I woke up on my bunk, head throbbing. I sat up, the wave of nausea hit me like a tsunami. I rolled off of the bed onto the floor. I crawled into the waste disposal unit and leaned over the toilet. The vomit flew forth, a never ending deluge it seemed. Once the liquor was out of me, I fell backwards onto the floor and crawled to the sink. I pressed a button and water flowed from the tap. I stuck my head into the sink and drank as much as I could. I wiped my mouth and walked over to the toilet. I flushed it and the vomit was removed and shot into a waste disposal area. I wobbled over to my room, where Umbra stood in front of my bed. I tried to push past him to lie down again but he shoved me back. He grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me over his shoulder. I yelled and kicked for a moment before going limp and letting him carry me. He plopped me down on the floor of the room containing the arsenal, foundry and mods segments. Knowing what came next, I got into a criss cross position. Look at me. I complied. Who are you? Are you an idiot teenager who drinks willy nilly, unchecked and without restraint? Or are you a honed tool of combat? I cannot make you choose by sparring with you til your bones ache, nor can I talk you into not choosing the latter over the former. Understand this, starchild: Though the Lotus might be gone, we still have a duty towards the people of the Origin System. Like it or not, things are going to change. I am no longer going to let you mope around, drink yourself to death and cry over spilt milk. Your hands are gone, but your new ones are stronger, they still have full motion and feeling, so you can't complain. I am going to take you to a Grineer galleon, and you are going to learn to use what I've built into your new hands. "Right. I'll go once I'm over this sodding hangover." We're leaving now. Get your things. I've stitched your jacket back together and added new legs to your pants. I would roll them up. He opened the arsenal and pulled out a pair of hide gloves, one of them missing a few fingers. Heat resistant, same as the pants. Won't burn up when you use the Void. Go grab your jacket out of your clothes pile. "I don't want to get it all stained, for when I inevitably lose even more of my bloody bodyparts." I looked down at my hands in disgust. I pulled the gloves on, my actual flesh and bone fingers sticking through the holes on the right hand glove. The steel ones hidden in the warm fabric. The rough feel of them reminded me of a girl I loved a long time ago, I could practically taste the expensive booze on her breath, from all those years ago. Could have also been the leftover liquor puke. Umbra nudged me with his foot. Jacket. I stood up and walked away, sticking my tongue at him and flipping him off behind my back as I went. I dug through the pile of clothes in the corner of my quarters. My old coolant proof jacket. Patched back together, my name embroidered in an old Dax language on the chest. The pockets on the insides were deeper and better stitched. It felt much heavier. I slipped it on and zipped it up. It has bulletproof material underneath it. "Oi! Scared the piss out of me, you addlebrained Infested twat! Just bloody walk in here, none o' that talking in me mind crap!" I dug around more and found my pants, fresh kneepads and heftier plating around the upper leg area. I pulled the heavy things on, zipped the fly and put on a thick belt with a heavy buckle and many pouches. I rolled up the lower part to just below my knees and tightened the belt til my pants didn't slip anymore. I took my helmet from my nightstand, blew the dust out of it and put it on. The display inside was dark, I couldn't see information about my Amp energy for some reason. I pressed the power switch on and off a few times, to no avail. I walked into the room with the arsenal. "Did you feck with my helmet?" I handed the thing to him and he examined it. There isn't anything wrong with it. "Where's my Amp?" You won't need it. Tell the Cephalon to locate and drop us off on a galleon near Sedna. "Devon!" The Cephalon did not respond. "Devon! Wake up!" A small electronic buzz came over the speakers. "Y-yes Operator? How can Devon help you?" "Take me to a Grineer galleon. There's one with crewships and such orbiting Sedna currently." "Yes Operator, setting course. We will be there in approximately 10 minutes." I lay down on the cool metal floor of my room. "Feels nice on my throbbing migraine..." Umbra walked into the room and yanked me to my feet.

