[IC] Warframe: The Strife of Clan Prowler

[Zarkun]

Jenus had been so lost in his own practice that he failed to notice Saturiku had approached him to ask for a sparring match until it was too late, and at that point he had gone to speak with Samsara, who had come into the gardens wearing her own armor, something that he found she did not do often, but had become more common place since Kuro had taken over. When he thought of it, putting his kamas away and drawing his cerno, he realized that Kuro had come from the living area of the dojo with his neck cut ever so slightly with a blade.

This drew a rare smile beneath Jenus's helmet to his face. Samsara may have found a way to make Kuro listen to her, though he would never be sure what the method had been without asking her. Thinking about talking with Samsara at any point reminded him of a time when he had first arrived to the Clan's dojo. She had been the first, besides Master Shinto himself, to acknowledge both his presence and his skill, helping him on several occasions to improve both technique and skill. Jenus would not lie if he were to say she was the only one besides their late master he felt like holding any kind of lengthy conversation with, though that was still rare. Heading for the target range, he looked back briefly before shaking his head. If only she'd been made master in Kuro's place.

[Whoami]

Samsara took a deep breath as she entered the gardens for the second time in the day. Her adrenaline was pumping through her veins, giving her that powerful high that comes with it. At first, she didn't hear Satsuriku acknowledge her, it was only when she had a double take in her mind that she realized she was being spoken to. She was at the ready, her reflexes geared toward getting her glaive from her wrist and into her hand. An action faster than the blink of an eye. When she actually looked at Satsuriku, she eased up a bit. He asked to join, she shrugged, "No harm in the company." her voice was a little more stern than usual, it was obvious she had just come from a rather heated situation. "I'm headed to the council chamber, you can accompany me to there if you wish."

Her helmet dematerlized back, letting her hair drop free to her shoulders. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, easing off the adrenaline high. She heard Satsuriku mention Kuro. She nodded, "You can say that. But as much as I dislike him, he's still my master. He deserves respect despite not seeming to deserve it." that last bit seemed forced.

Samsara walked with purpose through the gardens. She regarded Jenus as she passed, some other tenno as well. Non-tenno auxiliaries bowed their head in respect to the revered Samsara, she bowed back. Things were much better for her when there weren't guns pointed and blades drawn. Her eyes shifted to Satsuriku momentarily before she looked back forward, "You look like you're pretty deep in through, Satsuriku. Remember that if Lissette can't sit and help in easing your mind, I am just as able to. Not now, though... Apparently since I got back in this dojo, every excalibur has been wanting a piece of me." conveniently, an excalibur came into view and stopped as he saw Samsara approaching in her armor. Was that blood on of her glaive blades? He turned and headed back to where he came from. It was entertaining to say the least.

Once they arrived to the door of the council chamber, Samsara turned to Satsuriku, "We'll talk about whats on your mind later, brother. I need to go and talk some sense into Kuro's mind. For now, be safe." she smiled to him and placed her hand on a palm print scanner. The door opened to her and she went in. "Ah... Sister Samsara..." a voice of one of the council members could be heard before the door closed.
__________

Samsara sat on her knees in a circle with the rest of the council. It consisted of five other tenno, not including the master. The council was made up of the senior most tenno in the clan. The senior most surviving tenno at the very least. The room had a high ceiling, draping off of it were red banners with Clan Prowler's emblem proudly displayed on them. Along the walls were plaques, recognition of the fallen council members before the ones sitting there that day. Outlining the room was a stream that circled around them, originating from a small fountain topped with a banzai tree, the leaves blood red. In the center of the high ceiling, was a dome that revealed the depths of outer space, the dome was always aligned and in view of a distant yet very visible nebula, the purple light shone through and gave the room an ethereal hue.

The council members were varied in their warframes. There was a Trinity, a Zephyr, a Loki, an Oberon and a Nyx. Kuro sat in between the Zephyr and the Oberon. It was silent in the room for a good thirty seconds before Kuro spoke up, "Welcome, brothers, sisters. We're here now to discuss the pressing matters that give weight on Clan Prowler's shoulders. Clan Tempest, a storm clan that sympathize with the Lotus has been sending tenno to intercept out missions. I have grown tired of their attempts, and have considered preparing the dojo for battle and crushing Tempest."

