[Ic]The Setup, Redux 18+

[IrishHades1798]

Gaius wanted to smile as Souna gave her thoughts on the situation, but he knew a straighter face showing intent listening would be more apt for the situation. To be honest, he just wanted to hear someone else reaffirm his core plans. He had plans laid out, Sebastian did too. Rescuing Quinn was their top priority and they wanted to think of a solution as fast as possible, but neither wanted to risk loosing more men. Gaius however could not hid his smile when Souna erected her air barrier, making their conversation practically inaudible to those outside of it. Sebastian raised an eyebrow when Souna's tone and posture changed to one he recognized quite well. His eyes darted back and forth from Gaius to Souna until she spoke once more and he heard the humming of the barrier. The old Vauban had never seen such a trick, and he instinctively moved a finger toward the barrier. He could feel the finger vibrating with the air before he even really touched it. As his finger inched closer to the barrier, his hand started to vibrate as well, causing some stitches in his hand to open. "Ow." He said flatly, hardly caring of another wound reopening. 

Gaius sat up straight and laughed lightly. "I must say Miss Souna, I'm impressed. That was a very quick and detailed plan for how to move next given the lack of actual information." Gaius looked around at the little barrier she had made. He was impressed to see such level of air manipulation. Even for a Zephyr, this seemed impressive. "And the act you put on followed by this display is marvelous. I have never seen such a display of control over the air, and to the unthinking eye it would seem as though there is nothing out of the ordinary." He leaned forward and rested his hand on top of one another, his posture changing to a much more relaxed and gentle demeanor. "However, to the Crimson Lotus such a display would not go unnoticed, and they will likely try to follow the three of us now, but that is of little concern. "

"Sebastian." Gaius said sternly. "Did you hear all that Miss Souna had said?" Sebastian was taken out of his daze and looked back at Gaius. "Sure." He said. He had actually heard her plans, he just didn't given them much thought. Sebastian was still very reluctant to go back to the Dojo, but he had made plans to leave in a simple shuttle tomorrow. He was in no mood for the fancy spy stuff that seemed to be going on, he just wanted to go back to what he knew. Gaius looked annoyed at Sebastian's answer, but he trusted the crusty veteran to do make it back safe. Gaius's attention shifted back to Souna. "Something tells me that we will be finding more time and better surroundings very soon, Miss Souna." He said with a smirk. 

[Owlrrex]

Souna could not help but chuckle about the Vauban's curious advance, the distraction was followed by a quick return of the concentrated look on her face to not let any part of her current setup crumble. "It is just a turbulence with its outer radius very close to its inner one - thus, the acceleration along the circumference can be greater with the same investment of energy. It's applied aerodynamics, nothing else." One advantage of the Zephyr's heavy occupation right then was that her voice was far less intonated than usually. The thought of "It's not my fault noone else can think of that!" remained unheard. 

"But nevertheless I do thank you for your kind words. It is welcome to meet someone who acknowledges the fruit of relentless training." she answered with a genuinely flattered tone. Even without emphasizing the fact that she spent nearly every waking hour refining her technique, her physique and her equipment, this fact was present to her in every waking minute as well as some sleeping hours. Having those efforts, those sacrifices reckognized was a balm to her soul unlike any other, and it showed i her body language for a short while.
"And I do not worry about the Crimson Lotus now either. You will find that when I do not need to trisect my attention, I am a thoroughly convincing liar. I expect nothing less of yout than to play your part along a story that will leave no doubt in those overly-curious fellows what we were talking about and why we resorted to such secrecy!" Bit by bit, her voice got taken over by the body language she tried to imitate, which gave her a truly playful and flirtatious behaviour. It was easy to guess what direction that story would take to protect their privacy. One could only hope that it was her masquerade that Souna was getting herself confused with, and not her actual feeling, because that could not possibly end well for Gaius and his position.
But at least her visual charade was extremely authentic, if Souna had not become a Tenno, she might have been a decent actress.

Not interfering with the short exchange Gaius and Sebastion did, she took her time to gesture as if inspecting her nails. The tips of her gloves were in perfect shape, of course, and nothing else was to be seen there with the naked eye. 
When Gaius adressed the lady one more time, she chuckled again in a most ladylike manner. If the situation had allowed it, Souna would have shaken her head heavily to escape her own entanglement of pretense, concentration and the chill of being watched in her neck.
"I know exactly what you mean, dear Sir. I may not know this Mirage of yours - Quinn - but I feel suspiciously invited to join her rescue and am well inclined to accpet, if my assumptions are not mistaken." she answers in a most amicable fashion that one would rarely find in real life, mostly in theatre. 

[IrishHades1798]

"I've no doubt concerning your abilities of deceit." Gaius said. He glanced briefly with in his peripheral vision. For the most part, the room was empty. Many people had already gone home, or retired to their rooms here on the station. All that was left were a some stragglers, staff members and other Tenno wondering what to do next. Nothing seemed that suspicious or out of the ordinary, which likely meant that a spy was sitting around somewhere in the room. Regardless, it mattered little. There was hardly anything to fully reveal, and Sebastian and Gaius likely seemed like small fry. Things were about as safe as they could be for the the group. "Though I can lie my way through most any situation, I always prefer the half-truths. They make the exchanges all the more fun." Gaius said with a playful smile. His posture changed to match Souna's more closely, giving off a less formal impression to a more open and playful one. "But I must say, misleading a person visually is my favorite form of deception. Its a fun exercise and often yields the best results." As Gaius spoke, he raised his hand and held his palm up. He swirled his fingers and smoke began to emanate from his wrist, palm and finger tips. He manipulated the smoke artfully and it rested into a delicate rose. He released the flower towards Souna, and resumed his previous position. 