Dodge my punches. Or, parry them if you think you can. I planted my feet and took a low combat stance. Umbra lazily threw a kick at my gut, which I dodged. He swung a fist at me, a blur of grey and gold. I swatted him away with surprising ease and retaliated with my strongest left hook. It his the place where his sternum used to be and knocked him back a good few feet. Good. Again! I gave a warcry, shifted into the Void and threw my fists in and out, rapidly hitting him with short jabs. Umbra didn't even flinch. He caught my wrist and yanked me forwards, dragging me through the rift I had made. "Operator, we have arrived at the Grineer galleon. Does this please the Operator?" He flipped me over and knelt on my lower back. I will be sticking close on the galleon, clearly you have lost your edge, these past months. He climbed off of me and pulled me to my feet. He called his Skiajati over by sticking out his hand. He attached the scabbard and sword to his side and dragged me by the ear to the ship exit. I transferred into him and we climbed into the exit chamber. The metal hatch slid over us, we turned around and were dropped onto the ship, pulled into a gravity well. We punched through the hull and dragged ourselves into the vent system. A drone was dispatched to patch the hull. We found a spot in the vents above a patrol. Umbra knocked the vent in and we dove through it, landing on our feet smoothly. Grineer opened fire, Umbra swung the Skiajati at the speed of light, deflecting every round. I transferred out of him and slid in and out of the Void with ease, my gloves holding strong. I disarmed each Grineer in turn before snapping their necks upwards. Good. Keep it up. My hands melted through their heads like a torch through paper. I grabbed a butcher that was trying to be sneaky and used him as a meatshield to charge a bombard. I shifted into the Void to avoid the explosive. I came out of the Void. I stomped my foot, waving my hand in a swoop at the same time. A cold wave of energy whooshed forth. The room froze in time. I slid from Grineer to Grineer, artfully slitting their throats and burning patches through arteries with my new hand. Before they could unfreeze, I reset the alarm systems and dashed into a vent. Umbra watched this play out, resistant to my Voidstream and able to move. He followed me into the vent. "Told you I haven't lost me bloody edge." That remains to be seen. We're going to hijack this ship and kill its captain. After that, you're gonna take down another galleon a little ways from here. "You want me to mop the floors and make you breakfast while I'm at it? Or weave you a new scarf? One thing at a time, you dickhole." You will do as I say. I taught you the art of combat, you are a blade and need sharpening. Do as I say, and you will be rewarded. I turned back to face him. "With what?" The location of a certain woman you might like to see. "You mean-" Yes. Focus on the task at hand. I crawled faster, leaving Umbra in the dust. We crawled past mess halls, cloning vats, massive armories, and consoles with deformed men in strange armor working in front of them. We crawled past a prison and a warden looked up. She stared me straight in the face. Before she could call out, I put my tongue in between a V sign from my fingers and winked. She smirked and went back to her patrol. "Still got it." I said to myself. I pulled out a small spyglass from my belt and zoomed in on her uniform. Aya-312, yellow platoon assigned to warden duty, according to her dossier entry. Patrols from early day cycle to early night cycle. Very obedient but too smart for her own good, well-spoken, typical of a new clone. I gave the dossier screen a kiss. "Blessed information." I turned to face Umbra, who was loosely tailing me. "Potential defector! Gotta keep prisons intact." He gave a thumbs up and we kept crawling. A few minutes later, we were in the command center. The captain stood on a heightened platform, shouting orders in Grinese. I took out a silenced Plinx from my belt and took aim. I splattered his brains. Before the techs could run away, I threw a cryo grenade and froze them solid. I kicked the vent in and dropped to the floor. An alarm went off. "Son of a bitch!"

