Dmol8
The Undead Unhinged Lunatic of the Web
- Location
- Belgrade,Serbia
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Space Ninja Summer Camp ( Warframe/Worm )
- Thread starter Sleethr
- Start date
Ruinous Virtue
Paving the road to hell
- Location
- Blacksburg, VA
Panacea is a striker. Alexandria is not. Striker means don't let them touch you, brute means don't let them punch you. Very different responses required there. A STRAIGHT MELEE WEAPON DOES NOT MEAN A STRIKER RATING. Enhanced strength, which is what a melee weapon is FOR, falls under Brute, not Striker.
- Location
- MN
Valkyr, yes and you will [probably] see some mention of that frame in the next chapter. Maybe not how you would expect though.
I do have the Valkyr Prime and there will be a strong relation between what frames & weapons I have experience with and what Taylor will have.
I have Saryn Prime and I love her, but she will probably not be making an appearance. Pretty much all of the viral, radiation status/scary effects will not be in the story. I stress "probably" because things could escalate, this is a Worm story and the Tenno aren't known for pulling their punches...
I just don't see how bringing a plague warframe and weapons into the mix would help Taylor complete her current set of missions.
Regarding the PRT threat ratings...
They will be adjusted as the PRT builds up a more complete picture of Taylor's "powers". Currently, they are operating on the
"better safe than sorry" principle and I freely admit that I just put down what I thought a paranoid person would put to cover their butts.
I may have to do a Piggot interlude now where she grills Armsy and SS.
Edit1: And...I have an Opticor baking right now because I figured Tayno might need a beam/energy weapon. I think the Warframe RNG gods are smiling upon me because I got a Riven Opticor mod from yesterday's sortie!
Edit2: I did some googling on PRT threat ratings and there is an excellent post on SB. Here is what it has to say regarding Striker and I think we could "reasonably" include a melee based elemental effect under the striker classification. Based on what little the PRT knows, rating wise, a 2 might be more appropriate though.
Last edited:
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
Tayno! arrives at the Endbringer rally point in her Nova Warframe...
"Yeah, I've got just the thing for that fucking lizard..."
John Therion
The Rat In The Wall
- Location
- Walls
So, this is an interesting story. I love Warframe, pretty much unreservedly, for too many reasons to list. That said, let's get to my only problem with this story:
It follows the game mechanics of Warframe way too closely. Like, seriously, you need to back up a bit... You don't need to follow Warframe The Game(tm) as literally as possible, you can make shit up and you should. You should also use bubblegum and spit to fix the cracks to make the game mechanics disappear. They should not be up front and center. What I mean is that for example Warframes having only four discrete powers makes no sense outside of game mechanics; it's better if they have "a power" or a "power set" that they can endlessly vary in intensity or application. Like Taylor did in canon with her own powers. If Taylor was a Warframe she'd have four different bug powers, "tag", "swarm", "swarm shadow", "attack of locusts" or somesuch nonsense. The point is that in the story Taylor actually varied her use of powers greatly, both in scope and application. Sometimes she'd use it only a little bit, sometimes she'd have billion strong swarm. I don't see how Warframes should be any diferrent.
Sure, it makes it a lot harder to do the background stuff since you'd actually have to figure out exactly what each warframe can do, instead of using their powers straight from the game.
Also an example is that Warframes having limited energy makes no sense outside of game mechanics (balancing), because technically the power comes from the Operator, who in turn is powered by the void...
Now this isn't a huge issue, so people should chill out if I sounded negative.
I am just afraid that I'll read this story and end up in a point where we jump a shark.
Anyone read The Longest Hunt (a Bloodborne/RWBY crossover) at Fanfiction? That story jumped a shark so badly it came out of the screen and slapped right into my face. I stopped reading it pretty soon after because I just couldn't handle the ... I'll stop now before I start using rude words. Basically what the writer did was write so that the Good Hunter gave the Old Hunter's Bone (a relic that gives the player an ability to do a short shadow teleport) to someone else. But the person had to activate it just like in the game. With the same mechanics as in the game. That is: use BULLETS to activate the Old Hunter's Bone to be able to teleport for a short period of time.
That makes NO sense in a story. It would have made about 100x more sense to just put the necklace on and woo, you can teleport. But no. Let's use bullets to power a necklace because that makes sense, right?
Sure, it makes sense in the game, because you need to balance the ability with some resource loss otherwise it'll be endlessly spammed. But from storytelling or pure lore side, it's just stupid.
I'm just afraid this story will do something equally crazy by sticking so closely to the game mechanics.
Otherwise I like it. More Warframe stories can only be good thing. The game has a great lore. So I'm keeping an eye out.
It follows the game mechanics of Warframe way too closely. Like, seriously, you need to back up a bit... You don't need to follow Warframe The Game(tm) as literally as possible, you can make shit up and you should. You should also use bubblegum and spit to fix the cracks to make the game mechanics disappear. They should not be up front and center. What I mean is that for example Warframes having only four discrete powers makes no sense outside of game mechanics; it's better if they have "a power" or a "power set" that they can endlessly vary in intensity or application. Like Taylor did in canon with her own powers. If Taylor was a Warframe she'd have four different bug powers, "tag", "swarm", "swarm shadow", "attack of locusts" or somesuch nonsense. The point is that in the story Taylor actually varied her use of powers greatly, both in scope and application. Sometimes she'd use it only a little bit, sometimes she'd have billion strong swarm. I don't see how Warframes should be any diferrent.
