Victory Through Unity! (Planetary Annihiliation Self Insert Multicross)

[Flameal15k]

With a pained sigh, the commander collapsed, skin signed, body twitching from electricity.

Melissa couldn't help but smirk at his discomfort.

"That's enough for today."

But she could not deny that he had done well.

She could not help but admit to being surprised when he had asked her to teach him the mystical ways of the Progenitors. She had not expected that he would find a way to learn they even had mystical arts, much less that the Commanders to do those things. Even she had been unaware that mechanical Commanders could use magic. Still, this was an interesting and overall positive development. It would be interesting to see him wielding arcane might.

That was part of why she hadn't demanded a training fee from him.

The other part of it was that she was content merely watching him suffer massively in her initial lesson with him. The first thing needed to teach him was basic offense and defense, after all. And, as she had expected, he had suffered many failures before he finally managed to start blocking her attacks. Merely thinking about his screw up made her chuckle, which was followed by a groan as she felt stinging pain at the bottom left portion of her ribcage. She had been careless is her teaching, and he had managed to strike her with his last attack before collapsing. A bolt of darkness, nothing more, but it had done its job.

A groaning noise snapped the female ROB out of her thoughts. Rory had arrived and was busy helping his father back to his feet, then assisting him in heading toward an open Ethereal portal. Based on the noises coming from the other side of the portal, it lead to the medical bay.

Such a dutiful son. Melissa couldn't help but smile - she had a soft spot for children.

Lesson done for the day, Melissa opened up a portal home. She waited to be sure that Rory had gotten his father to the Infirmary before she left, though - she needed her pawn back in tip-top shape.

XXXXXX

Back in her hub universe, Melissa pulled in the day's reports. Mostly normal things - her armies still complaining about boredom, which new projects should R&D focus on, civil issues that needed to be sorted out, the like.

One request did catch her eye, though - it appeared that one of the chemistry labs had lost a sample of a particularly dangerous chemical. As in, chemical-weapons level dangerous. They had quarantined the area, but still weren't sure how it had been stolen.

Melissa sighed - this was not a good thing. She hoped the staff found out what had happened, and soon, lest she be forced to take action.

Then a portal opened up right next to her, and out popped Cassidy...who was holding a knife and something vaguely looking like a perfume container. She also appeared to be rather blissful….and had some blood on her clothes. Granted, she was wearing a combat suit Melissa had commissioned for her, but still, something was wrong with this picture.

It took Cassidy some time to realize her mother was looking at her. When she did, she turned to face Melissa, a nervous grin on her face.

"Um, hi?"

"Where were you?"

"I thought I told you? I was at the Kronia Relay."

"Why is there blood on your clothes?"

"...The nice people wearing Red and Black clothes asked me to help rescue one of their friends, and the people guarding them asked for a fight?"

"And the perfume?"

"It smelled good? The guards didn't seem to agree with that when I puffed some in their faces, though."

"Please give me your perfume."

"O-okay, mom."

The minute the perfume was in her hand, Melissa took a big whiff.

Hmm, it really was good smelling. And very familiar.

"Could you tell me where the Red Veil sent you?"

Cassidy hastily sent her mother the coordinates. Melissa pulled up their location, and found an entire Grineer prison facility, utterly cleansed of life. Most of the guards appeared to have been killed by knife wounds, except for two of the wardens. Both of them instead lay dead by one of the security consoles, faces green and covered in sores and blisters that had not been caused by genetic degradation.

Finally, Melissa pulled up the chemical facility's report. She then compared, from memory, the smell of the missing chemical to Cassidy's perfume.

Unsurprisingly, a perfect match was found.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Not today, but if I find that you caused another crisis in the hub because you didn't ask me for something, then you are not getting any sweets after dinner."

"Okay."

"Now go. I have to sort out your mess."

As her daughter bolted off, Melissa sent a notice to the chemical facility, telling them she had found their missing chemical. Based on the weight of the container, her daughter had only used up a tiny amount of the substance.

Good. Allowing people to run around with Nova 6 was a very bad idea.

XXXXXXX

"Are you going to let this go unpunished?"

"Why? No harm came of that action."

"You subordinate's daughter used a chemical weapon as perfume and as a narcotic, and she gets off with a slap on the wrist?!"

"She is only a child. I will not condone hurting a child."

"Hmph. I sense some favoritism in play here, Celempheros."

"Aren't you a little hypocritical there, Anastrios?"

"I beg your pardon?!"

The Golden ROB chuckled at his ally's indignation. "Operative Iota, under your orders, caused a mass migration of Ecclesion Ravagers after he altered their home system's planetary orbits when using a gravity bomb to kill off a group of partisan fighting to destabilize one of our protectorates, which caused all kinds of troubles for said protectorate, yet you ensured he would receive only minor punishment for it. That has nothing to do with the fact that Iota is your pupil, does it?"

"....Fine, I'll drop this. But you better watch what your subordinate does from now on, Celempheros. Her actions run the risk of exposing some secrets that should remain secrets."

Instantly, the Golden ROB's expression grew grim. "I have no disagreement with you there. The Commander is on the verge of uncovering some facts I want to remain hidden. Too much has already been revealed. Should he continue to poke for the truth, I will deal with him personally."

"Understood. I'll be going, if you don't mind. I have another meeting to attend to."

"As do I. Farewell."

A moment later, and the eel-like shape of the feminine ROB vanished. Replacing him was a shadowlike entity, one with glowing grey eyes.

"Ah, my friend," intoned the ROB, "it is good to see you again."

"Indeed it is," replied the shadowed one. "How long has it been since you last saw me?"

"Eh, a thousand millennia, give or take a year or five. Hw long has it been for you?"

"Couple thousand years. Time flows slower in this universe than where you have been. So, is this new one your friend?"

"My apprentice's pawn, if you will."

"I see. Well, he's certainly fun to watch."

"No argument there. May I ask you a favor?"

"Shoot."

"Can you ensure that he doesn't learn certain secrets?"

"Like how you were involved in the Old War?"

"Exactly. I'd prefer he not learn certain truths."

"Okay, but know that I do plan to share a certain gift with him."

"I know, though I must ask, will you do so before or after Steel Meridian rebuilds Strata Relay?"

"After - might as well give the Kiddo a rest."

XXXXXX

AN: Just for the record, Cassidy did use the Nova 6 as perfume, but she knows it is meant to be used as a weapon. She may have also used it to get high.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

Time passed as I prepared to deal with the Sentients. According to what I had learned from Warframe's lore, the Sentients were originally used to colonize the Tau system (I assumed and later confirmed said system to be Tau Ceti), so if I wanted to remove them as a threat to the Origin System, I needed to advance to that system and beat the shit out of everything sentient I found until they were all dead. then, hopefully, I could find analyze them and figure out how to incorporate their power into my own forces.

Of course, to even understand how to beat them, I'd need to learn the powers of the void, which would also help me learn to control the warframes.

And since figuring out how to harness the void was proving a hassle, I decided to look into trying again to see if I could control one of the frames.

Specifically, Excalibur Umbra.

You'd be surprised by how that turned out.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Cautiously, I stared at the greyish-black humanoid. In particular, my attention was focused on the blue spot beneath the 'horn' on its head - the closest thing to an eye this suit had.

All of the warframes I had seen so far had been, well, puppets for the Tenno, which went limp whenever the Operators went out into battle. Not so for Umbra - one of my scouts had observed a Tenno (Etran, to be precise) use transference to leave Umbra, and the frame had fought on its own. That had truly captured my interest - a suit that could fight side by side with its operator was, well, unheard of. Maybe the suit had a mind of its own? If so, then perhaps it could tell me the secret of how to control the frames of war?

Still, I had taken precautions - I'd put a glass barrier between myself and Umbra, made of the same type of glass that the observation windows of Grineer starships were made out of. I'd had yet to destroy those with small arms (the only handheld weapons I'd seen that could destroy the glass were arch-guns and arch-melee weapons), so it was incredibly unlikely that Umbra would be able to get to me if it turned out to be less than friendly.

I'd also armed plenty of security devices, in case said frame did turn out to be dangerous, so that I could restrain it before things got out of hand.

Still, this had the potential to backfire spectacularly.

Of course, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Steeling myself, I reached out to the frame using my psychic powers, trying to gain access to its mind.

I soon met resistance, while the frame, which had previously been standing upright, started to curl in on itself and...was it shaking?

Then the frame screamed, and my world turned into pain.

As the frame howled, for what reason I could not tell, white bolts of what I assumed were electricity, or maybe void energy, show out from its body, striking all over my ship's interior.

WARNING: SYSTEM OVERLORD. AFFECTED SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN.

Well, crap.

Then the frame looked up at me. A moment later, it leapt, smashing through the glass like it was tissue paper, and clenched its right hand around my throat, hoisting me into the air.

Shit.

As it stared at me, I noticed that the left side of its faceplate had cracked, revealing twisted flesh.....and a seemingly unseeing, yet undeniably human, eye.

What the..?

Umbra threw me to the side, which I'm pretty sure dented the inner walls of the ship, before pinning my neck between two of the strange inverted arches on his right arm. He proceeded to stare right at me, with his helmet slowly repairing itself.

Well, fuck. This was terrible.

Somehow, I got the feeling it was about to get worse. But how?

"HEY DAD! I WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING!"

I turned to the entrance to the room, where Rory had just barged in, holding what looked like an Ayatan sculpture.

….oh no...…….

XXXXXXX

Umbra stared at the being before him. What was he? Not an Orokin, by the looks of it. Not a Tenno either, given his lack of void energy. Just some strange being, trying to use him as a weapon of war.

In the end, whatever this young man was, it did not matter - in a few moments, he would be nothing. Umbra refused to be subservient to another being, not after what Ballas had done to him. Already, his left hand was around the grip of the Skiajati, readying to strike. It would only take one good cut to end this.

