One reviewer had an interesting suggestion: why not make a chapter from the view of a boss in a boss fight?

I might consider it, if I can figure out a way to make it somewhat realistic and believable in the confines of Warframe Lore. Maybe at the 20 chapter mark. I don't know if I'll go for it, honestly. A boss-fight with four frames will take a lot of stretching to work in all four abilities for each frame while making it seem like an epic fight where the boss poses a legitimate threat.

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The Insanity

If there is one thing the Corpus shares with the Grineer, it is the emphasis on quantity over quality. Regardless of how much the Corpus looks down on the degenerating clone race, they have the same tendency to simply throw manpower at a problem until it goes away.

Unfortunately for you, this is one such example of that tendency. And thus, you find yourself on a dropship heading for an artifact that your superiors want to get their hands on. The problem with that objective is a very determined Tenno that has been stubbornly holding out against waves of reinforcements for over thirty minutes.

Each and every Tenno warrior has their own peculiarities and abilities. Some are lightning fast, attacking in the blink of an eye and obliterating resistance before it can be raised. Or they are maddeningly evasive, impossible to draw a bead on without a profligate expenditure of artillery. Others are far more solidly built, functioning as a hard wall that countless unfortunate individuals smash against to no avail.

And then there are the more esoteric ones. This Tenno in particular seems to be in the lattermost category. Previous sightings of the ancient super soldier yielded scant intelligence of its capabilities.

Though one thing is unmistakably clear: it is female. And it seems particularly attached to one of the earliest Tenno seen in history, the one that specialized in swordsmanship. One might consider them to be siblings, given how often they have been observed near each other.

Or how this Tenno is defending a cryopod containing a reported duplicate of its "brother."

You yourself are quite familiar with the strength of a familial bond. Your service to the likes of Frohd Bek spares your Corpus from wage enslavement, and you would persevere through any adversity if it would save them from hardship.

In that sense, out of the men who accompany you on the dropship, perhaps you have a better understanding of the Tenno down below than anyone else. Not that it is likely to save you.


The most troubling reports from the preceding waves of Corpus men and machines is the fact that some of them have apparently turned traitor. They have trained their guns on comrades, turning on each other like ravenous animals, with no rhyme or reason apparent.

A whimsical and highly unlikely thought momentarily occurs to you: perhaps others do, in fact, understand the Tenno's apparent familial devotion.

But such a thing is impossible for the Corpus machines. Their logic structures and subroutines do not take into account fraternal or familial bonds. As combat machines, they are utterly devoid of consideration for emotion, and simply follow orders and targeting priority listings from above, with a single-minded drive to accomplish their directive to neutralize the enemy.

And yet they have also fallen prey to this phenomenon. The void sorcery of the Tenno is truly potent to convert unfeeling unthinking robotic enemies into allies.

Your first concern is to probe the area of effect. Surely the Tenno can only afflict so many enemies, or reach only so far. You link up to several MOAs on your technical display, and observe their visual and electronic signal feeds as they race off toward the Tenno.

Others on the dropship are scant steps behind them, while you hang back with an abundance of caution. A minute passes before you suddenly see the MOAs halt forward progress and begin targeting each other. One of your comrades curses over the radio, and Tetra gunfire can be observed in the MOA visual feeds as it indiscriminately mows down the compromised units.

Behind you, a pair of Bursas drop free from another ship and pass you by. You quickly jack into their feeds, and observe curiously as they link up with your comrades and race toward the Tenno. Soon, you can see the ancient warrior in question.

She sits cross-legged atop the cryopod, suspended in mid-air by an energy field. The field in question simply absorbs all gunfire.

This presents a problem. Your secondary orders are to destroy the cryopod in order to prevent yet another ancient Orokin super soldier from running rampant in the galaxy. But that requires getting past the field.

Still, you estimate that the Tenno can only do so much while simultaneously maintaining that field. And it seems that strange affliction takes time for the Tenno to use, seeing how your comrades managed to close into visual range.

You call for two quick additional waves. The first one being primarily robotic, and sacrificial, followed by the next with Coombas, Scrambuses, and Bursas. Exhaust the Tenno enough to breach the shield, and maybe take it out as well.

The suggestion is agreed to, and you spend several more minutes waiting anxiously for reinforcement. You have shut off the feed to the Bursas. The Tenno would take over them, and use them to eliminate your wave. They are doomed units.

The next waves drop, and you are comforted to see that a Scrambus accompanies them. You fall in, safe under the aegis of their canceller aura. Surely this will protect you from that mind-bending affliction.

It is only when you get within visual range that you realize you've made a mistake. You assumed that the Bursa units would turn on each other. Admittedly, that was a safe assumption, since you hadn't seen anything do otherwise.

But the two previous bursas are very much active. And both are aiming at your group. Moreover, they seem to have been empowered by the Tenno.

A few unfortunate men outside the range of the Scrambus are cut down by the Bursas, before they unexpectedly enter the canceller radius. There is confusion as the units suddenly spasm, and your group destroys them to be safe. But then bolts of energy ripple through your formation, emanating from the Tenno's raised hand. At the same time, your former comrades from before rise up from behind cover to take aim at you.

The Scrambus panics, and overloads his canceller in a large burst to disrupt the ambush. It succeeds, and the affected men writhe while grasping their heads, as if fighting some voice in their minds.

The Tenno is reacting, however. And it curls up into a ball while the energy aura surrounding it intensifies. Perhaps the backlash of its ability being cancelled is straining it. You urge everyone to pour fire against the barrier, spreading out and closing in around it.

And then it spreads its arms.

In your haste to prevail, you failed to consider where the absorbed energy would go. According to the laws of physics, it must go somewhere.

The energy wave smears you and your reinforcements against the floor. Laying there paralyzed in pain, you can do nothing to resist as the Tenno over to you and grasps your head, aligning your helmeted gaze with its four golden-rimmed eyelets.

How typical for a Tenno. Always looking down on you.

Up next: Saryn or Banshee? I'm going by release date, so unfortunately, we won't get to Valkyr ("Ragekitty Prime" lol) for another six chapters. But we will get there.