Sure, it makes it a lot harder to do the background stuff since you'd actually have to figure out exactly what each warframe can do, instead of using their powers straight from the game.
Also an example is that Warframes having limited energy makes no sense outside of game mechanics (balancing), because technically the power comes from the Operator, who in turn is powered by the void...
Now this isn't a huge issue, so people should chill out if I sounded negative.
I am just afraid that I'll read this story and end up in a point where we jump a shark.
Anyone read The Longest Hunt (a Bloodborne/RWBY crossover) at Fanfiction? That story jumped a shark so badly it came out of the screen and slapped right into my face. I stopped reading it pretty soon after because I just couldn't handle the ... I'll stop now before I start using rude words. Basically what the writer did was write so that the Good Hunter gave the Old Hunter's Bone (a relic that gives the player an ability to do a short shadow teleport) to someone else. But the person had to activate it just like in the game. With the same mechanics as in the game. That is: use BULLETS to activate the Old Hunter's Bone to be able to teleport for a short period of time.
That makes NO sense in a story. It would have made about 100x more sense to just put the necklace on and woo, you can teleport. But no. Let's use bullets to power a necklace because that makes sense, right?
Sure, it makes sense in the game, because you need to balance the ability with some resource loss otherwise it'll be endlessly spammed. But from storytelling or pure lore side, it's just stupid.
I'm just afraid this story will do something equally crazy by sticking so closely to the game mechanics.
Otherwise I like it. More Warframe stories can only be good thing. The game has a great lore. So I'm keeping an eye out.
Last edited:
- Location
- California Conservation Corps
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nah, you need to go maximum Madurai. Bring Octavia.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Too bad she doesn't have Limbo. Because I imagine getting getting shunted into the Rift plane would do funny things to Parahuman's Shard connections along with said realm being rather hostile to life.
So giant Murder Dragon is charging at Taylor!Limbo, she snaps her fingers and suddenly there's this man covered in spectral flames, screaming in agony, that no one can help/touch even as he burns to ashes.
So giant Murder Dragon is charging at Taylor!Limbo, she snaps her fingers and suddenly there's this man covered in spectral flames, screaming in agony, that no one can help/touch even as he burns to ashes.
I was actually planning my Warframe cross for quite some time, but my work-free hours are rare so not a lot of progress was made.
One of things I really gave a lot of thought was the relationship between a Warframe and Operator. And not the king of crap like: "This is Escalibur warframe. There are many like it but this one is mine". No, this is somewhat deeper.
You probably have some Favorite frames, right? Not just the strongest or more suitable for a given mission, but those that just click with you? That silly Mesa that you keep bringing to spy missions? The one that you keep on customizing and modding even if is does not really need it? For me it was love at first sight when I saw Titania. When I play her I just know how to do it right.
Some pieces of lore suggest that Tenno are more than the sum of a void-powered guy (gal) and the super-armor. Some psychology would agree that people, that for most of their time essentially are that armor, some traits would pass on. For example, I have a hard time imagining an Operator, who primarily uses Rhino, as anything else but a high-school football team meathead. He, obviously, has other Frames and other personality quirks but the core would remain. A Valkyr user would need to be in a special headspace to routinely fall into hysterical rampages. And when you finally merge those five-seven primary Warframes into one person... I would say the result would be... interesting... yeah.
Your Taylor right now looks a lot like a generic neutral-good 'tough guy from hollywood'. Mature? For a 29 year old...kinda. Badass, kicking butts and chewing gum? No question about that! Space ninja-monk? ... Not really.
Or am I just not seeng it?
One of things I really gave a lot of thought was the relationship between a Warframe and Operator. And not the king of crap like: "This is Escalibur warframe. There are many like it but this one is mine". No, this is somewhat deeper.
You probably have some Favorite frames, right? Not just the strongest or more suitable for a given mission, but those that just click with you? That silly Mesa that you keep bringing to spy missions? The one that you keep on customizing and modding even if is does not really need it? For me it was love at first sight when I saw Titania. When I play her I just know how to do it right.
Some pieces of lore suggest that Tenno are more than the sum of a void-powered guy (gal) and the super-armor. Some psychology would agree that people, that for most of their time essentially are that armor, some traits would pass on. For example, I have a hard time imagining an Operator, who primarily uses Rhino, as anything else but a high-school football team meathead. He, obviously, has other Frames and other personality quirks but the core would remain. A Valkyr user would need to be in a special headspace to routinely fall into hysterical rampages. And when you finally merge those five-seven primary Warframes into one person... I would say the result would be... interesting... yeah.
