#saryn blade of the lotus

[flurfyjewelwf]

A Poisonous Truth | Saryn

[thestellarfenix-blog]

I drew my Saryn Prime using the Blade of the Lotus Tennogen skin. 

This is my first attempt at ever drawing a Warframe and I am pretty happy with how she came out. I’m excited to see how much I can improve when I draw my next Warframe. 

[orokinarchives]

A Favour for Darvo

(A Favour for Darvo banner)

27 November 2013 – 29 November 2013

Prelude

In September, Darvo issued a series of day-long Darvo Deals. At the time, Darvo was not a constant fixture to the Tenno, as the Relays where he sets up shop had not been built yet. Accordingly, Darvo Deals tended to be notable and rare.

19 September:

Hey, Tenno – you interested in a deal? I've got a few you can't refuse. I have recently come into possession of some valuable wares, fit for Tenno. Certain 'unfriendly individuals' would dearly like to have it back, so I must liberate stock quickly. I believe we can both benefit from my predicament.

Today I can offer you a Stealth Pack at 25% less than my competitors – the best gear for eliminating your enemies silently. It includes the PARIS compound hunting bow, lethal KUNAI throwing daggers and the deadly multi-bladed GLAIVE.

I will have more items available in the coming days. Be sure to check back often; I can only offer them for a limited time.

—Darvo

20 September:

Tenno… if you missed my deal yesterday, don't worry about it. Here's a new one that may pique your interest. Want to enter the most sought-after place this side of the solar system? Here's your chance.

I have an abundance of Void Keys I need to unload fast, so they're 25% less than what my competitors offer. Five Void Keys – including one guaranteed Rare Key – will grant you access to secret missions outside the realms of normal space. Here you'll be able to run missions and find the rarest, most amazing materials and blueprints known to Tenno.

I can't hold on to this valuable cargo for long, so this deal is only available for a limited time. Chop, chop, Tenno.

—Darvo

21 September:

So, I have a situation where I have access to a large stock of warframes. Don't worry, totally legitimate sources.

I've heard my competitors are planning on offering a new Ultimate Warframe pack. I'm willing to offer you this pack before they even release it AND at a 25% discount from their proposed price. How about Mag, Nova, Frost, Rhino, Trinity, Ember, Ash, Excalibur, Banshee, Loki, Saryn, Nyx, Volt and Vauban? Sound good? Fourteen warframes in all. This should surely keep you fighting for some time.

My competitors are starting to catch on to my trade business and don't appreciate my deals as much as you do. So get this deal in the Market before it's too late.

—Darvo

25 September:

I have a very rare opportunity for you Tenno. Perhaps you have heard of Dread, Despair and Hate? You know, the signature stealth weapons of a certain elusive assassin? An assassin whose attentions may now be turned my way. My competitors I can handle, but this guy… this guy is serious. I would rather not find out how effective these weapons are first-hand.

You can have the pack at 25% off. I really need to get rid of this stock. Then I need to do my own disappearing act and put Darvo's Deals on hiatus. You understand, right?

It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Tenno. See you when I see you, if I see you.

—Darvo

After this latest Darvo Deal, where he sold the Stalker's weaponry, Darvo disappeared for some time, briefly surfacing a couple weeks later.

15 November:

Vaults are good hiding spots. They're hard to find and even harder to get into. Believe me, I know – it's the reason I still have all my fingers.

Tenno, what if I told you I've been able to collect a wide assortment of vault keys? Dangerous vaults, too hairy for a simple merchant like myself. But someone of your talents? You might appreciate what's inside.

See… I'm reopening my business, but before I can show my face again, I need to pay off some old debts. You understand, right? You won't find my Vault Pack anywhere else, and the price is crazy low. What do you say, for old times' sake?

—Darvo

Alert

On Wednesday (27 November 2013), the alert became available and was present for two days. The Tenno received an inbox message from Darvo.

Inbox message: Just a Small Favour?

My friends,

I have a small favour to ask of you. No, no, favour is the wrong word. You don't get paid for favours, but for this I can pay you. Not in advance, of course, but when you are done there will be plenty to go around. Hell, once this is done, I'll be able to offer you my deals again.