I hacked into the controls of the ship using my Parazon. Umbra stood next to me, rapidly flipping switches and pressing buttons. Put your helmet on or transfer into me. Cutting life support. I took off my helmet. "Watch this." Life support shut off and the frozen Grineer shattered. I took in a deep breath. "Air is overrated." I tried to say, but made no sound due to lack of atmosphere. The artificial gravity turned off and we floated. "Oh fuck!" I shifted as far into the Void as I could and phased through walls. I reached the prison, where a certain warden holding a Vulkar was slowly moving towards an exit pod. The oxygen gauge on her back showed nearly empty. I pulled her helmet off with a hiss. Her face was plain. Surprisingly clone rot free. No sloped forehead or too-small teeth. She almost looked like a normal human, save for her strange mechanical red eyes and greyish flesh. The strong bridge of her nose, her soft grey lips and many piercings were hauntingly familiar. She gasped for air, clutching at her throat. Her surprisingly thick and well kept black hair fanned out around her head. I put my helmet onto her, covering her pale neck and head. Her long hair poked out the bottom. She coughed. In choppy Grinese, she thanked me. "No problem. Don't bother with pods.", I said into her mind. I held out my hand, she slung her Vulkar over her back and followed me to an airlock. You should learn self control. She may be attractive, but she's still a Grineer. "Don't be so jaded." Umbra moved by us. The next room was full of troops, awaiting our presence. I pulled myself and Aya into the Void, letting Umbra kill them. 5 short seconds later, we were moving again. Aya was oddly unfazed by my use of the Void. She was quiet, thoughtful. I stopped. "Wait, shouldn't I take control of this ship?" No need. We should just destroy it. Captain is dead, nothing but evidence to incriminate your little friend here. We reached a suitable airlock. I touched the back of my helmet. Aya held still while I called over Devon. Shortly afterwards, the battered Liset arrived outside. Umbra punched through the airlocks like a sledgehammer to a styrofoam block. "Operator, should Devon prepare a prison for your captive?" Devon asked, foolishly using my helmet. "Not a prisoner. Will be of. Use." Aya's voice was legible but a bit choked, as if she had just been running. I leaned over to use the comm on my helmet as well. "Aye. She can be of 'assistance'. Bring us in and then engage hit this junkheap with a bit of forward artillery, yeah?" I said. Devon buzzed for a moment, snippets of words coming through. "Of course, Operator. Opening entry point now." The orbiter flew over to the airlock. Aya watched it, a bemused expression on her face. "Never seen up close. Very. Shiny." She said, in her choked up way. The door opened. Umbra went in first. Then me, and then Aya. Devon had a combat drone at the ready when Aya got on. I melted it. "She's fine. Aren't you?" She nodded, absentmindedly running her hand atop a smooth desk. "Good architecture, very-" The ship lurched back as the forward artillery went off, incinerating a hole the size of an Orbiter through the center half of the ship and the reactor. The ship rapidly warped away a half lightyear. I fell to my knees, Aya and Umbra stood. She took off my helmet and set it down. She helped me to my feet. "You okay?" I nodded. "Just not a fan of warping is all. Sorry about the ship." Aya laughed, a mix of a chuckle and a cackle. "I have wanted to defect for very long time. Being around idiot brothers and sisters. Wears thin. Thank you for saving me." I scritched my chin. "How are you disobeying? Why aren't you inbred or riddled with clonerot? How old are you?" I hit her with questions, rapid fire. Umbra put his hand over my mouth. He pointed out the top window. A large, Grineer brown galleon armed to the teeth with missiles and asteroid melters looked to be mere meters away. Really, the thing was almost a kilometer or so off. He pointed with more emphasis. Shipkilling duty. You're on it. I groaned. Aya was silent. I took her hand and walked her down to something of a living space. I pointed to a mat on the floor. "Here, actual sleep beats the fuck out of vat sleep. I'll be back in an hour or so." She went and sat on the map, back against the wall. "See you then." She blew a kiss and closed her eyes. She pulled her strange mask over her face and watched me leave.

