[Archive] Of Ash And Fire - Original Thread

[Ajkrumen]

Yeep, even took a screenshot from the side to show off his Lato that he held on to since his rescue from the Corpus Derelict.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Ajkrumen

[Spikey844]

Are those the default colours, because Heus has ver similar colours to my Frost

[Ajkrumen]

Of COURSE not. I'll get better pictures right away.

[Spikey844]

Sorry my bad, I haven't seen a frost with default colours for ages

[CommanderCorgi]

After reviewing everything the Lotus sent her, Valkyrie was frozen. She came to the realization that she would never able to reveal her true identity to Alex. After being rescued from Corpus experimentation and becoming the Lotus' top agent, she would never be able to reconcile Valkyrie with Eleanor.

 

After all that she had gone through and what she became? It was better that Alex never found out she still drew breath.

 

Valkyrie found Alex long after nightfall. All she had to do was follow the trail of Grineer bodies. She eventually found him sitting on a grassy knoll, staring up at the stars from Earth's surface. A pile of Grineer corpses lay behind him, next to an injector of the Cicero toxin - except neutralized completely from what appeared to be a singular dose of antivenom.

 

He sat with his helmet off, lit cigarette trailing smoke into the canopy dangling from his right hand. Valkyrie had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything.

 

"I thought I got him to quit," She thought to herself as tears trickled down his face as he stared up into the infinite sky, the sky where he left Eleanor to rest - where his comrades still lived and fought on.

 

...He hoped.

 

"I'm sorry," Valkyrie said with her voice modulator activated, walking up to Alex. He was silent as he lifted the cigarette to his lips, taking another drag and exhaling the pungent smoke into the night air.

 

"...Tell me about her," She said, taking a seat beside him and staring up into the night sky as she gently laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

He chuckled sadly to himself, silent tears emerging once again.

 

"Heh. Alright, I suppose the Lotus told you my story, huh? That's alright - if she trusts you with this information, I suppose I can, too."

 

He took another drag before speaking again.

 

"Let's see...well, it all started when I was 18, thousands of years ago, funnily enough...It was my first day at the academy..."

Edited December 22, 2013 by CommanderCorgi

[KittyShark]

yay writers block is kicking me in my balls right now. I ust can't work up any kind of post period.... ugh this is depressing

[Tyranthius]

"This is sub-par, Tyranthius. You can do better!" Harahel called, for all the world sounding like a mentor seeing mediocre work from a promising student. Tyranthius cursed him inwardly, which incidentally was his reaction to his masters.

 

He ran, dodging bolts of light as Nidhoggr took aim. The autonomous Warframe was an impossibly good aim, and light - traveling at the speed of light - could never be avoided if launched correctly. Fortunately, the beams appeared to require a short charge time, and they didn't seem to lock on to targets. Small good that does me though, when I haven't even hit him. The bout had been going on for about seven minutes, yet Tyranthius had yet to launch a single assault. Nidhoggr was giving him no time to collect himself, and he could only avoid it for so long.

 

Just as this thought occurred to him, he saw a glow surrounding him, and leaped to his right. The bolt flashed by, but still managed to graze his torso. He was launched violently, spinning, and was met by an Orokin collapsible wall.

 

Cursing, he stood up. He looked forward, and saw Nidhoggr walking towards him, surrounded by a halo of light that collected in its overly ornate wings. To one side, almost invisible in the darkness, stood Harahel, looking almost bored. It reminded him of the recent confrontation of Alad V. Alad V... He realized. As Grandpa Tyranis said: "If you can't avoid the problem, you whack it in the face with your dong." He drew his Ethers, and charged the Guardian. Nidhoggr raised an arm, readying a bolt. Tyranthius kept running at the Guardian.

 

"Fool."

 

Tyranthius jumped milliseconds before Nidhoggr fired, and struck with his sword not at the Dragon, but at its atramental master. Harahel, busy controlling the Nano-Shadow, barely even saw it coming, he staggered back, his Shields drained. Beside him, Nidhoggr staggered as well. Tyranthius saw his chance, and quickly struck at the Guardian. It felt like striking a wall, but he was rewarded by the sound of metal on Warframe.

 

"So...", came Harahel's voice. Tyranthius drew back. Harahel, having lifted his visor, looked both angry and impressed. He slashed downward, and Nidhoggr moved at great speed, its gigantic sword held forward; it seemed to have used its wings. There was no time to dodge, but Tyranthius still managed to draw his Ethers crossed in front of him. The blades met, and a sudden explosion of light assaulted the senses.

