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[Archive] Of Ash And Fire - Original Thread

SirNerdsAlot5

By SirNerdsAlot5,
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bejuizb

bejuizb

Posted
Posted

This right here is supposed to be the ending to the Silver Fang. Mind you, I am writing the whole story in a random order, and I just finished the end. I have a very, very long way to go before I finish.

 

Till then, enjoy.

 

Tabula Rasa

Things had changed since Aiden had last been here. The seed that he'd planted had now pushed its way through the soil, reaching for the sun with small, leafy branches. He watched as the little plant buffeted in the small wind, tirelessly pursuing its quest to reach the sun.

 

New life from the old. The cycle continues.

 

He stood on the hill that looked over Pripyat; behind him lay the busy settlement of Chernobyl. It had been two months since she had gone, leaving him a completely changed man. He was surrounded in beauty and harmony: birdsong echoed with their beautiful melodies, and a nearby stream filled the air with a tinkling hum, as the water cascaded gently down the hill. He was in Shangri-La, a paradise, but yet his conscience was shrouded in darkness.

 

Everything was over. The war, the genocide, the killing, everything. He was home at last, but he was here alone.

 

No I'm not, he thought, looking towards her grave. She came here before me.

 

He sat down next to the plant, drawing his pistol and placing it in front of him. The weapon represented his evil side. A side he wanted to destroy, but was to weak willed to succeed.

 

Why did I kill? Why did I take so much pleasure doing it? Watching them scream?

 

Because you're a soldier, a part of his mind told him. You did what needs to be done.

 

I'm a monster. I enjoyed killing those people.

 

'No, you're not.' The voice was new, familiar, one he missed dearly. She sounded concerned and sad. 'You just need help.'

 

I do need help...I need you here. By my side. What he saw, he knew was a figment of his fractured imagination, but she seemed too real, too much like Cathy for him to dismiss.

 

'I know, Aiden. I wish I could be there with you.'

 

He was shaking with remorse. Memories of that night rushed into his mind like a torrent, effortlessly tearing away at the barriers that he had forcibly erected. His anguish grew, and it frothed and boiled as it mixed with the fires of his rage. The image of a broken body lingered in his mind. Bloodshot eyes looked at him through a veil of insanity.

 

“That bastard”, he seethed. Damn him. DAMN HIM!

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. 'It's okay. Let it go, Aiden.'

 

He turned his head to look at her closely. She was sitting by him, looking just as he remembered her. She was wearing her usual loose shirt and slacks; her hair was short, and the purple strands that were scattered through them framed her features perfectly. She was smiling at him, a warm, concerned gesture that stopped his thoughts dead.

 

He simply looked at her, and she, him.

I miss you.

 

She chuckled sadly. 'I know. I miss you too.' She placed her small hand over his large ones. 'You need help.'

 

He laughed grimly, the sound not reaching his eyes. I do. Now, more than ever. He turned his whole to body to face hers.

 

Ever since you left, I...I've changed. He frowned grimly. I've become something that shouldn't exist. I...I'm a monster!

 

She shook her head. 'You were angry.' She raised a hand to silence him as he opened his mouth. 'Let me finish.'

 

'I left you alone, after I promised that we'd come here together and build a home. You were angry. At me. At Damien. At the world. You just needed a shoulder to lean on. But there was no one.' She looked tearful. 'I wasn't there for you.'

 

He simply listened, as she seemed to unravel the ailments of his conscience as if it was a trivial matter.

 

' You lost control, did evil things. You were wrong, there's no denying that.' She placed both her hands on the sides of his head, pulling his sulking gaze to meet her own fiery ones.

 

'But you feel guilty! Guilty for doing those things! A monster wouldn't care about his actions, Aiden. You need to stop beating yourself up and move on.'

 

If only it was that easy. This rut is the worst one I've been in, Cathy, and its killing me from the inside. Hell, I want to end it myself, so that I can join you.

 

She looked anguished; the sight made Aiden stop. 'You need to move on. Find something to do. Don't wallow in your own sorrows. Please.'

 

He sighed. I'll try. As hard as I can. He winked at her. No promises though.

 

She laughed. 'I'll take that.'