"How astute your assumptions are. I would be honored to have you on the rescue team. I would imagine that you would work well with an Oberon in our dojo, Rollo. He's great at figuring out combos on the spot, and usually creates the best results. However, we will first need to find Quinn." Gaius said. Sebastian had decided to start paying attention to the two's conversation, and he was quick to interject. "You meet a woman who boasts about her lying capabilities and your immediate inclination is to trust her and recruit her onto your team, not to mention a team were you bring along one of your best friends and allies?" Sebastian was usually against new people. He had discussed it with Gaius extensively time and time again, and he always argued a different point. He argued that it was for the knobs benefit, that it was because we had enough people, or that he didn't want to babysit. But this time, it was just because he had an opportunity to do so. "I will never understand you methods of recruiting new people." Gaius however was always quick to retort with the dusty curmudgeon. "It's all based off merit Sea-Bass, its why I personally sought you out." 

"Kissass." 

Edited March 10, 2016 by IrishHades1798

[Owlrrex]

Souna's awareness of her surroundings was quite sub-par at that moment, simply due to the fact that her thoughts are completely occupied with other things. When Gaius adjusted himself to the mood Souna set for the conversation, she showed a pleased smile and lifted her right hand to try and catch the rose gently, expecting the smoke to lose its form when touched by her.
"I better be careful not to get enlaced in your exercising, then." she answered mischievously, her words expressed her respect for his abilities as well as that she recognized him as an equal player - and thus, a potential danger. There is no animosity right now whatsoever, since she has no reason to believe she can not keep him in check yet.
"When it comes to my method of choice, I go with whatever suits the cause. When you're hiding the truth, there's really no point in trying to be ethical. If your goal is clear, you must not hesitate, no matter how rough the path might be."

Then Sebastian intervened, and surprisingly, despite being the one who was being doubted, Souna smiled and nearly laughed, which made her face look even more asymmetrical. Part of that might be the jovial attitude the two clan members show towards each other.
"If there was anything I needed to boast about, it would not be my abilities of deception. I am just stating my qualifications relevant to the given situation. Outstanding performance makes bragging obsolete." she tells Sebastian, her tone still relatively soft and maybe intended to calm him, but her ego is showing again.
"But I like your way of thinking, and get your point. Don't you think a mission where Sir Gaius is surrounded by people who trust him and - if I were an enemy, which I am not - who I can hardly disunite at all, is a perfect setup for my introduction?" Apparently, she was completely convinced that after they had seen her in battle, even the grumpy Vauben would no longer doubt her integrity and value. 

[IrishHades1798]

"But it is being ethical that keeps ourselves in check. One lie can lead to many others, and we can get carried away with what we tell not just to our victim, but ourselves as well." The conversation seemed to now be taking a turn towards ethics and philosophy, which excited Gaius. He loved discussing these things, as many of his dojo maters were aware of. Sebastian and Gaius would often talk about such things, largely in part to Sebastian's old age and experience. With all that Sebastian had seen and experienced, Gaius viewed him as an invaluable intellectual asset. "You have an interesting last point Miss Souna." Gaius said. "Tell me, do the ends justify the means?" 

"Given your claims of skillful deception, I wouldn't put much past you." Sebastian retorted. "You can gain a persons trust simply to achieve your ends, manipulating them and coercing them to your advantage until you stab them in the back. Its what spies do little lady." Sebastian knew that Souna was not much of a threat to him and Gaius. She showed no signs of hostility toward them, and her words seemed truthful. Sebastian just wanted to give the high-and-mighty Zephyr a hard time. "I've seen many a talented man hold the cruelest of intentions. Skill makes you good, it doesn't make you honest." 

[Owlrrex]

The relataively sudden change in the conversation's direction, lead by Gaius' words to her, made Souna move her head slightly, surprised and somewhat alert at what might have motivated this. With Gaius' final question, and thus a signal that they do indeed intend to switch the topic, Souna decided to cut the strain on her resources as soon as possible, which was right now: With an unfamiliar gesture of her left hand, the energy circuits in her warframe shut down from right to left, and the wind shield around the three Tenno slowly subsided fluently. Also the glow in Souna's eyes disappeared, leaving her natural brown color and a dormant sparkle behind.
"You sure have an interesting way to direct a conversation. And a very general question, that is not easy to answer briefly. I will try regardless."
"Yes, they do, if they do not contradict each other. There is no point in literal fighting for peace, but if your cause is your heart's true desire, no amount of lies can overshadow that. And sacrificing your own vision for the sake of other's is neither strength, nor freedom. It is self-inflicted slavery." Her voice grew quite passionate during her words, as did her gaze, which she next directed to Sebastian, who confronted her again. Slowly, Souna felt like that man was feeling threatened by how fond Gaius had grown of her. Was it really fear for his post that made him take opposition again and again? Would that even be appropiate after such a short time? The Zephyr did not think Gaius to be that credulous, but had she really been wrong?

"If we are truly useful to each other, why would I waste my own efforts of earning your trust by stabbing your back? People in general are much more useful alive than dead. The only backs worth stabbing are those who are of no other use than piling their corpses into the heavens. I doubt that there is a relevant amount of Tenno who that is applicable to, least of all you." Her last words wore directed at both men present, signalled by a small nod towards each of them. While her next words start out as proud and standing tall, metaphorically speaking, they grow harder the more she speaks.
"Aren't those 'selfish' persons those who are the most honest, not hiding what they value most? A truth one pursues with all their strength, alone against the world if they have to... for me this is the essence of what a Tenno is meant to be - the greatest gift the void granted us. If we were trying to build a regime or something similar, I would accept your objection with not hesitation, for that requires supreme morale just as much as dominance. But we are not fighting for supremacy. Sol is nothing but our battle for survival. A dishonest man who kills your enemies is still an ally."