Your Taylor right now looks a lot like a generic neutral-good 'tough guy from hollywood'. Mature? For a 29 year old...kinda. Badass, kicking butts and chewing gum? No question about that! Space ninja-monk? ... Not really.
Or am I just not seeng it?
Last edited:
Trollbird
Vaguely lazy clunker
- Location
- USA
Erm.........what about us casual ish vauban players who love either being tesla shitting assholes or vortex launching chucklefucks who prefer gunning everything down objective be damned?
What would we get out of it? Because methodical and tactical as said by the description we are not.
And what about the detron?
I got a mara detron and thus far its a fantastic nuclear hand shotcannon of fuckoff.
Well, tesla-shitting IS a valid tactic:lol
Anyway, I'm not perfect in both ideas and explanations, some things might be wrong or silly.
And some Trinities will turn out not caring and kind but sadistic sickos that kill stuff with reflected damage and vampire back up to full
I think with the reveals from the Second Dream and the War Within quests, part of the reason why a Tenno is able to sync with a variety of Frame types is due to the nature of their dreaming allowing them to slip into different persona to match the frame. Plus, keep in mind that the Tenno also developed a number of combat philosophies as a way to hone their focus, making it easier to sync with different Warframes.
Though I have a feeling, story wise, Taylor and her clan-mates would have a preferred Warframe model that they use for most scenes so Seether and the readers can keep track of characters and not have to cross reference the Warframe wiki every few sentences. But, as the WoG stated that Taylor does have several other Warframes tucked away on her Orbiter, I am willing to bet she and the other Tenno swap out which Frame they are Operating depending on mission circumstances.
- Location
- MN
It is easier for me to think in game terms, but wrong due to the story not taking place in game.
So, yes, I fully agree that game limits should not apply and I will attempt to over-come my own limits.
Not saying these will all make it into the story, but...
Or Nyx, out mind controlling Ziz or just taking her over? I'm going to say that Nyx couldn't due to the energy drain ( Ziz's energy source vs. Taylor's void connection ), but I'd call it plausible that she could discover the link between Ziz and Eidolon.
So, yes, I fully agree that game limits should not apply and I will attempt to over-come my own limits.
Not saying these will all make it into the story, but...
- Valkyr Prime
- Ivara ( Currently being used by Taylor )
- Nova
- Trinity Prime
- Equinox
- Ember
- Hydroid Prime ( Pilfer would be some good giggles at a Merchant gathering )
- Banshee Prime
- Mesa
- Rhino
Or Nyx, out mind controlling Ziz or just taking her over? I'm going to say that Nyx couldn't due to the energy drain ( Ziz's energy source vs. Taylor's void connection ), but I'd call it plausible that she could discover the link between Ziz and Eidolon.
- Location
- United States
Hydroid would be awesome against the ABB. So many Asian men, so few tentacles. Bakuda would either sit down to watch, or NOPE out of BB so hard she'd reverse trigger.
- Location
- California Conservation Corps
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You think the majority of Trinity mains are nice, caring people? Oh you sweet, naive child.
Jaune Pendragon
King Of Servants
- Location
- Avalon
Is Emma going to get a warframe?
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
That would require her getting turned into an Operator.
And considering that such an event would require dunking the individual directly into the Void (extra-dimensional space that has similar effects on unprotected humans as the 40k Warp or the FTL realm in Event Horizon) the likelihood of Emma becoming one is........slim.
- Location
- MN
Becoming an Operator/Tenno is out for Emma, but Tayno has ideas for her BFF.
I think the plans will fit within the war and not jump the shark, I hope...
- Location
- MN
FYI, I did a minor revision on ch 1 and toned down some of the "game mechanics". Specifically, the Void dash to activate her Zenurik Focus school. I could probably do something with the Energy Siphon mechanic, like I'm still thinking about how and if I should worry about it.
- Location
- home
This flows much better, and does not jar the suspension of disbelief. Also nice Rouge One reference.
- Location
- Lake superior, Minoc
Before it got gamed up. Each warframe was built to control and contain the operator's power while their main body's where sealed away.
Mostly just for how insanely dangerous they are. Leaking void all over, Like ember was built around and for an op that had insane fire powers.
It was less, this is my favorite frame. It was "this is me"
Mostly just for how insanely dangerous they are. Leaking void all over, Like ember was built around and for an op that had insane fire powers.
It was less, this is my favorite frame. It was "this is me"
Reunion 3.0
- Location
- MN
Welp, here ya all go. Some more story and character development and hopefully, not too much game mechanics. I actively worked to mute that aspect. I'm sorry, but I think I prefer the text/word based links vs. a footnote system. The effect is the same and half the work since I just have to make one link vs. two. I had planned on including Danny and Taylor's reunion in this chapter, but at 4.5k words and many revisions, I decided to post now vs. waiting another week or two.
Also, all of your feedback has been very helpful and I thank you for your patience/patronage.
Also, all of your feedback has been very helpful and I thank you for your patience/patronage.
