Turn 12.3
"What was I supposed to do? Not take it? Kid, lemme tell ya, pudding wasted means crying Nep." -CPU Purple Heart, Returning from Fort Herakles
"Get out of there. Stay clear!"
"I love you so much right now," IF shouts, and turns around with a flourish and longcoat flapping. "Alright, people! We're running away!"
Dammit, Ray wants that longcoat. It's pretty great. No dammit focus Ray you stupid duck.
"W-What kind of stupid numpty would make this thing?!"
"GAVIN MOVE YOU IDIOT!"
----
"You fucking what."
Far outside the fortress swarming with zombies and a hopping, one-legged giant robot, IF prods a Purple Heart in the chest, while every single member of the 101st leans away from them.
Well, no, Ray notes. Not them specifically. Just kind of the utterly evil goddamn supergodspear of lasers in her hands.
Seriously. Did Neptune not notice how everyone was freaking the fuck out about it. How it was kept underground, under a shitton of ghouls and doors and other shit. How it actually drips with pure evil.
Why did she take it.
The fucking idiot.
"Look, it was that or let Oberon Prime take it." Neptune holds it out, and IF takes two steps back. "I will not give him the chance."
"...Why?'
"Do you really want the Prime Warframe of Light get a corrupted spear that fires sunlasers, IF? Because I can go and put it back."
"Fine, jeez, sorry I'm worried for your immortal soul. Let's just..." IF throws her arms up and walks away. "I'm going home! Ray! Get in the car!"
He rolls his shoulders, rifle on a sling, and half his mind is still on how to get a kickass longcoat. "Still don't know how to drive, ma'am."
"Oh my god you are useless. Gavin!"
"I, uh…" He looks at Michael, who kind of shrugs. "...Accelerate is stick, right?"
"I FUCKING--"
----
His name is Matthew, and he is one of the lab techs working in the Basilicom, helping out Nepgear, Histoire, and Blanc in research and other science stuff. And right now, Neptune - CPU Purple Heart - and IF - Literally a Ninja - just walked in, apparently on fire.
"Right, so Neptune just did a big stupid dumb."
"Hey! He wasn't eating it!"
"I meant the fucking Sunspear of He'stan," IF snarls - actually snarls, like a cat. Wait, would that be shrieks? He should look that up. "Oh my god Neptune nobody fucking cares about the god damn pudding!"
A girlish gasp. "You take that back!"
Blanc just kind of sits up from her chair, closes her book, and slams it against the wall to make a thunderclap. But somehow, whenever she does that, the book is just fine. Even though it sounds like the March of the Cyberdragons. Well, Matthew isn't one to question a Blanc about how she does things. "Relax. It wasn't entirely dumb."
"Oh for fu--Blanc really?!"
"I do get a bad vibe from it, but keeping it in that base isn't doing us any favors either," Vert points out.
"Containment of dangerous artifacts is something the Basilicom is built to do," Noire nods. "That might have been the best thing to do, all things considered."
"Yeah… I almost thought to leave an ambush, but it's a pretty dumb idea if you think about it! Oberon Prime can sense me, right?" Neptune kind of flaps her hands around and then puts them around her armpits. "And I did kind of nuke it… so it might have a grudge? But, you know." She points at her eyepatch. "Fuck that thing. I liked that eye!"
"...Right. Did you take a shower?"
"Yep! Spear's kind of icky. We should probably like, dispose of it at some point!"
Once upon a time, Matthew would wonder where all these Goddesses would come from, because they are quite literally stepping out of places he just looked through. But then he realised that they're Goddesses. They are literally ninjas. Blanc does it from time to time, too, and she's the newest Goddess. So nowadays he just kind of pushes up his glasses and goes back to working. This really isn't something he should be concerned with.
...Wait did IF just say Sunspear of He'stan.
"Anyways, speaking of Anti-Divine Superweapons, Matt!" Blanc snaps her fingers and you turn around. You already have the folder in hand. Kind of felt like that kind of day. "How's the Turbo Maximus coming along?"