 

They both just stared into the sunset, bathing in the warmth of the evening. The shadow of sorrow that had shrouded Aiden's conscience had faded. He felt at peace, at home. She was by his side. It seemed like several hours of bliss had passed.

 

We're one hell of a dysfunctional team aren't we, Aiden thought bemusedly. Tenno by name, but emotional, weak creatures inside.

 

She grinned. 'That we are. We're just softies who hide behind armour to scare people.'

 

Hyper advanced boogeymen.

 

She laughed. It was infectious, and soon Aiden was laughing too. The hill echoed with the sounds of their mirth.

As the laughter died down, Aiden looked sad once again. 'What's wrong?' she asked.

 

He sighed. I just realized that I have nothing to remember you by. No pictures, no audio logs, nothing. He tapped the side of his forehead. Everything's right here.

 

'Well,' she started, leaning against his shoulders as the sun began to drop down below the horizon. 'It simply means that you have to remember me.'

 

I couldn't bear to forget you. I can't imagine that.

 

'Me neither.'

 

He sighed once again. I...I need to keep you with me always. In my mind. Till I die.

 

'I'm sure you will' she smiled.

 

He looked deep into her eyes. Like you said, I need a purpose to keep living on. I need to keep you alive in my mind for as long as possible. I'm a sword without an edge. I need to change that.

 

She nodded. 'You're going to live. For me. You understand?'

 

He raised his hand in a mock salute. Yes ma'am.

 

They both laughed as the sun finally dipped down beneath the horizon. A light breeze blew through the air, buffeting their hair and shaking the leaves of the trees that dotted the hill.

 

Suddenly a huge flock of birds flew into the air from a tree, filling the skies with their melodic calls. It was a scene from a painting, one of chaos,harmony, happiness, and beauty all at once. Aiden gasped at the sight. It was truly something beautiful.

 

As he watched the birds disappear into the fading light, he knew what he wanted to do.

 

I'll go back. I'll fight. For the others. For anyone who needs my help.

 

She smiled, as she gave him a warm hug. 'Go then. Make me proud. I'm always here with you.' She planted a small kiss on his forehead.

 

'I love you.'

 

I love you too.

 

He blinked: she was gone. He smiled inwardly. She's not here, he thought, getting up and heading back down the hill, towards the winking lights of Chernobyl. She's in my head. Till I die.

 

He stepped over a small rock. I'm not alone after all.

 

He had left the Lex by the plant. I'll fight. I will do what is right.

 

My past is behind me. I need to live, for her. Move on from the melancholy.

 

He saw his shuttle parked a few hundred metres from the outskirts of the settlement. As he hopped into the pilot's seat, one solitary thought lingered in his mind.

 

I'm not a monster.

“Tenno Aiden, are you ready?” boomed the voice of the superintendent over his comms. He took a deep breath, feeling his Warframe conform to his expanding lungs.

 

“I'm ready.”

 

“Step into the pod. Your weapons have been placed there already.”

 

He nodded, mostly to himself and stepped into the small chamber. He hunched his shoulders till they slotted into the grooves perfectly. He felt the guard of Harbinger lightly bump into his left shoulder as he wriggled into position.

 

“I'm in.”

 

“Closing pod doors.”

 

He breathed calmly as the transparent door to his cryopod closed. A burly man in Tenno fatigues stepped in front of him, his gnarled face distorted by the curved facets of the transparent material.

 

“You alright there, son?”

 

He nodded.

 

“Good. The fluids are being pumped into the system right now. So are the sedatives, but you're a big guy. So they will take a while to kick in.”

 

“Understood.”

 

He grinned. “Till then. I'll be keeping you company.”

 

Inside his helmet, Aiden smiled. Yet another softie.

 

“Now we have no idea when the pod will open again. Just know that when it does, it means that you are needed. You will be tired, I'm not going to lie. But it seems to me like you're one tough son of a *@##$, so I think you'll do just fine.”

 

Aiden could feel the cold fluids being pumped into him. Wary of the sleepy haze that was slowly strengthening in his conscience, he asked the old man a question.

 

“Could you help me find a friend? Her name is Lily.”

 

“She's your old cellmate right? I read your bio. Don't worry, she's in cryo right now. On a ship near Neptune.”