"HEY DAD! I WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING!"

Instantly, Umbra turned around. His eyes soon focused on a child standing in the doorway, carrying what appeared to be an Ayatan sculpture. On his head was a large pile of fuzz, which appeared to be alive, given how it twitched and shook without any action from the boy.

Blissfully unware of what was going on, the boy opened his mouth to speak. Then his eyes finally focused on what was in front of him, and his expression turned to one of puzzlement, followed by fear.

"...Um...dad...?"

"It's okay, Rory, everything is under control. I'm fine."

Umbra knew that everything was not fine for the young man, yet he was puzzled by the lie. Why tell it?

Then he remembered what the young boy had just said. He turned his attention to the man, then to the boy, then back to the man. Yes, the features matched up. It did seem that this boy was the son of the one he had pinned to the wall.

Suddenly, Umbra felt an intrusion into his mind, coming from the man. Anger briefly took hold of his mind, but he managed to bury it, and decided, just this once, to let the intruder in.

'Leave him alone. Please, leave my son out of this.'

The mental voice sounded like the one of the man he was holding, and sounded surprisingly.....sincere. Fear was evident in this voice, unsurprisingly, but not fear for himself.

This man did not want harm to be brought unto his son. An admirable trait.

Umbra felt, if only for a moment, a sense of understanding pass between him and the man. The understanding between fathers protecting their sons.

Their sons....

His son....

XXXXXXXXXXX

For a moment, I felt a feeling of immense sorrow coming form Umbra. Then everything went black.

When I came to, I found myself on a hospital bed, in ornate, white room. To my left was an orokin with an unnaturally large right arm - Ballas, I realized. To my right, a Dax soldier, if Teshin was anything to go by.

I listened as Ballas spoke, only half paying attention, wondering what was going, noticing idly that Ballas appeared to be offering to play a game of Go...err, Komi, with me. My attention soon refocused on the Executor, though, when I heard him talking without opening his mouth. Apparently, it had something to do with a 'transference bolt', whatever that was.

Then he implored me to look at the other person in the room. My son.

But that wasn't my son.

Yet, all the same, I felt worried about him.

Slowly, I turned to face the Dax. The minute he noticed I was staring at him, he began to speak, his faceplate retracting so that he could see eye to eye with me. He began speaking, referring to himself as Isaah, asking me if I remembered him.

Then, once more, Ballas began to speak.

"Of course he remembers you, young Dax...."

Then his physical voice went silent, replaced by his transference one.

"Which will make this reunion all the more tragic....when you watch him die."

Then, the vision faded, yet when I came to, I wasn't in my body. Yet I could still see it, pinned against the wall by Umbra's.....by....my...arm.

I looked down, confused, as I realized that I wasn't in my body anymore.

I was in Umbra's.

Which meant I was....controlling....Umbra.

And...if my train of thought was going right....the vision I had seen was...a memory....from Umbra....

And that meant Isaah….was Umbra's son.

I only had a moment to process this before a feeling of unbearable sorrow consumed me, followed by nothingness.

XXXXXX

When I came to, the first thing I noticed was that something warm was wrapped around me. It also seemed to be trying to crush me, albeit lightly. As my vision regained focus, I realized that it was Rory, holding me in a hug. The minute I regained the motor skills in my arm, I returned the embrace, pulling my son close. My hearing returned a moment later, and with it came an almost inaudible whimpering. It took me a moment to realize it was coming from Rory, who had been crying. If the amount of dried up tears on his face were any indication, he had been doing so for some time.

"There, there," I said, "it's okay, I'm still here. Please, don't cry."

Rory turned to look at me, eyes red from constant crying. "But...but....but that suit had you pinned to the wall...and then you fell over and didn't wake up and-"

"I know, but I'm okay now. As long as I have you and your siblings, I'll be okay."

"....You promise?"

"I Promise."

As Rory calmed down, a flicker of movement drew my attention to something behind him. There, collapsed on the ground, holding his head in pain, was Umbra.

Noticing where I was looking, Rory turned to gaze at the shadowy warframe, his expression turning to one of concern and pain. "He's been like that ever since he let you go. I....don't know how to help him."

"...You saw him threatening me, and yet you still show concern for him?" I asked, slightly surprised.

"He's in pain!" my son shouted, looking somewhat hurt. "He needs help! Is it wrong of me to care for him?!"

I merely smiled at his outburst. "No, not at all. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you, merely that you are a good person."

"....Oh. Thanks, dad."

"You're welcome."

Satisfied that my son was emotionally stabilized, at least for the moment, I crawled over to Umbra, then placed a hand on his shoulder. My hand began to glow purple as I channeled the solace psionic ability, trying, desperately, to reach Umbra's mind.

"I know you are hurting," I thought, "but please, let me help you."

It was almost unnoticeable, but Umbra's struggles had grown just slightly weaker.

"I don't want to bring you further harm, but can I see the rest of your memories? I only know a little of why you hurt, and I cannot help you unless I know what causes you pain."

Slowly, Umbra's struggles came to a stop. Thinking I had succeeded, I tried, gently, to press into his mind again, only for the frame to gently grab my arm, before looking me in the yes and moving his head left and right.

The meaning of the movement was obvious - he didn't want me to go there. Not now.

I merely nodded in understanding, then backed off. A moment later, Umbra tried to stand, only to fall. Before he could hit the ground, though, someone caught him. To my surprise, it was Rory, who was, with some difficult, trying to support the exhausted and mentally shattered frame.

Smiling, I moved to help my son, and together, we helped the frame back to his feet.

XXXXXX

I had my fabbers create a room to place Umbra within - one built to the aesthetics of the Orokin. Part of me was unsure if he would be happy with it, but hat was quashed by the part that felt familiar surroundings would help to calm him. I added in a few lunar pitchers for ambience, since they made the room seem less static and more, for lack of a better word, alive.

Once we reached the room, I let Umbra make himself at home. Briefly, I considered asking him more about what I had seen, but that thought was soon discarded - clearly, he didn't want to discuss that, not now. Before we left him, though, I gave him a map of the ship, and told him where my quarters were. If he wanted to talk/show me his problems, he would know where I was.

Granted, maybe this wasn't the best way to deal with an emotionally unstable frame, but I had a feeling attempting to control him would just be worse. Right now, he needed to be left alone.

XXXXX

About ten minutes later, Rory was busy showing me the sculpture he had made, acting as if nothing had gone wrong. At least outwardly - I could tell he just wanted to pretend that the incident hadn't happened so that he could focus on showing me the labor of his efforts.

I had to admit, it was a cool looking sculpture. Part of it floated in orbit around the main body, with pulse of light shooting between the floating segments, making it look exceptionally beautiful.

My admiration was cut short, though, when I received a notification that someone had sent me a message. examining it, I found that it had been a communication from Cressa Tal of Steel Meridian.

The subject? Rebuilding the Strata Relay.

XXXXXX

AN: Not sure how well I handled the scene with Umbra, but I didn't want the interactions with him to be a total rehash of The Sacrifice, so this is what you get. I hope you like it.

More Umbra stuff will happen over the next few chapters.

So, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

​

 

[Rended Space]

Holy carp you managed to work in the actual Umbra cut scene events! YOU ARE A GOD AMONGST MEN GOOD SIR!

 

[Flameal15k]

Holy carp you managed to work in the actual Umbra cut scene events! YOU ARE A GOD AMONGST MEN GOOD SIR!

Click to shrink...

Thank you.

TBH, the creation of Umbra and his subsequent interactions with Flame and Rory were supposed to happen later, but somebody complained on SB about how long this arc was getting and honestly, I agree with them.

Just a heads up, but after this mini-arc, we're going to Fortuna, then getting into the Endgame.

 

[Cryptix]

Thank you.

TBH, the creation of Umbra and his subsequent interactions with Flame and Rory were supposed to happen later, but somebody complained on SB about how long this arc was getting and honestly, I agree with them.

Just a heads up, but after this mini-arc, we're going to Fortuna, then getting into the Endgame.

Click to shrink...

I'm starting to get that feeling too, which is why I switched from "all the quests" to "just the main-story quests + events," and just have DV do the frame quests.

 

[Flameal15k]

Alright, so, here's the gist of Cressa's Plan:

Since the Tenno had given Steel Meridian a home in the relays, she wanted to repay them by rebuilding the Strata Relay in orbit of Earth.

To do that, she needed help with four tasks.

1. Gather Pyrus Essence to help assemble the main body of the relay.

2. Create and deliver Relay Struts for building the superstructure of the station.

3. Repel the Grustrag 3 so that they didn't interfere with the project.

4. Complete missions for Simaris so he could focus on running simulations for relay reconstruction.

5. There wasn't actually a part 5, but I assumed the Grineer would probably try to destroy the relay once it was completed, especially if the communications I had intercepted between Cressa Tal and Sargas Ruk were any indication. He really seemed to hate her for leaving the Grineer, and the feeling was mutual.

So, what was I going to do?

Well, I didn't really have an option other than help them - I just couldn't refuse to assist those who were in need.

So, onto helping I went!

First off, I sent out my forces to begin searching for Pyrus Essence Carriers. Those that were found were mugged for that they had on them, then killed, because they were enemy soldiers, and, besides that, unrepentant space clone Nazis, and yes, I checked using mid reading to see if they had any regrets about the crimes they had committed. They did not. At all.

As for relay struts, I started hitting Grineer warehouses all over the system, in an effort to steal as much Trembera Essence as possible. I also looted everything else in those warehouses, including food, and distrubted the spoils to the various neutral colonies. I don't need it, so I might as well send it to the less fortunate. Plus, it would be a big middle finger to the Grineer, and I really wanted to stick it to the queens. Eh, they were horrible excuses for living beings and deserved everything that they got.