Let me get to the point. There's a ship. A ship I own but am not currently in possession of. All you need to do is sneak onto this ship and take care of something for me. Nothing major. I know you can handle the work. I'll explain when you're on board.

What do you say, will you help your old friend Darvo out?

Oh and by the way, I'd appreciate it if you keep this between you and me. There is no reason for the Lotus to know about this little arrangement.

—Darvo

Mission

The alert was a Mobile Defence mission on Janus, Saturn, using the Corpus Ship tileset, with normal Corpus enemies. There were three Mobile Defence terminals. Unlike most missions, Darvo himself serves as the mission control, instead of Ordis or the Lotus.

Darvo: "Here we go. Are you ready? I'm ready. Take that datamass and drop it into the system. I'll be able to hack into the ship remotely once you do. Should be easy. You'll find what I need in no time."

Darvo: "Just so you know, I'm a bit new to this whole guide thing, so it's not going to be like the Lotus. Don't worry; everything will be just fine."

(when nearing the first terminal) Darvo: "I think you're near a terminal. Yes, yes you are. Drop me in and I'll get to work."

Darvo: "You're close; drop me in."

(halfway through the first hack) Darvo: "Just making a few more adjustments. Nothing strange going on down there? Just Corpus defences? Nothing… else?"

(after hacking the first terminal) Darvo: "That's it. Hmm… I didn't find what I needed. Go to the next terminal. It should be there. I think."

(halfway through the second hack) Darvo: "Did you hear something strange? No? Okay, I'll keep going. Nearly done."

(after hacking the second terminal) Darvo: "I'm really sorry about this, Tenno, but you need to go to the third terminal. I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for here."

(when nearing the third terminal) Darvo: "Here we are. The last one. I'm going to try one more thing to see if I can't lure… I mean, find… the target."

Halfway through defending the last terminal, the Stalker appeared. The Tenno had to defeat the Stalker while still protecting the terminal.

(when the Stalker appears) Darvo: "There you are. Thought you could hunt me? Well, look who I brought: the Tenno."

(upon the Stalker being defeated) Darvo: "You did it! You took care of my problem. That freak's been tailing me for months. That's a load off my back. I'm so relieved."

After that the mission proceeded as usual towards extraction, and the Tenno was rewarded with a built Forma. Once the mission was completed, it could not be run again.

Aftermath

After the alert was completed, the Tenno received an inbox message from Darvo informing them of a new deal in the Market.

Inbox message: Darvo's Deals Are Back!

Friends!

You did it, you got that freak off my back. Well, some of you did and some of you didn't quite make it, but I won't hold that against any of you. What matters is I can now come out of hiding, and that means more deals for everyone.

To celebrate this occasion, I have put together the Super Charge Pack. It is everything you need to take your warframe to the next level, including boosters, an Orokin Reactor and Catalyst, Forma, and even extra warframe and weapon slots. Because there is no longer a price on my head, you all get half price on this deal. That's right, 50% off this amazing pack.

I'm not done yet, either. Keep an eye out for more deals over the next couple of days.

—Darvo

The next day, Darvo had another deal in the Market.

Inbox message: Let Me Make It Up to You

Friends,

I am hearing a very troubling rumour. Apparently, some of you feel that I took advantage of the Tenno. That I should have warned you I was luring a very dangerous assassin to your location so that you could kill him for me. But, friends, had I warned you, you may not have helped, and where would that leave me? You want me back in business, don't you?

Look, let me make it up to you. Courtesy of your hard work, I have a very special bundle for you. A Nekros warframe, the Carrier sentinel, a Soma rifle, and the ever-deadly Ether Reaper. All at half the usual market prices. Come on, Tenno, tell me a deal like that isn't worth a little risk?

—Darvo

After that, there was yet another deal in the Market.

Inbox message: One More Deal

Tenno,

I have one more deal for you. What do you think of a pack containing the Dread bow, Despair throwing blades and a Hate scythe? The Tenno who helped me out will know firsthand just how destructive these weapons can be. Last time I offered this pack, I got myself into a little bit of hot water. Now, thanks to your efforts, the pressure is off, and this time I can offer this deal at half price.

As for me, I am running out of stock, but I have a hot tip on some new product. Don't worry though, Tenno, I have learned my lesson. Everything will be aboveboard from now on. Trust me.

