems…” Charlotte gasped. “Having to sever connections. Main battery offline. Forward drivetrain is down. Hacking diverted. Firewalls holding. We are hurt, but intact.”

 

“Enemy aircraft circling. Fire SAMs, independent targeting!” Miguel snapped, staring at the huge form that was now rising to… her feet. The clear control module in which his hated sister sat was thirty meters off the ground. He shook his head. “You dumb Grineer B****…”

 

In form it was sort of recognizable. It was a robot of some kind. Humanoid, it had huge skeletal sections that were not covered by any kind of armor. It recoiled as the SAMs fired, erupting from Charlotte’s hull like a swarm of angry bees. The Grineer fighter craft, who had been circling just a little too close, tried to evade, but failed. All of them fell in moments, swatted from the air by the rage of a Bolo and her human commander. The mech in front of them raised a huge rifle like weapon and aimed it at the Bolo which could not move.

 

“Is that what I think it is...?” Charlotte asked, her tone cold.

 

“Yeah.” Miguel said with a sigh. “Project Valkyrie. She got the prototype working.” He sighed. “Might as well listen to her blather. Can we make repairs?”

 

“Working on it.” Charlotte promised him then went silent as a holo of Marlena’s gloating face appeared on the wall

 

“Hello brother.” She said with a wide, triumphant smile. “If you are done joyriding, I would like my chariot back now.”

Edited March 11, 2014 by Kalenath

[Spikey844]

Ahh....

Problem.....

Let the joyride continue!

[Shadow977]

What the Hek Kal??This is Warframe not Titanfall.

[evafan002]

What!!!? are you kidding me? this aint funny anymore kal.

oh and if Charlotte does not make it i will be very very displeased with you. other than that?

carry on Sergent

Edited March 11, 2014 by evafan002

[Sayfog]

Joyrides for everybody