Coaxing out the G3 was less of a problem than you'd think - Ruk had deployed them in an effort to eliminate all efforts to rebuild the Strata Relay. It spoke volumes of how much he hated Cressa that he was willing to send the G3, who he felt deserved to be executed or at least imprisoned, in order to stop her forces. Not that it helped - the G3 just got pummeled into the ground by the Tenno and my forces, as when you had enough Tenno trying to complete something, there wasn't much you could do to stop them.

Simaris was probably the easiest to assist - I already had my forces scanning specimens for him every day, so it didn't take long for me to complete a task (or eleven) for him. The fact he was still willing to pay back my services was a nice bonus. Also, I was surprised to learn that he liked videogames. I think he actually passed out from joy when I gave him access to a literal pile of old games Melissa had given me for no reason. In hindsight, she probably did that just so that I would give them to Simaris.

Needless to say, I didn't need to expend too much energy helping the Tenno rebuild the relays. To be honest, I think they were actually glad I held back, as was Steel Meridian - while they hadn't (officially) sent me any requests not to help, they didn't give me flak for not using my ludicrously fast production speeds (which, by this point, were common knowledge) to rebuild the relay overnight. I got the feeling it was because this was a personal thing between the Grineer Defectors and the Tenno - me helping would defeat the purpose of this Project - to show gratitude toward the Heavenly Emperors. Thus, I had a ton of free time to do whatever I wanted.

Welp, time to play video games!

XXXXXX

"You take the front right leg, I'll get the core!"

"Gotcha, Rory!"

"Lookout, its charging the cannon!"

I smiled. Just some good old fashion father son bonding over video games. I'd already taken him fishing, and baseball was next on the list. True, I probably had 'better' things to do, but I was not going to miss watching my son grow up!

'Good, but please stay focused!'

Fine, Melissa. But you're being awfully hypocritical there.

Okay, maybe I needed to ack up a little bit there - see, I'd decided to introduce my son to Destiny, and right now we were killing a Winter Walker on Venus. I wanted to try and get my son up in the levels and complete the story before migrating over to the next game, and thus was busy helping him with a public event. Synais had also joined in, because he was bored.

Only a couple of minutes had passed before a trio of other guardians had decided to join us. Unsurprisingly, it had turned out Melissa was leading them. Cassidy was the second, while the third one was only known by her character name - 'DragonCh1ck'. Melissa told me that the girl was one of her allies, but other than that, and that said person was a girl, I didn't know anything about this person. I wasn't even sure if they were human, though my intuition said no.

Anyway, we were busy trying to turn a Winter Walker into scrap metal, and since it was on the last fifth of its health with about three minutes to spare, that was pretty much a certainty.

If you're wondering if something bad was about to happen, no, it wasn't.

That being said, I still felt like something was off.

XXXXXXXX

From the vent, Umbra watched as the False Tenno and his companions played the game, oblivious to the fact he was being watched. Occasionally, he would pass refreshments and snacks to his son and subordinate, attention mostly focused on the screen.

Umbra had, at first, felt hatred toward the False Tenno. Why had he brought him back from beyond the mortal coil? Why could he not simply die in peace? Did he merely wish to let the old Dax suffer?

Then he had seen the teen's son. Seen him lose any masks he had been wearing when said son was in danger. Just from that, he could sense the difference between the False Tenno and his former masters. There was, beneath his exterior, something good in him.

Then he had pushed into Umbra's mind, trying to ask him to spare the False One's son. Unintentionally, he had allowed himself to remember his grief, to remember how he had become this twisted puppet for the Tenno.

Yet before he could reach the darkest parts of his remembrance, he had felt the False Tenno's influence on his mind, trying, in some way, to alleviate the pain. Then, when he had tried to stand, the False One and his son had helped carried him to a nice room to rest. It was an...unexpected courtesy.

Now, looking at the False One, his son, and his subordinate, he could see how wrong his initial assumption had been. The False Tenno was not like the golden overlords. True, he was occasionally lazy, and at times to smart for his own good, but he truly did care for his son and subordinates. He was also charitable and humble, both in public and private.

Perhaps this was merely a mask the False One wore to try and make Umbra like him more. If so, he was very good at wearing it, and the mask was doing its job.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Commander Rexen]

I'm currently enjoying the story a great deal so far. I have a question will you ever visit the battletech/mechwarriors universe?

 

[Flameal15k]

I'm currently enjoying the story a great deal so far. I have a question will you ever visit the battletech/mechwarriors universe?

Click to shrink...

Eventually, yes. May or may not also involve Gundam IBO at the same time, still deciding how to escalate tensions.

 

[Commander Rexen]

Ok, good to know.

 

[Flameal15k]

It didn't take the Tenno very long to help Cressa finish rebuilding Strata. Sure enough, Sargas Ruk decided to try and blow it up. That was not a surprise.

What was a surprise was that Umbra asked me to let him fight with the rest of the Tenno. This was rather difficult for him at first, seeing how he couldn't even speak, but eventually, I just used a text to speech program to get around issue. Needless to say, I was concerned by this - not so much by his sentience, but rather by him wanting to fight now, of all times. After all, he did seem rather....emotionally compromised, so to speak. Still, he insisted on fighting, and ultimately, I let him have his wish - I had a feeling denying his request would make future interactions difficult, to say the least.

Once I got him kitted out in some basic weaponry (and the word he 'd come with, which looked awesome), I loaded him and some bots into a boarding craft and made a jump toward Strata. By the time we arrived, the relay was already under heavy assault. The Tenno had formed up en-masse to defend the inside of the relay, leaving destroying the invading fleet to me.

Well, fine with me.

My forces introduced themselves by turning one of Ruk's galleons into scrap metal. From there, they swiftly began tearing into every ship that they could aim at, while Ruk's forces desperately tried to hold them off. Identifying three command ships, I had disabled all methods of escape for those ships, then sent in boarding parties to steal any intel they could from said ships. Once unlucky ship, thanks to my epic hacking powers, found its entire crew spaced, and was promptly pulled away both to act as a trophy and as a subject to study for Grineer technological secrets. The Grineer were primitive as hell, but their tech was still interesting.

Eventually, the Grineer got fed up with my ease at destroying their fleet and tried to deal with it by pulling out a larger fleet-Oh god that's a Fomorian.

And it just took out three of my Omegas.

Welp, time to focus fire on that ship...why is one of the Galleons I sent borders too turning toward the Formorian?

...Now that I think about it, that's the one Umbra is on....why did Umbra and my boarding bots just leave the ship via a dropship....oh.

A moment later, the Grineer fleet went into disarray when the galleon collided with the Fomorian. The fleet completely fell apart when the Fomorian (which was still intact) promptly started shooting at its allies.

Hacking powers are awesome.

After that, the Grineer offense finally lost it. Ruk had finally been bested by the Tenno, and was already being rushed back to his ship, which I allowed to leave - the humiliation he suffered would probably just make the Grineer do something stupid to avenge it.

Also, Strata was preserved, so that was a plus for me.

Now to deal with Umbra.

XXXXXXXXX

After Umbra returned from the mission, he immediately returned to his room and...well, did nothing. He didn't even eat the food I offered him, though to be fair I wasn't sure how he would consume it. At first I wasn't sure why, but when I decided to use my psychic powers to see how he felt, I found that I could feel quite a large amount of sorrow coming from him.

Probably had to do with losing his son. Maybe I should talk to him about that?

I was just about to go see the shadowy warframe when I got a message from Etran, asking me about why I had Umbra fighting with my forces. The minute I told him, I got silence, then a massive data upload. When I tried to examine it, I found a familiar spiral of Orokin characters - another Vitruvian. One character was already highlighted. Examining it, I found myself looking at an image of a warframe. I heard a monologue from Ballas, talking to someone about the warframes...wait, did he refer to the warframes as his audience's enemy?

So Ballas had betrayed the Orokin? Why?

….Wait, he had to kill Margullis. That was reason enough to betray them. Plus they were pricks.

As the pictures finished, I wondered what to do next, only to see another character highlighted - blasphemy. Examining it, I saw another picture, this one of a sentient. Was again, Ballas was talking, this time talking about the sentients, how they were supposed to go to Tau and bear the Orokin a promised land but rebelled because.....because they knew the Orokin would bring ruin to Tau just as they had Origin. Oh. That was not what I had expected. I had assumed that the Orokin had mistreated them into betrayal.

I guess the Sentients saw the Orokin for what they were - monsters.

As the vision came to an end, I looked at more of the characters, but found nothing highlighted. Odd.

Well, time to look for more.....why is there a note at the end of the download the Tenno sent me?

'Look into the mind of the shadow. Only then will you learn of where he originated.'

...….Was the prose necessary?

XXXXXX

Cautiously, I stood before the door to Umbra's room. I reached out a hand to knock, only to stop at the last minute.

Could I do this? Could I really ask him to bring up his past, just to sate my curiosity?

…..Yes, I could. But more than that, I needed to know just what had happened when he had been with Ballas, what had left him so tortured and crazed. Only then could I lead him off this path.

Resolve hardened, I knocked on the door. After a moment, Umbra opened it.

With some difficulty, I managed to smile. "Hi, could we talk?"

For a moment, Umbra stared at me, posture unreadable.

Then, soundlessly, he put my hand to his head, and everything went dark.

XXXXXXXX

As the vision passed over me, I found myself in Umbra's place, forced to play space-Go. As I listened to Ballas talk to him, my former feelings of respect for the Orokin Executor vanished. I had assumed, based on my foreknowledge of warframe, the Ballas was the only executor that was truly decent, or at least somewhat likable. Now, those, as I heard him taunt Umbra, I realized I was mistaken. Ballas was just as bad as the others, near perfection in body, but twisted in mind and soul.