So long for now, Darvo

[Navigation: Hub → Events → Special Alerts → A Favour for Darvo]

[heartslogos]

seas who could sing so deep and strong [108]

Alpha wakes up.

He wakes up. He was asleep, except he was not, because he was moving under the sun running his hand through his kubrow’s fur and feeling the grass against his legs. He was asleep, except he was not, because he could feel the weight and resistance of bone against his daggers as he angled the blades up against ribs and plunged into muscle. He was asleep, except he was not, because the sun hurt his eyes when he looked at the sky.

But he was asleep.

He wakes up, now, really wakes up to a voice so familiar, so often dreamed of, that his heart does something complicated in his chest. A skip, a plunge, a hesitation, a murmur, a complete stop, a dash. All of them. None of them. Nothing at all. Everything at once.

He wakes up to a voice so achingly familiar his heart doesn’t know how to comprehend what his brain fails to understand, and his entire body comes back to him at once. A clumsy, weighted, mass of aching bone and weak and shaking nerves.

“ - wake up, wake up, wake up, now, wake up,” the voice says and his vision starts to clear and his mouth opens to form everything at once and it all comes out in one garbled croak that’s barely audible to even his ears.

He reaches up to try and rip the cowl off of his head, but his hands are weak from sleep and clumsy from surprise.

“It’s okay,” she says, her own hands going to the fasteners that hold the transference suit’s hood in place, “I have you. I have you, now. I have you.”

He breathes in for the first time in centuries, and he can feel air against his skin and the sudden fall of his hair against his cheeks and neck and her hands stutter against his face as he looks into her own hood.

It’s her. He knows it’s her. But at the same time -

“I - “ He croaks out, throat closing as he coughs out a rasping puff of air. “Need - ”

I need to know it’s you.

His hands reach up to her and she starts working on her own as his hands hover there, clumsy and awkward. She has always known him. It feels like she’s known him forever and ever and ever.

His gloved hands are on her skin before the hood is fully cleared and her hair falls down in shimmering black waves over his hands and drapes over his arms and over him as she leans over him.

Thank God, if there ever was one. Thank God. Thank God. Her hair -

He had told her once, I still dream about your hair.

Before. Before the long sleep. Before everything ended. But after everything else.

When they were on Earth and left there by the Orokin before they could start any real trouble.

He had told her, then, I still dream about your hair. Because the white tendrils that writhed on Saryn’s head and swooped over Saryn’s shoulder weren’t the same thing. Because he had known her for what - in hindsight - was such a brief time and all he could think about was her beautiful hair. He had never seen hair more beautiful in his life and he had only touched it once with his skin but it was the softest silk, finer than anything Orokin hands have ever made and he loved it and he loved her, but at the time he didn’t know how to say that to her because he could never love anything, he was not worth love, there was nothing in him anyone could love except for -

And her hair is still the same as it was then, thank God the Orokin let her keep it, that they didn’t touch it.

And her face, like cream, like the moon, like a distant star. And her eyes. And her smile as she looks down onto him.

His hands shake and he can feel her skin, the pressure of it, but it isn’t enough because this could be a dream, too.

“I - “ He starts to repeat, hands on her face and then quickly pulling them back, pinning them against his chest.

He needs to feel her skin. Her hair. He needs to feel her and know she’s there, but his hands - his hands -

“It’s okay,” she says, quickly knowing and anticipating everything that goes through his head. “It’s okay.”

He shakes his head, no, it isn’t, but she leans down until they are closer than they have ever been except for in their warframes, and she touches the tip of her nose to his.

“I’m here. I breathe.” She closes her eyes and he can feel the warmth of her breath fanning across his face and he can feel the flutter of her eyelashes.

He feels like he’s shaking all over. He doesn’t know if he stops shaking or shakes all that much harder when she closes the space between them and presses her lips to his, the warmth of her breath still fanning over his skin.

His arms seize against his chest and her hands are quick to grab his, and hold on tight. He grips her hands as hard as he can, pulling her closer.

Alpha has never kissed anyone before. He kisses her back and hopes he’s doing it right.

He kisses her back and wants to cry with relief because he’s awake and she’s real.