Some of the council nodded to Kuro. Others remained still, Samsara included, though she wasn't even looking at Kuro. The Nyx noticed this, "Lady Samsara, you're angry." she said.

Samsara looked to the Nyx, there was no secrets safe from her. Councilor Lissette was essentially treated as the chaplain in the clan. If one was burdened too much that they couldn't speak to Kuro about it, Lissette was the one tenno spilled their burdens to. The Nyx warframe allowed Lissette to delve into peoples' minds, no point on hiding anything from her. Samsara nodded, "Yes, sister Lissette. I am." she glanced at Kuro, who returned the gaze right back.

Lissette motioned her hand to the entire council, "Speak then, before us all."

Samsara knew that Lissette already knew what she was going to say. But it didn't matter, the rest of the council wanted to hear now. Samsara took in a deep breath, "Clan Tempest is a small clan that is just being manipulated like the rest of the clans by the lotus. And master Kuro is suggesting we utterly destroy it. I believe he's doing this to spite me, he knows as well as the rest of you about my ties to that clan. Instead of resorting to barbarism, why not try to negotiate with Clan Tempest and show them some of the evidence we have against the Lotus?"

Kuro looked at her, "Your concern for the lesser clan makes me doubt your loyalty to Clan Prowler, Samsara."

She looked back at him with an icy stare. Before she could even speak, Lissette interjected, "This isn't a room for rivalries. Don't say what you want to say, Samsara. I'm sure Master Kuro knows how to bite his tongue after recent events." she looks at the damaged section on the neck of Kuro's excalibur prime.

Samsara let out a long, very audible sigh, "I have the utmost loyalty to my clan, Kuro. Do you?"

The Oberon, Councillor Lionel, spoke up, "I agree with Samsara's proposal. We need more to fight with, not against." the rest of the council agreed, Kuro clenched his jaw. Lionel continued, "Samsara, I want you to nominate four champions, we will organize a conclave. You and your four champions will do honorable battle within Clan Tempest's arena. All those in agreement?" Lionel studied the rest of the council.

Samsara and the rest agreed. Kuro raised a hand to quiet them, "To the death." he stated, "If you win, then that's five less Tempest dogs to argue against our cause. If you lose, then that's at least one less thorn in my side." Kuro and Samsara kept eye contact as he said that last part. It was common knowledge that Samsara and Kuro never got along, but Kuro wanting Samsara dead had never been brought up before. It even surprised Lissette. She knew what happened between Samsara and Kuro earlier, but didn't divulge the information to the rest of the council. It was that duel in Samsara's quarters, and Kuro's dishonorable attempt at defeating her, that destroyed all hope of true cooperation between them.

Samsara finally spoke, "To the death." she agreed.

[Argetlam350]

Satsuriku
"Thank you sister," Satsuriku said before Samsara entered the council chamber. What the council wanted Samsara for he didn't know and was curious but he had no business to put his nose in others business. He left the area to the council room heading down back the way Samsara and he had just come from. He would share what was on his thoughts later with her, for now though he continued down the halls of the dojo, heading to his room and resting on his bed, eyes shut and calming his thoughts having some piece for a few brief moments.

Fex

She skipped down the halls of the dojo, making her way to the target range."Pop goes Mirage," she said happily to herself as she did. Mirage wasn't entirely all there in her head. She remembered little before her suspended animation besides being in charge of some battles against the Grineer from the old wars. It would then be somewhat ironic that the very beings she hated found her first and whatever they did to her when they found her, left her missing a few screws in her head. Master Shinto though saw potential and brought her back to the clan, making her a member. It took time for her to get use to having so many people around her and she had made few friends due to her insanity which she tried to contain most of the time.
"Oh how I love it when it rains the color of red," she continued her imaginary conversation with herself. She eventually found herself in the target range. There were a few others in the room but they moved away from Fex when they saw her enter, fearing that maybe she would have target practice with them literally though she never lost her mind in the dojo, some feared she would. One of them being Master Kuro. Fex didn't like him and no doubt the feeling was mutual, Kuro had strong words against Shinto on bringing her back saying she was a liability and a danger to the clan. Shinto had defended her though and she was glad for that. With Master Shinto gone, she wondered how Kuro would try to get rid of her. Probably put her on some impossible mission so she would be killed.