Eventually, I started to lose, with Ballas deciding to take a moment to chat with Isaah. A small break occurred as Ballas gestured for Umbra...for me.....to look at a portrait. Examining it, I was surprised when a new character highlighted itself. Additionally, I heard more of Ballas' speech, mocking Umbra for how he thought he could outsmart the defector.

…...What a jerk.

XXXXXXX

As the vison faded, I examined the Vitruvian again. The new character, 'Warframes', was highlighted. Examining it, more pictures appeared, as Ballas began to lecture some more. He talked about the infestation, cultured in the outer colonies. Apparently, this was where Helminth came from. Helminth, in turn, was used to cultivate a hybrid, only partially infested, to face the dreaded Hunhow. These became the first Warframes, and they were all.....failures?

....Apparently they were. Ballas actually seemed surprised that his audience (now revealed to be Hunhow) was surprised by this. After all, Hunhow betrayed the Orokin, so why would the Warframes act differently? Ultimately, according to Ballas, the secret behind these frames of war was hidden in the Void.

Hmm, interesting. There was so much that-

"Is that it?"

Confused, I turned to find my test tube son sitting on a chair some distance away, a bag of gummies in his hands.

"....How log have you been here?"

"Since you first started looking at that thing. Is this where the Warframes come from?"

"...Yes."

"Is there more?"

"Well, yes, but I need to talk to Umbra to find out about the past of it."

"Okay. Don't be too hard on him."

I felt like both myself and my son were robots at that moment, able to have a emotionless conversation over something that would cause severe trauma to a normal person. Then I realized that, to some degree, we were Machines, since both of us had cybernetics in our brains.

I needed to take Rory out more often. It would be better for the both of us if I did.

XXXXXXXX

Returning to Umbra's room, I found him kneeling on the ground, sword resting on his bed. Upon noticing me, the Warframe stared at me, before typing a question into my TTS device.

"Do you want to know more?"

I merely nodded. I had to see this through.

As the vision filled my senses, the first thing I noted was just how warped things had become. The walls of the pristine room were now covered in infested growths, which seemed to shift and twist with each moment. Ballas, meanwhile, bragged about how many stones he had taken, with Isaiah expressing concern for his father. I wondered for a moment why I felt so offended by Ballas' bragging - it just seemed like a normal thing for someone who was so prideful. Then I remembered each Komi stone was a member of Umbra's family to be culled. Now the hatred made sense.

Relief came when Isaiah tried to bring Umbra's attention toward a strong instrument called a Shawzin - Umbra's Shawzin. Ballas applause it, before turning back to menacing Umbra. As the twisted Orokin droned on, mich of my remaking sympathy for him disappeared. Really? He complained about Margulis' death? The death of the woman he loved, who could have been spared if he actually bothered to use his influence? Unbelievable.

Newsflash, man: the world isn't all about you.

The last part of his speech was chilling, though. Just how he talked about turning Umbra into a Warframe made my skin crawl. But what made me really start to lose it was hearing Ballas call the transformation 'a miracle'.

"But all miracles require sacrifice."

Then, oh so subtly, Umbra's vision....MY vision....turned toward Isaah.

XXXXXXX

As the vision subsided, I was surprised to discover that Umbra no longer stood in front of me, but had somehow retreated back into a corner of the room, where he had collapsed on the ground, clutching his head once more in pain and anguish. I felt pained just looking at him, before returning back to my main computer room. Rory barely managed to say hi before I pulled him into a hug, which he soon returned. Once we finally let each other go, I pulled up the Vitruvian once more. One last character was highlighted - Tenno.

I clicked it.

As various pictures appeared, Ballas noted how, before some vain faith, the Orokin had believed in duality. Every being had two part - the body and the mind. Among the Tenno, the Warframes were the hands, and the operators the wills.

Before he could finish, though. I brought the transmission to a halt.

Now, I think I knew what I had to do.

XXXXXX

I sat cross legged on the bed in Umbra's room, giving him the space he desired. The frame had insists that I stay away from him, unwilling to let me get close. Nearby, his sword lay imbedded in the ground. My powers told me that he was scared I would come to harm if I got too close to him. He just wanted to be left alone. Only alone could he weep in peace.

Well, I was not going to let that happen. Cruel as that may sound, I needed to get him over this.

This, once I was ready, I closed my eyes and forced my way into Umbra's mind.

The scene was heavily warped - Infestation now covered almost all of the walls, leaving the once pristine room a lot of nightmares. Yet Ballas made that look childish in comparison. The sheer menace he exerted without raising his voice was horrifying.

Eventually, though, Umbra seemed to grow weak. Ballas, seemingly deciding to take pity on the old warrior, told his son it was time, prompting Isaah to admit he was honored to be Umbra's son.

Then Ballas talked to Umbra.

"Don't worry, old friend. I'm not going to kill your boy....."

Then how were-

"You are."

Oh......oh no.

Immediately, Umbra's vision turned red, as his attention began to focus on Isaah. Confused, the boy tried to ask his father what was going on, before crying out in shock as Umbra fell upon him.

My vision blacked out again, before refocuising into....something weird. It was best described as a golden island floating in the sky. Here, I could see a path leading toward a squat figure trembling in the dirt. With a calm wholly unlike my normal self, I strides toward the figure, watching as golden lights passed by me, until I came upon the trembling form of Umbra.

XXXXXXXX

Rory stood before the terminal, unsure whether or not to go through south his actions. Then he shrugged and clicked on the arrow.

XXXXXX

Soundtrack start: Warframe OST: Smiles From Juran

Kneeling, I put my armor on Umbra's shoulder. As the shaking in his body began to slow, I focused my mind on his.

The Orokin had created monsters they could control. They had tortured them, brainwashed them, broken their minds...and yet it did not work. Not until the Tenno came. And it wasn't the Tenno's Void powers that had allowed them to control these mighty frames.

In the end, it had simply been their ability to lol at something that was suffering, and try to take away its pain.

XXXXXXX

Umbra watched as the Foase Tenno's memories floated past him - of his greatest achievements,his greatest regrets, and his moments of mediocrity.

Most interesting, though, was the past year. There, in those memories, Umbra saw all that the boy had been through, from being placed in the Ancient Machine, to this very moment.

As he observed this, a sense of peace fell over him.

Now, he knew the False Tenno was not a monster.

Indeed, they were, ultimately, very much alike.

XXXXXXX

When the golden scene finally faded, I was back in Umbra's room. This time, though, I wasn't in my body, though I could still see. It on the bed.

No, right now, I was in Umbra's body.

Cautiously, I took a step forward.

No resistance.

I took another one.

No resistance.

I walked up to the sword in the ground. This time, I could feel another presence, but it did not interfere.

Finally, I put my hand around the hilt of the sword. Surprisingly, the new presence gave me a set of mental pictures, which o followed and used to twirl the blade.

Despite currently lacking facial features, I smiled. At long part, the poet of the Warframe was mine.

XXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

My communion with Umbra left me feeling...actually, I don't really know how to describe how I felt? Serene would probably be the best word. After seeing what the old Dax had gone through, I felt that I had a sense of kinship with him. Just like me, he had had his life ruined for the amusement of a greater being, who cared nothing of how they felt.

….Okay, maybe I was being too hard on Melissa there - she, at least, had proved herself to be more than a self serving snake. Plus she actually had morals that she was unwilling to break.

Still, some things left me feeling uneasy. Namely, I didn't know what had happened to Ballas. That Orokin worm had, from what I could tell, slunk away, unpunished for his cruelties. Perhaps he was still alive right now?

If so, then I couldn't stand letting him live, or allowing the sentients to wield his intellect. that was a mistake waiting to happen. One way or another, I needed to find him.

Maybe Etran could help with that?

XXXXX

"Ballas is dead. I helped Umbra deal the finishing blow."

….Okay, I did not expect to hear that.

"You sure he's dead?"

On the screen, Etran's face grew harsh for a moment, before softening. "I'm pretty sure he - he wasn't breathing when Natah carried him away. Though, given how he survived after the Old War ended, probably without transference, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he did manage to find a way to cling on to life."

So there was a chance that he could turn up again. Perfect, juuussst perfect.

"......Hey," asked Etran, "would you be willing to....come over to my orbiter?"

"....What?"

"Well, I've never really seen you ever go into any place that wasn't public," noted the Tenno. "Plus, you've shown me and the other Tenno nothing but courtesy so far. I thought you might appreciate coming over, seeing some art, watching fish and poking the tank glass....would you?"

I would, and I really didn't want to refuse kindness. Plus I'd never really been invited to anyone's home since I'd become a Commander, and Melissa didn't count because that was more a lifesaving thing.

"I would. How will I get there, though?"

"I can send over a liset or scimitar...though I think you might need a warframe to use that."

"I can manage. Your secret to controlling the frames isn't a secret to me anymore."

"...Oh."

Etran actually became quiet for a moment, before a small smile formed on his face. It looked forced. "Well, then I guess that makes you one of us."

"No, it doesn't," I intoned. "I may have learned how to wield the warframes, but I will never wield the might of the void, nor will I share the kinship that you and the other Zariman survivors have. I get that you are trying to be nice, but please, don't lie. Not about this. I will never be a Tenno like you. I will only be what my Umbra has alrady referred to me as in his mind - a false Tenno."

Etran looked surprised at that and, oddly, relieved. I guess he felt glad that I would not view and act as another Tenno. Maybe he was worried I would abuse that and act as though I was entitled to respect from the rest of the Tenno?

..Pfft, like I was ever entitled to anything. I wasn't. No matter how much I acted otherwise. I had to earn everything in my life.

And before I had become a commander, there was a lot of things I had that I felt I really hadn't earned.

No time to mope about that now, though - I had a Tenno to meet.

