I left Warframe right after the great Crit Chance nerf. It got very boring two years ago, and even with all the new content that has been released since, I don't think I'll come back. I don't want to have to keep reformulating my builds and doing the same kind of content that is just based around putting out new frames. From what I see, DE hasn't innovated anything new into the game. They just added a new tileset and guild to grind reputation for and crap rewards to chase. Also, I see DE Scott is still there, Nerf Bat in hand.

That said, I'm bored enough to get back to writing chapters.

The Guardian

A very long time ago, Earth was the cradle from which life emerged in the Origin system. It was the center of civilization before the emergence of the Oppressors in their grand towers. In the early days, humans struggled to eke out a living against the wrath and desolation of nature. It was inconceivable to talk of "fighting" nature. One could only survive in the face of such a primal force.

But humans didn't merely survive. They thrived. They grew and evolved, eventually exceeding even the worst selection pressures of the planet and becoming the Golden Empire that ruled over Origin.

Of course, the halcyon days of such dominion are long gone. The Oppressors were wiped out by the Betrayers, and Earth has returned back to its primal state of wilderness, slowly consuming and destroying the remnants of the empire.

In spite of your efforts to prevent it.

Earth remains a treasure trove of forgotten technologies and secrets, all of which are highly desired by the Queens to strengthen the Grineer. And you are one of the many Reclamation crew members sent to scour the planet for its hidden treasures.

Traipsing through the vast overgrowth, your brigade fans out with sensors and weapons. Reclamation is both dangerous and tedious work. Wild Kubrows routinely wipe out small patrols, and slumbering Oppressor machines easily kill unwary soldiers. And recently, there have been troubling reports of nature-obsessed vigilantes seeking to "restore the planet." The intelligence briefing referred to them as "New Loka."

Normally, Red Veil is the name that is most feared and reviled by the big factions. Their goals and leaders are inscrutable and the viciousness of their attacks strikes terror into their targets. But when it involves the cradle of humanity, New Loka exceeds them in fanaticism and ferocity.

Their grudge against your kind is twofold: that you are violating the sanctity of nature, and that you are a genetically engineered unnatural abomination. While Red Veil simply massacres Grineer as a matter of course, New Loka goes out of its way to torment you and your fellow cloned soldiers.

It seems rather unfair to you. Your lot in life was not your decision. You did not ask to be a degenerated Oppressor creation.

But New Loka does not converse with you. They are zealots. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.

Then again, it's not like the Grineer would do bother to do any of those things. Hence why you are leading a crew into the jungle with blatant disregard for the looming threat of their intervention.

This particular zone borders another one that New Loka has raided before, hence why your men have concentrated their presence together as you move about. Zealots they may be, but they fall in the face of massed gunfire all the same. A sneer crosses your face as you recall the last encounter. They should have learned by now that provoking the Grineer is useless. Your kind will drown them in bodies if that is what it takes.

The ambush occurs without warning. Two of those zealots lean out from behind the enormous trees to rain fire on your unit. For a moment, you are stunned with incredulity. Two?! Even for zealots, they cannot possibly believe that only two of them are enough to handle your brigade force.

Your lieutenant laughs harshly, sharing the sentiment, before ordering the entire front line to open fire.

But just as he finishes, a flash of light appears, and chaos overtakes your unit. The front line opens fire as ordered.

They turned around and opened fire. On the rest of your unit.

Now you are stunned with confusion and trepidation. Traitors in the unit? Did Steel Meridian infiltrate this operation? As your men react by gunning down the traitors at the front, another burst of light takes place and the phenomenon repeats itself.

Unit cohesion and order has disintegrated. You trip and fall backwards into a dense patch of grass.

Wait a minute, grass? You are in the undergrowth of a massive jungle with trees severely limiting the available sunlight. The ground is supposed to be dirt and roots. Where did this grass come from?

There is no time to ponder that, as a large pack of wild Kubrows emerge from the forest to attack your men. Normally, such wild animals would go down easily in the face of hardened veterans, but these animals are ignoring fatal wounds, and they are healing rapidly.

Rapid healing, those bursts of light, and the sudden appearance of this grass? A chill runs down your armored spine as a new figure walks out into the open between the New Loka zealots.

With an equine head and horns, rings on its shoulders, and hoofed feet, this figure cannot be mistaken for anything besides a Tenno. One of those damned void creatures with sorcery that defies understanding. Clearly, the reason New Loka felt confident attacking with only two of their number was the presence of this being.

Some of your soldiers aim their Ignis flamethrowers at the Tenno, spewing jellied flame and setting part of the forest ablaze. But the fire disappears before it can reach the Tenno, who stretches out a hand and flings another ball of light at the soldiers in question. And now, many of your men are screaming as the flamethrowers are turned upon them. Meanwhile, the Tenno stomps, and a wave of energy surges outward and extinguishes the flames burning the plants of the forest.

One might almost mistake it for a spirit of nature itself, visiting Earth's Vengeance upon you and your invading Reclamation corps.

Finally, the Tenno raises a hand to the sky. You find yourself floating upward, along with all of your surviving men, off the ground. Then it brings the hand downward, and your vision disappears.

The pain is excruciating. The dirt and roots of the forest form a barrier stronger than the Ferrite armor you wear, and yet the Tenno easily rams your body and those of your unit deep into the ground.

Thankfully, the pain is very fleeting as your skull shatters, your brain is pulverized, and the uncaring Earth consumes what's left.

Zephyr is next.