"It is big, oversized, and utterly impractical," you drone, because this is like the fiftieth time you said this. By all accounts, it is. Such a big gun should not exist. Unless it was intended to be used by Goddesses, against Goddesses, as a reactionary supergun. This is not a weapon of war. This is a weapon of war prevention. Via overwhelming firepower
...Basically, CPU Yellow Heart had big issues.
"Yes, and?"
"...But I have the Flux-Core ready. But only one. We were not able to synthesize a second shot." You produce the files, and hand them over to the short brown-haired girl who is also your boss. "Flux material is difficult enough to find and refine, let alone contain. Hopefully, Uni is a good enough shot to make it count."
"Neat. And Histoire," Blanc adds, while Matthew provides another file, "Has gotten some artillery in place with Nepgear's help. The battle lines should be more secure now, with proper indirect fire support."
Neptune looks at everyone around and grins widely. "Awesome."
----
"So, Histy. Anything else you can tell me about Tari?"
Up on the roof of the Basilicom, the only people beside you are Dennis and your favourite book pixie. She's by the ledge, kicking her legs - at least she was until you opened your mouth. Then she just kind of fumbles and falls backwards onto her back.
"A-About Tari? (ΟΔΟ;;)"
"About Oberon Prime," you clarify. You can feel it. Feel it closing in. Well, not literally, but the pressure is on and you want to explode it before you explode from the… well, pressure. You want it to die. Now. And then you can finally get to work on actually rebuilding a broken world. Seriously. Fuck the Graveyard. "Is there… anything you can tell me about the past?"
Histoire looks up at you, eyes wide and concerned. "Neptune… are you alright? You're acting strange... (´-﹏-`;)"
You smile. It's not a happy smile, but you try not to make it scary too. "I just want this to end, Histy. And I wanna know about that," you point at the Graveyard's direction, "Before it became that."
Histy takes a deep breath and nods. You feel anticipation welling in your gut. "Alright, I'll try. But I wasn't able to find out a lot about T-Tari before… you know. (´_`)"
"Anything is fine," you say. "Go for it, Histy!'
She nods. "Once, in the Kingdom of Tari…"
----
There were Eight.
They were Her most loyal Knights. Her most trusted retainers. Her most beloved subjects. The Voices of Her people, chosen from Her people. She loved them, and they in turn loved Her. She protected them, and they in turn protected Her. She was their Goddess. They were Hers. Each of them, a different instrument. And they were all Guardians of Balance.
There were Eight. And they were Her Knights.
But they were mortal. Age wore at them in ways that never wore at Her. Time would end them even if war did not. For a long time, through many ages, this was sufficient. Let the previous generation rest their weary bones beside the Goddess. The future lies in the hand of the youth.
But everything changed after the Console War.
Goddesses, the peers of their own, began warring. Battle poured into their great nation of Tari. Friends, family, allies, each fought and killed and partook in mindless bloodshed, all for the whims and fancies of their Goddesses.
Not their Goddess. Never their Goddess. She always spoke against the fighting.
Then the fighting came to Her, and she Fought.
The Knights were useless. They were slain. They could not hope to match a Goddess in battle. They could not hope to protect her, now that other Goddesses could stand against Her.
To protect Her, they had to become More.
Their Goddess opposed this, but She was scarred by the War. She had to be Protected. She would be Protected. She would be Innocent, free from battle, guarded by those Framed in War.
There would be Eight. And they would be Her Tenno.
The first suits were curiosities. Studies in the pursuit of science.
Then the Fall began. No more studies. No more science. All would be Framed through the lens of War.
There are more than Eight. And they are all Her Tenno.
----
"...Wait," you say, "There were only eight Warframe types to begin with?"
Histy shakes her head. "Not precisely… but there were eight at first, modelled after the eight Knights. The position was renamed the Tenno after the Console War, and more suits were made, but the Eight never wore a Warframe. If they did, I don't know. (´_`)"
You pat her on the head - gently this time - and look back out towards the horizon. "Thanks, Histy. For telling me. I know it can't be easy."
