Boss Battle Redux - Zanuka (Original Valkyr)

[Eringe]

Requirement: Finish The War Within

 

For this Boss Battle Redux, it's about the Alad V Boss fight and the Original Valkyr. I'll try to avoid dialogue scenes since that is not my Forte so anyone can feel free to put in what they think the dialogues should be.

This is essentially a Special Assassination Mission and a re-telling of the Alad V Boss Battle in Jupiter. The enemies in this mission are of a much higher level, and there are two objectives to complete before the final battle itself.

Once this mission blueprint is completed, the Player recieves a Transmission from another Tenno (for now let's just name her... "Lineth" a placeholder name) named Lineth who they remember as a friend during their days in the Zariman Ten-Zero. Joining the distress call is her Cephalon Arvel (again, another placeholder name) who explains their situation: Lineth was on a mission to spy on a Corpus base for some valuable Intel on a new weapon.

The operation was a trap; and Lineth was overwhelmed by a huge wave of powerful Corpus forces. Arvel attempted to tell Lineth to cut the connection upon the capture of her warframe however she refused to surrender the technology to the Corpus and as a result, she can feel the inhumane experiments on her Valkyr Warframe.

The Tenno then deploys to Themisto, Jupiter to rescue her.

Part 1: Spy

Lineth despite her excruciating pain, manages to cheerfully tell the Player the times they had together and insists they extract the data. Upon recovery; it also comes with a voice imprint of Alad V, talking about the risks he's taking on this venture, hinting that his failure would definitely mean a fall from grace in the Corpus Board. They also learn that Arvel had lied and that Lineth was in captivity for days, and that he had been constantly maneuvering the ship to avoid Corpus patrols while staying close enough to Lineth.

The player is given three choices to respond.

• Light:    "Hang on, Lineth, I'll coming for you"
• Neutral  "The Corpus will not have our Warframe technology!"
• Dark:    "If they want our power, I'll show it to them!"

 

Part 2: Reactor Sabotage

With Lineth's location known, she urges the Player to set the base to self destruct to prevent any and all data from being passed onto to the other Corpus. Her transmissions are starting to become more and more garbled, at first the Lotus thinks that Alad V had found some kind of way to intercept or stop Lineth's transmissions but says that something feels very ominous about that surge of power. Arvel falls silent when Ordis tell him to prepare for Lineth's extraction.

As the player rushes to the underground facility where she is being held, they encounter Alad V and this new Zanuka proxy, before the boss battle there are three choices again to say

• Light:    "I'm getting you out of there Lineth!"
• Neutral  "With this, they can't experiment on anymore Tenno!"
• Dark:    "I have a bone to pick you, Alad V!"

Part 3: Assassination

Alad has to be knocked down in order for the player to damage Zanuka. Once he's knocked down Zanuka will suddenly enter a berserk rage, akin to Valkyr's Hysteria and attack with claw swipes. The Hysteria effect is permanent until she's hit by Void Blast followed by a Void Beam, Doing so allows Lineth to speak again; which to the Lotus' horror, finds out that Zanuka is the Valkyr warframe and that somehow Lineth used her Transference on it.

Lineth reveals that she didn't use Transference on Zanuka, but rather, Zanuka is just a horribly mutilated Valkyr Warframe, and that her mind is being invaded by the programming of the proxy.

After Alad V's defeat (with Zanuka throwing him down a shaft), Zanuka collapses and a projection of Lineth appears before the player. She says that Arvel's silence only means that her ship and body are now destroyed, and with the current state of Zanuka's body and it's own programming, it means she only has a few moments left before her own consciousness fades away. She reminisces a few more memories with the player during their time in the Zariman Ten-Zero.

With the base falling apart and a huge army of Corpus Proxies bearing down on them, the player is given three choices, affecting the ending.

Light:    Bring her Home

The player carries the broken Zanuka to extraction. However halfway through all energy is lost and is forced to discard it. After returning to their ship, a cutscene plays where the Player's Operator exits from their Somatic Link. Ordis confirms the destruction of Lineth's ship and the Lotus consoles the Tenno. As the player tries to leave the room, Lineth's ghostly arm puts a hand on their shoulder, reminding them what they told her years back during their time with Margulis to "never lose hope". The Tenno then collapses to their knees as the camera pans out. Meanwhile a distorted message from Arvel comes in, saying that he too is about to cease functioning due to severe damage. He says that when she was captured, Lineth was crying out the players name, which led him to try to contact them.

"She held out for you, Operator. You have no idea how horrifying she sounded when they experimented on her. She put on a brave face when you came. Seeing that...was all Arvel could... ask...for.."