[mistaahh]

It was a matter off time, as Eclipse made her way to the dojo, it had been a long time since she ever saw other people. She was a tenno, send on a mission, but went MIA for more then some years, and she finally returned, unscathed. She herself had no idea how she got here, she knew this was Samsara's outpost due to some black market contacts.
Wouldn't be the first time Eclipse had to track someone down. She pulled the scarf around her face higher at seeing Fex skipping by, she gave her clear way, by turning slightly, before walking forward again,

She sighed. She needed to sit down, think, reminisce, and make peace with what happened. She needed to strengthen her mind, find her composure, and train. She had to grow stronger, she would fail to protect her brethren, her species. She had to train. She shook her head, there was no time to be dabbling in darker toughts. She had to find Sasmara first of all.

[Pathfinder]

"I'll need to beat you at something tonight, so drinking it is."

As he watched Aeris leave, Tetsu stayed behind for a second to check on the eggs one last time. Tetsu let out a sigh of relief when the readings told him the eggs were fine. With nothing left to do, Tetsu decided to make good on his claim and gave Khan an affectionate head pat before leaving the incubators. Passing through the gardens and giving a respectful bow to Lady Samsarah, Tetsu caught up with Aeris and playfully nudged her side as he said "I take showers you know, just with the lights off."

As the two made their way to the "bar" Tetsu ordered the first round of drinks. Nothing too strong but if he was going to drink the day away than he is going to do it right. Pouring a shot for the both of them, Tetsu raised his glass in cheers as he engaged a special feature of his armor. Before he raised the glass to his lips, Tetsu's armor around his mouth pulled away and showed his pale skin that lay underneath.

There were several scars just along the lips and chin. Some nasty cuts or ragged burns, but the most noticeable was the large surgical scars that ran along the corners of his mouth and back to where the molars lay. Without reengaging his armor, Tetsu poured another glass and drowned it down effortlessly.

[Zarkun]

Jenus let loose another arrow, this one hitting the target straight through the throat, effectively killing it if it were a living, breathing creature. He had no preference for the Grineer or the Corpus, both having done their fair share of horrible deeds and their share of mistakes made. They both needed Tenno to get their work done and so Jenus had never refused any of the jobs they had offered in the past. However, it had been some time since he had gotten a request from either faction and so he'd resigned himself to clearing the occasional infested ship and practicing at the Dojo, listening to Kuro dishonor the teachings of their late master by demanding the destruction of the other Clans.

Master Shinto had known that the other Tenno, while all fiercely loyal to Lotus, were only loyal because they were being fooled into following the Lotus. She was smart and cunning, but eventually she had made a mistake, allowing Master Shinto to find her location. Then he had died because of the Lotus's designs, with the Clan having to kill many of their own just to ensure they could plan safely, to make sure they could prepare without being sabotaged. Of course, any time they had moved against the Lotus in the time since Master Shinto's death, another Clan was sent to interfere, and even without moving against the Lotus, they were often sent.

Jenus let another arrow fly, this one piercing his target's heart. He'd only heard the other Clans interfered. He had never faced the issue himself, and wouldn't if he did not receive a request from the Grineer or Corpus soon. Perhaps he would seek out another infested ship, and cleanse it with fire. The Infested knew not how to be kind to anyone, not even themselves, and they were a threat to creation itself.

[mistaahh]

She stopped, as she saw Jenus practicing, and observed quitly, putting her hand on her hip. Who is he? She wanted to find out, but, she didn't have the time. She had to find Samsara.

She started walking again, taking her gaze off of Jenus and his target, going through the court she was in, directly to the gardens. the sun slightly blinding her when she stepped out again, she peered around, looking, for Samsara, and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her graceful figure. She approached, and cleared her throat to get attention.

[ARMofORION]

Someone had once told Selene that playing with knives would accidentally result with lost fingers. Perhaps that was the reason why she never liked using blades, or perhaps it was another reason. Despite this, however, she was still encouraged to keep her skills with blades fresh in case they were ever needed. Of course, this never went according to plan, which was an endless cause of frustration to one particular individual.

---

“I’m a little tea pot… short and stout… “A voice whispered, lost among the vents of the Corpus ship. The speaker seemed to be female, but anything beyond that was unknown due to her hiding spot. The quiet whirl of the doors announced the entry of a patrolling Crewman, and the door shut as he entered the room. He walked over to a nearby console, checking something as a figure drops down behind him. A white, black, and teal Valkyr touches the floor quietly, twirling the knives in her hand as she sneaks up on her target.