XXXXXX

As I entered the Orbiter, I couldn't help but look around, taking in the Tenno's choice of décor. Noggles of a crewman, lancer, and an Excalibur rested by the market terminal, while what appeared to be an Oro floated above the codex station.

Following Etran into the bowels of the ship, I was surprised to see a kubrow fighting with a helminth charger over some kind of toy. Nearby, a kavat watched on in amusement, before making itself comfortable in a nearby bed. The trio of critters ceased their conflict as soon as they noticed their master arrive, and instantly ran up to the boy, who pet each and every one of them before introducing them to me. Apparently, the kubrow was named Fenrir, the kavat Bast, and the charger Bubo. Huh, funny names. The quadrupeds stared at me a while longer before going back to their daily conflicts.

As we reached the rear section of the orbiter, I caught sight of a group of kuakas retreating into the transference room, while a Condroc cawed angrily at the Helminth Infirmary. Neither of those, though, were our destination - instead, we were heading toward the only section I had yet to unlock in warframe - the Personal Quarters. Apparently, it had a vignette display, and a fish tank.

What I did not expect it to have was the Lotus' mask.

Or the Man in the Wall.

The figure laughed at the Tenno, before disappearing in a flash....at least I think flash is the right word.

For a moment, Etran froze up. Then he turned to me.

"...that is not normal. At all."

"I get the feeling that isn't," I replied. "So, what do we do next?"

The boy merely shrugged. "I think all I can do is examine the mask...can you help me?"

I nodded, then walked up to the mask and started looking at it.

We'd barely begun to look it over before my vision went black.

XXXXXX

When I came to, I found that we had arrived at Lua - me in Umbra, Etran in Revenant. I was completely confused as to what had just happened, but Etran seemed less surprised, and more unnerved on what had happened. Already, he was charging into the Orokin facility, and soon, I followed.

Ahead of us, the man in the wall watched our approach, teleporting away when we drew too close, laughing all the while. When we got far enough, a barrier appeared, along with shadowy figures wearing the Lotus' mask that charged at us. With no other option, we fought until the shadows were all vanquished.

Laughing at our struggles, the Man in the Wall dropped the barrier, allowing us to advance further. Onwards we moved, trying to find whatever he was leading us to. Twice more were we forced to fight the shadows, all of which fell before us. Soon we reached the reservoir in Lua, which now had an opening in it, which I remembered Teshin had been examining while he still served the Twin Queens.

Seeing no option, we dived into the entrance.

XXXX

I was surprised to see that, when we landed, Etran was now out of his warframe.

More surprisingly, so was I.

Confused, I looked over my hands, before Etran promptly grabbed my head and locked eyes with me.

"Follow me."

….okay.

Cautiously, I tailed him, advancing deeper into the chamber. We soon came upon a flowing portal, which Wally stood in front of, before vanishing. With no other choice, we entered the vortex.

XXXXXXXX

On the other side of the light, we found ourselves in a strange looking, fleshy chamber. I was pretty sure that it was Sentient in origin. I only had a moment to examine it before Etran started teleporting across the chamber, and I soon followed. As we advanced deeper into the hall, I could have sworn I heard someone talking.

Eventually, we took shelter behind a fleshy pillar, as the speaker finally revealed themselves.

It was Ballas....but not how I knew him. Indeed, his body was....twisted? Mishappen? Wrong?!

Parts of it were clearly Sentient in origin, especially his legs. Going by how he was ranting, he did not like these changes. While I could already assume that these new additions probably offended his sense of beauty, I also had the feeling he was in a fair amount of pain.

I recoiled in surprise when one of his eyes suddenly shot out what looked like a search light, before he began to walk around the chamber, mumbling to himself. Occasionally, though, he would form a light in his hand, before clenching the hand and destroying the light. Whenever he did so, a piece of...something...would appear in the center of the room.

Throughout his monologuing, he would look around, searching for what I didn't know. Us, maybe? Whenever he looked our way, we simply teleported over to another hiding place. His interest soon faded, and he returned to his mad ramblings. That didn't stop me from thinking he knew we were here, though.

Eventually, he proved me right, by directly addressing Etran as the pieces assembled themselves, forming a sword - the Paracesis, he called it. I was an offering to the Tenno. It was so that their war could finally end.

Though cautious, at first, Etran eventually teleported up to the Executor and gripped the hilt of the blade.

Well, I guess this was ov-

"Come here, False Devil."

Instantly, I was on the alert. For a moment, I knew not what to do, but when I realized the Orokin had not harmed Etran, I teleported up to Ballas.

"Listen now, false one. You have caused the blasphemies much harm, but there is much you don't know about them...or about how they intereacted with those who made you."

I was silent, but inwardly, I started to warm up quite a bit. I could also feel a mass of conflicted feeling coming from Umbra, who was watching what happened through our bond. Anger was present, but also confusion, sorrow and...pity? Definitely pity

"If you do not learn the whole truth, you will be undone here. This crusade you are on, to push back whatever you consider to be a malignancy, will end now, and only ruin will be reaped. You must learn the truth. I can impart you the knowledge you need, but only partially. You must find the rest for yourself."

"Where?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Look to the land where the air and water flow cold. That is where you shall find the path that leads to the truth. Now hurry! Take this blade! You and the devils must learn to wield it!"

I silently obliged. Then, to the surprise of myself, I placed a hand on Ballas's shoulder. The executor actually looked surprised at that.

The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Whatever happen now, know that I will ensure the Tenno triumph here. The Sentients will fall. IF nothing else, be at peace with that."

Then everything went blank.

XXXXXX

When I came to, I was back in Etran's orbiter. The owner of the ship was already helping me up to my feet. For a moment, it felt like nothing had happened.

BUt then, two memories came into my head: The Blueprint of the Paracesis…

…..and another symbol for my Vitruvian.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: I just modified the previous chapter - added in a link to some music I wanted connected earlier.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Flameal15k]

With the new symbol I had found, I reopened the Vitruvian, and examined the new symbol - this one meaning 'Judgement'.

XXXXXXX

So, how did the fighting go?

Initially, quite well. Our Commanders and Administrators proved to be potent weapons of war, though they could operate just as effectively in times of peace.

I am not surprised. From what I heard, they were originally designed for peaceful purposes, correct? The Commanders to build, the Administrators to grow. One would make a word habitable, another would be settlements, then they would migrate to a new world and start anew, right?

Correct, though we allocated them some systems to keep as their own, so that the commanders and the Coelohim the Administrators created would have places to rest and recuperate. Plus, a good ruler rewards their charges for performing well.

Of course. Still, it seems that eventually, you were forced to seek assistance.

True. Some chose to assist us form the beginning, others helped us later to gain a portion of the spoils. Still, time took its tole on our morale.

Five years of war will do that. So, how did it end? Some glorious final battle? Negotiations prevailing?

The latter, unfortunately. Though we tried to end it peacefully.

Oh really? What did you offer?

Worlds, pure and unspoiled. We used our might to hew together three entire universes filled to the brim with mineral wealth and habitable worlds, so that our enemies may be willing to seek peace.

…...That is....absurdly generous. Surely you could have offered less?

We had hardly been touched by the conflict up to this point - our armies may have lost many warriors and machines, but we as a whole did not suffer heavily for this. We are a difficult people to kill. Thus, in order for people to believe our offer of peace to be sincere, a great offering was needed.

Fair enough. So, what happened that caused this offer to peace to all go to waste?

Some of our foes did not want peace, so they sought to goad us into a position where we would decide that peace was not an option.

How?

They stole mighty weapons from their allies, pointed them at our offering, and fired.

How bad were they?

The weapons used on those worlds are anti-planet chemical weapons. I believe one was referred to by its creators as the Life Eater.

That certainly sounds bad.

It is. The worlds hit died - all that was alive on them, regardless of biology, was liquified. A standard orbital attack followed, setting these dead worlds on fire.

I take it your kind was...unhappy about this?

We did.. Up until this point, the war had been viewed as a fight over shattered pride. Our children felt we were fighting a pointless war over damaged honor. Once this happened, though, no one held those sentiments. Now, all of us wanted blood.

Did this involve your kind declaring one of those alliterative orders to wipe out your enemy in its entirety?

Are you referring to an Extinction Edict?

Yes.

Those are orders only meant to be declared against those beings who had shown they would always oppose the existence of other beings for spiteful reasons, not because of a genuine existential problem they faced. The order must be given unanimously, and afterwards given a review as to whether or not we were justified to give it, lest we become to desensitized to death.

That being said, yes. That is exactly what we did.

I see. How hard did your enemies fight back?

Those who were innocent did not fight at all - we spared them of harm.

As for the guilty, they fought with valor.

Of course, they didn't even last a single night once we were serious.

XXXXXX

As the video reached its end, I sat, frozen at what I had witnessed.

The accompanying pictures for this Vitruvian vision had been...unsettling. It had shown Progenitor machines and war beasts doing battle with various forces, including hordes of baneblades. Eventually, though, both sides had shown exhaustion, and the Progenitors had made their offer. It was when the virus bombs fell that things really got scary - the destruction of the offering had reminded me of the Istvaan III atrocity from the Horus Heresy, but what had really intimidate me was how it had ended - as the Progenitor had mentioned the retribution they had enacted on their foes, it had focused on a world, presumably an enemy one.

When he had said that their foes had not lasted the night, that world shattered.

Just what kind of retribution had the Progenitors wrought?

...Why is one of the recordings on this machine starting to play?

Ignoring my complaints, the video came into focus, depicting a Progenitor fleet advancing on an enemy world. Within the flagship of said fleet, a progenitor stared out at the enemy war fleet, as well as the system they were in.

"The enemy is preparing to fire, captain," remarked one of the bridge crew. "Shall we return the welcome?"

"No," replied the captain of the ship, still staring at his foes. "This ends now."