 

When Tyranthius's vision cleared, he saw that he had taken damage. Then, he looked down, and saw the splinters of metal lodged in his Warframe. All that remained of his Dual Ethers.

[khimera]

Dark, the night cycle of Earth at least on this half of the planet. Then again it would be no easy manner to simply walk from the night to day sides, that was work for a Snub Fighter. The Grineer protecting a downed Cicero Injector were skittish, antsy to say the least. Their job was to bring the Injector back online and cleanse the anti-toxin from its systems. The reason for their anxiety-riddled behavior? For the past several nights there had been reports of...something...lurking nearby. It would never show itself during the day but the reports varied wildly from a stag to a nightmarish demon. There had been no deaths yet, but that's what made this thing all the more terrifying for the battle-hardened Frontier Veterans. They were used to fighting, to the death of their cloned comrades, but this thing left them all alive, giving them only glimpses of its body.

 

Councilor Vay Hek was not one for suspicion, but he had doubled the amount of Grineer protecting the Injector while it was being refurbished. The beasts of the forests were not his concern, but this reeked of Tenno trickery. He'd even loaned out several Projectors to boost morale, not that it helped at night with all the sounds of the forest encompassing the encampment.

 

This would be enough. Several days would definitely be enough to leave them scared and disoriented enough...but those machines had to go. Slipping through the brush quietly, letting the sounds of the forest cover his movements, the Tenno used Despair throwing knives to take out the Projectors first. They hadn't been doing much good but Grineer were still strengthened by the wavelengths it sent out. That and the explosions they made when they got destroyed were great for terrorizing the foolish Grineer soldiers. Almost...the Eviscerators and Melee units needed to be dealt with first before he could make his grand entrance. They would eat through his shields and health too quickly for comfort, this way he could deal with the rest of him at leisure after becoming known.

 

The melee units were fairly scattered so it took a great deal of time and use of scanner-vision to track them down, embedding Despairs in their heads and chests only a simple matter after that. Sadly, several times he had been unable to retrieve his knives before another unit came by and forced him to move away. It had the nice effect of further frightening a few individuals and spread the news, but this was getting to be more trouble than it was worth. Thankfully only two Eviscerators were present, and unfortunately they had been re-positioned at the Injector...with everyone else. The Tenno facepalmed, reminding himself that he should have brought a squad...but the only one available had been Nova-Quinn and she wasn't subtle or patient. The entire facility would have been blown to smithereens by now but the object of this long-running mission was to demoralize the Grineer, not destroy another worthless base getting overtaken by the forests.

 

Waiting for the Eviscerators to move apart was a pain and while the Tenno would have loved to sleep he only had so long until day came and his efforts would be for not. Even now his timer said he had less than three hours remaining in the night cycle. This was going to suck and he knew it. Jumping down from a tree branch the Tenno's Hate split the first Eviscerator in two, and before the other could react he'd already slid up close and spiraled into a circular slash, cleanly cutting the Grineer's body apart into three sections. Beautiful. Getting to hiding was harder since he was at the Injector site, but the Grineer were now in an absolute frenzy! It was delightful to watch them run around, bundling tightly together to preserve themselves. That would be their ultimate mistake.

 

Going roundabout, the Tenno chose use one of the rickety metal bridges leading up to the Injector for his entrance, unable to be seen from so far with his coloring. Still, when the Grineer saw him in the pale moonlight in the middle of the bridge holding large scythe in his hands they were rather stunned. An Oberon, colored black and accented with gradient dark blue, his energy lights a bloody red. Holding out the Hate, pointing toward the Grineer, the Oberon spoke in a deep, modulated voice that echoed with its enhanced volume. "WE ARE CERNUNNOS, GOD OF THE FOREST. FACE OUR WRATH AND PERISH!"

 

The effect was instantaneous: all Grineer units fired at the Tenno, yelling in their crude language filled with panic. They had no idea this Oberon wasn't maxed out yet, that his shields were paltry at best and he had only one power out of lock. That was what made this so amusing to the Tenno wearing the Warframe. Dodging bullets was not his priority, of course, so when he rushed forward on cloven armored feet he took some bullets, allowing his shields to go down before sliding through some unfortunate Frontier Lancers. "WE CONDEMN THEE TO INFERNO!" A most righteous roar from the Oberon as he stood, lifting his arms high and with them all the unfortunate foes in his vicinity. Of the mods he'd equipped, he'd unlocked Reckoning and had a maximized Stretch slotted. No unit was left untouched, especially when he brought his arms down, sending the floating Grineer to the ground in pyres of crimson flame.