 

Neutral:  "Let Me Have My Revenge"

As the Operator, Zanuka must be infused with Void Energy via the Void Beam. Once completed she then tells the player to extract, saying that she's managed to override the Zanuka system such that even when she fades away, it will become a mindless corpus killing machine.

A cutscene plays at the extraction point, as the Landing Craft comes in to dock. The player turns around and hears utter silence in the Corpus base. Just before they reach the Landing Craft though, a howl is heard in the distance, signalling Lineth's end and Zanuka becoming feral.

A heavily damaged Arvel appears, saying that Lineth knew that the life support system due to his severe damage would make extraction for her impossible anyway. He bids farewell to the player, Ordis, and Lotus, saying that he still has enough energy to carpet bomb the base, wondering if even a Cephalon like him could possibly join Lineth in the afterlife.

 

Dark:  "Goodbye old friend" (Put her out of her misery)

Lineth says that she's still in pain and asks the Tenno to end it now. The Operator overloads Zanuka's system with a huge amount of void energy. Shaken at what they do, the Operator's eyes turn black as a huge wave of Corpus proxies and Crewmen burst in. Overcome with rage, the player then enters Focus Mode, firing a Madurai Phoenix Gaze with highly modified damage.

Once all enemies are dead, they now make their way to extraction, encountering only weak and dying corpus which can be dealth with by ground finishers.

As the player's ship begins to pull away, a heavily damaged Arvel appears, saying that Lineth's vital signs were suddenly cut off. Obviously infuriated, he berates the Tenno for killing her but respects her wishes and blames himself for being too damaged to inform her all was not lost. Arvel says that he has just enough energy to take her body to the Void, where he too will cease to function.

 

Completing this missions rewards the player with a poster of Lineth in happier times with Arvel.

 

Notes:

1. Lineth's Valkyr is in Gersemi form.
2. Using Focus in the Boss Battle will have Alad V blinded, preventing him from seeing the Operator.
3. Lineth's final speech plays differently depending on the ending. In the Light Ending, it's occurs after the boss battle and choosing that path, In the Neutral Ending, her speech plays as the player exits the base, while in the Dark ending it's spoken in parts with every enemy killed with a ground finisher.
4. Because of the nature of the Boss Battle, Alad V doesn't know that the Tenno's true nature due to him being knocked out each time his lifebar is depleted, and the Operator's outright refusal to show their true selves.
5. Regardless of the Player's actual focus, they will use a modified Madurai beam in the Dark ending.
6. The Environmental Hazard generated by the Sabotage will cease once the player reaches the boss arena, at that point, the base's constant shaking, distant explosions and falling debris are purely cosmetic.
7. There are optional rooms with a console that plays some additional backstory. In Part 1: Spy, the Player remembers some fond times with Lineth when Ordis and the Lotus asks them about their friendship. In Part 2: Sabotage, these consoles play recordings of Alad V and Frodh Bek arguing about angering the Tenno, and then another with Nef Anyo who reacts with disgust at the thought of a once-respected Corpus Board member "defiling sacred Void powers"
8. In the Boss Battle, bringing a Valkyr warframe will have Lineth making an amused comment about a "cheap knock-off", Bringing a Valkyr Prime will have her scoff at first until she notices it's a Prime version. Bringing any other Primed warframe will cause her to mistake it as a Dax soldier and will react with anger.
9. In Part 1, wearing Stalker-themed gear and weapons will have her mistake the player as him and ask to be killed.
10. Using a Mag will have Alad say "...I'm having some Deja vu here, betrayer..." before the boss fight in reference to the Profit Trailer
11. Also, knocking out Alad with a glaive or any thrown weapon will have him "not again!" in disbelief.
12. And, using an Excalibur will have Alad say "I'll enjoy taking you apart limb from limb"
13. Using Vauban (or Vauban Prime) will have the Operator saying "Those who kneel at the altar of commerce, will be returned to the Void."
14. After completing this quest,  killing a Zanuka Hunter will play a short voice clip from Lineth.

 

 

Well that's my idea for this Boss Fight Redux, again I'm not a good dialogue writer so anyone can feel free to put in what they should say.

 

Edited January 4, 2017 by Raul_Menendez2025
additional ideas came in.

[TheUncalled]

i love this idea

[Almighty_Jado]

Wow, this is really well though out! I can tell you've definitely put effort into this idea, however..... I think we may have forgotten something? Last time I checked, Alad V was on really good terms with the Tenno after The Second Dream. Not trying to rain on your parade, but there would have to be something to address Alad's sudden hostility?

Also, we need more rewards than just a decoration. Perhaps a free melee Riven mod?