Without ever breaking his stare, the captain snapped his fingers.

A minute later, and something big exploded behind the enemy fleet, taking them out in seconds. It took me a minute to realize that the source of the explosion was the planet the fleet was guarding.

"So, you finally saw how tough they were, didn't you?"

Instantly, my attention changed its focus from the video to the shadowy figure behind me. "Who are you," I wondered, though I had a good guess.

"Here's a hint: Rap. Tap. Tap."

Yep, it was Wally.

"Funny name. Didn't expect someone would call me that, but it isn't the worst."

"Why are you here?"

"Trying to see who the Progenitors chose to uphold their legacy. I expected someone....less stressed out."

What? "The Progenitors are dead. I merely had my Commander given to me by someone who had the luck to find it."

"You sure?"

"Not exactly, but unless you know who gave me the machine-"

"His name is Celempheros, and I am well acquainted with him."

…..Wait, what?

"He's been around a long time - I remember him from the Old War. He fought for them, you know? The ones who built that machine."

"...He did?"

"Yes. Now while I'm not exactly a fan of them, I respect him, so I won't do too much to screw you or him over."

".....Thanks?"

"Not needed."

"Sheesh, rude."

"Like I care. that being said, I'm impressed you managed to bring Umbra to heel."

"Really? Does that mean I get a reward?"

"In this case, yes."

"As I expect-wait what?"

The answer I received was seeing the Man in the Wall's eyes glow, followed by a headache.

As I collapsed, I heard the man in the Wall laugh. "Good luck, little piggy. I think things are about to get rough for you soon."

When I stood back up, he had vanished.

That didn't matter, though - I had work to do. The headache had given way to a new insight.

XXXX

Three hours later, a drone of mine attacked a pair of battlysts, who predictably adapted to its attacks.

Then it fired out a grenade that exploded into a golden light.

The minute it hit them, the sentients recoiled in pain, while my drone opened fire once more...and this time, its attacks weren't resisted.

At last, the secrets of the void were mine.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Flame only knows the very basics right now for how to build void weapons. He is not a Tenno.

there was supposed to be a scene where Melissa an Umbra met, but it was cut for being forced. I will put it into the next interlude.

So, Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Jormuungaand]

Do we know what the Progenitors look like yet?

 

[Flameal15k]

Do we know what the Progenitors look like yet?

Click to shrink...

They've been vaguely described in a way implying 'eldritch abomination'.

 

[Flameal15k]

Taking in a deep breath, Melissa opened up a portal before her. It was time to harass her Commander again.

Cassidy darted in first, ready to have some fun with Rory and his siblings. Melissa merely smiled and wistfully whistled before joining her child aboard the Extinction.

Really? That was the name her pawn had chosen for his flagship? Could he really not choose an edgier name? What was he, thirteen?

Ultimately, though, she had to admit that little bit of childishness was rather endearing to her. Not romantically, of course - she enjoyed screwing him over too much to harbor those feelings. But still.

As the portal closed, she took in her surroundings. She had arrived on the ship's observation deck, where her pawn was busy working on a warframe...Umbra, to be exact. So, he was still trying to get it mobile? Fat chance - it needed the power of a Tenno work. His attempts to master them would only end in failure. Not that those defeats would stop him - he was far too stubborn to give up.

And that made his struggles all the more amusing.

At last, her pawn noticed her arrival, and turned to greet her. "Oh, you're here again. How're you doing?"

"Quite well. Still trying to unlock the secret to mastering control of the warframes?"

"...Not anymore."

Before the ROB could ask him to elaborate, the Umbra frame began to move. Eventually, it stood upright, briefly looking over the ROB before turning its attention to the Commander, who was smirking at his...sponsor.

Said sponsor was currently trying, and failing miserably, to form a response.

What?! How?! How did he manage to control a warframe without void energy?! That shouldn't even be possible!

"Uh...Uh...um....well done," chocked out the female ROB, finally managing to regain usage of her voice. The commander merely chuckled at her response, before locking eyes....well, eyes to helmet face, with Umbra, before nodding, at which point the Umbra frame walked over to a console and started browsing through the files. Going by what Melissa could hear, it appeared that the intelligent suit was looking through the files that were stored on her pawn's commander unit - in essence, looking through his memories. It seemed to want to know more about its master.

Interesting.

Okay, she had to give it to her pawn - he really had impressed her here.

…..why did she suddenly feel uneasy?

XXXXXXXX

Umbra watched the False Tenno converse with the Stranger. The two seemed to friends, though what he had seen in the False One's thoughts suggested otherwise. His new master had.....conflicted....feelings regarding his....sponsor. He had not told the former dax why this was the case, though, which was why the Dax was perusing his master's memories. All of his memories.

Many were of conquests against foes he had never seen, though some were surprisingly familiar. Others were moments of him being a kind man, leading others to greatness. Older memories showed him as a member of a loving family, though occasionally clashing with his elders, not unlike how Isaah had been driven into relatively minor struggles with Umbra. The Dax felt pain at those memories, but also a sense of understanding - this False One was, above all else, still relatable.

Oh, and he spent a lot of time playing video games, some of which looked very familiar...wait.

Umbra paused the memory, then replayed. Then again. Then a third time.

Was this youth playing a game where he......was a Tenno?!

Umbra pondered this for a moment, before deciding to file away that piece of information for later. Best to ask it when less pressing matters were at hand.

As the Commander pondered with the one known as Melissa, Umbra noticed how the two seemed to go from combative to friendly almost at that drop of a hat. Confusion welled up within the frame of war - were they friends? Enemies? Lovers? Something in the middle, if not all of the above? He could see signs for all of the mentioned relationships, but knew not which one the two possessed.

Immediately, Umbra began looking through his new master's memories, trying to figure out why he had such a strange relationship with this woman. He found results almost instantly. For one, this woman claimed to have been the one to put him on whatever journey he was on. It appeared she had done so mostly for her amusement. Unsurprising, really - the Orokin had not been much different. What was more confusing, though, was the numerous instances where this woman had chosen to help him, even if she had nothing to gain form this charity. Why? Moral obligation? Respect for her "pawn's" willpower? Sexual and/or romantic attraction? Whatever the case, it was entirely unlike the Orokin.

Still, he could not find the source of this animosity.

Until, at last, he did.

Umbra came upon a memory that was dated around the start of his new master's time as a 'Commander'. Here, he saw the person trapped into a machine, forcibly turned into a cephalon, it seemed.

And, if he was hearing it right, this woman had been the one to do so. In the process, she had torn him from everything he had ever known and loved for, well, her own amusement.

For a while, Umbra just replayed the memory, though he did lower the volume to make sure the duo could not hear the video. When he finally recovered from his stupor, he curled his hand around the Skiajati at his him, then relaxed it. Part of him wished to inflict violence on the woman who had ruined the life of his new master., yet he also knew that doing so would be wrong. Harming her after what she had done to help his master would be in bad taste.

And besides, his new master would likely be angry for being denied his own chance at vengeance.

Sighing inaudibly, Umbra continued to peruse the memories. Hopefully, he could find out more about this strange force that he had joined.

XXXXX

"So, Etran, what do you think of our new ally?"

"Could you be more specific?"

"Is he, well, nice?"

"...Yes."

Cyreesia sighed. She really shouldn't have asked him such vague questions. "So, do you really think it was a good idea to let him have access to our warframes?"

"The quills said yes, and our friend in the void was quiet on that, so I guess it was?"

"You don't sound so certain."

"IT WAS A SPUR OF THE MOMENT DECISION!"

"Then why'd you help him?"

"He helped us. Would you have done the same?"

"....Fair enough."

With that, the transmission cut off. Sighing once again, Cyreesia grabbed her vermink plush and squeezed it as tight as possible. Something to relieve the unease she was feeling.

True, the quills did have good points, but she was not entirely sure it was a good idea to support them here - they could be wrong at times, and if they slipped up, things could go horribly wrong.

Finally calming herself, Cyreesia thought back to the old war. If nothing else, things had been simpler back then.

XXXXXX

She watched as the two lady executors stared at her, one with eyes full of contempt, the other's filled with uncertainty. Behind them, a group of dax stood at the ready, hands already on their blades. Though Cyreesia appeared to be unarmed, they still treated her with caution - danger could take many forms.

"I still cannot believe Margullis chose to die for these beings," intoned the contemptful Executor, eyes never leaving the young Tenno. "These devils seem hardly worthy of life."

"Perhaps they can still be of use to us, though" noted the more confused of the two, trying to sound neutral on the topic.

"Are you so sure that they can find a purpose in our empire, Mytruthia?"

The now named executor took offense at the possible insult, but only a minor shift in her appearance signified this. "My fellow executor, we cannot just destroy things because they offend us. FIrst we must see if they can fulfill a purpose in our golden empire. To waste useful resources so wantonly is an unacceptable folly."

"....Perhaps you have a point. Though, I must ask, why do you wish to seek usage from these devils?"

"My heirs were aboard the Zariman when it vanished. I wish to seek some way to recover the losses in time and ducats I spent rearing them before my continuity draws near."

"Oh, I see. My condolences. Though you have quite a while before that becomes a necessity, my friend."

"...You see me as a friend? But isn't that dangerous for a councilor?"

"True...but I do not care. I must leave now, though, but I must warn you, if you cannot find a way to make the devils and ballas' creations serve us, they will suffer, as will you and all others who supported this project."

"Understood."

"Good." Then the Councilor turned to the dax. "Those of you sworm to my family, leave. Those who are not, ensure the void demon does not bring my dear friend to harm."

The dax merely nodded in response. Smiling, the executor left, as did her guardsmen, leaving Mytruthia alone with the Tenno.