Reunion 3.0
Emma was really messed up. I only got a little of the story and what I was able to glean from her outburst was enough to tell me how much she needed my help. I wish my sister Becca was here with her Nyx frame. She was a pro at helping with what the Tenno called, "Battle Fatigue". I think the Earth Bet doctors called it PTSD or something innocuous like that. I called it the 'thousand meter stare' after a book I read before I was kidnapped..
{"Operator, the Protectorate hero, Armsmaster has completed his --wild ass guesses!-- investigation of the skirmish. Protectorate Ward, Shadow Stalker has been taken to PRT HQ for treatment by New Wave healer asset, Panacea scheduled to arrive at 0800hrs. I have taken the liberty of --hacking the crap-- accessing the PRT systems and made a copy of Armsmaster's initial threat assessment on the Operator. Would you like to read it?"}
"Hmm, sure. Thanks Ordis." I spoke, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"What was that?" Aunt Zoe asked, confused.
"Oh, I just got a message from my Cephalon, Ordis. The PRT finished their report on me and Emma and I was just going to read it."
"Cepha- the PRT has something about Emma?" Aunt Zoe flinched with alarm, but continued to cradle her daughter.
I nodded my head, "It seems that way, hold on while I read it." I said as I extracted a basic reader slate from inventory, opened the document and fought back a smirk as the Barnes gaped at my display of "super-powers".
"Hmm, they're calling me Sagittaria and wow, they think I'm a tinker and oh, they want to recruit me." I giggled at that. Me, a lowly tinker? Well, they did put me at an eight rating, --that was good, right?-- but still, a tinker? I wondered what they paid because I'd be here for a few more weeks at least and I little cash to buy gifts for my Tenno family could come in handy.
I could see Lan enjoying a t-shirt that said, "My sister visited an alternate universe and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!" Alyssa would probably enjoy a Rubik's cube and a whoopie cushion, Becca would probably die of bliss when she tried chocolate for the first time and Karl, hmmm, oh yeah, a stuffed rhino for his habitation module would be great. I always thought it was kind of strange that his warframe was named after an Earth animal and yet, they had no records of the animal's existence. Loki was also a weird one. How did a warframe end up being named after the Norse god of trickery when the Tenno didn't even know who Thor or Odin were?
A question for another day because I could not see myself collecting a salary, nope. If I got bored in a day or two, maybe I could try hunting down some Merchant, ABB or Empire supply caches. Everything else in their caches would be crap, but I'm sure they have a lot of credits- I mean cash laying around.
Once I had a little cash, I could go shopping. I glanced over at Emma. I bet she would know where to go shopping. She was always good at that and maybe it would help her relax a little.
"What about me?" Emma ask with a whisper, her eyes on the verge of spilling with tears.
I handed her the slate. "Well, they are calling you 'Red', which I have to admit, does kinda fit you, but I'd have gone for something a little more heroic sounding, like Nova on account of your flaming red hair or Joan or-"
"Taylor, please don't encourage her." Aunt Zoe interrupted.
"Doesn't matter, they want Taylor just like they wanted Sophia. I'm just not strong enough to be a cape. Hell, Glory Girl stubs her damn toe and she gets powers while I almost died, twice and nothing..." The reader slate dropped from her hand as Emma's voice listlessly faded into a whisper after a brief display of animation.
I know we used to dream about being heros, but I think she was seeing her glass as being half-empty. "You're lucky Ems. I don't know about being a parahuman and what they have to do to get powers, but what I went through sucked, but I couldn't have done it without you."
"Wha-huh?" Emma's face turned up, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Well, okay not literally you, because you weren't there, but when I was trapped on the spaceship and every time it looked like the crazy Grineer were going to get me and I felt like giving up; I said to myself, 'Taylor, what would Emma do?' and that is what got me through the hard times because the Emma I know, and love, is strong and determined and she wouldn't take shit from no one!"
Now I had Emma's complete attention, but I could see she didn't fully believe me, or in herself.
"Emma, you're not a parahuman and you're not a Tenno, but that's not a bad thing. Hell, it's probably a good thing cause people who have powers are crazy, well, not me, but everyone else." I giggled in an attempt to lighten the mood. I didn't really know if parahumans were crazy or not, but based on what Ordis had dug up while doing a threat analysis on potential hostile targets; the trigger event parahumans went through seemed a bit traumatic.
"Now, I don't know the whole story, but-" I was about tell her I wouldn't ask, but if she wanted to talk about it, I'd listen when she interrupted me by breaking down into tears.
Before I knew what was happening, I was once again sitting next to my best friend and she was crying on my shoulder. It took her a few tries to calm down enough to speak, but when she did, the story spilled out. "I didn't know what to do. You were on the phone, it was a day or two before you disappeared. I remember feeling happy and thinking that my best friend was back and then, I was being held down and there was a knife," her eyes grew distant and haunted by the memory, "a sharp knife. They were laughing and trying to make me pick. My eye, nose, lips, ear. I saw Sophia, she was watching, just watching. Why wouldn't she help?" Emma turned to me and I could see an accusation in her eyes. "Taylor, I thought about you and how you faded away when your mom died. I was afraid that if I was cut and lost a part of who I was, I would be like you and I didn't want that. I fought. It didn't matter if they killed me because I refused to be like you!" Emma giggled hysterically for a few seconds, "And now, look at you, you survived it all and I, I don't know if I did…"
I didn't know how to take Emma's last statement. I know that I was a little depressed after my mom died, but yeah, I can kind of understand now. I wasn't the same. I depended on Emma to make me happy and made her do all the work. "I'm sorry Ems. It wasn't fair of me to put so much on your shoulders, but you were there for me and I never forgot that. Like I said, even when you weren't there, you got me through the hard times. You've always known what you wanted and had the guts-"
Emma snorted with laughter. "That's what Sophia said. She said I had guts and that's why she helped me."
