"Operator? Ordis wonders, what are you thinking about?"
The Operator who the cephalon Ordis was talking to turned his head slightly to the left, where Ordis knew his icon would appear on the Excalibur's HUD. The Operator was silent for a moment and Ordis was almost certain he wouldn't answer, preparing to go about his other duties, when the Operator spoke.
"I'm a little nervous, Ordis," the Tenno admitted, turning back to the navigation system and, in turn, the view of the space base that loomed in the distance. It wasn't huge, not like some of the Grineer ships he had been to, but he knew that the relatively small base was filled with more dangerous beings than an entire Grineer Galleon.
"Why, Operator? Will you not have allies there?" Ordis sounded genuinely intrigued, something his Operator liked about the malfunctioning cephalon. Other cephalons acted imposing and otherworldly, but Ordis was perhaps the most ordinary being the Excalibur had come across in his travels since his awakening by the Lotus.
"I assume so, but I can't be sure that everyone aboard is going to like me." The Excalibur sighed and Ordis felt compelled to make his Operator feel better.
"Don't worry, Operator! I'm sure you'll -DESTROY EVERYONE- do just fine!" Oops. Ordis stayed silent as he saw his Operator tense at his
slip-up and if Ordis had a physical body he would have flinched away from his Operator.
Then the Excalibur chuckled, breaking the tension and filling Ordis with what he assumed was relief. "I'll do my best, Ordis, but we've spent enough time dawdling out here. Let's begin docking to the dojo, now."
"Of course, Operator!" Ordis replied cheerfully as he began to maneuver the ship towards the Tenno dojo, happy that his Operator's spirits had been lifted, even if he had said some things he hadn't meant to. He was vaguely aware of the Operator moving downstairs to his arsenal, something the Operator did when bored or preparing for a mission, though the cephalon didn't worry too much about his Operator grabbing his Latron and making sure it was loaded. It would all work out just fine. After all, he liked his Operator, so he knew that everyone else was going to like him, too!
}[_]{
The Excalibur flew through the air as electricity chewed through his shields and charring parts of his white Warframe black. Red static continued to fly across his body as he painfully but swiftly stood up from where he had crashed against a wall. He rolled to the left just in time to avoid another bolt of red lightning striking the place where he had been moments before, before bringing up his Latron and letting loose three shots at his enemy, who dodged them with ease. The offender was a white and red blur across the room, his Braton seeming to fire non-stop as the Excalibur struggled to avoid the deadly hail of bullets. The Excalibur ducked behind a rare piece of cover just in time to avoid a burst that would have certainly killed him as his opponent began to taunt him.
"So we're just allowing anyone into our clan now, are we?" The Volt Warframe user mocked, letting out a laugh that had the Excalibur grinding his teeth in anger. He wasn't used to getting angry, but this Volt seemed adept at pushing his buttons. "Come on, and here I was hoping for at least an interesting fight. Well, I guess that's what one should expect from an Excalibur. You prototypes can't really compare to Actual Tenno."
'That does it!' The Excalibur mentally yelled as he got up from cover opening fire with his Latron rifle before he could even see the Volt- before he stopped. He couldn't see the Volt. At all. 'Where the Void did he go?'
"And you're just so easy to bait," the Volt laughed and opened fire from a platform above, one that the Excalibur had not thought to use in the fight. The Braton's relatively small caliber bullets nonetheless shredded through the Excalibur's shields, and he knew he had to act quickly or he was going to go down for good. Activating his Super Jump just as his shields failed, he was suddenly thirty feet in the air and ten above the Volt. Without giving the Volt a chance to act, he kicked off of the ceiling and slammed his heat swords into the ground right in front of his opponent, sending the Volt user flying backwards through the air and off of the circular platform. He followed the Volt over the edge and landed behind the other Tenno, swinging his swords around just as the Volt got his Bo up to block. "Well now, that's much better," the Volt laughed, his moderately deep voice bouncing off of the walls and reverberating throughout the room, "Let's see how fast you can go, though."