As the guards watched on, the executor walked up to the Tenno, who merely stared at her, confused yet hopeful. The Orokin, for her part, put on a stoic expression, unwilling to show emotion. As the Tenno stared at her, though, her expression began to waver.

Silence reigned for some time, until at last the void demon spoke.

"......grandmother?"

For a few moments, the Execuotr said nothing.

Then she pulled the little girl into a hug, as tears began to form in her eyes.

"I missed you, Cyreesia," choked out the executor, uncaring for how she would be seen by her fellows. Only the Dax would know this happened, and they knew well enough not to speak up.

As her grandmother began to sob, Cyreesia returned the hug.

It was good to have family besides the other Tenno.

XXXXXXXXXX

Silently, Celm watched on as his subordinate interacted with her pawn, noting that thye seemed to have reached a relative standard of civility with each other. Good - perhaps them uniting would make things easier.

If he had been the one who 'sponsored' a Commander, then he would not have been as antagonistic as Melissa. He would offer wisdom as needed, to assist with the mission at hand. HE had already been responsible for enough commanders suffering horrible fates because he had been forced to delegate their handling to lesser agents, many of whom did not share his sentiments.

Perhaps his allies did have a point of him being too coddling, but then again, others had died miserably from his lack of action. Even his more reserved allies had been disgusted by this, but they felt direct action was not the way to go.

But that was a debate for another time.

His observation complete, the OverROB slunk away. As he exited the universe, he felt the currents starting to pull him, trying to send him into another part of the sea. Fortunately, he knew how to work around them.

When the Progenitors had had first discovered the Empyrean Sea, navigation, more specifically the parts outside of their home bubble, they had been unsure how to map it. Machines had been used at first, but they had their limits. Living beings had proved more successful. Assembling the greatest beings they could find, human, progenitor, xziphid, or otherwise, they had sent out pioneers to explore the sea, finding new ways to travel it, and new lands to travel too.

Most now lay dead, or retired, hidden away from others, but one still continued to push the limits of the multiverse.

And, reflected Celm, defend the legacy of the beings those pioneers had first served.

He would never let that flame die. Not while he still remembered the builders of the commanders.

XXXXXXX

AN: No hiatus will happen after this segment, seeing how Fortuna is now out.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​

 

[Jormuungaand]

The name named executor took offense at the possible insult, but only a

Click to shrink...

A bit redundant?

 

[Flameal15k]

A bit redundant?

Click to shrink...

Fixed.

Sorry, had to do something.

 

[Flameal15k]

Having at last unlocked the power of the Warframes, as well as the secrets of the void, I decided to try and do all I could to acquire more of them, so that I could have an easier time deciding what I wanted in warframes of my own design. After all, now that I knew how to control them, I might as well make my own.

I'd already acquired Revenant, Excalibur Umbra, Regular Excalibur, Ash, Ash Prime, Frost, Equinox, Mirage, Ember, Gara, Oberon, Valkyr, and Zephr, with the prime one being a gift Melissa had given me*, as well as quite a few weapons. Of all of those, only Ash Prime, Umbra, and Revenant had been ones I had not acquired in game. The rest were proving slower to acquire, with Mag and Volt being somewhat more accessible, but I doubted Teshin would give them to me even if I joined the conclave (which I had). Plus I REALLY wanted to build them rather than buy them.

As time dragged on, though, the holidays arrived, and I found myself realizing that I needed to prepare for that. The Origin System was readying for Tennobaum (basically Christmas by some other name), and I refused to deny my kids that indulgence. Plus, free gifts are always awesome!

First, though, I had one last bit of work to do - apparently, a friend of Tenno by the name of Eudico had asked me to come to some place on Venus called Fortuna, saying it would be worth my time. Well, who was I to ignore her request? Plus I hadn't actually seen much of Venus besides a few Corpus outposts there, and I wanted to see what, exactly, this 'Orb Vallis' was.

Also, it provided me a nice chance to try out Umbra.

XXXXXXXX

I had been asked to enter Fortuna the same way as the Tenno had: via a vent shaft. Smiliing in my starship, I flew in Umbra and had him jump down the rabbit hole - now I could infiltrate like a real Tenno.

As we fell, though, I heard a strange noise coming from the shaft. Was somebody....whistling? Or were they humming?

...Actually, I think they were singing.



Cold, the air and water flowing
Hard, the land we call our home
Push, to keep the dark from coming
Fell the weight of what we owe

This, the song of sons and daughters
Hide, the heart of who we are
Making peace to build our future
Strong, united, working 'til we fall

Cold, the air and water flowing
Hard, the land we call our home
Push, to keep the dark from coming
Fell the weight of what we owe

This, the song of sons and daughters
Hide, the heart of who we are
Making peace to build our future
Strong, united, working 'til we fall
And we all lift, and we're all adrift
Together, together
Through the cold mist, 'til we're lifeless
Together, together

….What a catchy song.

As the singing ended, Umbra finally hit the ground. As we stood up, I found myself staring a guy...who was missing his head! In its place was a rather crude looking piece of cybernetics. Looking around, I noticed more people like him, some with additional cybernetic limbs. In fact, the only ones who didn't have cybernetics on them were, well kids.

I'd seen some people like this aboard the rebuilt Strata Relay, but to see so many was, well, a shock.

I quickly pulled up the local equivalent of the internet (which was run by a bunch of Cephalons) and began looking up information on Fortuna. What I found was...disconcerting, to say the least. It appeared that Fortuna was known as a 'Solaris Debt Internment Colony', which was a fancy term for 'penal colony for people who hadn't paid their debts'. Also, apparently, the cybernetics were given because the ruler of the colony, one Nef Anyo, could take away their organic parts as collateral for the debts. Yikes.

Fortunately, though, the Solaris objected to this, and had created resistance group known as Solaris United. Led by the one known as Vox Solaris, they fought tooth and nail to make sure Nef treated them fairly. Also, behind Nef's back, the Tenno secretly paid off a fair amount of the Solaris' debts. From what I could gather, Nef knew about this, but really didn't care - either way, he got paid.

Speaking of paying off debts, the middle man...woman.....PERSON...for this was named Ticker. She more or less sold the debts to the Tenno, who would receive debt bonds for their trouble. Apparently, the Solaris were only willing to help those who had both proven themselves to Fortuna and acquired a number of debt bonds, which wasn't surprising at all. She also sold secondhand Solaris orbiter decorations, some of which I wasted no time in acquiring, after acquiring a few debt bonds from debt purchasing.

I also used the bonds as a way to acquire a solaris ore cutter from the man called smoke finger, a few parts for a weapon called a kitgun from a lady called Rude Zuud (who apparently had a malfunctioning rig, given she was hearing voices that I could also hear as static, and some animal conservation gear from the one called The Business. I also browsed the wares of someone know as Legs, who was the only Solaris that was entirely made of machinery. That probably had a story, but I wasn't interested in hearing it now.

Oh, and there were also a bunch of kids who had made a clubhouse in one of the vents and rode hover boards called k-drives I may have wasted some time riding with them out of boredom and a desire to acquire a k-drive for myself.

Eventually, though, I managed to reach Eudico, who was apparently the foreman (Floor Boss, to use Nef's speech) of Fortuna.

"So, you're the stranger I've heard so much about?" She asked. "The one who isn't a Tenno, but figured out how to master a Warframe."

"That's me. I trust you have a reason for calling me here?"

"You guessed right. Listen, Nef's not exactly good at keeping some secrets. Ever since you showed up and threw a wrench in his operations, he's been trying to find a way to stop you. Most of the leads he got dried up, but now I think he's onto something of value."

"And I'm guessing you want me to stop him from finding it?"

"Give the man a prize, he's correct. Anything that ruins Nef's day is fine with me, so long as we don't suffer for it."

"So, what's the plan?"

"Nef's men are gathering intel on some kind of Orokin facility hidden in the void. They've got evidence indicating a void key needed to access it is here, and one of my teams is trying to beat them to it. See if you can't help us along."

"On it. This just between us, or I am doing this with a team?"

"Two Tenno asked to join up with you. Said their names were Etran and Cyreesia. You familiar with them?"

"Yes." Familiar faces are always nice.

"Good....also, do you know a girl named Melissa?"

"....Yes, why?"

"Because she asked to join in on this mission. I think she was just bored."

...Oh dear....

"I can manage."

"Good luck. From how you sounded, I think you'll need it."

"Thanks."

With that, I walked toward the lift. Waiting for me within were two Tenno (wearing Revenant and Valkyr)...and my ROB, who had already turned to face me.

"Before you ask why I am here, you are going to slowly, so I'm here to speed you the hell up. Even Celm is with me here."

It took me a moment to process what she said. "Well, thanks for the help. Now let's go."

XXXXXXXX

When we finally exited the loft, we were greeted with the beautiful sight of the area known as the Orb Vallis. Eudico's words described it best:

"Welcome to Venus. It'll kill you."

Once we were topside, Eudico laid out the first part of our plan: disable a Coildrive (car version of the monocycles from Men in Black III), steak its data, then work from there. Eudico already had a team looking for the void key, so we just needed to help them along.

As we set an ambush for the drive, I called up Eudico.

"What do you need?"

"What happened to the guy named Legs? Why is he more or less a robot?"

"....Oh, him. Look, his real name's Thursby. Few years back, he asked a Tenno, Etran to be exact, to help him steal Moa parts so he could sell them off to pay off debts his parents owed - you die, and your debts are passed onto you children. Anyway, Nef caught wind of what he did and decided to punish him by taking away most of his organic parts. I...might have played the Tenno for that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. See, a while back, Nef got fed up with us, and tried to wipe out Dolaris United at Dock 12. We lost a lot of good people that day.....And I think a part of me died back there. I gave up trying to fight back, thought that maybe I could prevent more suffering if I licked Nef's boots and made him think we were an asset. But what happened to Thursby, and everything after that...look, I hate to say this, but I think it was necessary all of that happened. All those events finally opened my eyes to the truth about Nef - he's nothing but scum who'll use and discard us however he sees fit. If we want to be treated properly, we have to force him to do that.