At last, Souna adressed Gaius again, her eyes full of intense significance. They would better not forget any of those words, for they were most important to her and those who tried to understand the Pseudo-Prime's motives.
"Keeping myself in check is not my goal. I have sacrificed a lot to gain these wings, and I will not content myself with anything less than to embrace the skies I am destined to ascend to! I seek not humility, only ascension. For my own future, and to be a shining beacon of the true nature of the void's gift that rests in each and every one of our kind."

[IrishHades1798]

Though he still showed his smile, Gaius was frowning internally. Souna's response had merit, of that there was no doubt. However, they were also the words of someone very dangerous. But Gaius would not mention this. The last thing he really wanted to do was upset Souna. She had been good conversation and is a potential ally, a strong one at that. But these words, if twisted, could result in catastrophe. "You have very strong convictions Miss Souna." Gaius said. "I must admit that I find them rather humbling. It reminds me of myself, if I may be perfectly honest. I strive to be the best version of myself that I can be so that I may give myself back to those who have helped me make it this far, and that I may work towards securing the future of all of us." Gaius's smile had changed. It was now one of reminiscing, like an old man remembering a bitter-sweet memory. "Though I risk overstepping myself Miss Souna, I would like to offer one word of warning. Icarus sought to ascend as well, to fly high and touch the sun. The result was him plummeting back to the Earth. Humility is a virtue, one that can save your life in our line of work." Then he switched back, his original playful smile back in its proper place. 

Sebastian, seeing that Gaius would not address some of Souna's more disconcerting words, decided to take up the job and voice his concerns once more. "Those are quite the powerful words. And quite the dangerous ones at that. People can have their uses by being stabbed in the back, especially us Tenno. You could sell one of us out to the Corpus or the Grineer for a hefty profit I'd imagine. Alternatively, using others as bait works well for your own survival. I'll admit that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, even if he is a dishonest bastard. But let me ask you this, if you at to stand back to back with someone at the end of the world, wouldn't you want that person to be an honest and upfront one? Let me tell that in our situation we-" Sebastian had prepared a full tangent to go on. This part was usually his favorite when grilling someone as it let him scream in the persons face, if Gaius had let him get to that point. Gaius held out his arm in front of Sebastian, who glared at him angrily. However, Sebastian's usual demeanor changed to a smile. "That's enough Sebastian, I think you can lighten up now." Gaius said with a grin. "Ah alright fine." Sebastian shifted his posture to a more comfortable one and let out a deep bellowing laugh. "Ahh, I haven't gotten to do that in ages. God I miss it." Sebastian seemed to be genuinely happy, which to many would be a cause for concern. But Gaius knew his companion well. "Sorry about the intense questions and rudeness kid, Gaius here doesn't like being a hardass on people. Thanks for being a good sport about it all though, I'm impressed that you managed to keep your demeanor throughout most of it."

"Well now that Sebastian's had his fun, I'll go fetch us some drinks! Excuse me." Gaius said. "Make mine to go, I'll be leaving her soon enough." Sebastian responded. Gaius got up from their table and left to grab drinks for the table. Sebastian watched Gaius walk away and then shifted his gaze onto Souna. "You impressed him, well done." He said with a smile. "He'll be eager to see you perform on a mission. But there are a few things I need to mention about Gaius. Firstly, everything you just saw about him? An act. Well, kind of. His words were truthful, and they always will be, but his actions were not his usual self. Gaius always acts specific ways depending on the situation, but he does so for the benefit of others. At least that's what he says. You will never see someone change personalities as much as that man. I've seen him go from hardened leader to a loud partying dumbass in about two seconds." He said these words fondly. Gaius's every changing behavior had an odd way of growing on people. It usually helped create a comfortable surrounding for people, and made them feel more at home. "Secondly," Sebastian began. "And I don't really know the details on this but he has some heavy trust issues. I know it didn't seem like it, it never does with that man, but trust and loyalty is the one thing that matters most to him. Apparently, someone he trusted sold him out to the Grineer and he ended up as a specimen for Tyl Regor. It can be frustrating to learn these things about him later so I figured I should tell you now." Sebastian looked back over at Gaius, who was still deciding on drinks, much to Sebastian's surprise. "Don't tell him that I told you any of this. Better yet, don't let him know that you know this stuff about him. I'd rather not piss him off. He won't take any kind of action, but our other warlord will if we make him mad."

[SpaceHelicopters]

Continued Communications:

Keya chuckled and loosed a sigh, stating, “Yeah, I think it’s a cloning defect; flushed with a pair of weighted dice and a genetically coded gambling addiction.”

She cast her eyes about, not looking for anything in particular as she absently swirled the remaining liquid in her bottle. In their wandering, her eyes caught a glint of the General’s flask. As much as she wanted to demand it be her turn, she knew that after downing almost an entire magnum bottle of Napalm Whiskey mere hours before, it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to stress her genetically-doomed liver any further.

Though the silence between the two was still in its infancy, Keya was still eager to continue conversing, however she couldn’t recall any more stories from her short past worth mentioning, nor could she concoct another topic.

 

Specter Shenanigans:

To any eye that happened to be keeping tabs on a certain little Specter-girl, they would suddenly see that what was once silently snoring on a nearby canteen bench had now mysteriously disappeared.