"Let's get this over with. Devon, even if she's digging through your bloody hard drive, leave her alone. I'll take memory if you don't. Do as she asks, and I'll buy you more memory and a copy of a new language book." "Deal, Operator! Please put your helmet on, Devon has marked a point of ingress. Devon strongly encourages the Operator to use an archwing. This ship is lousy with anti ship technology. Please step into the airlock when ready." I transferred into Umbra, who was already wearing the archwing harness. We shot out of the airlock like a bullet, zipping in and out of visibility, streaking past anti ramsled rockets and other various bits of artillery. We crashed through the side, the decompression causing an explosion. A drone was dispatched to seal it. The decompression caused all kinds of alarms to go off. Me and Umbra drowned in noise. I picked up one of their weird ice guns and phased as fast as I could, my curiosity about Aya's bits and pieces keeping me vitalized. I shifted into a wall, inside a bunch of cables. I cut them to bits and phased through the walls faster and faster each time. I could hear strange howling voices as I went faster. I took a small pen syringe from my belt and jammed it into my leg. Microdose of Bluejay. Time slowed and I sped up. The birds sang as I cut holes in the walls and killed platoons of Lancers and rooms full of engineers. I took a high caliber round to the fleshy bit of my hand. The Void part seemed to deflect it, almost like a shield. I burned through a particularly thick wall. I could scarcely take in my surroundings. I phased inside of the captain, and then phased back out again. He exploded, coating me in gore. I laughed. "Bonny new power, eh?" The engineers were running for their guns. They were too late, I walked up to a console and smashed buttons. When nothing happened, I pried up the bottom part and tore out wires. Eventually, all the airlocks opened and the ship decompressed. The reactor casing couldn't handle the strain and it cracked. A bit of debris flew into it. It exploded, tearing the ship in half and rendering it useless. I stumbled around in circles, making swimming motions with my arms. "Wooo! Wooo!" I yelled. Umbra walked up behind me. He raised a finger as if to say something, but stopped himself. I transferred into him. We left. I did the thing where I'm inside but not in control. We came back into the airlock. Devon wordlessly extracted us, the galleon blowing up behind us dramatically. We warped back to the Orbiter. I got settled into my bunk with Aya. I put her Vulkar into the arsenal.

Though her legs ended at the knee and her body was armored, she was strong as all get-out. Her large breasts and softly defined abs made for an excellent pillow. She was awkward, unsure of what to do. I guided her through coitus. Her greyish face was tinged red, she laughed and smiled broadly. Her smile and strange eyes made me think. Of. Riddha. And. Jackie. I climbed off of the bunk and knelt before a large window. I prostrated, touching the ground with my face and hands. I took deep breaths. The Bluejay did not soothe me. Aya did her best to comfort me, rubbing my back and mumbling things. I cried. Quietly, tears rolling down my face as I was flooded with memories of youth. And love. I missed Jackie and Atlas. I wished I could find Foe, and talk to her. I was overcome with anger at being seen crying by someone who I had fucked once. I turned and pounced on Aya. I flipped her over and pressed my face into her ass. Aya's moans seemed layered over each other. I brought her to climax twice. She took her prosthetics off and crawled over to the bed with a contented sigh. "Thank you, Tenno." I stood up and pulled on some clothes. "Any time." I said distractedly. I ran over to Umbra, who was meditating at the helm. "You! Tell me where Foe is! You tell me now!" I didn't want to cry so I kept my voice from wavering. But a father knows. He stood up and silently embraced me as I fell into a heap of sobbing. I fell to my knees and he held me in his arms. I heard Aya walk in. She walked right back out. He helped me to my feet. Fortuna. I've been keeping tabs on a group of Runaways there. We'll leave whenever you're ready. It may not be an optimal time, but you're 30. You should quit the drugs and make up your mind on what to do with your life. I ignored him. "Take us to Fortuna, Devon." "Confirmed, Operator. We will be above Fortuna is just a moment." I went back to my room. Aya wore some clothes that were much too small for her. Her shirt barely covered her breasts, and the pair of pants ended just above the knee. She looked cute, but provocative. "I don't read minds, but you seem to miss someone. I will never replace her, but I still hope to cheer you up some. Is there anything I can do?" I walked over and pulled her into a hug, my face pressed into her abdomen. She gently placed her arms on me, unsure of what to do. She patted my back just a bit too hard. I laughed at her awkwardness. "I think we're gonna get along great, Aya." "I'm glad."

