.
-x Chapter 6 x-
Ivara
"Before we begin, please place your Cephalon datacube on the pedestal," Simaris instructed Manmi. As he spoke, a pedestal rose up from the floor just to Manmi's right. She looked at it for a moment and then to the datacube in her hand. Introducing Amita to Cephalon Simaris had been a bit nerve wracking for her, but Simaris had been mostly disinterested in Amita after he learned that she was not connected to The Weave.
"Go ahead! I can't wait!" Amita told Manmi, her mini hologram blinking out as she prepared for whatever form of data transfer that would take place.
"Do not be alarmed for your Cephalon," Simaris told Manmi as the Tenno set the cube on the pedestal. It began to retract into the floor as he continued, "I intend to give it a limited access to The Weave. She will be trained in how to manage a Hunter for Sanctuary; including proper piloting protocols. Now, follow the indicator lights into the side room."
A trail of lights with a slightly different glimmer than those already present in the room lit up and formed a trail for Manmi to follow. Obediently, Manmi walked off away from the central position of the room towards the right side, walking around a terminal with numerous Warframes gathered around it and through a section of wall that slid aside at her approach. She passed into a much smaller room with a large machine built around a pod.
A Somatic Link.
"Please enter," Simaris's voice said from above, "You will be linked into my simulacrum for testing and training. Before will can be trusted with valuable materielle, your viability as a Hunter must first be ascertained."
"I understand," Manmi said, though she had an idea that Cephalon Simaris did not care one way or another. As long as she followed his instructions and performed well, Manmi would have direction again. She would have purpose. She needed this grounding; something firm to latch onto and stop the swirling that was her life in recent days. Without hesitation, she settled herself into the pod and closed her eyes as it sealed around her.
-x/x-
"Welcome to Sanctuary," Cephalon Simaris's voice boomed through the very air itself, no source detectable nor necessary. Manmi was now inside a virtual world; vast emptiness as far as her eyes could see, but the immediate area was stark grey pillars and pathways floating in the endless datascape. She looked around for a moment, intrigued by the setting, but when she looked down she saw that her legs were not her legs.
Manmi was in a Warframe. A model unfamiliar to her; light brown legs fading to yellow then to orange around her shoulders and wearing a hood of some sort, the frame had wide hips and long legs. She took a few steps and felt a remarkable lightness, but a power in the lower limbs that she knew would let her move fast.
"I have placed you in a simulacrum of Ivara," Simaris said. That answered Manmi's question about what Warframe it was. She knew of Ivara Warframes by reputation, but had never seen one in action herself. From what she remembered, they had tended towards more stealthy assignments from the war, whereas Manmi had spent much of her time on the front lines in direct combat.
"If you prove yourself sufficiently here, I will bestow the Ivara Warframe to you back in the material world," Simaris continued, "And using her you will hunt specimens for Sanctuary at my direction. Her abilities will aid you greatly in your hunts. You will find her quiver provides with four unique types of arrows. The Cloak arrow will create a sphere of refracted light, within which you can hide from view of your quarry. The Dashwire arrow will create a zipline that will allow you to traverse any environment with impunity. The Noise arrow will create a distraction at a point of your choosing. And the Sleep arrow will put your targets into a harmless sleep to allow for live capture.
"With Ivara you will be able to assume direct control over any projective you fire. This will allow you to ensure that you always hit your target. But most importantly, Ivara will give you the ability to turn invisible at will and walk among your enemies unseen. Should stealth fail you, Ivara can summon a powerful bow to fight with. She is the perfect hunter, and with her I will expect you to succeed in any hunt I give you. Now, practice for a short time while I prepare your trial."
Practice was exactly what Manmi had in mind. She took a few more steps and then started a sprint. It was a much faster pace than she could do with Vauban, and when she jumped she felt herself soar. The landing was soft and silent, and Ivara was able to transition from the landing into a slide across the ground and back up into a full sprint as fluidly as water coursing over pebbles. She got to the end of the path she was on and stepped around the corner of a tall grey pillar and stopped in her tracks as she was close to the back of a figure.
