”VOULL NE XATA VOK, MARA LOHK”The walls are melting. The windows are melting. The others had gone ahead, you didn’t need them watching over your shoulder. But now the iron slag sealant spreads between your fingers even without the help of the iontorch. Even alone the persistent sense of being watched remained. Glancing over your shoulder the hallway held no unwanted observer. Empty. The Zariman was becoming less and less real, smearing and spilling free in the void, your mind felt the same. Leaking from your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Breathing in the stygian waters without that sweet hint of madness.Illumination bands flicker overhead as humid stale recycled air fills your lungs. Most of the level was secure. Cirlyn’s crash course in engineering kept the life support systems running, other sections weren’t so lucky. A boy that fled from his habitation block claims to have seen entire segments vent into the void as shielding failed. One by one your class moved from bulkheads to access hatches, securing routes to your classroom. Despite that They keep getting through, insane hunting packs move throughout the ship. Sol knows how many were dead. You arrive to find the battered classroom dark, in the corners bundles of bedding and cushions are home to the curled bodies of the sleeping. A pair keep watch, armed with long pipes and other makeshift weapons, they nod at your arrival, but voices from further down the hall draw you attention. Those holding it together better than the rest were having a meeting, you found yourself among them. So many were whimpering wrecks afraid to step out of the classroom.
>>6445277“We can’t just hide here anymore! If They damage any more systems…” A tall girl with long blonde twin braids, spoke sternly gesturing to the rapidly deteriorating ship. Cirlyn, her mother and father, were both key engineering staff from Lua. The image of a young lady steeped in Orokin self-grandeur and aloofness on enrolment day was a stark contrast to her now. Filthy bandages knit one side of her bisected face, between changes that once elegant smile was now locked in a near eternal teethbaring sneer. “Shut it, Cirlyn. I don’t want to hear it again. They will be all over us the second we step outside.” Eun responded, once the chatty class clown he hadn’t uttered a joke since the accident. Mournfully resting his face in his hands, you could have sworn he was crying.Cirlyn wasn’t giving up. “We need to fight back, They will come for us eventually. If Hydroponics goes down we all die.”The handful of others silently observing the exchange turn as you arrive. Attention shifting for a moment. Without a doubt they are sure you heard. Again and again. Your vote was the tie breaker. Lives were in your hands.They speak in unison, a hitched breath and expectation laid upon you.“_____”Love or Hate? It burns white hot, liquid fire injected into your mind and soul. That word. Your Name. How long has it been since you heard it?”What if your name Tenno?>Mor>Luven>Sifa >Huriya>Write InThe pair move in unison, arriving on your either side and eagerly laying out arguments previously vented at the gathering.“Gaining systems control will make protection easier. We could even bring defenses online.”“Cephalon Belleroph is still re-sequencing, it will be safer if we wait for it.”“That will take days for all we know. The air could be out by then.”“Someone might come for us, better we all wait in one spot then spread out across the Zariman.”“What do you think we should do?”>What do you do Tenno?>Make a move to secure the Hydroponics systems? >Focus on securing the sections around the classroom?
>>6445282>Write In>Tommy Pickles>Make a move to secure the Hydroponics systems?
WOO warframe quest>Sifa>Make a move to secure the Hydroponics systems?
>>6445282>Sifa >Make a move to secure the Hydroponics systems?
>>6445282>Luven>Make a move to secure the Hydroponics systems? No point holding ground if we can't eat or breathe.
>>6445277>Sifa >Make a move to secure the Hydroponics systems?
>>6445282>Sifa>Secure HydroponicsWhen you will lose by standing still, move.