We reached Fortuna. "Aya, you should stay here. They really don't like Grineer in Fortuna." "Bah. People everywhere hate Grineer. I'm used to it. But, I also need time to get my bearings. Good luck to you." I nodded. Umbra stepped over to the airlock. I transferred into him. It flipped. We fell down, down down into the depths of Fortuna. We landed softly, surprising a nearby Solaris. She nodded and went back to her work. I transferred out of Umbra, rolling my pants down so they covered my shins. He took my hand and led me to an ordinary coolant vent, spraying the stuff everywhere. He knocked on it four times. The vent slid aside and a pair of hands yanked us in. We were inside of a dank, dark vent. I felt a foot knock me to the ground. The door slammed shut next to us. I took off a glove and made a spark with my hand. Two Runaways, young, toting heavy rifles. They got a good look at me and Umbra, taking us in. One jerked his head, motioning for us to follow. He tapped a wall four times and it opened, leading us to a warmly lit room, threadbare couches in every corner, a shabby steel table in the center, people eating on one side, and people playing cards on the other. One whistled. The people at the table looked up for a moment before going back to their talking and eating. Shortly after, a feminine looking Solaris with robotic hands stepped out of another room. The pants, the meek yet intimidating manner, it was her. We ran for each other. Chairs scraped as the Runaways at the table drew their weapons and aimed them at me. "Sit down!" Foe yelled. They complied. She pulled me into a tight hug that lasted too long. She let me go, grabbed my hand and tugged me into the other room. The door closed behind us. The office had a large glass case with all manner of strange tubes, glowing bits of Infested flesh inside of them. The only lighting was warm, overhead synthetic sunlamps. I couldn't help but notice that she wasn't the curveless, flat chested twink she used to be. Her breasts were as large as mine, her hips had a strong curve, her face was more narrow and her eyes seemed brighter. "So. F-Zero. Been ages since I've seen you." She sat down behind a cheap, scrap metal desk. She placed her sock covered feet atop it and looked me in the face. The rest of her had aged well, no crow's feet or any wrinkles at all, the only sign she wasn't 25 anymore was the bags beneath her eyes, as if she'd never slept before. She looked at me, with those tired eyes, staring right into my soul. They had odd blue flecks in them, and I noticed that the sclera was unusually veiny. "Foe. Have you been.. Using, recently?" She nodded slowly. "Can't sleep otherwise. Miss him too much as it is." She pulled out the glowing core of Atlas and kissed it softly. She dropped it back under her shirt. "So. You here for chit chat or are you looking for purple ice? I can do either. Girl, you could use some of both." She reached under the desk and took out a bag of pure, opaque purple ice the size of my head. "Good as it gets. First hit's free." She took out a complex looking pipe. She took out an empty glass capsule and put in a medium sized crystal. She put the capsule into the pipe and switched it on. It smoked a bit at the bottom. A strange, vaguely sour chemical scent. She handed it to me. With no hesitation, I put the end into my mouth and took the deepest inhale I could. "Slow down a bit. It hits hard." I handed the pipe to her, and held my breath. She took small puffs. I let the cloud out, after almost a minute. The smoke was hazy and colorful, like a coolant pool. "I think I need another hit." I reached for the pipe, she swatted my hand away. "You've had enough. It's easy to overdose. It's gonna hit you in a moment. Like a coildrive."

She was right. My legs felt like spiral staircases, wobbling in circles as I walked. Everything was fuzzy around the edges, yet clearer than I could comprehend. I saw colors I'd never seen before, dull and bright. Foe looked at me and smiled. Her face looked smooth and clear, her skin brighter than usual. Her dark hair shimmered. I found myself wanting to kiss her but I resisted. I suddenly flipped over, landing on my hands. I held a wobbly handstand for a few moments. Foe watched impassively, arms folded. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but all that came out was music. I toppled over, landing on my stomach. It took me a moment to realize I was on the ceiling and didn't need to walk. So I crawled. There was a beanbag chair, sitting in the corner. He beckoned me, patting his lap. I wiggled over and sat down. Foe started flicking her finger up and down her lips while making a weird noise. The beanbag was soft, but I wanted to move. I couldn't. I opened a pouch on my belt and removed a music player, compact and with few buttons. I hooked it onto my belt, and then channeled a bit of Void energy. I pressed the play button and I heard music in my ears. Strumming Shawzins, thumping drums and a Corpus singing about lost profit. It was beautiful. I wanted more. The next piece was an arrangement of pianos and synths, with a crescendo on a strange thing known as an 'organ'. Next up was an angry jaw harp, playing fast. It made me want to dance. I escaped from the beanbag and did. Sliding around, popping my shoulders and moving my hips. Foe watched in confusion. She shrugged, and did an ancient dance move known as "The Carlton". It was funny to me. I laughed. The music sped up and light drums played in the background, the jaw harp over them. It made me want to fight. I shadowboxed, my hands glowing brightly. I lost control and shifted into the Void, falling back 5 feet onto the beanbag. The music slowed, the song changed. Pleasant cellos and sotto whispers about love. I closed my eyes and drifted off.