 

He nodded. “Thanks.”

 

The old man shrugged. “Don't worry about it. After all, you and your generation are the future for the Tenno race after all. I'd be damned if I didn't help you out.”

 

Aiden's breath hitched as the cold rushed through his chest, rapidly building towards his head.

“Easy, easy. Nothing to worry about,” the old man said, trying to placate him. “You'll be asleep soon.”

 

“Not soon, old man. Right now,” Aiden managed to mumble, which made the man laugh.

 

“Have a good one then, son. And remember.”

 

Aiden managed to keep his eyes open long enough to see the man look seriously at him.

 

“You're the future.”

 

Aiden's eyes closed and he fell into a blissful sleep. All sounds vanished as his mind slowly shut itself off. Memories and thoughts were silenced sequentially as he began to enter cryo state.

 

Memories of his mother and father, now just blurry faces.

 

Memories of Cathy and Damien, and them running around on the Chimera.

 

Memories of their day on Earth, of Cathy looking into the sunset.

 

Memories of their fight against the Resistance, of Richardson's dying words.

 

Memories of their first “date”, in a small house in Chernobyl.

 

Memories of their first kiss, and the relationship that ensued from there.

 

Memories of the days of bliss, when nothing felt like it could go wrong.

 

Memories of the night he lost his two closest friends, his family.

 

Memories of his rampage, of the deaths of many innocents.

 

And just before Aiden completely vanished into the darkness, he managed to produce one lucid stream of thought.

 

This is how this story ends. The Silver Fang as I know it is gone. But this isn't the end. Sleep, well sleep leads to a new day, a new beginning. A new day where I will remain a guardian. I will stay alive, and protect the innocent and helpless. I will stay alive for her.

 

He chuckled.

 

After all, I haven't reached my happy ending yet. The story can't end here.

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bejuizb

bejuizb

Posted
Posted

I was actually dreading that the Silver Fang story was ending

ikr. All good things must come to a close. But so far, I've only written 35 pages, or about 16k words for it. I've got a hell of a long way to actually finish it.

 

It's brilliant Bej, just brilliant.

Thanks!

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Pyjamalama

Pyjamalama

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Posted (edited)

Ok, here's my first story thingy with the Nyx. Now, she may come off as a little cold, but what other reaction do Tenno have towards Grineer?

 

The lancer walked across the storage room one more time, sighing as he kept waiting for his shift to end. “Watch room, stay alert.” He repeated to himself over and over as he did, going through the simple command that his boss had given him. The group stationed in that ship was small and therefore he had to take longer shifts than on his last ship.

 

He went across the room again, counting the paces and the boxes, “Watch room, stay ale-…” he looked at the crates. Were more of them? Did he count wrong the last time? Did one just move? Something weird was going on. He looked over at the wall, only to see the colours of the rusty steel wall melt down in front of him as the floor gave way. He tucked himself together, in order to try to do something as the room melted down around him and he was washed away towards the airlocks….

 

--

 

A Nyx chuckled as she looked at the weeping and crying lancer, the grineer laying on the floor in the foetal position and sucking his thumb. “They are all so easy to break. Kill him.” The white-and-blue Nyx said, the trooper by her side (who happened to have a matching colour scheme to hers on his armour, instead of the usual yellow armour of grineer troopers) nodding at her order before walking over to the lancer and crushing his head with his foot.

 

“Good boy. Now, carry me, I want to relax as I watch them.” The Nyx said, relaxing as the trooper picked her up, carrying her in such a way as to using his hands as a seat for her, with his chest as the seat back.

 

---------

 

The captain of the ship looked at the security footage coming in live from the security feed, but it didn’t make any sense. There were soldiers firing all over the place at…. their fellow soldiers? Some were clutching their heads and falling down while others were clutched in the foetal position, crying or wailing for their mothers. What had just happened?

 

He barked the command for all of the crewman to stand down yet again, but to no result. Half the soldiers on board were firing at each other in a panic while the other half was crying senselessly. He was halfway through reaching towards the communications console and contacting Grineer high-command when he noticed that something was missing. He stopped and kept thinking, concentrating on what it was that was missing. When he finally realized it, he just froze, staring at the space between the console and his hand… or at least where his hand was supposed to be, because it was the thing missing, replaced by empty space and blood spurting towards the floor in sync with his heartbeat.