This was because, currently, the hyperactive personality had managed to remain undetected as she snuck her way to the only person she was fond of bugging on the station: her ever-tolerant and patient Warlord who had just so kindly separated himself from his current company, leaving him nice and open. Using a level of stealth that was usually, much to the chagrin of her clanmates, reserved for dojo-related hijinks – such as after-curfew kitchen raids and scaring the orokin reactors out of her clanmates when they least expected it –, she expertly maneuvered herself around the occupied Ash, careful to avoid the edges of his peripheral vision. Deciding on a more subtle approach then her usual, unexpected ‘hello’, she pilfered the to-go canister meant for Sebastian once it was out of Gaius’s focus with deft hands and slipped to his opposite side in order to offer it.

If things went according to plan, he would hopefully startle himself in looking for the missing cup and finding it attached to a person. Well, the echo of a person.

 

Rational Arguments Argued Irrationally:

Normally, Gemini would be wrestling with her other half in order to build kinetic energy and warm the hearts of passersby with her juvenile antics. Normally, Gemini was only ever in the presence of her Operator, who was a quiet and content man. The situation that now laid before the adorable, little Cephalon halves was not normal.

They liked Nium: he was playful, kind, and had been a generous host. A gentleman in every definition of the word. Sab, they had heard from Nium, which already gave them a negative opinion of her. Seeing her scream at their charge didn’t sit well with them either, and ignoring them was kind of damaging to their self-esteem.

As illogical as it was, Gemini - an artificial intelligence capable of adapting to almost any combat situation – was afraid of the raging Valkyr before her. Said fear was the reason behind why the twin child-like Cephalon halves were currently hiding behind Nium; a twin behind each leg.

With a warframe-clad warrior hollering at a proxy with two smaller proxies cowering behind it, it was almost as if it were a scene of domestic abuse, only the absurdity of those involved made it somewhat comical.

[Ghost333]

Looks like someone else was born with weighted dice.
We weren't exactly born per se. Neither was she.
Oh now that is just rude.
She was cloned! Grown in a test tube, never knowing the gentle embrace of a mother!
And that is just cruel!
And you just dislike facing the truth.
*sobs* She's an innocent cinnamon roll and she deserves better!

"So!" Hexer said. "Have you got anything else to talk about? I don't and my idle thoughts are terrifying me right now."

[SpaceHelicopters]

On 3/15/2016 at 3:54 AM, Ghost333 said:

Looks like someone else was born with weighted dice.
We weren't exactly born per se. Neither was she.
Oh now that is just rude.
She was cloned! Grown in a test tube, never knowing the gentle embrace of a mother!
And that is just cruel!
And you just dislike facing the truth.
*sobs* She's an innocent cinnamon roll and she deserves better!

"So!" Hexer said. "Have you got anything else to talk about? I don't and my idle thoughts are terrifying me right now."

"Well," the Grineer woman mulled, idly picking at the frayed false-skin on her prosthetic's knuckles.

Perhaps, at a later date, she would consider adding a pair of gloves to her wardrobe to hide the minor damage. Maybe some kickass finger-less drahk-leather ones with ceramic knuckle-guards. Dyed black, of course, with apocalypse-proof hardening. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Probably expensive as all hell, though.

"I gave you a story of mine, how about you return the favor?" she shrugged, crossing her arms on the table before proceeding to lean on them.

Damn benches and their lack of lumbar support.

[Ghost333]

"Oh boy, this is gonna be a doozy. I have to think of something that isn't related to a drunken pub crawl that ended with me either taking a side-job as a stripper for the night or waking up cocooned to the ceiling with duct tape. Or...worse."

And one that doesn't invalidate our presence here.
Oh please, no-one is going to know about that. Besides, this is a place with the Void. And the Sentients are coming back. You could say you were-
That would be lying, so no.

"Well, I'm not exactly from here, so to speak. The short of it is a bunch of trans-dimensional bullsh*t, some faulty co-ordinates and three barrels full of bananas. The long of it is...really god damn confusing. Anyway, my history is sort of like a bad B-Movie plot mixed with self-insert fan-fiction and a lot of shoddy and contradictory writing, so ask a question or five, or however many, and I'll try to answer."

We're doomed.

[Agent_Maine]

Having gotten Orion's help in slowly taking Mythos back to her Liset so she could calm down, Silver had settled in the canteen and was in deep conversation with Ghostar.

"Yeah, our part of the mission went pretty sh*t." Silver said, casually fiddling with the handle of his Magnus as he waited for the Excalibur to respond. "It did? How?" Ghostar asked the Limbo. "Well, one of our operatives, particularly the Mirage called Quin, was captured by some Grineer and then Harley went batsh*t crazy and headbutted my helmet into oblivion. And that almost caused me to die from oxygen deprivation when we did a leap of faith through space and into our Cichlid. "

"Okay, that definitely doesn't sound good. Ours went pretty well, all things considered. Azelie did sorta do a heroic sacrifice, but she didn't die."

Silver laughed. "Reminds me of something....nah, I can't remember. Isn't this the second time the Tenno have been set up like this though? Like, we really need to up our game. Maybe create some super-tenno or something." He said. Ghostar shook his head in a dismissive manner.

"Don't you remember the incident at the Cycling Stars' dojo? Super-tenno aren't such a great idea." He said to Silver.

"Oh yeah, forgot that." Silver replied.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Agent_Maine
Typos.