>>6445288>>6445297>>6445302>>6445314”SIFA, MARA LOHK”Even as you hear them out something draws your attention, glancing over your shoulder a figure stands far in the gloom. Leering eyes glinting in the dark, staring you down. Breathing hard and sharp for a second. You almost laugh when you recognize your own reflection. The glass dome of some terminal catching what little light remains just right. You push it from your mind and settle on an answer.>“We need to make a move to secure the Hydroponics, no point holding ground if we can’t eat or breathe.” Cirlyn keeps her eye leveled on you, content with your decision, the other students taking the split with their own reserved nature. If the sleepers were here there would be no end to the arguing and weeping. Eun on the other hand, while stalwart in every moment you’ve shared lets out a long groan. “I know Sifa, I know… I just can’t face…”Now the horror would begin, the screaming and howling. The fighting and fleeing. Cirlyn was unmoving. That little ayatan of hope in her shining through the hardships. “Now that is settled, here is the plan. We don’t need the others slowing us down, so we will leave them here. Although Eun is right, They will be on top of us the moment we start to move through the Zarimen. So it is simple; Sifa and I will make as much noise as we can and draw them away from Hydro. Eun and the rest of you will secure The Greenway H-E Sector twelve through fourteen. Lock it down and wait for us to make it back. We will lose them in the Commons. The small team of youths share looks. The master plan wasn’t exactly complex. Eun as usual spoke up. “And if things go wrong? If you two don’t make it to us.” Annoyed by the inquiries Cirlyn fires back a smooth option. “Then wait for Belleroph. If we don’t show up I'm sure you can think something up. Use that Macro-economics studying for some good and do the mathematics.”“20%” He fired back coldly, the other students giving you side eyes.The tall girl only shrugged, turning her attention back to you. “Sifa, you will accompany me right?” You hesitate for only a second then nod affirmation. It was only fair after all, you’d laid the final stone. When it topples, it would be your fault. “We will have a better chance together.”
>>6445328Orokin white and gold, now grim blood speckled canvases and glistening ichor rich statues painted by the void’s azure taint. The hallways are empty, but the sounds of distant bedlam find their way to you while leading on with Cirlyn close behind, her one good eye working overtime as you take most of the responsibility. A half an hour of creeping kept you out of any trouble, but that wasn’t the plan. Sooner or later attention will be the goal. “This is far enough.” Cirlyn whispers moving up beside you and pointing towards a smooth terminal set into the junction up ahead. “Class alert, Melica will call them in and we take off running…” The usually certain girl shared an uneven look, gesturing to follow as she advanced on the screen. It flickers to life at her touch, struggling and stuttering. A dissatisfied grunt escapes from Cirlyn. “Good evening Cirlyn, Sifa… caaa-aaan i-i-i-i-i be of assssssis- tance? Systems at 35%-” Tapping quickly she orders the machine. “Cephalon, quiet.” Biting her lip the image of the digital lifeform falters, subverting the basic systems at its beck and call to Cirlyn. “Yes!!” The gleeful hiss of victory was for you alone a glance at her own partially hidden gold steeped arrogance. “Good Morning Students!!!” The deafening voice of Cephalon Melica booms throughout the Halako Perimeter and beyond, but Cirlyn wasn’t done. As They stir You watch her work eagerly. The booming voice strobes across the region, junction by junction. Audio traces, lures pinging right towards the very terminal you stand by. You can’t help but gasp. “Pretty impressive right?” She repeats the sequence once more, however between the distant chimes. You can hear the clang of weapons, shuffle of bodies and mad chants, songs and war cries. It worked perfectly They were coming.Watching the branching arms of the junctions you hold your breath, eyes scanning for the first signs of trouble between flickering shadows surrounding you. “For courage...” Cirlyn says suddenly. Almost making you jump as she kisses you on the cheek. There was little time to process it, to the east, back the way you had come. The first warband langered into view, animals in human form. Uniforms once recorded them as scholars. Maybe even an archimedean was among them. They howl and you both run.
>>6445330“Move it! Sifa!” Ducking through classrooms, around sharp corners and across wide open auditoriums. They are on your tail. What had been a group of thirty or so adults quickly grew, tearing one another apart in their madness, more rampant reinforcements appeared. “They just don’t stop!” Cirlyn pants, pulling you into a compact cafeteria section. Over turned tables and chairs, litter the ground as you both weave towards the adjoining exit. You get ahead only to find the escape path blocked, bloody corpses hacked apart are stacked to the ceiling. A charnel bulwark. You retch at the stench of decay. Cirlyn flinches away. “Shit, no!” Pausing for a second she hops the dividing counter and moves into the food preparation area. “Sifa! We can hide in here.”The screams and songs of the insane echo back out in the corridor. They hadn’t cornered you just yet. If you’re fast you could still make it outside and lead the mad away. The prep area could be another dead end. It could be your hideaway or tomb or you could make your stand, Iontorch in hand.”What do you do Tenno?>Hide in the Prep Area with Cirlyn?>Lead the mad away alone?>Fight the horde where you stand?