4 hours later

I woke up. It took me a few minutes to figure out where I was. Umbra stood over me, looking down, arms crossed. I opened my mouth to speak, but was stopped short by a deluge of burning vomit. I tried to stand up, but fell on my face. I vomited again, and again and again. Soon it was nothing but stomach acid. I tried to stand up. Every inch of my body was in agony. Umbra stabbed me with a syringe of yellow liquid. My vision cleared, and I felt strong again. There was a bit of paper on my chest, a note attached. Foe's cell number. Umbra picked me up under the armpits and dragged me from the office, past the mess area and into the vent. He was promptly let out and we were back in Fortuna. I was too tired to resist. He dragged me over to a woman with a robot head, shouting orders from the front of the room. Behind her, were the doors leading to the Orb Vallis. Umbra flung me at her feet with a clatter. She looked down at me. "What do ya need, Sparky?" Eudico said, distractedly. I laid my head on its side so I could speak better. "We need a job. Give us a job, yeah? Pay whatever you want." Eudico reached behind her chair and pulled out a PDA. After scrolling a moment, she tapped and zoomed in on a document. She held the PDA down so I could see it. She put her finger on some numbers. "These coordinates lead to a camp where two of my agents are being held captive. Normally, we have personal teleporters for these situations, but unfortunately, we are out of stock. Retrieve the agents and I will give you each 2000 credits. If you manage to salvage some materials to make more teleporters, there's another grand in it for you. Time is short, chop chop. We've kitguns for sale if you need a spare." Umbra shook his head. He took a beautiful pistol. Ivory with inlays of gold, and it glowed slightly. A beautifully crafted Sicarus Prime. Eudico nodded. "Code to the Vallis is 8821358. I'll keep you updated on info through comms. Go!" Umbra yanked me to my feet and forced me to walk to the door. I shoved him off. I felt excited for some reason. It had been a while since I'd gone hunting for Taxmen. They were like Enforcers, but less well armed and much dumber. I entered the numbers Eudico specified and stepped into the elevator. Umbra followed. The doors slammed shut and we felt the elevator go down, down, down. Umbra idly twirled his Sicarus. The elevator was loud, it rattled and stunk. After what seemed like ages, we reached the bottom and the doors opened. I was blinded by the blazing sky of the Orb Vallis. Umbra put my helmet onto my head, it darkened. A yellow blip was placed on my map. "REACH SOLARIS CAMP" It said.

"Good luck getting there, twat. You can't do what I'm about to do." I flipped Umbra off and shifted as far into the Void as I could. My surroundings disappeared. I focused on where the blip was relative to where I am. My feet lifted off of the ground, and I flew faster than I knew I could, towards it. My surroundings blurred in and out of my vision. Taxmen looked up, only seeing a hazy, opaque bubble fly past, leaving no wind. I saw a Coildrive underneath me. I shifted out of the Void and held my hands together. A large bluish bubble started to form. I was falling from the sky. My legs lost their charge and my breath fogged a deep smoky blue in front of my face. I flung the massive bubble at the Coildrive. It moved slowly at first, before catching up with it, enveloping it and then causing it to explode. I laughed. The ground was approaching me fast. I flailed, trying to get control of the Void again. I hit the ground with a thump. I sat up. I was unscathed. "Woohoo!" I shouted, warping through the Void again.