I leaned back and tilted her face up, forcing her to look me in the eyes. "Well, I guess I can't say that she's aallll bad, but I still don't like how she took you out tonight and I very much don't agree with her idea of waiting to see if someone fights back before she's willing to help them, but for you, I promise I won't kill her the next time we meet, okay?"
Emma's eyes widened with shock, "Taylor!" She exclaimed before my shit eating grin registered with her, causing her to heavily sigh and slowly shake her head from side to side with resignation. "Oh, you're joking, right?"
I laughed, "Well of course I am, but I am willing to give her a chance and I think you're confusing physical strength with mental strength. You," I lightly poked her in the middle of her chest, "you Emma Barnes are strong, you did fight back, but you couldn't have won. You were surprised and badly outnumbered and you didn't have the training or any weapons, you still don't, but I might be able to help you with that issue..."
"Taylor…" Aunt Zoe turned to me, slowly shaking her head with a warning, "I'm not sure that I feel comfortable with where you might be going with that idea."
"Hear me out Aunt Zoe, see, I think Emma is afraid, afraid of being attacked and not being able to fight back and being helpless. I can help her with that by teaching her some, umm," I don't think what I would teach her would count as self-defense, more like self-offense, but Aunt Zoe didn't need to know that, "self-defense. It might help get some of her self-confidence back. Well, couldn't hurt anyway…"
"I don't know…" Aunt Zoe glanced over to Uncle Alan for reassurance.
"Please…" Emma used her patented puppy dog eyes to plead her case.
"I…" Uncle Alan paused as he glanced between me, Emma and Aunt Zoe, "I think it might help. I mean, it would let Emma spend more time with Taylor…" He directed his rationalization more to Aunt Zoe.
Emma perked up while Uncle Alan and Aunt Zoe gave each other the, 'I can't believe we are considering this idea' look, but they didn't jump in and stop me. "Yeah, I'd be happy to give Emma some training and and I've got some good basic weapons that I'm not using anymore and I could probably tweak some of my designs and build you a good set of body armor with shields. Hmmm..." The ideas were flowing. A bow, even the Paris wouldn't work for her, but a basic submachine gun like the mk1-Braton or better yet, the regular Braton since I can't really afford to waste building materials on a weapon that she would outgrow in less than a week. For a sidearm, the Lato could be a good option.
A Bo staff could be good, but staffs can be unwieldy in tight spaces. The Skana is another good option, but I'm thinking we would want a less than lethal option because I'm sure Uncle Alan and Aunt Zoe would freak out if I handed Emma a sword never mind claws or a plasma sword. Oh, I have the blueprints for a sparring weapon, the Kogake's. Yes, those could work and if I started her out by teaching her the Brutal Tide stance, hmmm.
I could lightly mod them to start her out slowly and when she was ready, maybe supercharge them with a Orokin Catalyst. I have a spare Valkyr blueprint, systems, chassis and neuroptics, but for her to wear it; she might need to be-.
"Taylor, hello? Are you having a tinker fugue?" Emma hesitantly touched my arm, bring me back to reality.
I blinked with surprise and couldn't help noticing how she was already starting to look more like her old self. I could see the ember of hope filling her eyes like it used to when we fantasized about being super-heroes. "Sorry, I was thinking about what to start you out with and I think got a few ideas, but it will take some time. What's a tinker fugue?"
"It's when a Tinker get's lost in an idea. Sophia says that Kid Weenie-"
"Emma!" Aunt Zoe stopped Emma mid-stream, the look of disappointment clear on her face.
"Sorry," Emma momentarily glanced down, looking contrite by her words. "Kid Win and Armsmaster, any tinker, they get wrapped up in the idea that they lose touch with reality until someone forcibly breaks them out, or they finish whatever it was they were building…"
That fugue thing sounded a little strange to me and I made a mental note to have Ordis research the term. "Nope, I was just thinking, not a tinker, so no tinker fugue thing for me!"
"Umm, okay, when can we start?" Emma anxiously glanced between me and her parents.