 

"Ah...god that feels good...I still suck though." Rolling his arms, the Oberon stretched a bit, still unused to his new Warframe though it did nothing to inhibit his computational prowess when he started hacking the Injector terminals. "People are gonna kill me if they find out I didn't spend all this time gathering ingredients only." He mused, starting what amounted to a reactor meltdown before leaving the area for extraction.

 

"You have a flare for the dramatic, Khimera." Lotus chimed in, her icon this time marked with a wry smile as she spoke. "You could have gone without the cosplay."

 

"Oh please, you know how superstitious most grunts are. Corpus I wouldn't have bothered doing this with, but they're not the ones defiling our beautiful forests now are they?" Khimera stood oh the landing pad, awaiting a Snub Fighter to come as his colorations changed to what they would normally be from now on. Maining a pure white with a light blue gradient, his 'hooves' and the center line down his Warframe were a tarnished silver color. "Besides, it's not like anyone else watched me do it. If they did, they don't know who I am thanks to the voice modulator. To all onlookers I am Cernunnos, God of Earth's Forest...and that is how it will stay until the forests are free."

 

"Don't overdo it...Canis would be unhappy to know you aren't resting." That was an unfair statement, especially since the Lotus refused to reveal Canis' current 'home' location. Still, it was true and Khi had no intention of doing this regularly. If anything, he'd use his regular colors when coming out to gather ingredients from now on, letting his squadmates deal with the Grineer while he sought out the rarest plants.

 

"Understood. Returning to Aequitas."

_____________________________________

 

On a side note, how do I unlock the wildlife art gallery? Mine's permanently stuck just a little before complete.

[Wrath_Of_Chrysalis]

Hohoho. So I wasn't the only one with a fear idea...

[FatViking]

you know, I am glad that people are in the jungle and that lotus is talking to them...but I am wondering if she has mentioned to anyone that Kris hasn't responded to any of her communication attempts for the last 8 months. I mean, wouldn't that make even an advanced AI suspicious? A Tenno operative that hasn't responded to any attempts of communication and has disappeared off the grid. Alarming, isn't it?

[Wrath_Of_Chrysalis]

She does that. Never mentioned the missing FROST. Assume it was the HARVESTER.

[khimera]

Why do people keep assuming Lotus is an AI after the images of he model got put out in the latest dev livestream? She is very clearly a living being of some kind or a very well-made android.

 

 

Edit: Gonna say this now: while I as a person don't think Lotus is an AI, that doesn't mean our Tenno don't assume she is an AI. She may indeed be using it as a front if she is a living being or may be fronting as a living being while she is an AI. Until all is confirmed I'll stick to my own inclinations.

Edited December 22, 2013 by khimera

[FatViking]

I did not say she was an AI. as quote form myself: ''Wouldn't that make even an advanced AI suspicious?'' Meaning that any AI advanced enough would find it suspicious. Personally, I think that Lotus might actually be a member of the Orokin.

 

Edit: Curse you Khimera for editing before I could post this xD now I might maybe sometimes wobble delete this post :x

Edited December 22, 2013 by FatViking

[khimera]

I did not say she was an AI. as quote form myself: ''Wouldn't that make even an advanced AI suspicious?'' Meaning that any AI advanced enough would find it suspicious. Personally, I think that Lotus might actually be a member of the Orokin.

 

If she is, I get the feeling she may be the last remaining member of the Orokin. Another possibility is that she's actually a Sentient, given her model shows her extensively hooked up to machinery. Then again we have no idea what sentients look like.

 

Just noted no one's taking Khimera's chameleon-style chromatophores changing at will as a shock. I do that too often I think with Crowley...

[FatViking]

Nah. remember when faust was transporting Kris to Aequitas? you explained the color changing at will through psychic influence pretty well. I just assumed that Khi has more control over it than most Tenno (given as he prides himself in outward appearance)

[khimera]

Not particularly, at least not by intention. In my fanfic he had to use a device to change from his default colors to his wasp colors in the beginning and since then they never changed. (Like me, Khi would get bored of using the same colors all the time and yet they never changed) Perhaps it's simply a side effect of having dealt with the Void's maelstrom through his own body.

 

Edit: though now that I look at it, it makes sense he does this as an Oberon because getting gradient-style painting on anything is a pain.

Edited December 22, 2013 by khimera

[FatViking]

By the way, I still wonder if Lotus told anyone about that thing I mentioned or if she just kept it secret. 