 

He turned around, only to see that, unlike the clean-ish grineer supply ship control bridge he thought he had been in, with crewmen here and there doing different things and actions, he was actually the only living person in a blood-soaked control bridge, bodies here and there of all the people he had been served by. Well, he was the only living person apart from the oddly-coloured trooper and the Tenno…. Wait, when had she gotten there?

He looked at his hip in a panic, trying to reach for his gun, when he noticed that a chunk of his hip was missing, along with the holster of his Karak and the gun itself. He fell down on his knees, trying to say something, but was cut off by the sensation of blood flowing into his lungs. He looked down to see a row of crossbow bolts sticking out of his chests, which was his last sight as he collapsed.

 

“Huh, he resisted the thoughts for much longer than I thought he would.” The Nyx noted, sighing as she stepped over the form of the broken commander, the sound of his snivelling as he had gone into the foetal position bringing a smile to her face under the helmet. “Grell, kill all of them.” She then commanded her trooper, taking over the ships controls as the white-and-blue trooper responded “As you command, Mistress Sam.” with his rough and guttural voice, before he went around the room, shooting each and every one of the crew point-blank with his shotgun as they lay in their broken states, one at a time.

 

-----

 

“Lotus, I'm patching you into the ship’s controls…. now.” Sam, the Nyx, said as she finished the system upload on the ship, smiling as she looked into the security feed of the ship, only to see her faithful trooper finishing off the last of the wailing lancers in the ship.

 

“Good work, Tenno.” Was the Lotus’s response, her monotonous voice hiding whatever feelings she could have about Sam’s methods, although the briefness of the response itself said more than a lengthy speech could ever contribute.

 

“Anywho, now that I’ve gotten this ship for you, are you going to send me on another mission already or do I get a little downtime? It may be a thrilling idea to break one-hundred-something minds in a single run, but it tires you out, you know? I’m not the same Nyx I was before the fall, the cryo really left a mark on my powers.” Sam said, finishing her question as Grell opened the door of the control bridge, waiting for her.

 

“Tenno, you shall have some rest. Go to the extraction shuttle before our operative arrives to take care of the ship.” Was all that the Lotus responded with, closing their communications channel for now.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Go in the ship and choose one of the pre-selected destinations you have for me in order to entertain me. Gee, it’s started to seem like Grell is a better entertainer than her… at least he's starting to get better ideas than just rest and relax.” Sam said as she got up, picking up her Pangolin sword from the ground and putting it onto its magnetic sheath on her back.

 

“Come on, big guy, we’ll have to find something to pass the time as we freshen up before our next mission.” She said to the trooper as she walked past him. His response was predictable, as it was the same one every time: “Yes, Mistress Sam.” But at least enough autonomous thinking had gotten back into the big slab that was his brain that he had started looking at her differently as she went past him. ‘Hmm… at least it’s a change from being nearly unthinking non-AI robot-like. I'll have to look through his mind later and set in user guidelines.’ She thought, chuckling to herself as if listening to a joke only she could see the humour of.

Edited by Pyjamalama
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Spikey844

Spikey844

Posted
Posted

My my

 

You have created one of the most deliciously terrifying Nyx i have ever read.

Ensign, by comparison to Venefica on an average day, Sam is a playground bully. If you want, I'll PM you they story that had half the thread questioning my sanity, in which Venefica is restrained.

Yes, restrained.

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khimera

khimera

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Posted

All right....a few story ideas I'll plow through tomorrow when I wake up after I get my paycheck from work.

 

What story does the thread want first?

 

A: Searc gets a Helios...with a thing against barrels (think spacecore but declaring barrels be evil)

B: Ein gets a new look and new powers, demonstrating his new might in his first mission to the void.

 

C: Khimera reveals his hidden-project Dojo to Aequitas, requesting control over Solar Rail construction and placement.

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frostycmc

frostycmc

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As X fought, now side by side with Acantha, he allowed his body to go on autopilot so he could ponder life's greatest mystery: Who was stupider, the clones shooting directly into a melee against two highly mobile foes, killing scores of their own men, or the ones who rushed headlong into hand to hand combat with two heavily armed Tenno with nothing more than the butt of their rifles?