"Well, I figured I'd start out slow but teaching you a fighting stance and your armor is going to take some work. We might have to make a trip to Mars for the final tweaks and fitting since you're not a Tenno. Ordis and I will have to do some thinking on the idea." I glanced over to my increasingly worried looking Aunt and Uncle. "Umm, probably not for a day or two and would you all want to come with? I mean, I still have to find my dad and see what he wants to do and stuff, and I need to find Elsa and I need to visit-"
"Taylor, Taylor…" Uncle Alan stood and motioned for me to slow down with a fond grin on his face. "I understand that you're excited, but you need to slow down a little. Mars? Really?" He chuckled with disbelief as he reached out, held my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "We," He glance over his shoulder at Aunt Zoe and Emma, "genuinely appreciate you looking out for Emma this, umm, morning," He tiredly sighed as he glanced over at Emma's alarm clock and its 3, almost 4AM display, "but take your time. We'll still be here tomorrow and besides, it's Christmas and you've got more important things to worry about right now."
"Oh, yeah," I grinned, grateful for his reminder. I dashed over and startled him with a quick hug. "Thanks Uncle Alan!" Or, maybe he was startled because I sorta teleported to him.
Since Aunt Zoe was close, I simply turned and gave her a hug before turning my attention back to Emma, I was worried about my friend. She was still a little 'off' and I knew it would take some time for her to get over stuff, but I just missed her so damn much. "Umm-"
[Bzzzt-Ping!]
The primitive cellular communications device on Emma's nightstand vibrated and gave off a single message alert, causing us all to glance over at it like it was a poisonous snake. "Umm, I think you have a message?" I pointed at her device as Ordis automatically routed the message to my heads up display.
Sophia H>ru ok?!?!
With her parent's full attention on her, Emma hesitantly reached for the offending device. She was clearly torn between wanting to read the message and keeping it private even though it was obvious that her parents would want to know what the message said because getting a message at this hour was not usual.
Emma snatched up her device, unlocked it, and haltingly at first, read it out loud after a quick glance to her expectant looking parents.
"Let me guess, Sophia?" Uncle Alan asked, causing Emma to nod her head. I assumed that Sophia was Shadow Stalker because of how Uncle Alan asked the question and the odds seemed to favor the connection.
"Okay," Uncle Alan's eyes grew momentarily unfocused as he thought about the message. I assumed he was working on how to prevent a legal issue for Emma since Sophia's device could be monitored. "Tell her, 'I'm fine, was sleeping. Why are you asking me that?'"
We all watched as Emma began typing her reply.
Emma B>Im good. It is 4AM. Y r u asking?
No one spoke as we anxiously watched Emma's device for a reply. After about a minute, I decided that I should leave because I fully expected Sophia to send the PRT after me. "Well, I should probably get going and find my dad before-"
[Bzzzt-Ping!]
Sophia H>Wht teh f?!?! My fing rm hurts, leg n on drugs. H8 drugs, f'ing merchs.
{"Ordis is worried Operator. The enemy encryption level on this communication is surprisingly high. I regret that I will not be able to decrypt it for you in a timely manner."}
I struggled to hold back my laughter, but I could understand his confusion because I could barely understand what she wrote. Well, I did only leave her with one working arm and yeah, I did sorta hit her knee a little hard, but she deserved it and I still think she should consider herself lucky that I didn't just kill her, but that's gratitude for you.
Uncle Alan was in the process of working out a safe reply when Emma's device alerted her again.
Sophia H>If bich hurt u, go ng to k
And, the message ended.
Well, this Sophia seemed to care about Emma. I guess I couldn't fault her for that, but she did almost get my best friend killed by being an idiot. She was also her friend while I was gone and Emma didn't know I was still alive. Now, I felt conflicted on how I should handle the her. I did hit her kind of hard, twice, but I healed her the first time. If she really did subscribe to the Survival of the Fittest, she should've known better, right?
After another two minutes without further communications from Sophia, Uncle Alan broke the silence with resigned sigh. "Well, I think it's safe to assume that the PRT has her phone now or..." He paused, mulling over the possibilities, "she passed out. Let's hope it's the later."
"I should..." I hesitated as I glanced over to Emma. Her cell phone was clutched in her hand and she was staring at it like she couldn't make up her mind about something. I cautiously sat down next to her. "Umm, I'm really sorry Ems and I really really missed you. Can you forgive me?"
I felt a surge of joy when Emma's head turned, her eyes focused on me and she nodded slightly. "I- I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have blamed you…"
Uncle Alan drew my attention with a light cough, "Do you want to spend the rest of the, umm, morning here? We can call you dad and let him know that you're here."
"Uhh, I could stay," I glanced over at Emma, "if she wants me too," I smiled when she nodded enthusiastically, "but, I don't think that would work 'cause he's at his girlfriend's house right now, I think."
Uncle Alan blinked with surprise, "How did you-"
I giggled at his shocked expression because I missed the Barnes so much. "Oh, I stopped at his apartment first and by the way, I was a little miffed when I learned he sold the house, but I found some emails on his info terminal and I was on my way there, to his girlfriend's house, when I decided to swing by and well, you kinda know there rest."
Uncle Alan nervously cleared his throat, "Well, yeah, and I think Zoe might have her number. I know it's still a little early, but should we give her a call?"
"Sure, just don't tell him that I'm here because I could totally see him breaking all the laws and getting into an accident and I would not want that because, you know…" I glanced down, my heart feeling heavy as I thought back to my mom's death.