[Owlrrex]

If only Souna had been seeing herself and her words as clearly as Sebastian and Gaius had, and come to the same conclusions, in her youth. She would be a completely different person for sure, but that's what most people had to learn one day: You never know yourself as good as you thought you did. But as things went, Souna's ego had withstood far more agressive attacks, and she had built quite a solid wall of defensive perception built around it.
Gaius' explanation of his own mentality made Souna nod appreciatively. "That is a way to put it, indeed. So my impression that we were alike truly did not betray me." If asked, she would definitely claim her observations to be the cause for this impression, although it had been mostly her gut-feeling that made her approach Gaius.
"I assume that Icarus-person is a figure of myth, who I am sad to admit I am not familiar with. I can only tell you that I am well aware of the risks I am taking. But I will rather die soaring through heights unrestrained, exhausting my own capabilities and then plummeting back to earth, than never take flight and be shackled by fear for my whole life. The protective, though encaging shell of fear - I cast it aside to see the world with reason and unrelenting aspiration. This decision is a part of me that prevailed through our frozen aeons, and it will survive this war as well."
Again her intense, soulful tone, that either put all other acting she had shown so far to shame, or proved her words to be her true beliefs.
"However, this does not mean I can not fall back to strike at a time when my chances are better. I might not be very tolerant - but I have patience." She leaned back a bit, noticing how worked up she had started to get and relaxing deliberately now.

During Sebastian's speaking, Souna already prepared some wonderful answers to give once he had finished. Sadly, Gaius' intervention not only cut his clanmate's words short, but also Souna's answers.
"There is no need to worry. I had already guessed that this conversation would turn into the direction in which it has when we sat down, and I am neither unfamiliar nor disinclined to proving myself in most different ways, this interview is just one of them." Indeed Souna's smile appeared to be mostly content. The heated arguments Sebastian and Gaius had given her, and they way they had behaved throughout their talk, told her that she had left a strong impression in the two men. They would not forget her anytime soon. She might have lost one contact when the merchant who she had wanted to meet on this station at the very start ditched her, but she had won useful allies in exchange.

When Gaius got up to get the drinks, Souna left it up to him to decide what to bring her. It might be illuminating what he thinks of her, culture-wise. Sebastian engaging in private conversation about his warlord surprised her, though. She could only guess at this point that this was some kind of protocol the two men had come up with. She answered Sebastian's more friendly tone with a contemplative, unstressed attitude.
"We all do wear masks... not only to hide ourselves, but also to emphasize certain parts of our personality or respond to surrounding stimulus. I will try to keep his variety in mind. And I do not intend to disappoint him regardless of what he decides to be for me." Oh my, that sentence really was a strange one if one were to strip away the context. Better not think too much into what the Vauban might think of it, he appeared to be idealistic, but rational.
"True loyality is the only currency not bought with money. He is right to value it above all else. As for me, I only expect him to trust me so far that we can cooperate effectively at the moment. Everything else will take time, and I do not intend to rush it. As I mentioned before: I am quite patient."
Sebastian's reveal that he had told Souna all this behind Gaius' back however visibly surprised the Zephyr. She checked for Gaius herself quickly, seeing Nisha's specter returning to him from void-knows-where, then looked back at the Vauban opposite of her and put on a neutral face again.

"I do not think keeping those things a secret will be too hard. And I thank you for covering for his flaws and quirks this way. I would not be surprised if he knows what you are doing for him, despite not showing it. Either way, he surely appreciates it. He appears to be that kind of man."
"Considering how much we have talked about you and me, I find it curious that I do know nearly nothing about your clan, besides that you have two warlords of which I know one, and both complement each other in means and mentality. Why do we not shed a little light on that topic, started by the very basics? Like the name?" Although her question is formulated as a little tease, she means no ill-will, and her body-language has returnt to her typical polite and formal way. 

[SpaceHelicopters]

16 hours ago, Ghost333 said:

"Oh boy, this is gonna be a doozy. I have to think of something that isn't related to a drunken pub crawl that ended with me either taking a side-job as a stripper for the night or waking up cocooned to the ceiling with duct tape. Or...worse."

And one that doesn't invalidate our presence here.
Oh please, no-one is going to know about that. Besides, this is a place with the Void. And the Sentients are coming back. You could say you were-
That would be lying, so no.

"Well, I'm not exactly from here, so to speak. The short of it is a bunch of trans-dimensional bullsh*t, some faulty co-ordinates and three barrels full of bananas. The long of it is...really god damn confusing. Anyway, my history is sort of like a bad B-Movie plot mixed with self-insert fan-fiction and a lot of shoddy and contradictory writing, so ask a question or five, or however many, and I'll try to answer."

We're doomed.

Keya couldn't help but smirk at the General's explanation, regardless of how much she questioned the validity of its content. Along with Lady Luck, James seemed to be rather well-acquainted with Hyperbole and all their cousins.

However, being rather unfamiliar with any form of nourishment that wasn't either assembled in thirty seconds or less at a molecular level in front of her or came in a tube, she couldn't help but ponder, "The hell's a banana?"

"Alright," she laughed, readjusting herself for the sake of comfort, "Seeing as how you appear to be a man with respect for 'spirits' of varying strength; think you can remember the first time you got absolutely plastered and what your body did as your brain screamed at it to stop?"

 

[Ghost333]

"Ah, yes. The 'Hookers and Tape' incident." Hexer muttered.
"To be brief, myself and a squad had completed a rather difficult mission with zero casualties. To celebrate our luck, we decided to get plastered at the best pub we knew." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I honestly should not have had that third straight shot of Snakeblood. The first one, it felt like I was literally on fire. The second one, I started tasting colours. The third one, I blacked out. After that, I had no idea what the hell I did."