[Eringe]

10 minutes ago, Almighty_Jado said:

Wow, this is really well though out! I can tell you've definitely put effort into this idea, however..... I think we may have forgotten something? Last time I checked, Alad V was on really good terms with the Tenno after The Second Dream. Not trying to rain on your parade, but there would have to be something to address Alad's sudden hostility?

Also, we need more rewards than just a decoration. Perhaps a free melee Riven mod?

That's definitely a glaring problem right there regarding Alad V. We could say he's always been the shifty guy. Or his curiosity after the Second Dream is what truly drove him to experiment on a warframe again. He didn't mention which warframe he worked on before and his line about dissecting them and being puzzled as to what makes them tick...then getting a hint from the Lotus that there might be more to it, might have piqued his interest again.

Worth noting is Alad's experience with the Infestation before as well as having experimented on a warframe, something could have clicked into his mind after a few days. Maybe something like "Wait a minute! When I was infested...hmmm... could it be? I need another warframe to dissect and this time I know what to look for!" thus leading into the events of the quest. 

As for rewards, a Melee Riven Mod, or an exclusive new mod for Valkyr or Venka, or maybe a Zanuka pet...finally! XD And interacting with it with the Operator will occassionally have her ghostly voice say something.  ...oh the feels! XD

Edited January 5, 2017 by Raul_Menendez2025

[Almighty_Jado]

YESSS A Zanuka pet would definitely be lit af

[Cryozar]

The only issue i see is the war within requirement as valkyr and alad v happened before war within and he was infested before the events of second dream until he was cured. We also have to factor that we dont really 100% know what is up with our warframes as at the end of second dream our warframe moved on its own, and when one person asked why valkyr could scream, steve stated that hunhow was surprised the warframe could move on its own

[Eringe]

 

3 hours ago, Cryozar said:

The only issue i see is the war within requirement as valkyr and alad v happened before war within and he was infested before the events of second dream until he was cured. We also have to factor that we dont really 100% know what is up with our warframes as at the end of second dream our warframe moved on its own, and when one person asked why valkyr could scream, steve stated that hunhow was surprised the warframe could move on its own

I'm aware of that thought and I'm not exactly sure what the placeholder is regarding valkyr directly. I mean the other quests that really reference warframe by name like Sands of Inaros or even older ones like New Strange and Hidden Messages which actually mention which warframe they're trying to get, but Valkyr... I'm just assuming she appeared in some event that heralded a new form of gameplay at the time. But that event's gone and new players will never be able to replay it again (especially if it rewards some really good hyper rare mods).

It's not a far stretch for DE (assuming they even find this, XD) to retcon some events. I heard that Vor's Prize actually had quite some changes.

But I think the root of it all, was because of how I titled it; "Original Valkyr"  I think I should have added some dialogue up there where the operator or the Lotus would mention that her warframe's the original, plus some optional lines about how the operator's version is merely a copy. But yeah, that still doesn't explain why a copy of Valkyr already looks like she was experimented on.  so maybe this quest should have another condition, that the player cannot use Valkyr unless they also own the Gersemi Skin (which will be auto equipped so long as the mission is active)

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Raul_Menendez2025

[Cryozar]

1 hour ago, Raul_Menendez2025 said:

-snip-

the issue is we don't quite know what the warframes are. For all we know it could have the consciousness of the parents aboard the zariman or lingering thoughts held by the operator (thus allowing valkyr to scream), but for the moment i have nothing i can legitimately say regarding Valkyr.

On subject of the quest, I'd want it to be very much a mission taking place prior to the second dream, perhaps a quest received after unlocking jupiter because of just how that event played; it was an event where we found a warframe that had been tortured, which was, and will maybe continue to be (depending on the direction of later quests taking place post TWW) a very dark turn of events. The only way i can see it working as a quest taking place after TWW, is if it involved time travel or visiting past memories of an Cephalon AI or something

[Eringe]

6 hours ago, Cryozar said:

the issue is we don't quite know what the warframes are. For all we know it could have the consciousness of the parents aboard the zariman or lingering thoughts held by the operator (thus allowing valkyr to scream), but for the moment i have nothing i can legitimately say regarding Valkyr.

On subject of the quest, I'd want it to be very much a mission taking place prior to the second dream, perhaps a quest received after unlocking jupiter because of just how that event played; it was an event where we found a warframe that had been tortured, which was, and will maybe continue to be (depending on the direction of later quests taking place post TWW) a very dark turn of events. The only way i can see it working as a quest taking place after TWW, is if it involved time travel or visiting past memories of an Cephalon AI or something

Alternatively, this other Tenno NPC can be some other warframe altogether, or reserved for some new upcoming one. It's clear our character isn't the only Tenno in that continuity, and maybe a quest leading to the death of a fellow Zariman survivor would be an interesting test of our character's morals.