-next part is best accompanied by The Bomb by Pigeon John. (the La Phaze remix)-

Umbra struggled to keep up, riding a borrowed K-Drive. I landed with a whoosh outside of the camp. I could hear him several metres behind me. A sentry spotted me and opened fire. I took off in a sprint, each shot hitting just behind where my feet where. There was a large base to my right and a firing squad to my left. The base had large steel pillars, and a door with a laser guard. Drones flew overhead, and above the firing squad. With a clamor, they started shooting at me. The wall to my right looked mighty tantalizing. Ducking and weaving through their shots, I leapt onto the wall. My feet stuck to it, I ran along the wall, firing bolts of Void energy from my trick hand. Some hit, some missed. A shot winged my shoulder, but pinged right off, leaving not so much as a char. I was running out of wall. There was an abutment with a rail on the top. I leapt off of the wall and landed on the rail. Blue sparks and shots of energy followed me as I grinded across it, taking potshots at the firing squad. I leapt into the air, trying to hit the next wall. A shot hit me in the chest, breaking my Void shield and knocking me out of the sky. I shifted into the Void. They scratched their heads, wondering where I'd gone. I zipped behind the tallest of the bunch, he held a hefty looking Arca Plasmor. My shield was recharged. I shifted out of the Void, tore it from his hands and dropped to the floor, avoiding more bullets. I held the heavy thing in my right hand and used my left to channel a dome around myself. It held mostly. Umbra finally caught up. All he could see was a patrol firing into the floor. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. He crept along silently around them. The spot they were shooting sometimes shot back, gushes of plasma melting the Crewmen. I gave my best warcry, and collapsed the dome, sending them flying. There was something resembling a telephone line about 10 feet above me. I leapt off of the ground. The Crewmen fired at me as best they could. Curiously, their shots curved around me. I pushed myself forwards with a jet of air, my boots making sparks as I grinded on the steel line. I mashed the Plasmor's trigger until it didn't respond. Most of the firing squad was dead, scattered helmets and boots full of blood all over the place. The rest retreated. I jumped down from the line, I hit the ground running. I bolted for the nearest door. They brought in the big guns. A Jackal was dropped in from above, it slowly came to life. Umbra popped up from nowhere, two burly looking Solaris in tow. Assets secured. Let's jet. "Nae. I'm havin' fun with these new toys." I jabbed my finger at the two Solaris, who watched me warily. "Can you lot use a gun?" They nodded. "Sure thing. Just tell us who to shoot." The slightly shorter one said. I gave a wicked grin and pointed behind them, where a Jackal came to life, stomping around, searching for us. More Crewmen were dropped in. "Cover me. I'll kill the big bugger." The taller one shook his head. "I'll live to fight another day. Take us back please, Tenno." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Umbra, get them home. There's K-Drives in a locker over there. There should be, at least." I gestured at a metal equipment locker, the hole in the center was green, indicating its open-ness. They nodded. All three left shortly after. The Corpus were left with me. A Crewmen spotted me and fired. I laughed. "You lot are in for a good bloody time!"

-next part is much more violent, Tess goes even more Mary Sue. Come With Me Now by Kongos for this one.-

I dashed behind the only cover near me, a strange looking pylon covered in various panels. A worn Flux Rifle was underneath one of the ledges. They were getting closer and closer. I scooped up the gun, jammed the stock into my shoulder and fired wildly. Strangely, there were no Corpus to be found. "Boo." A Crewman had slipped past, and was right next to me. He leveled his gun. His finger nearly reached the trigger. But he wasn't fast enough. I lunged forward and punched my left hand through his head before he could do any damage. A Jackal and a legion of Corpus said hello. I was met with a hail of bullets, most striking true. My shield broke, I shifted into the Void. The Crewmen stopped firing, but the Jackal kept firing at the spot where I was. I dashed behind the poorly organized mob. I dashed through them, in and out of the Void. The ones who I phased inside of violently exploded. The crowd was pandemonium. They were firing on each other, killing each other off, as most of them exploded. Soon there was nothing but the Jackal and a terrified Prod Crewman who cowered behind it. I was soaked head to toe in gore. I shook myself like a dog, spattering even more blood on the already crimson ground. The Jackal blasted me with a barrage of plasma. I deflected each shot with my Void shield, sending them bouncing back at it. It didn't even seem to notice, continuing to fire. The Prod Crewman took off running, hoping to set up a beacon. I was quicker. I phased bast the Jackal, grabbing the man by the back of his uniform. "Nice try." With a grunt of exertion, I spun in a circle, taking his feet off of the ground and building up momentum. The Jackal kept firing, some shots hitting the man. His limbs popped off. After a bit, he stopped struggling. I planted my feet, held my arm back like I was throwing a ball, and then flung him at the Jackal. His blood splattered all over its sensors, blinding the thing. I used that time to strike, pouncing on it. I phased out of the physical plane, moved down a bit so I was inside its head. I popped into existence again. Its CPU and other vital systems blew up, killing it. It fell down dead. I dusted myself off, admiring my handiwork. The entire place was laden with blood and guts, bodies littered the ground like. Well, litter. I put one hand on my hip and the other on my stomach. I laughed heartily. My comm clicked, Eudico's voice filled my ears. "Nice job Sparky. Pop back into Fortuna for your reward. Alternatively, I can mark a mine for you and you can help the other Tenno I sent with some minerals. Your choice." I was walking back towards Fortuna. I stopped in my tracks. "What did you just say?" "You can come back, or you can get some minerals and I'll pay you more." "Did you say 'other' Tenno? I thought I was the last one! What's his name? Does he speak much?" "Ask her yourself. Mine is marked." "Chek chek. Thanks, Eudico." "Anytime, Sparky."