"As it turns out, in my drunken rampage, I picked up a camera from somewhere during the latter half. Recorded was a short movie of me romancing a couple of hookers and then duct taping myself to the ceiling above them by myself. Oh, did I mention that it was a perfect cocoon, pinning my arms as well?" The General shivered. "It took five views to keep myself vomiting from how the hell I managed it. Fortunately at the time, the Hookers were asleep and I was too drunk to actually register what the hell I was doing."

"And that is why a lot of pubs that I frequent never sell me anything more alcoholic than vodka."

[IrishHades1798]

Gaius looked up at at a board above the counter which listed the drinks the cafeteria provided. He immediately looked for any alcoholic beverages but alas, the station was dry. 'I guess people have been taking the 'don't drink and fly' thing seriously.' Gaius thought. Since he couldn't peruse his usual selection of drinks, he started to scan through the listings intently. He first wanted to pick something for him and Sebastian, thinking that that would be the easiest. Since he hardly recognized the names, he grabbed a small codex menu that offered descriptions. Gaius scrolled through the selection, clicking on any that caught his eye. 'Vor'a Cola: Conquer your thirst with this Vor approved soft drink, proven to raise morale and and heighten ones tastes buds! No. Sergeant Dew: Made from the ice on Mars from a relic old recipe found by a Corpus Sergeant, Sergeant Dew fuels the fight against your enemies (Not for casuals)! No.' Gaius was about ready to giev up and pick at random until one caught his eye. 'A n' O: A corpus brewed soft drink made from a root on Earth. Proven to have medicinal qualities in alleviating headaches, this drink is like a gift from the void!' Gaius smiled and decided that it would suit him and Sebastian well. He placed his order and the Corpus working behind the counter worked the synthesizer. While his and Sebastian drinks were being made, he would have time to determine one for Souna. 

"Okay, whats a fancy sounding drink. Fancy... Fancy... ehhhh." Gaius hardly knew what drink seemed befitting of Souna, largely because he had no idea what any of these drinks were. He was scrolling through the selections once again, but had more trouble this time around. He pressed his finger on the search bar of the codex and typed in 'fancy' having run out of ideas. Surprisingly, a drink came up. It was as if the codex knew what he was looking for, or what he meant. 'Board Member.' Gaius decided to give it a try. When he received his first two drinks he ordered Souna's and set the two down. After a brief moment, the worker handed Gaius his Board Member, which practically screamed high-class. the drink was in a cocktail glass, with a blue liquid inside that gave a slight glow, garnished by a jellyfish tentacle from the Mars that was wrapped around a mini, plastic Destreza. He smiled, gave the worker his due amount and turned to grab the rest of the drinks. He found one, but the other was missing. Gaius looked around briefly, but saw it resting in the palms of someone small. "Ah, there it is." He said as he took the drink. He proceeded to walk back to his table, until it dawned on him. He turned around, and sure enough saw Nisha standing there with an annoyed face. She had been hoping for a better reaction. "There you are," Gaius began. "You haven't gotten yourself into any trouble have you?" Gaius smiled at the young Nova, ready to tease her relentlessly. "Come and sit down with me, I have a table with Sebastian and the woman you met earlier." 

She had impressed Sebastian. Usually, people get upset when the learn the truth about Gaius, feeling in some deranged manner betrayed or tricked. This one however would not fall prey to such vice. "Gaius will probably pick up on it when he gets back over here, but he'll think of other reasons before thinking I told you. He usually prefers for things to be out there and in the open, it's just that he has trouble getting to that point with people."

"The clan?" Sebastian began. "Well the name of it is SPC. We're a bit of an odd group to say the least. Gaius and our other warlord, Magdalene are really the only reason most of us are their in the first place. They often helped us out in some way and later asked people like me to join up with them.  Everyone though has their different reasons for being with the clan. That is, those two helped everyone out in a different way. Were it not for there help, Magdalene's kindness and Gaius's leadership, I might have left them the day I met them." Sebastian smiled as he reminisced about the day he first met Gaius. Sebastian had recently awoken, and he made it to the nearest relay. He bumped into Gaius while asking questions about his lost comrades, and to Sebastian's surprise Gaius asked questions back. That was how he knew Gaius wanted him to join up with him. "I joined up about half-way through if you wanna look at it that way. Gaius will know more about all this kinda stuff though." Sebastian looked over at his warlords direction and saw that he was one his way back, with a little specter girl in tow. "Speak of the devil." Sebastian said. 

Gaius walked up to his table and set the drinks in front of their respective person. "Here you go Sea-Bass, I got you an "A n' O", its some kind of Corpus medicinal drink from roots made on Earth. I figured it would make you a bit more pleasant to be around." Sebastian glared at Gaius, more so for being called 'Sea-Bass' rather than the insult at the end. "And for Miss Souna, a Corpus drink called the 'Board Member', I hope it is to your liking." He said suavely. He sat down and took a sip from his drink. It wasn't half bad. "While you were gone, little miss Souna here and I were talking about our clan." Sebastian said. "Is that so?" Gaius spoke. He looked towards Souna and folded his hands, leaning forward and resting his chin on them. "What all would you like to know?" He asked her.

Edited March 18, 2016 by IrishHades1798

[IceDragonofAmber]

"WHY NOT!? YOU DO JACK SH!T FOR ME ANYWAYS!!"

"WHO DO YOU THINKS CLEANS THE LISET AFTER YOUR "GET TOGETHERS"!? BIO-PLASTIDS DON'T SCRAP THEMSELVES OFF THE WALLS!!"