Emma surprised me by reaching out and reassuring me with a hug. I returned it with a light squeeze of my own. "Thanks Ems, but I'm fine now and if anyone deserves a hug, it's you cause you almost died tonight and I've done that lots of times and trust me, that gets real old, real fast!"
Her eyes and even Aunt Zoe and Uncle Alan's eyes almost popped out of their heads as their jaws dropped open. "What?" Emma asked, flabbergasted.
"Yeah, I lost count after around 20 or 30 when I pretty much died on a mission --Nullifiers suck by the way-- and had to be revived or revive myself, but well, can't keep a good Tenno down!" I smiled fondly at my inert Warframe.
"Okaaay," Uncle Alan cautiously replied, "On that note, I think Zoe and I will try giving Danny a call while you two catch up."
I glanced over at the hastily retreated Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, "Okay Uncle Barnes, thanks!"
I think they didn't believe me about most of the stuff I talked about. Oh well, they would and the looks on their faces was going to be epic!
"No problem, but…" Uncle Barnes stole a quick sideways glance at his wife, "please don't encourage Emma too much, please."
I gave him a thumbs up, "Of course not, but I might tell her some stories," I heard the sound of Emma yawning and smirked, "if she doesn't fall asleep on me, that is."
"I'm fine, I'm fin-" Emma yawned again, "Okay, I might be a little tired, but I can stay awake if she can!" Her eyes narrowed with determination as she accepted my challenge.
As Uncle Alan and Aunt Zoe gently closed the door to Emma's bedroom, I turned to face Emma, "So, what do you want to hear? How I met my Tenno brothers and sisters or maybe how Lan shot me the first time he saw me or," I relished the look of anticipation mixed with shock in her eyes. This was just like before, when we dreamed about being super heroes. "Maybe, how I," I glanced back to the door to make sure her parents weren't going to bust it down to stop me. I heard voices from down stairs, but just in case, I whispered, "completed my first assassination mission?"
Emma's eyes widened with shock and surprise as she gasped with disbelief. "You?" She stole a quick glance over to my Warframe, "assassinated someone?" She ended with a hushed whisper.
"Well, yeah, but he deserved it. Captain Vor was killing Tenno while they slept and that had to stop."
"Couldn't you have arrested and put him in jail?" She sounded simultaneously horrified that I would claim to have assassinated Captain Vor and interested in the concept. Probably because the heroes on Earth Bet almost never killed a villain.
Oh, my friend's ideals were so, different and yet, refreshing. I sometimes wondered if and when the missions and the killing would stop, but in Vor's case, he definitely needed killing. "Nope, he was guilty and the enemy. Lotus authorized lethal, umm, a kill order and I was lucky enough to be the Tenno to put him down."
Despite Emma's interest, a huge yawn escaped her and the spell was broken when she realized how crusty and gross her costume was. She quickly decided to change and once undressed, she noticed the dried blood caked on her skin. "Oh, gross, I need a shower." She said, glancing over to me and fighting back another yawn, "Would you mind talking to me while I shower?"
As Emma showered and steam filled the air, I started my tale. She interrupted me with many questions, but I understood how she might not understand what most of the terms meant. One thing she seemed most confused about what when I mentioned using my Mag warframe and how awesome it was to trap Vor and have my MK1-Braton's fire enhanced and his own attempts to shoot me turned back on himself by my magnetic bubble, killing him with concentrated fire.
"Wait, you have more than one of these suits of armor and they have different powers?" Emma asked, poking her head out from behind the shower curtain with a confused look on her face.
"Warframes," I corrected her because they weren't really 'suits of armor', but she didn't need to know the distinction just yet and my explanation would take too long. "And yes, I have a, umm, few," I fibbed a little on the number, "different Warframes that I can use, depending on the mission, but my Ivara, the one in your room, is my favorite for being sneaky."
Her eyes boggled, "Really?" and her voice squeaked with surprise. She lost focus for a few seconds as she mulled over the idea in her head, before looking back at me, "That, as Sophia is fond of saying, is just bullshit!" She said before disappearing behind the curtain again.
I thought about it for a second and she kind of had a point because compared to most Earth Bet parahumans, my 'powers' were a little extreme. "Hmm, you're probably right about that, but there is a war going on and a Tenno needs all the weapons she can get."
"War, huh?" Emma huffed and momentarily paused, "So, what, umm, Warframe is your favorite and what can it do and what's a Tenno?"
I laughed. "That's a lot of questions Ems, but I guess my first Warframe is still my favorite and the one I feel the most comfortable, umm, wearing, but I rarely use her now."
"Why not?" I heard the sound of a bottle --I assumed it was shampoo-- squirting liquid from behind the curtain.
That was kind of a sore subject for me because I really did love Mag. Hell, I even upgraded her to a Prime, but the Corpus really didn't like her powers. "Well, it's hard to explain, but the enemy she was built to fight figured out how to counter most of her abilities and the Tenno found other ways to defeat the Corpus and my Warframe kind of got left behind in the R&D department, but I have high hopes for her in the future."