I lazily shifted into the Void and slowly drifted over to the mine, pondering my existence. "Who could she be? Will she be a friend?" I lost my concentration. I shifted out of the Void. The mine was just ahead. I had enough momentum that I lost control. I hit the ground and skidded far. I was unharmed, due to thick armor and being mostly metal. I stood up, dusted myself and swaggered into the cave. Ahead, there was a one-eyed Warframe with a voluptuous form and a helmet with flaps. She was concentrated on mining, using a plasma drill. A deposit of Travoride popped out. She picked it up and put it into a pouch. I cleared my throat. She turned to look at me. I walked up to her and held out a hand. "Hi. I'm Tess. Who might you be?" She flicked one of her flap thingies. "Ivara." Her voice was layered (as are most Warframe voices), it was quiet but firm, with a touch of the accent Orokin have. She went back to mining. There was a bag of equipment sitting next to her. I bent down to grab some, catching a glimpse up her skirt. Round, soft looking butt and a small waist, coupled with toned hips. I had to suppress the urge to drool. She looked down on me with disapproval. "Get your mind out of the gutter and help me mine. I don't intend to split the bounty, so get going." She said, softly but strongly. I nodded, blushing under my helmet. I used a Nosam Cutter, mining deep bores in the rock. I found Axidite and Travoride, mostly. But also some rarer gems. The Travoride is what I needed, so I focused on weaker veins. Once I had enough of that, I dropped down to a coolant pool. I dug around in my warp pack and grabbed a shockprod spear. I gave it a twirl, before grabbing the cord and throwing it. By sheer dumb luck, I speared two fish at once. "Score!" I shouted. Ivara called down, "Pipe down, please." I threw the spear a few more times, some throws hitting and others missing. I spun the spear like a stave, twirling and tossing it. Suddenly, I had a devilish idea. I leapt up onto the ledge where Ivara was mining. I flung the spear at her, aiming for the small of her back. She sidestepped it. The spear got stuck in the wall. With stunning speed, she yanked it out of the wall, threw it at me and then kicked me off of the ledge. She landed on my chest and held a rather deadly looking dagger to my throat. She pushed close, my Void shield protected me. "Why did you do that?" She asked, in her soft but scary way. She yanked off my helmet and got in my face. She pressed the dagger down harder. My face was beet red. She put her helmet inches from my face. "You get one more chance. If you do something like that again, I will chop you into little pieces and feed them to your Warframe. Clear?" I nodded in terror. She plunked the helmet back onto my head. "Good." "Oh by the by. I'm done with materials. See you around, chump." I shifted into the Void and warped as fast as I could to the Fortuna gate. I hit it head-on, cracking the visor on my helmet. "Son of a bitch!" I ripped it off and threw it at a wall, bending it. The elevator moved up. I couldn't wait anymore and warped up faster than it could move, landing in front of Eudico. I dropped the needed items on the floor before collapsing from exhaustion.

A/N: I'm trying to keep lemons down a bit, even tho I enjoy writing em. BTW, Tess isn't gonna be a Mary Sue. I'll reveal her Kryptonite soon enough. Thanks for reading!