"I DID'T ASK YOU TO DO THAT DID I?! YOU JUST DID THAT FOR YOURSELF JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE!!"

"OH YOU MISERABLE LITTLE-" It was at that point Nium became aware of a slight force, a tug if you will, present on his legs. Quickly he turned around and noticed the twins cowering behind him, instantly realising what he needed to do.

Come to an agreement with the most rage inducing, illogical @$$hole this side of Earth.

F*ck my existence...

"Sa-" "AND IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME YOU'D STILL BE STUCK WITHT HE CORPUS!!" "Sab please-" "I RESCUED YOU AD YOUR SH!TTY LITTLE LISET FROM THE TECHNOPHILES BUT NOOOOO" "Listen-" "I STILL DO'T DESERVE TO DO ANYTHING CAUSE YOU'LL COMPLAIN YOUR DIGITAL @$$ OFF!!" "Please-" "I MEAN FOR F*CKS SAKE YOU'RE WORSE THAN ORDIS-"

"BE QUIET!!!"

The Valkyr finally stopped long enough for the android to let out a exasperated sigh and gently push forward the little ones hiding behind.

"Sab, I'd like you to meet Gemini. Gemini, say hello."

Edited March 18, 2016 by IceDragonofAmber

[SpaceHelicopters]

Remembering Through Amber-Tinted Goggles:

Keya furrowed her brow skeptically, yet smirked and chuckled despite her skepticism. Alcohol can cause a man to do some bizarre things, however something of this level seems rather unlikely and goes against body mechanics. Either Hex was lying to impress her, which was flattering, or he was telling the truth, which made her want to take him out and absolutely annihilate both their livers. On his tab, of course.

 Right on schedule, the station’s air-conditioning timer ticked and began to pump refrigerated air about the halls and rooms, causing the Grineer woman to immediately regret her current wardrobe composition and wish that her suit with thermal control hadn’t been reduced to mere shreds by shrapnel. She shivered a bit, crossing her legs and arms, keeping the latter close to her core to preserve her slowly diminishing body heat. Pilomotor reflex kicked in, causing the minute muscles all about her body to contract and raise in tiny bumps, contributing to the task of keeping body heat in the body. The exception to this biological phenomenon was of course the newest existing component to her biology, her right arm remaining visibly relaxed due to the lack of a system of muscular minutia.

“Sounds like a hell of a night. Hope those girls were paid well,” Hex’s conversation partner teased, adding, “Next time you decide to get wasted, drag me with, will ya’? Sounds like a party I don’t wanna miss.”

She shivered again, causing her to release a sound of discomfort. Her right leg began to pump up and down rapidly in an effort to generate at least a little warmth.

“M’kay, my turn now, right? Ask away; gimme a topic.”

 

Never Go Against Your Pre-Programmed Dispositions:

Nisha pouted and played up her disappointed act to a comical level, going so far as to cross her arms in a mock huff and extending her pale, hard-light tongue in Gaius’s direction.

“Should’ve just hollered. Sudden, loud noises always get an entertaining reaction. Subtlety is over-rated. And stupid,” She whined in her digital head.

It didn’t take long for her to drop the act and resume her cheery demeanor, however. The little Specter-girl was more than happy to take up her warlord’s offer; dropping her crossed arms in exchange for clasping them innocently behind the small of her back as she jovially skipped after the man with the drinks.

Recalling ‘Bad Programmer, Good Machine’, a song she liked by a Corpus band named ‘Code 0101’, Nisha’s echo began to hum-sing it softly.

“The Board Room’s packed with cocky girls;

Credit capes & morphic pearls,

Click and beep; all the ladies swoon,

Hottest proxy in the room!

 

I’m a bad bot – I need to dance!

If you don’t dance = don’t stand a chance!

Feel like dancing? Dance with me!

First dance is always free~”

 

Digital-Domestic Dispute:

Gemini didn’t know which was worse; Nium’s scary operator ignoring them, or becoming the center of her focus, but they were leaning toward the latter. Both shrank further behind their charge, however his metallic calves only had so much matter to them.

When he made a move to extract them from their hiding place behind him, the combat proxy was met with resistance - rigidity, some soft pleading, and several hurt looks of betrayal. Once in front of him, the two Cephalon halves immediately huddled together for protection and comfort as they clasped hands and looked up at the object of their apprehension. When asked to say hello, Red managed a soft and shaky “H-hello…”, whereas Blue could only manage a pathetic, fearful whimper.

Every social protocol Gemini had was in conflict. Normally, charisma would kick in and they’d cover for their charge by uping their charm by taking advantage of their adorable, diminutive forms. Currently, however, they were suffering a feedback error relating to the absence of such a protocol, which went against archived memories. This led to numerous run-time errors in her processes that then caused a buffer overflow in her logic library, forcing her to default to executing programs in the PANIC folder as a result.

If files marked ‘crucial’ cannot be located and/or numerous errors begin to occur…

Then shut-down search processes, default to PANIC folder, and restart processes in background.

In short, Gemini had no idea what to do, and for a Cephalon, such a revelation is utterly and completely terrifying because that usually leads to someone dying. Referencing ‘fear’ in the section of her emotional database located within PANIC, the twins lowered themselves slightly and instinctively drew nearer the closest guardian. This meant Nium, which is why they continued to step away from Sab until their backs were against his shins. They held each other close, face-plates touching and hands neigh inseparable as they shook like freezing Kubrow pups without a mother.

Following the recovery of their courage references, Blue took a half step forward and stood a little straighter; one hand still locked with her Red twin, who took the opportunity to move behind her to slightly shield herself, and tremored lightly as she brought her one free hand up to her chest femininely.