"Oh, and the coildrive is almost here."

A moment later, the coildrive was ours. A few minutes later, we had everything we needed, and blew it up.

"Good job, now let me look over this....hmm, it has some intel on the facility, but mostly just security details and a map of it - no idea what is inside."

"So, any ideas where to next?" Asked Melissa, rather impatiently.

"Yes, actually. Go West, there's a drone there with more intel. Take it down, hack it, and let me analyze it."

That didn't take long, but we still had to defend the drone from quite a few corpus, plus a few spider robots they pulled out.

"What the hello are these Spider bots?" Yelled Melissa and she punched one to pulp.

"Raknoids. Those ones are just mites. Bigger ones are comparable to the Eidolons, or so I'm told.

Eventually, though, Eudico got what she needed, and the drone flew off.

"So, what'd you find?"

Once again, Melissa sounded impatient.

"Getting there...alright, look's like this facility has a name: the Repository. Some kind of Orokin-era armory hidden in the void. Must be filled with good guns if it's there...wait, hold on, the lift's headed down now....oh shit."

"What?!" I asked, now very worried.

"Some of the team just came back - they found the void key for this place. Unfortunately, Nef's men caught the rest. Listen, the key's stored in a container that needs an access code to unlock. The Corpus got the man with the code. See if you can't break him free."

XXXXXXXX

It didn't take long to locate those Solaris. In mere seconds, we'd killed the guards and started the hack to free them. Unfortunately, the Corpus were quick to respond, and started calling in a lot of reinforcements.

"Any idea how to speed things up?" I asked Eudico.

"Well, unless you have some way to work the supposedly godly hacking powers I've heard that you possess, kill any Tera Jailers that head your way - they should be carrying data keys to speed up the hack."

We did and they did, and soon, the Solaris were free, unfortunately, there was now an army between us and the lift.

Then I heard a loud roar coming from in front of us. Looking toward it, I think I might have soils my underwear: there, resting on a nearby building, was what I presumed to be an Orb Mother.

And, possibly, a way out.

Accessing the terminal I'd used to start the hack to free the Solaris, I used it as an entry point to hack into the Corpus systems. Minutes later, I tore through the network until I finally found our location, then looked for a specific set of systems. When I found them, I modified command directives and IFF, before giving activation orders.

A moment later, a Condor dropship exploded as the Orb began to open fire on the Corpus.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"That, Eudico, is an example of my hacking prowess."

"But...but...okay, okay, that was impressive. Now get back here before Nef calls in more backup."

You didn't have to tell me that twice.

XXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[ptbptb]

you are going to slowly

Click to shrink...

Should be 'too'

 

[Flameal15k]

Should be 'too'

Click to shrink...

Will fix, computer died and I had to use my phone.

So, any thoughts?

 

[ptbptb]

So, any thoughts?

Click to shrink...

Well... from where I'm sitting it's like a well banked fire that's just ticking along nicely. Nice to slow-cook a casserole or take the edge off a cold night. It's not 'keep me on the edge of my seat' thrilling, but I read the updates when they arrive and I'm not inclined to hit the 'unwatch thread' link.

At this point probably the only way you'd get a proper review from me is to finish the story, wait three years, then send me a link to a story only thread. If I actually re-read it all at that point then you'd be guaranteed at least 4 out of 5 stars.

 

[Flameal15k]

Well... from where I'm sitting it's like a well banked fire that's just ticking along nicely. Nice to slow-cook a casserole or take the edge off a cold night. It's not 'keep me on the edge of my seat' thrilling, but I read the updates when they arrive and I'm not inclined to hit the 'unwatch thread' link.

At this point probably the only way you'd get a proper review from me is to finish the story, wait three years, then send me a link to a story only thread. If I actually re-read it all at that point then you'd be guaranteed at least 4 out of 5 stars.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough.

Just a fair warning, but after the Fortuna arc, the plot hits the accelerator, and a lot of Flame's previous actions are going to start having consequences.

 

[ptbptb]

Just a fair warning, but after the Fortuna arc, the plot hits the accelerator, and a lot of Flame's previous actions are going to start having consequences.

Click to shrink...

I expect you'll be getting more exciting feedback then, for better or for worse.

 

[Flameal15k]

I expect you'll be getting more exciting feedback then, for better or for worse.

Click to shrink...

K.

Just be advised I will be trying to churn the next couple of chapters in a few days - I am way behind schedule.

 

[Flameal15k]

As we made our way back down to Fortuna (After mining a few ore veins and snatching a trio of Pobbers), I couldn't help but notice Melissa smirking at me. I didn't need to guess why - she'd clearly been amused by me hacking the orb, which was currently being moved off Venus by my forces so that Nef couldn't recapture/destroy it. I wanted to keep this for myself, and build a butt-ton more.

As we disembarked, I returned to Eudico, whilst the rest of the Cell dispersed to do whatever suited their fancy. Melissa had managed to catch an orokin servofish and was exchanging it for parts with Biz, Cyreesia was turning in some gems to Smokefinger, and Etran had headed to the ventkids clubhouse, after doing quite a few tricks on our way back to Fortuna. We'd all done some tricks, but I'd not really succeeded with them - I'd missed an attempt at doing a grind, though I had, through dumb luck, pulled off a board grab and spin without wiping out. Melissa had mocked me over the failed grind, before attempting to do one herself and succeeding...and then unceremoniously wiping out in a nearby snowbank. Needless to say, I had had the last laugh there.

As I finally came into view, Eudico did a double take, before recomposing herself. "So, Sparky, I heard you stole an Orb from Nef."

"That I did. He say anything about it?"

"Only that one of the Orbs went rogue, and advising us not to venture to the surface. I think he's just using it as an excuse to keep us where we can easily be monitored."

"Well, if he loses you to an Orb, it'd probably speak badly on him, so I think pragmaticism has more weight here then a need to stroke his ego."

"...Fair enough. Oh, and thanks for saving my team. I believe these are yours."

A moment later, she pulled out and handed me a set of triangular medallions - debt bonds. "Ticker's told me you helped scratch a few names off her books, so you should know what these are for."

"I do."

"Good. Look, I'm not entirely sure if we can trust you yet, so don't hold it against us if we are wary of offering you some of our wares. Still, thanks for the help."

Then she pulled out a list. "Here's some of the things we can offer. You can have one of these on us, so choose wisely."

I briefly, I perused the list of wares, before settling on what I wanted. I pointed to the target of my focus.

"Goblite tears? You have someone special you want to give them to?"

"Somewhat. I want to give them to Melissa, see how she reacts. Pretty sure it will be amusing."

"Save me a picture."

"I will...hey, how do you know her?"

"She sold Nef a bunch of weapons a while back. Also sold us some mines and told us exactly where the weapons she'd sold Nef would be sent. Think she wanted to humiliate him."

"...Okay. How'd you figure out she knew me?"

"She told Nef the weapons she'd sold him were meant to be used against you. Now that I think about it, they do look familiar to your guns."

She sent me a schematic of those weapons. Instantly, my Commander's database pulled a match - an old weapon system meant to be used on the dox. It was phased out a long time ago, apparently before the war with the Xziphid, but it could still bloody my knuckles if I went into a fight against somebody who wielded them.

"These things could hurt my forces, but they wouldn't win a fight where our numbers are equal or even heavily in favor of whoever wields these. At best, they might cause a scratch...which is better than anyone else can manage now."

"Hmph, seems like she knows how to string people along. So, you need to run any errands?"

"Why're you asking?"

"I'm meeting with some people in the back room. If you have any business left to finish, do it now, then head to the back room - you're expected for the meeting."

"Understood. I need to talk to Biz anyway."

"Stay warm...oh, and take this - Tenno said you might have a use for it."

With that, Eudico sent me a data transmission, which contained, to my surprise, the blueprints for the warframe known as Garuda. She also attached the designs for the chassis to the transmissions. The rest, I'd have to earn.

Smiling, I went over to Biz's space and managed to acquire a vermink echo-lure. I also got a servofish trophy and a pobber floof, because those are adorable. After scratching a few names off of Ticker's books, I headed to the backroom.

There, around a table, was Eudico, Legs, and Biz, while in the corner stood...was that Little Duck?

I'd only seen her in the comics, but the fact she was here told me that something big was going on. I mean, she knew the Quills!

And now she was looking right at me. And gesturing for me to come forward. Which, needless to say, I did.

"So, you're the stranger I heard so much about from the Quills, aren't you?"

I merely nodded.

"Hmph, thought you'd look different. Didn't expect you to use a Warframe. Then again, that is different from normal, isn't it? A non-Tenno using one of their frames."

I really wasn't sure how to respond to that. Little Duck seemed to realize that too.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. Fact is, the Quills have let me in on some of their secrets, and provided me some of their wares to sell....and you happen to now be one of the people I'm allowed to sell them to."

"Really?"

"Yes. For the moment, though, I'd suggest you speak with Eudico. I think she has something to say."

"Right you are. Listen, Sparky, we got the crate open, but there's a problem."

"And that is?"

"Nef has more than one, and he's already got forces headed to the repository.....Scratch that, he has a whole fleet on standby to take it."

"And I guess you need help taking it out?"

"Yes. The Tenno can deal with the key, but taking out a whole Corpus fleet will send Nef a message, and I'm fairly certain you have the firepower to pull that off."

"Well, you're certainly right there. Anything else you can tell me?"

"Just one little fact: we're not the only ones trying to access this place. Someone else is."

"And who might that be?"

"Only thing we know is his name: Zen'hurros. Weird name if you ask me."

....Oh fuck.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!​