Anna was pissed.
For days now she had not been able to get her meeting with the unknown warframe code-named "Shadow" out of her head. She had been defeated so easily!
Not just that, but his words had touched something deep inside her. And because of it, she had just thrown caution to the wind and attempted an obvious move that saw her getting defeated in the blink of an eye.
It would have been so easy to just pretend he had been wrong. To hold her past in the little box she usually kept it in. To laugh in his face as if he had just said the funniest thing she had heard the entire week.
But she hadn't. Because he was right. Because no matter the mask Anna always kept, Shadow had read her like an open book.
She didn't want that.
If you acted all though and kept to yourself, people eventually get it into their head to try and understand you. To try and solve you as if you are a puzzle. Not because they actually care. Nobody actually cares. It's just because they want to tell themselves "I did it". Because they want you to look at them with grateful eyes and say "Thank you for solving my problems". It's all about validation. People need someone to validate the overly large opinion they have of themselves. The few who didn't suffer from this were those few who went trough Hell and came back mostly sane. Because they knew what they were made of. Because they understood that the world was uncaring and cruel and full of suffering.
But Anna had quickly found out that if you put up a mask, if you fake happiness and cheeriness and pretend to always want to get close and be friends with everyone, people rapidly leave you alone. Because there is no mystery. No challenge. People wouldn't be getting their precious validation trough befriending you.
But of course, keeping such a mask of the simple, over-excited and curious girl attracted another type of attention...
She was roused from her thoughts when she heard the showers' door open. Looking back, she recognized the boy who entered as the first one who had done this. About as tall as her, blonde haired, and a smirk that he probably thought sexy but was actually rather sinister.
Anna did not even say anything, she just turned back to the wall and lay her forehead against it. Somewhere deep inside she wanted to fight back, but her body wouldn't move. Her body had never wanted to move. No matter how strong she was, this situation always paralyzed her.
She felt his hands on her shoulders, pushing her against the wall. She only hoped he would be done quickly.
Carlos was sitting at his station in the Arsenal, wondering. It had been a few days since their run-in with the Shadow warframe, and it had made him re-evaluate a few things.
Carlos wasn't like many of the other kids that had been brought to the academy after a tragedy. He had been a volunteer for the Void exposure experiments. His father had been a soldier, and he had died during the first attack of the Sentients. Before leaving for service, the man had made his son promise to take care of his mother and sisters, as was his duty as the eldest. So Carlos had joined the Lotus Academy. As a volunteer, he could get his family as a priority evacuation in case of an attack, which was the best he could do until they had enough strength to end the Sentient threat forever.
However, the fight with Shadow had made him realize just how far they still had to go. The dark warframe moved so incredibly fast and with such extreme precision, and he had been toying with them from the very first moment. They had had no chance, and watching the feed of the short melee Ai and Hiro had with him proved with perfect clarity just how weak they were in comparison.
Carlos had spoken at length with Professor Vandham and the man had revealed that the Shadow warframe and his partner Rylus had both come out of a stasis capsule that dated all the way back to the age of the Orokin, which probably meant he was one of the warriors who originally used the warframes in those times. So, while humanity was grasping at straws in trying to understand the power of the warframes and of the Orokin's technology, those two had been taught how to use them by their original creators.
So, all they needed was more training, and they would possibly reach that same level of strength and power, right? At least, that was what the professor believed. And yet, Carlos could not help but feel they were missing some huge piece of the puzzle.
Anna felt the hands that were slowly moving down her back being suddenly ripped away from her. Turning around she saw the blonde boy being thrown to the opposite side of the shower-room, a good ten meters away, and another person, fully dressed, standing just about a meter away from her.
Dark clothes, auburn hair, and beautiful emerald green eyes that were currently scanning her, as if looking for injuries. Rylus!
"I don't know who you are, fucker!" barked the blonde boy, getting up to his feet, "but you just made a big mistake interrupting us".
Rylus slowly, deliberately, took a step back from Peri and turned around to face the other male in the room. He was not impressed. Large stance made more for intimidation than for efficient fighting, muscles that had just barely started developing, cocky smirk that meant he was severely underestimating his opponent…
"You're a casualty waiting to happen, kid" declared Rylus.
"Hey now… do you even know who you're talking to?" asked the blonde, swaggering towards them. It might have been intimidating with the right clothes and setting, but with him being naked in a shower-room it just looked ridiculous.
"I'm the pilot of Excalibur, I'm the best in Class A. And that is MY bitch. If you're smart, you would get out of here now".
"You're a child playing around with powers you don't understand and will never be able to control," said Rylus, his tone now icy, "you're nothing".
The blonde boy stopped, startled, as if he couldn't understand that someone had just said such a thing to him. Then his face twisted in anger and he launched himself at Rylus, going for a punch to his face.
The redhead though simply sidestepped the punch, grabbed the boy's wrist with his right hand and brought down his left elbow on his opponent's. With a loud crack, the bone broke under the blow and the blonde fell to the ground cradling his now useless arm.
Rylus however did not stop there, and grabbed his opponent by the hair, pulling him to his feet and the slamming his head against the wall, cracking the tiles. The boy slid down unto the pavement and laid there, if dead or just unconscious Anna couldn't say.
"Well, now that that's over..." Rylus trailed off upon noticing the girl sliding down the wall, then curling up in fetal position.
She could not understand it. She had seen and been in hundred of fights, most very much more violent than the one which had just took place, but for some reason she could not stop trembling.