“Here… is my handle.” She whispers as the blade of a Fang lashes out, impaling itself on the Crewman’s back and getting stuck in him. The Crewman drops his rifle, reaching to his back and trying to get to the blade, and struggling. The Crewman turns and looks directly at the Valkyr, and Valkyr finish with “And here… is… my spout!” She lashes out, stabbing the Crewman in the visor and lodging the blade in the Crewman’s helmet.

The Crewman, surprisingly, was still living, and the both them started in a combined struggle to get the knife out of the visor, both for different reasons. “Hey, hey, hey, stop that! I’m trying to help!” The Valkyr states as the two of them continue to fight for the knife. There is a snap of metal and the knife comes loose, the blade broken in half. The Valkyr looks at the blade, and continues talking, with a worried tone this time.

“Ah, man… I broked it. I wasn’t supposed to broked it, Dad told me it wouldn’t be broked. Now they’re going to make fun of me for breaking it. ‘You’re not good enough! You need to be more careful! You’ll never advance in rank if you don’t learn how to-‘” Her rant was interrupted with a thud as the Crewman finally hit the ground, and Selene looks over at him. “I don’t want to hear anything from you, either!”

---

“Operator, you requested that I inform you if there is a bot dispenser with a Moa in it. There is one but a few meters from your position.” Ordis states to Selene, creating a waypoint for her. She walks over to it, and hacks into it, drawing the sleeping Shockwave Moa out and bringing it to life. “I got a bird! Wait, is Moa a bird? Maybe it’s a type of Bear. Or even a fish!” She says to no one in particular, and then jumps atop it, like riding a mount. She entertains a thought about merging and extending her shields to her mount, and then begins trying to do so.

---

After two minutes and a lot of tinkering, Selene gives up trying to merge the shields, and simply orders her Moa mount to charge through the ship toward the Reactor. This charge lasted less than four minutes before the Moa was destroyed by Corpus forces, not before bowling over several Moa and punting a canister at a group of Crewmen. This, too, was lamented on by the white, black and teal Valkyr before she went the rest of the way on her own. After a few spikes, and the upper part of a helmet ending up in an Osprey, Selene opens the reactor and fires on it until Ordis announces “Reactor Meltdown imminent. I advise getting out of there, Operator.”

---

One short, mostly uneventful sprint later, Selene leaves the exploding ship behind her as her Liset zooms off. She looks at her Foundry for a moment, to see if any projects were done, but nothing was done. She walked up to the front of the ship, which is when her Ordis spoke up again. “Operator, you broke another pair of Fang knives? This is the eighth pair this quarter-cycle! Need I remind you that each pair is drawing from the resources you collect?” Selene sighs, and asks “Yes, Dad… I know, I messed up again with the knives. Can you take us to the Dojo now, please?”

The Ordis sighs and sets course for the Dojo. Selene’s pet Kubrow, a pup by the name of Gurik, rushes in and sprints around the room, tackling Selene. “Ow! Down boy, down!” She yells, and the Kubrow crawls off of her, sitting there and looking at her with a cheerful expression. “Good boy.” Selene states, petting the Kubrow, while Ordis comments “Your -Filthy nuisance- Kubrow is almost grown enough for a collar, Operator.” Gurik chases his tail, and Selene giggles at the Kubrow. “We are at the docking port, Operator,” Ordis soon adds. Gurik sprints back to his spot, and Selene leaves the ship, sprinting for the gardens.

“Another pair broken. For the Orokin’s sake, does the Operator not know how to use blades? Does the Clan not have trainers who are good with blades? Why is no one teaching her to- Oh. Ewwww! Operator! Your Kubrow has just –pissed on my insides- emptied its bladder inside the Liset!”

[Whoami]

Samsara had left the chamber moments later, bowing to the council before closing the door to allow them to continue in private. With a long sigh, she dematerialized her warframe and turned around to head back to her quarters. Samsara needed to prepare her equipment, and choose her champions, she had an idea who she would pick. After her warframe had vanished into her bracelet, she stretched, her silks infinitely more comfortable than armor. The tenno casually walked down the halls, she wasn't being quick about since she needed to think out her conclave. She needed a hard hitter, a relentless warrior. Tetsu was the easy choice there. She needed her glass canon, the one who'd solve a problem before it happened, Jenus came to mind; plus he'd appreciate something to do. She needed surprise and unpredictability on her side, Aeris with her Loki warframe was the perfect candidate. And lastly, she needed a tenno who'd cause chaos, Satsuriku might be the one for the job.