"Get to the end of the corridor without being seen." Simaris's voice sounded from all around. It was easy to activate Ivara's invisibility; once one was in a Warframe one knew its functionality. Its abilities were like breathing; a natural part of their existence. Some thought was needed to activate them though, so less like breathing and more like jumping. One could jump with ease if one decided to. It was only through practice that one could jump well though.
Once invisible, Ivara carefully moved slowly to the side to walk around the tall and bulky figure near her. It looked like a shiny Clem with a few more inches of height. Once past it, Ivara could see several more down the now narrow-feeling path. The next one was also standing still, but looking right at her. Or through her as the case was. Once she was past it Ivara had to walk around a couple of pacing figures before she came to a gap. Jumping the gap was easy, but doing so had broken her invisibility. Fortunately she was away from any of the mimeographs and able to re-activate her Prowl ability.
I can't make any fast or sudden movements, Manmi noted as she continued forward to the next set of enemy projections. They were standing in a wide area, spread out and looking in various directions. Some were meandering about the space while others seemed to just stare off in one direction. This seemed like an obvious place to sneak through, but they were all so cluttered that Ivara needed a distraction. The solution to that was as obvious as using invisibility, and Ivara grabbed one of the noise making arrows and fired it off to one side. It struck a tower and made a loud sound that attracted the attention of all of the mimeographs and caused enough of them to walk to that side for Ivara to quietly walk across the opposite side of the space.
The other side of the wide space was a dead-end. There was another space on the far side of a gap. Ivara could make that jump, but she would lose her invisibility if she did. Manmi figured the best thing to do would be to fire a Cloak arrow at a spot on the far side to land in. So she backed up and sprinted forward. She could feel the thin veil of light bending invisibility fracture and flake off of her like glass as she moved. Jumping, Ivara grabbed her bow and aimed an arrow. Time seemed to slow down as she floated forward; a sensation that had been lost to memory until now. Clashes of her past danced across Manmi's inner-eye as she remembered various weapons in various battles being fired through the air in this manner.
Ivara released the arrow and landed in the bubble of refracted light, keeping her unseen from the mimeographs on this platform. Before she could move forward from her landed position, though, they all vanished.
"Well done, Hunter in training." Simaris said as the world around Ivara changed, "The next trial will be the most important; you need to prove competence in scanning targets for Sanctuary."
-x/x-
The Somatic Link opened and Manmi sat up and climbed out of it. Simaris had released her after she proved her ability to use the Synthesis Scanner and the Kinetic Siphons to a degree that pleased the Cephalon. Manmi was not overly worried; the scanning was a trivial task when Ivara was invisible. Simaris was being meticulous with his choices and testing even the most minute skill sets. That was a quality Manmi admired. She returned to the main room of Cephalon Simaris's Vesper enclave and approached the large hologram as it peered down at her, impassive as ever.
"You have proven your skills adequate, Hunter." Simaris said, his voice loud and shaking the air itself, "In simulation at any rate. You are worthy of a trial run. I am granting you a Jhagha-class orbiter so that you can go to Earth and find me a specimen of a Grineer Ballista. It is ready for you in the Relay's hangar. Your Cephalon is already integrated into the ship's systems. She has received an upgrade to her flight protocols and should be able to adequately navigate the space between worlds. Provided she does not attempt to land the orbiter."
"Thank you," Manmi said, bowing to the hologram, "Cephalon Simaris."
"Your Ivara Warframe is also on the orbiter," Simaris continued, "If you succeed in synthesizing the target, I will permit you to keep the equipment. If you fail, I will send another Hunter to recover your remains. I advise you not to waste the time of another Hunter."
Manmi was not sure if that was a threat or a bad joke, but she left the Sanctuary enclave with a spring in her step and strange tightness in her chest. She was excited; she had a duty again. A mission. She was eager to prove her worth to Cephalon Simaris and to serve a greater purpose again.