It feels like he’s falling, but not falling. Like he’s being buoyed by a gas vent on Jupiter, but on that precarious edge of falling through anyway. He feels like something blooms in his chest and his heart definitely does not know what to do with this at all. He feels like all of him has burst into flowers. He feels like a star being born.

She breaks the kiss with a sharp strangled sob in the back of her throat and when she pulls back her eyes are wet.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” She says. “I thought you wouldn’t wake up. I thought it would be this for eternity. An eternity knowing that you and I were once - and to live forever without it.”

Alpha’s hands raise and he wants to hold her, he wants to stop her crying - even though he’s crying too.

His entire life called a stone, a blank slate, an empty thing, but no one will ever know just how unsteady he is and how much like water he feels like this.

“V - “ He manages to get out before his throat closes again. He tries to push her away, and she sits up a little. He slowly takes his hands from hers and tries to take his gloves off. “V.”

Her eyes widen and her hands come over his but he keeps trying, forcing himself to keep his eyes on her.

The gloves drop onto his stomach and he raises his hands to her, keeping his vision focused on her scared face. He forces himself to ignore the hands that rise to run through her hair - so soft, so smooth, so warm - and cradle her face.

He looks into her eyes and forces back the heart-pounding nausea and dread and fear that sweeps through him every time his own hands move.

He claws through the detritus and the tangled webs of his mind and drags the words, painfully and slowly, to the front.

“You came back to me,” he says.

She laughs, sniffling as he wipes tears from her cheeks - warm, damp, slick against her skin and catching on her eyelashes - and leans down again, resting her forehead against his.

“I never left you,” she replies, and gestures to the side.

He turns, struggling to lift his head to see over the ridges of his cryo-pod and sees an identical one next to his.

A garbled croaking cry mangles its way out of his mouth.

They were together this entire time.

The Lotus did not lie. The Lotus kept her promise.

She kept them together.

He laughs.

“Alpha,” she says, laughing with him, falling back to their call signs, “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha. I feel like I’m dreaming, Alpha, I love you.”

He gets his arms around her and holds her as tight as he can as she lies down over him, her hair blanketing both as she cries and laughs into his neck, face damp.

He holds her with his weak and shaking arms and plants the words into her hair for them to bloom.

“Empress,” He says, “I love you.”

[heartslogos]

seas who could sing so deep and strong [85]

Chic gives Judge a very stern look, and she puts her hands on his shoulders and shakes him a little, “Listen. It’s nice of you to ask if I’m okay and if Punk and I need help and stuff. It really is, you’re a good friend, Hades. But listen to me. You need to try focussing more on your life and less on everyone else’s. Have you slept recently?”

“What? Yes,” Judge blinks, baffled. “Where is this coming from?”

The other tenno begins to tick off on her fingers, “You stabbed Ballas. You’re the last tenno who spoke to and saw the Lotus, you’ve got…Umbra I guess, and you’ve got the whole mess of Persephone and Ballas, the one Grineer queen left is still after your head, do I need to keep going here? Hades. Judge. Can I call you Judge? I’ve known your name for a while now but I’ve never used it. It’s too similar to Punk’s and I might slip, but I’m going to use it right now. Listen Judge. Step off it. Turn around and take a good long look at yourself and get your shit together before trying to help anyone else with theirs.”

Chic gives him another shake when Judge attempts to protest.

“Listen. You’ve got to help yourself before you go helping other people. It sounds selfish and weird but it’s the truth. You aren’t helping nobody if you’re sick or hurting or in trouble of your own and you put someone else’s trouble on top of that. So. I’m going to ask you again, and this time you won’t try to lie to me. Or I’m going to call the Alpha over and you don’t want to have him give you this talk. He gave me this talk once and I don’t think I’ve been the same person since in more ways than one.”

Chic stops and gives him a meaningful look. Judge takes this as his cue to nod.

“Alright.” Chic releases his shoulders and steps back, smiling, “How are you today?”

Judge opens his mouth, and slowly thinks about his answer as Chic’s smile somehow turns dark and ominous.

“Tired?” Judge answers. Chic nods and gestures for him to continue. “I haven’t been sleeping so good recently. Uh. I’ve been getting distracted by stuff? And then I wake up thinking about the same stuff in the middle of my sleep cycles.”

She keeps gesturing for him to keep talking, looking encouraging - or what he thinks she thinks is encouraging, to him he’s mostly nervous about this - and Judge starts playing with his gloves.