[khimera]

If she did, it might have been arbitrarily or to someone who knows the forest...er...somewhat. (thing's probably changed a lot since cryosleepies)

[FatViking]

yeah...but then again....here are now HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of Tenno in the forest. If she did not bring up the fact that one ''possibly rouge'' Tenno is in the forest, she wasted a HUGE opportunity to get answers. just sayin'

Edited December 22, 2013 by FatViking

[khimera]

Or she's giving Kris space, really.

[FatViking]

True, and the fact that Kris isn't actively hunting down Tenno in his ''Hunting Grounds'' might also mean that there is nothing to worry about. 

 

Although, what bothers me now is that Lotus doesn't know what type of person Kris will be at the end of his stay. After all, his depressed nature has given way to a hunter. without a frame. who has killed a squad of Grineer without any weapons or abilities....bah, no worries.

[khimera]

This is true, but the Grineer aren't exactly 'smart' when it comes to regular footsoldiers. Not to mention they are not adept at guerilla warfare even in the forests of Earth. They're literally trying to scour the forests away to get at the minerals and precious metals beneath them and to terraform things to a more advantageous area for them. It's fairly clear they are at a disadvantage, even with the 'frontier' variants scuttling about. They don't have any heavy units either aside from Hellions and Eviscerators, both of which don't have gobs of health.

[FatViking]

I have actually run into several heavy gunners during the cicero Event. unsurprisingly, they died.

[Ajkrumen]

Heus stalked through the forests, surprisingly agile for a Frost of his size and stature. Lotus confirmed his suspicions earlier at the start of the mission that there was a possible rouge Tenno in the vicinity. He has been atop the perch of his improvised camp for three day cycles and two night cycles now. 

 

Where is this bastard...

 

He almost missed it. There was a swift flash of movement in the leaves in the direction of the Frontier patrol. Heus slid down for a closer view.

He almost laughed as he saw the confusion of the Frontier soldiers as they each got taken out one by one. 

 

Now I've got you...

 

Heus watched a bit longer before he pounced. Seeing Kris without a warframe, Heus retracted his as well. Unleashing a great roar, he found his mark. He tackled Kris from above and tried to pin him down, but Kris kicked off the massive Tenno. Kris drew a thin rapier, as Heus unslung his massive Gram. 

 

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!"

 

Kris had a regretting and almost sad look in his eyes.

 

"Yes, and I am sor-"

 

"SORRY?! YOU KILLED INITIATES! YOU KILLED VETERANS! YOU RUINED THE MEMORY OF MY MASTER!"

 

At that, Heus raised his ice-blue Gram overhead and charged Kris. To his annoyance, Kris nimbly side-stepped the slash of the Gram. Letting his momentum carrying him through, Heus ran up a tree, flipped, and landed right behind Kris. Knowing that his thin rapier wouldn't do much against a massive two-handed sword, Kris once again had to rely on dodging his enemy. Kris rolled forward away from the slash, but didn't completely dodge the blow. As he rolled forward, Heus brought down his Gram on Kris's foot, right across the Achilles Tendon. Kris staggered back into the clearing, waiting for his opponent to charge him again. Heus let out another roar and tried to use his sword to sweep Kris's feet from underneath him. Kris jumped above the blade and drew his rapier across Heus's stomach, leaving a long and bloody gash. Heus was mad. Making a feint with his massive sword, Kris stepped to the side, letting his rapier hang to his right. With an audible clang, Heus knocked the rapier out of Kris's hand with his Gram. 

Defenseless against this giant Tenno, Kris kneeled and admitted defeat.

 

"You have gotten what you want. Now will you leave me in peace?"

 

Advancing upon his foe, Heus let go of his Gram and did a very un-honorable thing. Standing in front of Kris, he snapped up his leg and kicked him right in the face, sending him to the ground. 

 

"You do realize that they're still sending INITIATES to the med-bays of Aequitas?! These are Tenno that have just woken up from cryosleep with no memory of their culture! Their only memory now is a raving madman attacking the home of his own people! If I weren't bound to the code of the Tenno and the memory of my master, you would already be split in two. There will ALWAYS be repercussions for you actions. You'd do well to remember that.

 

At that, Heus re-activated his warframe and walked back to his Snub, leaving his enemy in the clearing, pondering his words. 

Edited December 22, 2013 by Ajkrumen

[Spikey844]

Aww Aj, I wanted to find Kris first. Meanie :(