Disclaimers: I do not own Warframe
A/N: So I'm at work right now and decided to start something new within the story that involved more Ordis. Plus, I have gotten requests on this site, Wattpad, and Archive of our Own about more Chroma and Mesa interaction along with him and Ember as well. Despite the title, these will be considered part of the main storyline as the information within them will pertain to it and come up later on.
Ordis' Observation Log #1
Lotus has instructed Ordis to observe -spy- and record the Tenno in their interactions aboard the ship in order to determine their mental, physical, emotional, and in the cases such as Operator Harrow, their spiritual state. Though she has explicitly laid down some restrictions that I am to adhere to.
1. No observing in their private quarters.
2. Ordis is to cease recording and intervene if I detect a risk to an Operator's life or the Orbiter's safety.
3. This is completely confidential. No Tenno is to learn about this.
4. In case of discovery, Ordis to delete all recordings and wipe any memory of my involvement in them.
5. Ordis is to provide notes within the logs to explain circumstances that otherwise couldn't be seen nor explain.
Beginning of Observation Log #1
Subjects Involve:
Operator Chroma (Still on medical lockdown):
Aka The Dragon Tenno
Operator Ember:
Aka The Fire Tenno. The Hell Tenno. The Inferno Tenno. The Pyro Tenno. The Flame Tenno. The Burning Tenno.
Operator Mesa (briefly):
The Gunslinger Tenno. The Marksman Tenno.
Location:
Bridge
Background Summary:
Operator Chroma is on Bridge watch while Operator Ember had just returned from her previous sortie and is getting a brief down period of five hours to rest before moving on to her next one.
The ramp to the bridge slid downward indicating to Chroma that someone was entering the compartment. The sound of light footsteps could be heard along with the sound of the Grineer radio traffic that the Orbiter was intercepting. Glancing at his HUD it indicates that the temperature in the room was starting to rise rapidly.
"I thought the Lotus instructed you to keep your powers under control whenever you were outside your personal quarters onboard the ship", Chroma says as he casts a look over his shoulder at the Fire Tenno strolling toward him in a seductive way that causes him to stare at her a little longer than he intended, "Vauban has already got enough equipment to fix without you adding to it."
"Oh, really?", Ember laughs as she let out a deep breath and Chroma's HUD shows the room temperature dropping, "Must had slip my mind."
"Why are you up here?", Chroma asks before returning his attention to the screens, "The ship's log indicates that you dock in the hangar bay five minutes ago and you walked directly passed your personal quarters on the way up here."
Ember gives a shrug and observes the monitors around the room, "I have a little downtime before my next sortie and I came to change my weapons out. Plus, I wanted to see how you were doing; how's your lockdown going?"
"It's going", Chroma answers quickly, "That's all you need to know."
"Aw, you don't want to go into more detail?", Ember teases as she moves directly behind the Dragon Tenno, stopping just a couple of feet from his back.
"Perhaps instead of pestering me while I'm on watch you can better spend your downtime training to keep your powers under control like me", Chroma growls as he punches in a sequence on the bridge monitor.
"It's far easier for weaklings like you to keep their powers under control than it is for us stronger Tenno", Ember replies.
Ordis' Notes #1:
At this point, my scanners pick up Operator Chroma's body heat slowly rising along with a steady increase in his heart rate. Sensors also pick up a surge of electric coursing through his body. Going off past observations, this is a clear sign that -he was about to fucking snap- his patience was beginning to wear thin.
Chroma halts all activity, his fingers hovering over the holographic keyboard. Without a word, he rises up from his cross-legged position and turns to truly face the Fire Tenno for the first time since she entered the bridge. Even though he towered over her Ember didn't look the least bit intimidated.
"You mind repeating that?", he growls as electrical surges dance off of his body.
"You heard me just fine", Ember answers as she pokes a finger into Chroma's chest.
Ordis' Notes #2:
Ordis did the calculations and theorize that if Operator Chroma and Operator Ember were to have a physical confrontation right there in the bridge, despite the Lotus forbidding such a thing, the odds of whoever would emerge victorious are stated as such:
Operator Chroma: 50.01%
Operator Ember: 49.99%
This is taking into account that Operator Chroma was using his electrical element and being fully rested while Operator Ember was just coming back off of a sortie and was more than likely experiencing minor fatigue despite her outer appearance. Furthermore, even with Operator Ember being the more agile of the two such advantage wouldn't matter in such a closed compartment especially against Operator Chroma higher durability.