Calling upon the sweetest and most innocent voice her processor could concoct, Blue asked nervously with an endearing stutter, “S-Sab? Why do you hate Nium so much?”

Her adorable tone carried a strength so powerful, it could melt the stoniest of hearts if it didn’t outright break them, awaken even the most dormant and neglected of consciousness, and bring out the parental instincts in a block of ice. Upon hearing her sound so vulnerable and frightened, the instinctive reaction would be to immediately pick the little girl up in cradled arms and insist she heard everything wrong; that it was all a misunderstanding and that mommy and daddy love her very much.

[Ghost333]

Noticing the shivering first, Hexer immediately flicked off his jacket and handed it to Keya. Underneath was a dull green vest and grey undershirt. Positively dapper.
"Here, this'll keep you warm. I can wander the wastes of Europa in that thing and the worst I get is snow in my eyes." Hexer said matter-of-factly. "Alternatively, if you wear it for too long you may overheat. It's like those old vests they designed for climbing mountains: they worked so well people had complications from overheating in the middle of below-zero situations."

"Of course they were paid. _{half the god damn treasury.} But in all honesty, that was the tamest thing that happened. Once, I woke up buck-naked at a poker table surrounded by dead guys, also naked, with a really nervous looking dog on the table. I have no idea what the hell happened there. So unless you want to run the risk of extremely weird or embarrassing situations, I'd advise against it."
Oh christ, I forgot about that.
I wish I did.

"To be perfectly honest, I ran out of questions around the same time I asked what your past was, which means I have to go for the stereotypical ones for the sake of the argument. Apologies in advance." Hexer cleared his throat. "So, whats your favourite band, or failing that, favourite type of music?

[IceDragonofAmber]

"Because he's a massive piece of mechanical sh!t."

Sab crouched down to eye level with the lolitron, leaning forward and repeatedly poking blue in the faceplate.

"Plus he's very easy to p!ss off."

Gemini's voice may have been able to soften the stoniest of hearts and bring out the parental instincts of a rabid Charger, but Sab was born heartless and knew only how to father explosions and heartache.

"Sab."

Poke. "What?"

"Stop that."

Poke. "Stop what?"

"That."

Poke poke. "What?"

"What you're doing right now."

"I *poke* have no *poke* idea *poke* what you're *poke* talking *poke* about *poke*."

Edited March 20, 2016 by IceDragonofAmber

[(PSN)TheCrimsonTuckr]

Vandal was till with Belrev, he then remembered something he was going to tell Belrev ever since he met Arino. "Belrev. You ever heard of the City Of Skye? I heard about it a while ago and seeing Arino reminded me all about it. I knew that Warframe reminded me of a egotistical dictating @$$hole." He said with slight annoyance. 

Vandal wasn't exactly socially excepted in Skye due to his Infestation and cannibalistic tendencies; being called a freak, maimed, death threatened, robbed and many other reasons made him hate that place and its "Legion".

[Owlrrex]

The reason Souna did not take the news about Gaius very hardly was probably that her trading with some of the Corpus and general reservations against other Tenno had gotten her used to being surrounded by people who are not to be trusted - either because they are not really trustworthy, or because Souna herself did not yet know what to make of them, and did not want to get involved with people she might need to drop - they might call it 'betrayal' - in the future.

Before Sebastian started to talk about the Clan, the Zephyr calmly nodded at him, softly and absentmindedly massaging the back of her right hand with her left one. Then she listened vigilantly, trying to remember every detail about the way Sebastian spoke to add it to her records when she was on her Orbiter the next time. Quite a few questions arose during his explanation, for example what 'SPC' might stand for. Souna is relatively sure that Sebastian would have told her if he had known, so she saved those questions for Gaius in an appropriate moment and did not comment on his tale at all.

Unexpectedly, such a moment arose not much later when Gaius and a humming Specter - that very specter which Souna had met before. The girl with whom she had a somewhat tainted relationship, and whose reason for attending this station were still not clear to Souna. However, with Gaius and Sebastian present anyways, there's hardly any reason to be any more cautious than before.
The lady's eyes focused onto the drink, a little spark in the brown, yellow-energy-filled eyes told of how she liked it before her mimics or words did. Sure, the squid reminded her of Hydroid, and she did not own a Destreza - one thing she definitely needed to fix one day! - but still this drink matched her image of herself very well. And apparently, Gaius did his best to confirm her in her beliefs. Or did he just test her again, how far her vanity would go? It was hard to tell.
"A Board Member, oh? What a pity I do not wear one of my dresses, it would be so much more adequate to this one." she gracefully beamed with joy, taking the glass carefully with her warframe-clad fingertips in the most ladylike manner possible. One could notice how hard she tried to properly convey this image of hers, but also that she had done it for so long that was not actually a decision to do so - more like a habit.
Souna did not know of what the propert etiquette for this kind of drink was, but given the fact that it did not come with any kind of cup or napkin, she supposed that the little 'appendage' was not supposed to be taken out. So she took a careful sip from it, and was met with the synthetic taste that she expected from a Corpus-Drink. However it was not the kind of taste that a beverage gains when stored improperly, but rather a delicately composed mix of aromas, not intended to mimic any natural taste, but create a completely own one. They did a formidable job with it, the Zephyr was surprised by how pleasent it tasted once she got used to it.
"Sebastian already told me some very interesting things, but I wonder what 'SPC' might stand for, and what your purpose is for gathering allies from a multitude of backgrounds." she asked politely, choosing her words so that her second question did not sound like an accusation, as it was not meant to be one.