Samsara knew Tetsu wouldn't let her down, they had been through so much since they came to Clan Prowler during the Orokin era. Jenus was dying to do something that wasn't target practice and meditating. The others, she could just hope they'd accept, knowing that the 'to the death' part might cause some turbulence in her choices. As she was entering the garden, she stopped as she heard a somewhat throat clearing. She looked over and raised a brow, "Yes?" she simply said, not sure if the Trinity was addressing her.

[Sylvaky]

Aeris' steps were light and silent, a habit from her nature as a tenno and aided by her lack of footwear. It was a striking contrast to Tetsu's armored feet that clanged against the metal floor. She found herself wondering how he had survived this long being as loud as he seemed but her mind soon turned to the Rhino warframe he was sporting and it was answer enough. She would never understand strength over stealth. Tetsu's comment about showers forced a laugh from Aeris and she nudged him back.

The bar was just that. It was somewhere to drink and that was about it. A man behind the counter brought Tetsu's order and the Rhino poured the both of them a glass. Aeris rose her glass when her drinking partner did and sipped at it. It was bitter, not the best tasting drink but it was effective. Seeing Tetsu down his second glass, Aeris bunched her brows together in determination and swallowed the rest of hers and then a second glass and then a third. She had meant what she said about beating him at something and it seemed they were evenly matched for the moment.

Many drinks later, Aeris was pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to keep the room from spinning around her. In her own mind everything seemed normal and her thoughts were coherent but the problem lay in the transition from thought to speech. She had more than once that evening declared her want for a furry friend to match her own fuzzy mind. Looking at Tetsu and his scarred lips, she pointed briefly at the whole of his armor. "One day," She said and pursed her lips, trying to regain her train of thought, "One day, I'm gunna to get you out of that armor." In her mind she was yelling at herself for how inappropriate that line had sounded but try as she might, she could not work up the words to correct herself. Instead she simply smiled and motioned for another drink, to which the bartender obliged.

[mistaahh]

The trinity's armor dematirialized aswell, showing the small, slim figure of Eclipse, her trademark scarf, casual wear, her black long hair and green eyes, who stared intensly in Samsara's, the girl made a motion for her scarf, pulled it down.

She revealed her mouth, it was scarred, tattood in a manner most ritualistic, tribal. This girl hadn't said a word yet, but, the tattoos, the scars indicated that she couldn't, or wouldn't talk, her face had a look of both relief and seriousness, yet, she didn't lose eye-contact with Samsara, as she pulled the beige scarf back up, and infront of her mouth.

Dark thoughts of how she got the markings, the scars, resounded through her head, as she mentally shrugged them off, pocketing her hands in an utter casual, and sloppy fashion. She wondered wether Samsara would at least recognize her, she wasn't so ordinairy, kids these days regularly don't have horribly scarred and tattood mouths, so, she felt pretty unique in that case.

[Zarkun]

Letting another arrow loose, Jenus nodded as it once more impacted the target's throat, another fatal and silent kill. Stepping onto the range and retrieving the arrows, he placed the cerno back on his back before drawing his Wraith Twin Vipers and returning to his position. He typed in his special training sequence, making sure the targets movements would be random, before opening fire with them, the bullets hitting their mark at the right time in the right place. He still missed a few targets now and then, but the missed targets were the reason for his continual training and improvement. After about thirty seconds, the buzzer sounded in his helmet, informing him that the run was finished. Stepping out to the targets, he inspected each one and made a note for each target that was only skimmed or completely missed for a final tally.

As he finished, he noticed that a Trinity warframe was speaking to Samsara and then disregarded it when the warframe's user revealed herself. Who Samsara choose to converse with was not his business, nor was it his concern, when he had his own worries. Returning to the firing position, he terminated the program and headed for his room to begin his meditation. He had missed six targets and skimmed eight, numbers that were down from the previous day, but could still be improved upon. Nodding to Samsara as he passed her and also the Trinity wearer. He had enough to meditate on for the time being.