The Volt leapt backwards and the Excalibur followed with his Slash Dash, almost hitting the Volt before the other Tenno suddenly sped off, leaving the Excalibur to hit air. The Excalibur user turned around with his swords up in time to block his enemy's Bo- at first. But the Volt had initiated his Speed ability and his attacks were too fast for the Excalibur to keep up with all of them. He blocked an overhead swipe but missed the strike to his knees that came right after. He managed to deflect a jab to his stomach and was rewarded with a flat spin strike to his back. He jumped above a blow that would have swept him off his feet and was sent flying into a wall by a lightning fast slash that he never saw coming. He was barely able to roll over to avoid a jab that would have embedded his head in the wall but hadn't managed to get his breath back before the red Bo was slamming into the side of his head, sending him rolling some more. By the time his body and head had stopped spinning enough for him to get his bearings the Volt was standing over him, somehow managing to leer at him despite the Excalibur not being able to see the other Tenno's face. "Guess your luck's run out, huh?" The Volt asked as he raised his Bo to finish off the defeated Excalibur. The Excalibur tried to move but found his arms pinned to his sides by the Volt's feet, the other Tenno having immobilized him while he was recovering from the blow to his head. Too late, he realized that he was doomed, and all he could do was watch as the weapon of his destruction was brought down on his head.
"Enough!" A feminine voice yelled and the Bo immediately halted in its path, which is to say an inch or two away from the Excalibur's head. The Excalibur stared wide-eyed at the red staff as the Volt turned to face the speaker.
"What's the matter, Shale?" The Volt almost-whined, not removing his staff from its uncomfortable place near the other Tenno's face. "I'm just testing out the new Excal we just got."
"That's not your job, Breeze, it's mine," the female reprimanded and the Excalibur turned his head slightly to get a good look at her. She wasn't wearing her Warframe, so he couldn't be certain what class she was, but it wouldn't take an expert to know that she was a Tenno. She was lithe and somehow taught at the same time, hard muscles showing through her skin suit while she stalked gracefully over to the two male Tenno. Ginger hair was cut at her jaw line which, in combination with her high cheekbones, sharp nose and hard, green eyes, gave her an overall intimidating and warrior-like appearance. The Excalibur could tell just from looking at her that she hadn't gone out of her way to make herself look that way; it was just who she was. "Now, are you going to get off of him, or do I have to get my Warframe?"
The Volt user, Breeze, immediately raised his staff and backed a few steps away from the Excalibur, replacing his Bo on his back before raising his hands in surrender. "I like living; it's very much me. He's all yours, ma'am." The Volt left immediately after, sending a friendly wave to the Excalibur as he exited.
The Excalibur stared at the door Breeze had just walked out of, a scowl on his face, though it was hidden from the other Tenno in the room. Speaking of, the Excalibur turned to see her looking down at him with one eyebrow raised. "Were you planning on staying on the floor all day?"
"No ma'am," he said as he hurriedly got on his feet, letting out a deep bow to the other Tenno. "Sorry ma'am."
The woman let out a sigh as he bowed and he quickly ceased his action, sensing that he had somehow disappointed her. Her face clearly told him he had. "Look, Excalibur, we're all Tenno here. We may have rankings in this dojo, but that's more of a formality than anything else. We're all brothers and sisters here, nothing more, nothing less." A small smile graced the woman's face as the Excalibur nodded slowly in understanding. "Now then, before we go on your entrance mission, do you have a name? It feels a little insulting to name you after your Warframe."
The Excalibur thought hard, trying to remember what the Lotus had called him upon waking him up. It had been the only time she had used that name and all Ordis ever called him was "Operator", so it had almost slipped away from his memory. Almost. Finally, the Excalibur nodded. "You can call me Coty."
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Nicol watched the recruit from afar as the Excalibur was led around by Shale. He had watched the spar between the Excalibur and Breeze with irritation at first at having been denied his training room, but had seen watched with interest as the recruit, entirely underprepared for a fight, held his own against the Volt. Breeze had even been forced to use his powers to gain an edge over the other Tenno; though once he had the Excalibur had lost badly. Still, the recruit fought with skill when it came to basics, even when compared to most other Tenno. I guess there are some advantages to being one of the more "underpowered" Tenno, he mused to himself.
He continued to watch the pair of Tenno as they left the main hall, staying out of sight as Shale got the Excalibur acquainted with the dojo and its residents. Once they had left he turned to the man standing next to him. "Ready for round 63?"