 

He returned his attention to the battle as the lancers began to thin out, retreating to form a firing line some distance away. When the rank and file showed these kinds of tactics, it generally meant a leader unit was nearby. No matter. His partner moved to give chase and scatter them before they could get organized, but he raised his hand.

 

"Get behind me, Acantha. I want to test something."

 

The Nova raised an eyebrow behind her helmet, but obeyed.

 

Excalibur sank into a ready stance as the leader gave the order to fire. Energy surged through him, his Warframe shining like a beacon as he channeled it's power. The moment the Grakatas spit fire, his hands blurred into motion, Orthos whirling in a seemingly random pattern as bullets fell harmlessly around him. The rifles clicked empty as he ended with a graceful flourish, his hand stretched out before him, daring the soldiers to try again.

 

The mood was broken as a Tenno fighter zoomed overhead, It's occupant falling right into the middle of the Grineer firing squad.Twin fangs flashed as Loki made short work of the clones and their leader.

 

"Hi X! Hi Acantha! You're a tough girl to track down, you know? Anyway, I'm here to collect on that debt you owe me."

 

Acantha blinked in confusion. "What debt? I don't remember being crazy enough to ask you for anything."

 

"Heh. Your little floating buddy there will tell you otherwise, I'm sure."

 

Acantha turned to see Qarin hovering sheepishly behind the swordsman. She sighed. "Qarin, what have you done this time?"

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Jeahanne

Jeahanne

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Posted (edited)

*giggles madly*

 

Awesome Frosty, just awesome. God only knows what Loki is going to ask for though xD

 

*edit: Every time I read about Qarin hiding sheepishly behind X I can't help but giggle.

Edited by Jeahanne
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ensignvidiot

ensignvidiot

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Posted (edited)
"patience is a weapon" one of my instructors had said "The ability to lay within the shadows to calculate your next move is a valuable tool while outnumbered and under-fire"
I'm sure he (she?) followed up with something about not letting myself get distracted from my goal. Likely something about cunning, and stealth. Who knows, I was eyeing a follow Tenno bound for Saryn frame at the time.

I DID recall another instructor mentioning something about sound. 
 
"Tenno, Rachim" Lotus, fine time. I'm starting to run out of ideas.
 
A brief pause, as I considered my response. "I'm to assume there has been a 'change of plan'?"
 
No hint of emotion "Mission parameters have shifted; A signal managed to alert the Grineer Fleet in Orbit to the disturbance you and your fellow tenno have caused"
 
...Oh crap. "Uhh...Estimated Reinforcements?" I tried my best to sound confident in my ability to adapt to this new situation, as well as proud of my ability to survive under such adverse conditions.
 
I failed utterly.
 
"Fear not, Tenno," She honestly sounded reassuring to me "I've managed to disrupt the message enough to mask the presence of you and the cell on the ground below you. Captain Vor will be landing in 30 minutes, with 4 full assault teams accompanying him to investigate the disturbance. Your mission is to retrieve the Orokin Artifacts they recovered, Kill Vor, and extract with the Cell." Her communication line cut just as soon as it came on.
 
Wait, alone? Or with the comrades i have now that i dont know about? Wait, did she even message them about me?
...who cares, I'll get on with the mission, and whatever happens, happens. Horns on my helmet are thankfully replaceable, though not as much as my internal organs. Okay, another lesson I actually paid attention to, what do I have? What do I want? How can I use what I have to get what I want? I have a Vectis, with a decent amount of ammo, a steadily growing energy pool, an Orthos Prime, an Excalibur Prime on the ground below me, and 1-3 tenno of unknown configuration theoretically with him. I need to get past this entrenched assault team, to get to my mission objective. I need to hold out for enemy reinforcements (that sounds absolutely Abyssmal), to kill a newfound (well, THIS clone at any rate) Assassination Target. Then i need to get out of here with both horns attached to my helmet, and all internal organs intact as well. Probably with the Artifact. That may be ideal too.
 