“Uh. I don’t know what else to say? I’ve been getting a little sloppy and careless because I haven’t been sleeping well. Uh. I’m not sure how to talk to Persephone right now. I mean. It’s fine when we’re out with you guys but when we’re by ourselves I get nervous that I’ll say the wrong thing or start talking about something she isn’t ready for. So. There’s that too.”

“Have you considered telling Persephone about that?”

“That defeats the point of me trying to be accommodating though, doesn’t it?”

“Have you met Persephone, Judge?” Chic’s eyebrows raise, “That’s one girl you don’t treat with kiddie gloves.”

Judge doesn’t say you don’t know her like I do. He doesn’t say you don’t know how she cried. And he definitely doesn’t say but you aren’t the one Kore looks to when she needs help.

He does say, “It won’t hurt to be gentle.”

Chic’s mouth flattens into a disapproving line, “Sometimes being gentle is how a person falls apart, Judge.”

-

“You know. I’m not really surprised you killed them, but you couldn’t wait for me to use my warframe abilities first?” Judge asks when he comes to tend of the trail of blood and body parts and finds Kore’s Saryn sitting down on a crate and checking down the barrel of her rifle. “Did you drop it?”

“I think my scope is off,” Kore replies. “And no. I couldn’t wait for you because otherwise the target would have gotten away.”

“You did catch the guy, right?”

Saryn nods.

“Are we leaving then?”

Saryn shrugs, “If you want to.”

“Or?” Judge presses.

“Or.” Kore holsters the rifle on her Saryn’s back and puts her hand on the hilt of her nikana, “We could make some Grineer very, very unhappy.”

“Right,” Judge says, not really knowing what he expected. “Does my warframe get to eat any of them this time?”

“Race you,” Kore says, “Your pocket sand versus my spores.”

Judge grins and trusts Kore to know he’s smiling even if she can’t see it. He holds his hand out to her, “The cephalons will do a kill count. Kills from explosives caught by abilities count. Anyone caught between both of us isn’t counted. First person to extraction and with the most kills wins.”

Saryn and Inaros grasp hands.

“Loser buys candy for the winner at Ostron,” Judge suggests.

“Deal,” Kore says. “On three?”

“Deal,” Judge confirms. “Wait. Primaries only?”

“Sure. One?”

“Two?”

“Three!”

They jump apart and start racing down the hallway. Judge would feel sorry for the Grineer if he didn’t think they had it coming to them. And also if the Grineer were anybody to feel sorry for with all the things that they do.

Judge hears Kore activating Saryn’s toxin lash and he feels Inaros’ sand primed and ready for the first thing that moves.

Judge and Kore both stretch their warframe’s arms out at the same time as a wave of sand sprays at the Grineer power-fist who’s back is turned to him, and Kore’s spores begin to bloom on a bombard a few feet to the power-fists’s left.

The Grineer begin to move into action, but by the time more help arrives Kore’s corrosive blade has already cut down one bombard and spread her toxin down the corridor.

But Judge’s sand moves fast and the Grineer turn to dusty ash in front of him as he cuts them down.

Kore laughs, “You aren’t going to win going that slow.”

Judge grins, “Oh yeah? I’m just getting started.”

Inaros leaps and spins, releasing a spiral of sand as Judge activates Inaros’ Sandstorm ability and Kore lets out a fake yell of outrage as he quickly outpaces her.

“Just because I don’t use it a lot doesn’t mean I forgot I have it!” Judge says, just barely seeing Kore’s red and white Saryn running behind him through the sand.

“You haven’t won yet,” Kore says, and he sees the trail of toxin gas that Saryn leaves behind as she bullet jumps to keep up. She springs off of one of Inaros’ Sand Shadows and uses the wind of Judge’s storm to push herself forward and cast another round of spores ahead, sliding to the ground with a spin and cutting their legs open before they can re-focus their attention on her.

The miasma cloud that follows is predictably lethal and Judge can hear the resounding bloom and burst of spores echo through the metal walls of the Grineer ship.

“I want the sweet fruit rinds,” Kore says, “Just so you know. For when I win.”

“And I want the sweet stars, the pink and purple ones,” Judge replies. “You know. For when I win.”