}[_]{
Tressa was waiting in the briefing room of the dojo for the rest of her squad, sighing as she checked her Vectis rifle for the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes. She didn't know why she had bothered coming in early; despite being a hard-ass when it came to business Shale was hardly ever on time, let alone early. "Sorry we're late, Tressa." Finally! Wait. "'We're?'"
The Saryn Warframe user turned around to see Shale in her Nyx Warframe and an Excalibur following a step behind her. Tressa raised an eyebrow at the male Tenno's appearance; as far as she knew they had no Excaliburs in the dojo. "This is our new recruit, Coty," Shale explained, as though sensing Tressa's question before she asked it. For all Tressa knew, she might have.
"New recruit, huh? So does that mean I'm helping out on the test run?" At Shale's nod the Saryn let out another sigh. She hated test runs, mostly because of how tedious they were. She remembered how nervous she had been when Shale had taken her on her test run, fearing failing more than death. To her initial surprise, she found that the mission was similar to ones that she had undertaken herself solo. Initiation tests were exactly what their names implied: tests. Where she had been expecting something that would severely test her skills, she had instead been observed on what amounted to a regular mission. The other two Tenno were only there to provide support in the case that the mission somehow went awry.
She turned her attention the Excalibur who looked everywhere but at the two other Tenno, though whether from nervousness or a genuine interest in his new environment Tressa couldn't tell. "Hello, Coty, I'm Tressa," she introduced herself, gaining the attention of the newbie. "Welcome to our clan."
"He's not in just yet," Shale interrupted in an irritated tone, more directed at Tressa's breach of clan protocol than anything else. The Nyx crossed her arms and the Saryn was certain that the other woman was scowling at her from inside her helmet. Tressa gave her a look right back before pointedly ignoring the other female in favor of the Excal's company, which was preferable to that of Shale's. To her surprise, the man was giving her a deep bow, one which it didn't look like Shale approved of all that much. Nevertheless, Tressa returned the bow, though admittedly not as deeply.
"I'd like to thank you for your welcome, even though I am not a fully fledged member of your clan," Coty said as he came up from his bow, his voice not as deep as her big brother's, but not high pitched, either. It was more mellow and even than anything else.
"Don't worry about it, Coty," she replied easily, waving away his thanks, "We Tenno need to stick together. I'm just glad to know that our ranks are increasing."
"I told you, he's not-!"
"Oh quiet down, Shale," Tressa interrupted the other female. By the Void, she could not understand what Alexandre saw in that Tenno. "You know he'll do just fine. Barret wouldn't have recruited him if he wasn't able to hold his own."
Shale made a point of brushing past her, calling to them over her shoulder. "I've notified the Lotus of our mission, she will explain the details to you upon arrival. I've taken the liberty of programming the location into your ship, Coty, so you two head to your Lisets."
"Yes ma'am!" Coty called to her back before turning to Tressa. "I suppose I'll see you when we get wherever we're going. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Tressa."
"See you in a little while, Coty." She couldn't help but smile at the Excalibur's attitude; it was refreshing after all of the unique personalities that permeated the dojo. Still, she had just met the guy, so she wouldn't jump to conclusions. Watching the Excalibur jog off to his own Liset, the Saryn sighed once more. She might not have had anything against the man (in fact, he seemed like a nice enough person), but she really wasn't looking forward an initiation test. Dang it, Barret, I would much rather be sparring with Nicol or Alexandre than this, she grumbled internally as she climbed aboard her cyan Liset's passenger compartment. Oh well, the least I can do is hope that Coty finishes quickly. With my luck though we'll probably run into a Manic or two.
}[_]{
About a year ago, I first downloaded Warframe on my Xbox One. After about a week playing and an extremely long load screen, I quit playing it. I didn't start playing again until this summer, when I had run out of games to entertain my brother with and decided to give Warframe a shot one more time. Since then, I've become addicted to it. As I expanded my Warframe arsenal I found myself wondering more about what it would be like to actually be a Tenno. And so, after becoming inspired by the stories we have here on FF, I decided to try my hand at a Warframe story. I hope you all liked reading it as much as I did writing it.