"The Corpus?" Ems asked.
~**~
I think I'm experiencing some sort of delayed shock.
Shock from almost dying.
Shock from finding out Taylor is alive.
Shock from finding out Taylor is some sort of cape.
And now, shock from seeing the water running off my body turning red from all the blood, my blood. If it wasn't for the reassuring sound of Taylor's voice coming from the otherside of the curtain, I'm not sure if I could've kept it together.
Because of the blood and because of her stories, my shower took a lot longer than usual and I'd have felt guilty about running the house out of hot water, but it would be a few hours before anyone else needed to use the water.
I learned a lot about Taylor in the half hour or so that it took me to feel clean. She really believed that she had been kidnapped by aliens, the Greeneer or something she called them and that she had been taken to a different universe and was in a spaceship.
The Greeneer were like these mean, space nazis, the Corpus were this cult of super rich greedy businessmen who made the Sheriff of Nottingham --see, I knew my history-- look like a nice guy and the Infested just sounded like Nilbog on steroids. I had a hard time believing her because aliens aren't real, but Earth Aleph was real. So, maybe she had just been taken to a different Earth, like an Earth Gamma or something where all these crazy capes lived and she just thought their secret base was a spaceship?
The Tenno, as she described them sounded more like New Wave or some other family based cape team. I wondered if she was in a cape team that called themselves Tenno, but everyone else knew them as something else? Maybe a cape team from Russia or somewhere in Europe. Someplace far away and not in America, like Mars.
The Mars thing was also kind of funny and my parent's reaction, priceless. Did she really think she could take me and my family to Mars, the planet, like it was just a weekend car trip? First of all, I knew that was impossible because the furthest we made it off Earth was to the Moon and the Simurgh shut that down. Well, she is my friend and I promise not to laugh at her, well, try not too when this "Mars" ends up just being a secret base or something normal.
Still, I must admit that I was looking forward to the self-defense she offered to teach me and did she say something about weapons and armor? Tinker tech stuff was expensive, but oh so cool! If I got some Tinker Tech armor, I could be a hero or at least, take down some of the ABB. Do some good 'ole vigilante justice like Sophia used to do before she got railroaded by the PRT.
Well, the PRT did want Taylor to join. If she gave me some tinker tech armor, maybe the PRT would think I was a cape and I could join as her sidekick and then, Red, Shadow Stalker and Sagge- oh screw it, Taylor could take down the bad guys together! I needed to come up with a better cape name.
I'd also like to see some of those other Warframes she talked about. Just one more detail I had trouble believing because her Warframe slash suit thing in my room looked pretty damn high tech and expensive. I didn't see how a tinker could afford to make other suits, I mean Warframes, that had different super powers.
Powers really are bullshit, but really; Taylor expected me to believe that she had more of these Warframe things too? Hmm, with her glowing eyes, what if the Warframes were really just her power? Maybe she was a combination Trump and Master with the Warframes her projection power?
"Huh…" I shrugged as I rinsed the conditioner from my hair. Something to think about.
"What was that?" Taylor asked.
"Nothing, was just thinking. Almost done, meet me in my room?" I asked.
"Sure!" Taylor cheerfully chirped before I heard the door open and close as she exited the bathroom.
It was nice having her back though. I really missed her imagination and the stories we would dream up together before Aunt Annette died.
I hoped Sophia was okay.
~**~
Last edited:
E.I.G.
Robo-Bird
- Pronouns
- It/They
It is going to be fun when she gets to Mars. Also the spaceship.
... Ordis is probably going to be called an AI, and then get angry because of Orokin restrictions on making those and the reality of what a Cephalon actually is.
I like how broken Taylor obviously is here, she is a war veteran who has slaughtered her way home and does not get normal anymore. Right now it looks to her old friend like "cape that is a little crazy", but there will soon be quite obvious hints that good old Taylor has become an alien monster not of this world.
Honestly, having a Tenno forget how different you are from them due to having been friends once long ago is probably going to be worse than just getting a space whale bit to do neat stuff. Taylor has access to the knowledge and gear of a civilization that had buildings made of meat and re-engineered everything and everyone. With that kind of baseline Emma is somehow worse off now than she was while Sophia was trying to get her to trigger from fighting a bunch of thugs.
... Ordis is probably going to be called an AI, and then get angry because of Orokin restrictions on making those and the reality of what a Cephalon actually is.
I like how broken Taylor obviously is here, she is a war veteran who has slaughtered her way home and does not get normal anymore. Right now it looks to her old friend like "cape that is a little crazy", but there will soon be quite obvious hints that good old Taylor has become an alien monster not of this world.
Honestly, having a Tenno forget how different you are from them due to having been friends once long ago is probably going to be worse than just getting a space whale bit to do neat stuff. Taylor has access to the knowledge and gear of a civilization that had buildings made of meat and re-engineered everything and everyone. With that kind of baseline Emma is somehow worse off now than she was while Sophia was trying to get her to trigger from fighting a bunch of thugs.
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
Yup, also is funny watch how at some point Emma thought that Taylor is a delusional normal parahuman.