Still, what to do. I could throw decoys until they run out of bullets. Nah that'd take too long. Hmm, a mock surrender followed by a radial disarm? I don't think grineer understand surrender, would probably work on corpus though (noted for future reference). The Loud speaker clicked on again, something about my reckoning, and fools. I think the word Dominance was thrown in there. I took this time to move away from the stairwell i had been lurking in, I returned to the Scorpion 'Den' I had found earlier, and locked the door open. Aside from the two stairwells that led to the door of Pain, I just had a lengthy hallway to worry about. The kind that Snipers like to be at the end at.
 
A small squad was slowly advancing up the hall, I put the internal monologue on hold for a moment and Took aim.
 
Six Scorchs, two Shield Lancers, a Napalmer, and a Seeker. Another intelligent move for the enemy: with all of that fire, it wouldn't matter if I was cloaked or not.
This is troublesome, Adaptation is the mark of the Tenno, where did Grineer learn it?
 
Regardless of the "how" and "why" I put all forcus into the "now".
 
 
 
I went prone in my vantage point, and sighted on my first target.
Edited by ensignvidiot
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Tyranthius

Tyranthius

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Posted

Hey guys. Been trying to get to Update 13. Won't @(*()$ patch on the launcher. Is there any way to manually download the Update?

 

*****

X moved the drive around in his hands. It was strange. It was almost as if he didn't want to activate it. He had this unshakable feeling that some things were better left alone. What are you thinking? He was your friend. Your comrade in hundreds of battles. Fighting down his suspicions - which were almost overwhelming at this point - he twisted the drive and set it on the table.

 

All at once, it activated, projecting a hologram to X's eye level. Slowly, the particles coalesced into a life-size figure of Tyranthius. X's heart hammered in his chest. What is...

 

He looked at the Tenno projected in light. He still wore his LOKI, but had taken off his helmet. He looked much the same, but much different as well. He looked gaunter somehow, though Tenno didn't really need to or ever lost weight. His hair was askew, and from what he could see of the Warframe, he'd been in too many battles without seeing the inside of a recovery bay.

 

He began to speak, his voice made of smoke. "Friends. If you are hearing this, it means my message has finally reached you. It's very difficult, see, trying to find a posting address in the Void." He smiled in a weak attempt at levity. It did not bode well.

 

"By now you have not seen me in a long, long time. Some will have thought me dead. You might have even held my funeral. Some might have wept, or wondered, or did not care. I apologize to you all." Tyranthius stopped here, seemingly marshaling his thoughts. "When I ventured into the Void a year ago, it was in a Tower, long abandoned. It seemed that no Tenno had ever set foot there since the Long Sleep. I found a few things. An Artifact, which we'll have to discuss later. Technology not seen since the Orokin. What was most disturbing was not the High Guardian, but the low."

 

Guardians? What is he talking about? X had a sinking feeling in his gut. It told him that he had better be hoping that Tyranthius was simply in one of his moods.

 

"Not many have met a High Guardian, but I believe many of us have seen, or even heard of the low. Some of you lost loved ones to them, some of you lost limbs. Ajkrumen defeated one at the cost of his life. And X and I fought one in the Dojo. I fought many of them."

 

"The Stalker", X said aloud. His wrist twinged at the memory of that fight. Not that anyone would suggest it, but he'd gotten very close to dying in that one.

 

Tyranthius was speaking; he couldn't have heard. "There are many of them, swearing vengeance upon us and our cause. Yet they wear the same armor as us, have the same root of power. What would make one of our own hate us so? Do they truly care about the Grineer and the Corpus leaders they claim to avenge?"

 

Tyranthius moved from the hologram's frame to somewhere unseen and came back with a piece of wall. "Inscriptions in that Tower. Most shocking thing I've seen in my life. His colors were different, he didn't have a scythe then, but he was still very much the Thing That Comes In The Dark. I went to more Towers, older and older. Glyphs of them everywhere, in white and gold. Around Emperors, palaces, several of them at once!"

 

"They take their vengeance not because of what we do now, but what we did so long ago. All the way back to the time of the Orokin. Have any of you wondered why all of you forget when you're purged from cryosleep?!" 

 

*****

 

Craaaazy. But anyway, more later. Have to go.

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