On another note, the damage done to the bridge would be nearly insurmountable to fix on our own and would require the Orbiter to pull into a nearby relay in order to have access to the proper facilities in which to repair it.
"Did you know that your warframe was made from parts of mine as well as Volt, Frost, and Saryn?", Ember question Chroma, ignoring the tension in the air.
Ordis' Notes #3:
After a quick search through the ancient Orokin files, Ordis finds out that Operator Ember is indeed correct in her statement about Operator Chroma's warframe. How she came across this knowledge though is unknown at the moment seeing how neither her not the mentioned Operators have no record of accessing these specific files seeing how Ordis himself just acquired these files only a week ago while scanning through an Orokin Lab that Operator Nidus and Operator Ivara came across.
As a reminder, those other Operators that she mentions along with herself regularly form a squad that routinely completes sorties together.
Chroma taking a menacing step toward Ember was his only response to her statement and the Burning Tenno actually had the common sense to back away a little.
"Hey now, take it easy there", she chuckles as both of her hands become engulfed in flames, "You don't want me to scorch your suit now, do you? And that saying nothing about all the equipment in here."
"Why are you doing this?", Chroma seethes, "Far as I can tell I have never once insulted your honor and usually kept my distance from you."
Ordis' Notes #4:
Operator Chroma is correct in his statement. Through all pasted recordings and mission logs, Operator Chroma has never interacted with Operator Ember in a negative fashion. Taking this to a further extent, Operator Chroma and Operator Ember have never interacted directly outside shift rotation on the bridge or being next to one another during intelligence briefs. Ordis is at a loss on what could have brought out Operator Ember sudden hostilities.
Ember chuckles darkly, "You really don't know? You don't remember what happened in the Orokin's labs?"
Chrome's silence was her answer.
"Well, allow me to enlighten you", she says as she takes a threatening step toward him only for a voice to come through the bridge channel.
"Orbiter, this is Mesa. Come in, Orbiter", the Gunslinger Tenno's face appears on a screen directly behind Chroma causing Ember to stop in her tracks, hands still burning with red flames while Chroma was frozen in his place just as he was about to unleash his Spectral Roar, the lightning still dancing within the confines of his mouth.
For what seems like hours, the two Tenno had their standoff; watching and waiting to see who would make the first move all the while Mesa was still trying to call in.
"Orbiter, come in. I need to make my report. Who in tarnation is on the bridge?", she shouts out, "Hey, I know you're there! Sensors are telling me that the bridge is not on auto-pilot!"
After another tense moment, Ember retracts the fire from her hand and Chroma dispels the lightning in his mouth before turning his body sideways to the console and pressing down on a button, his eyes never leaving Ember.
"This is the bridge. State your report", he calmly says.
"Oh, sweet dust storms on the horizon! I wasn't expecting you, suga!", Mesa says in a surprised yet flattering tone.
Ordis' Notes #5:
Ordis would like the record to show that in nearly all of Operator Mesa's encounters with the other Tenno and even the Lotus herself, she has always used the word "Suga" in her exchanges with them, though she was always using it in a neutral or negative tone. This is the first time Ordis has ever witness her using it in a positive tone. Ordis would also like to mention that he was about to intervene when Operator Mesa's voice came through.
"I'm still on medical lockdown and Trinity is busy in her lab at the moment. I decided to manned the bridge to pass the time", Chroma answers.
Ordis' Notes #6
Ordis' scanners indicate that Operator Ember's heart rate increased upon hearing that Operator Trinity was in the medical lab. Ordis concludes that since Operator Ember was brutally defeated by Operator Valkyr during a practice spar and Operator Trinity then easily handle Operator Valkyr not long afterward and that she most likely wouldn't appreciate the two Tenno fighting on the bridge, Operator Ember had every right to be worried.
"Oh, okay. Sooo….how have you been, suga?", Mesa asks in an overly high pitch voice.
Ordis' Notes #7
Remote scanners within Operator Mesa's warframe indicate that her heartbeat and body temperature were rising at this precise moment.
"Don't you have a report to make?", Chroma asks her while still watching Ember. Luckily, he activated the audio-only line so Mesa couldn't see the tense situation inside the bridge.
"Oh, right. I have to do that", she grumbles.
Ordis' Notes #8:
Operator Mesa's report is considered the low point of this observation log and thus will be skipped. The most important detail to come out of her report was the fact that the Grineer were sending an extra battalion to reinforce their position on Mars in their ongoing conflict with the Corpus corporation that is currently fighting them over the planet's resources.