Why was Rylus even here? Why had he helped her? Was he helping her? Her mind was frantically trying to catch up on the happenings around her, partly still frozen for what had almost happened and partly going into overdrive because of the fight or flight response she was having to the short fight.
One thing she knew for sure: she was currently naked in a shower, while Rylus – a possible enemy – was fully dressed and possibly equipped with weapons and could most likely kill her at any moment, especially if his skill were anywhere near his partner's.
She felt someone, Rylus she assumed, moving to sit down beside her. Her heart-rate spiked, her body coiling, ready for the battle she assumed was about to happen.
However, after a few moments of nothing happening, she dared to raise her head and look at him. He was sitting comfortably, leaning against the wall behind him, facing upward with his eyes closed. He had a soft, content smile on his lips.
"You'll get your clothes wet" stated Anna, the words coming out before her brain could fully engage.
"It's not a problem" came the reply, "I don't mind a bit of water, and I can change later anyway".
Silence returned between them.
"Should I thank you?" asked the brunette. She had no idea what was going on, but she preferred this conversation to the prospect of a pointless battle.
He hummed in consideration, then offered: "Do you want to?"
Anna snorted. He chuckled. She started giggling, and in short order both of them were laughing. She was actually laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. It felt good.
"Thank you for helping me" she finally said after calming down. Somehow, he didn't have the same feel to him as the people who just wanted to solve her like a puzzle. Something about him felt… warm.
"No problem kitty" he replied.
Anna hid her face against her legs to hide the slight blush on her cheeks. This was not the time to blush because of a nickname!
"Hey you!" called someone to Hiro, who woke up with a start after having fallen asleep while listening to Ash's music. Turning to look, the boy saw that it was Ash herself that was calling to him.
"Since you're always sticking around listening to me playing, how about you return the favor and help me out a bit?"
"Um… sure?" replied Hiro. "What do you need help with?"
In lieu of answering, Ash dropped a book on military tactics on his lap.
"Prof. V. told me that my ideas are good, but I suck at using them. You always give the right answer when we're in class for strategical stuff. So help me out!"
"Sure, okay, I can do that" replied the black haired boy, opening up the book to the bookmark within it. "Where do you wanna start…?"
"Not here. I can't focus with all these people around. Let's go to my room" was the reply, as Ash had already packed the guitar she had been playing just before and was moving towards the staircase.
As Hiro ran to catch up with her, she slowed down and said softly: "And if you'd like, afterwards… I can play some more?"
"Why did you come help me?" asked Anna. "Why would you care? I mean, you attacked us just a few days ago".
"I care because nobody cared about us" came the reply. "Because in a world that considers us monsters, what do we have left but each other? I come from a time where those touched by the void were called demons, where children were told about us as if we were horror stories, and where we had no rights and our opinion or wishes counted for nothing. I'd much rather avoid history repeating itself… especially the ending".
"The ending?" asked Anna, her voice little more than a whisper.
"The fall of the Orokin Empire" he replied. He had a faraway look on his face, and his voice had gradually become softer. Then, suddenly, he turned to face the girl.
"At first, I thought you guys were just another version of the Orokin. Just another civilization bloated on its own arrogance and self-importance. Another world that was ready to throw their young and brightest at the Sentients just to buy itself a few more days of life. But I changed my mind".
He rose to his feet, holding out his hand for Anna to take, and once she did he pulled her up as well.
"These people, who call themselves leaders, are even worse than the Orokin. They are incompetent fools who believe they can control the Void out of some misguided sense of superiority. Even at the height of their arrogance, the Empire kept their respect and reverence for the chaos of the Void, but these governments that lead you believe it to be a resource to be exploited, and soon enough they might kill everyone in the system just to feed their egos".
"But how can we stop them?" she asked. There was a sense of urgency now, and she really did not want to find out what it was that that could kill them all even faster than the Sentients.
"You break the chains. You fight back and ensure none can disturb the balance, so that what was caged in the Void stays there and never returns to the physical realm".
He took a deep breath, and then added:
"Long before this war is over, you'll all be Tenno."
Reo Hinata was on long range security duty. It basically meant waiting in a room full of monitors and instruments and hope no alarm sounded, as an alarm would mean a Sentient invasion.
The man was enjoying a tea, thinking back on the last few days and about how his class was doing. While he was pleased by their overall progress, considering how little time they had to learn until now, he was worried about the undercurrent of arrogance and resentment that was brewing. His class was easily – and unfortunately, obviously – the best among the standard warframe pilot classes. This however had fostered a sentiment among some in the class that they were better than everyone else, and that the only reason the Prime class had better results was because they had been given the Prime warframes. Reo had heard more than once about whispered conversations among his students who believed that they were the ones deserving of a place in the Prime class.
And of course, he had heard of far more sinister rumors. Sabotages to other classes and stealing stuff from other students were worrying, but what had caught his attention was the rumors of a group of Class A boys harassing a girl from the Prime Class. However, when he had attempted to investigate the rumor, the traces had disappeared strangely fast. He was almost sure someone was helping the students keeping the matter hidden, but he had no idea what anyone would gain from protecting a bunch of boys who were harassing a girl, especially as most parents of students were either poor, kept in safe locations cut off from communication, or dead.
He was so busy contemplating this, he almost missed the insistent beeping of one of the console. Checking the instruments, he paled as he noticed a large number of signals appearing on the screen. As he sounded the alarm, he kept seeing the number increasing more and more, and the signals were moving towards Earth.
Vandham entered the room at a full run, only stopping next to his partner. It took the man one glance at the screen to come to the same conclusion as his fellow professor.
A Sentient wave was coming.