"I-It's been getting better, and it's going to keep getting better! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و" she beams. "I won't lose again, Neptune! (*≧▽≦)"
Literally. The cutest. AI. Ever.
You gotta admit. Tari is scary good at art design.
----
"Okay… it's currently May… and the projected firestorm murderfest is… oh wow nevermind I forgot that it started a few days ago." Mitch checks off boxes on his calendar - which he drew himself because nobody would lend him one - and stuffs it away just in time to get a kiss stolen. "Mrph?!"
Five seconds later, Linda laughs. "Ah, that was great. You brushed your teeth today!"
"L-Linda! I thought we had an agreement about sneak kissing! And of course I brushed my teeth, I'm not an animal."
"Just trying to get hype for the wedding, yanno," she sniggers. Generally speaking, people in the same unit, let alone the same platoon, don't get to get married while in the service. But in the 101st, a lot of restrictions get passed, mostly because the CPU takes a personal interest in them. But also because when you're that hardcore, you know when to put your feelings aside. "So, what's up?"
"Just tracking firestorm season," Mitch replies, still squirming. "S-So! See anyone in the, uh, new batch?"
Linda shakes her head and takes a seat beside him, and pulls her ponytail loose into a cascade of green hair. Mitch was never very good at flowery language. It's very pretty green. But he doesn't know what kind of green it is. And that sucks. "They can probably shoot straight, but nobody particularly hardcore."
"1st Platoon's staying empty, I guess," Mitch sighs. It sucks. He had friends in the 1st Platoon. All dead now. Except Ray, Ray's still alive. And Michael, he supposes. And Gavin, and Jeremy, and Matt…
...You know, he's still friends with the living members of 1st Platoon. He should probably visit them sometime. Ah well.
Staff Sergeant Haywood then walks on over, hands in his pockets, while they're mulling over that. He was an older man, older than most. From Bunker 47, but he passed muster for the 101st at some point. Sergeant Haywood was like a crazy uncle. "Linda, you know the rules. No tongue in the barracks. Mitch, how's the shoulder?"
"Haven't done a combat roll in months, sarge," he groans. Around him, other people in the 101st start snickering. Seriously, one time. It was one time in the foundry. He landed it wrong and still shot a guy through two walls. Two walls!
The sergeant nods. "Good man, but we've got bigger problems. And this is for everyone," he adds, and raises his voice so that everyone in the barracks can hear. "We have reports of Warframes moving towards Oberon Prime's suspected position. Large numbers. Dozens, possibly more. And Infested are moving from Tari to meet them." He pauses amid the clamouring, which dies down in seconds. The 101st is rowdy, but when the going gets tough the tough shut the fuck up. "Neptune's moving in. We might get called in, so standby for deployment."
"Who else is going?" Mitch asks.
The Sergeant just shrugs - orders haven't carried down from up top, it seems. "They're still thinking. But I've heard that they might be calling in Dennis."
Someone whistled. Cyberdragons are no joke. Basically everyone in the 101st has a Cyberdragon story, and only one guy killed him. And that guy died when Oberon Prime turned him into goop.
Sergeant Haywood nods, and waves his hands. "That's all, people. Carry on."
When he cleared out, the barracks got noisy again. Linda leaned in against Mitch and whispered, "Think this will affect the wedding?"
----
This is your chance, people. Deny Oberon Prime his Elite, and you can pick him off at leisure.
[] Deploy Units (Units Deployed May Not be Deployable against Oberon Prime)
Available Units:
- 101st Force Recon (88/120)
- 47th Infantry (700/700)
Specialist Units:
- Dennis, Cyberdragon
- Wyvern-Pattern 'Gungear' Mk-IV Gunship
- IF, Master Ninja
- Uni, Master Sniper [Flux-Core Available]
- Jonathan Joestar
- Dio Brando
Available Divinities:
- Vert Gionna Brando, CPU Green Heart
- Noire Emiya, CPU Black Heart [Affects: Do Everything, Collective Consciousness]
- Blanc, CPU White Heart