Ordis would also like to clarify that Operator Mesa's heartbeat and body temperature started to return to normal during her reporting.
"And that's all I have to report, suga", Mesa finishes.
"I see", Chroma answers, "I'll relay this to Excalibur and the Lotus. Your next sortie is with Gara and Mirage at Saturn. Extermination mission; two Grineer companies."
Mesa lets out a grumble, "Fine, at least I can get a nap in on my way there. Mesa, signing off", she sighs.
"Jessie", Chroma calls out.
...
"Y-Yeah, suga?", she stutters out after taking a moment to catch herself seeing how Chroma just called her by her real name.
"Be careful on Saturn. Even if you have Gara and Mirage with you, watch your back out there", Chroma tells her.
A moment of silence passes by.
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!", Mesa nervously laughs, "I'll do that, suga! Take care of yourself, suga! Gotta go, suga!", and with that Mesa cuts the comm line to the bridge once more leaving Chroma and Ember alone.
Ordis' Notes #9:
Operator Mesa's heart rate was among the highest that has ever been recorded for her when she logged off. Ordis, fearing for her health, contacted her not long afterward. Oddly enough, when contact was made, Operator Mesa was repetitively banging her head on the wall of her landing craft while repeatedly saying the words "Idiot, idiot, idiot". Whether this was directed at herself, Operator Chroma, or some third party, Ordis does not know.
Chroma turns to fully face Ember once more as electrical currents spark off of him, "Do you care to continue this little game of yours?"
Ember hesitates for a moment but after a while turns her back to the Dragon Tenno, completely surprising him, "I came to swap out my weapons for my next sortie", she says over her shoulder, "But don't worry, you and I will continue this "discussion" at a later date. Might even bring along a few friends along when I do."
Chroma watches the Fire Tenno then sauntered out of the bridge, her hips swaying with every movement. Once more, the Dragon Tenno found himself watching this longer than he intended too, but as soon as the bridge entrance closed up he shook his head and went back to his post, watching the monitors and listen to intercepted Grineer and Corpus messages while pushing this entire incident to the back of his mind. Besides, he had more important things to worry about.
"Where are you hiding?", he whispers to himself as he watches the screens, "Where are you, Stalker?"
Summary of Observation
1. Hostilities have been openly established between Operator Chroma and Operator Ember. While this is not the first time such things have occurred between Tenno, the fact that it almost happened in a critical location of the Orbiter certainly elevates this one in particular to one of the more dangerous confrontations. Furthermore, it's unknown if such hostilities toward Operator Chroma are also shared by Operator Frost, Operator Volt, and Operator Saryn.
2. It would seem that Operator Ember has come across information on her own regarding the Tenno and their warframes. Why she has elected to not share this information is beyond Ordis' comprehension.
3. It would seem that Chroma is gathering intelligence on his own in regard to "The Stalker" despite the fact that the Lotus has not authorized him to do so.
4. Operator Chroma will most likely not be reporting his incident with Operator Ember anytime soon.
5. It seems that the relationship between Operator Chroma and Operator Mesa has improved despite their lack of interaction ever since Operator Chroma was placed on medical lock-down. Ordis does not know what to make of this.
End of Observation Log #1
Lotus watches the video over and over again on her private channel within the confines of her personal landing craft while en route to the Jupiter Relay to gain information alongside Excalibur.
After the umpteenth time watching it, she pauses the video and lets out a breath.
"Ordis", she calls out.
"Yes, Lotus?"
"I want a close eye kept on Ember as well as Frost, Volt, and Saryn. Seeing how parts from their warframes also make up Chroma's suit, they may share the same feeling of hostility as well toward him. Also, go through all their past missions, solo or otherwise, and see if you can find out where they discovered this information", she orders, "This information is fairly new even to us but it looks like Ember has known about this for a while."
"Yes, Lotus. Anything else?"
"Yes, while I want you to continue the observation of all the Tenno, I want you to make Chroma a high priority in any of his interactions with the others. Especially when he is on the bridge. He can keep doing his own little information gathering on the Stalker without us interfering as long as it doesn't clash with his duties, but I want to know everything he knows, it that understood?"
"As you wish, Lotus."
"One more thing. I especially want you to record any encounters between Chroma and Mesa. I dare say, despite the rocky beginning between those two, they're starting to entertain me with their interactions", she orders as the faintest hint of a smile appears on her lips.
A/N: This will be addressed later on in the main storyline. In the next observation log, Nezha approaches Chroma to ask for his aid with Mesa and Hildryn dropping by.