>>6445331>Fight the horde where you stand?Void beam go swooooom
>>6445331>Lead the mad away alone?After all, and I quote: "You hesitate for only a second then nod affirmation. It was only fair after all, you’d laid the final stone. When it topples, it would be your fault."
>>6445331>Fight the horde where you stand?
>>6445331>Lead the mad away alone?Why hello there man in the wall.
>>6445331>>Fight the horde where you stand?
>>6445331>Fight the horde where you stand?Give us a lever-action rifle and I'm game, QM.
>>6445335>>6445343>>6445890>>6446150The sound of Cirlyn knocking objects over in the prep area as she desperately looks for a hiding spot or escape pulls you from a momentary stupor. “Sifa! I can’t find a way out. We have to hide!” They were too close, the pounding on the walls, the drums of bare feet and improvised tools of death. Glancing around you see there is little more than tables and cutlery. The hefty welding tool in your hand is your only defence. Just how the cookie crumbles. The clamor grows, increasing second by second until from the entrance a destitute frame stumbles into the room. A man, wild and beastlike, covered in blood and filth. Eyes wild and bloodshot. He wore a torn stained engineering suit, for a second you wonder how long it had taken him to reach this section. The entire ship is in disarray after all. His mouth moves but no words come out, only a cruel cackle. A handful of voices in the hallway behind him take it up. Deep throaty and guttural howled chants. Instinctively you raise the torch, igniting the primer and a thin white hot searing band of flame appears. Illuminating the room and sending long grasping shadows dancing on the walls. It doesn’t deter the man, animals might have hesitated at the sight of fire but this thing, the lights were on, but no one was home. Blood pumps across your body as anticipation jumps, resounding through your skull tolling like a bell. Dinner time or the first round. Threatening to knock the teeth loose from your head. He charged, a stumbling desperate push. Practically throwing himself at you, metal rod swinging hard as you sidestep the attack easily and raise your torch in response. The band of light sweeping along his back and leaving a streak of burnt flesh, the sweet tinge of burnt meat quickly filled the air, mixing with the synthetics of his suit. The man howled, and stumbled over a dining table on its side collapsing in a heap. Out of the corner of your eye another figure lurches into view. This time a woman, entirely coated in gore. The sight was shocking, viscera and meat clung to her as if she’d crawled through miles of entrails.
>>6447167Others were beginning to trickle in behind her as she approached. They squealed in joy as they spotted you, yet unnervingly the woman in red was silent. A cold focused stare, horrifying in the abject storm of madness. Raising the torch in apprehension, you’re surprised as a large pot careens through the air and strikes the woman in the head with a loud clang. “Sifa!” Cirlyn added her voice to the storm, hopping the counter to land at your side with a large cleaver in one hand. It was the last thing you could sensibly make out as the situation boils over. The woman in red stumbled, however the others drowning in the void didn’t falter. The mass advances and everything becomes a scramble of snapshot memories and actions. They reach you both and reactively you both swing at your attackers, punch, push and wrestle. You burn a few fending them off, but the waves keep the pressure constant. Bodies on bodies fill the room, as some fall or retreat they vanish into the crowd. In the uneven tide, the insane men and women tear each other apart just to reach you. A blade slashes your shoulder, you cry out as pain lances through your body, someone punches you in the gut knocking the air from your lungs, you’re kicked and a mad man even tries to bite you through your suit. Standing becomes impossible, knocked to the ground as the heavy crushing weight of uncoordinated attackers clamber onto you. The torch is lost in the melee, you wiggle out of grabbing arms. Kick and elbow. But the situation was far beyond recovery now. This is how you die. Against your back the cold of the deck seeps in, the looming inevitable touch of death. The pounding heart in your chest, and the rushing of the blood in your ears is frightening. You want your mom and dad, anyone, someone to save you. The world is closing in. Then you hear it, you recognize it, usually eclipsed by the touch, sounds and other sweet and sour senses of existence and survival. Something hidden beyond the conscious mind, vibrating up through the harsh metal grating. It only takes a moment of a moment to correct the rushed grasp of understanding. A rapping, something tapping. Not from below but inside your skull. knocking at the wall of your mind, a rap tap tap from the other side. The pain slips away as the cold surrounds you, that once easy to miss tone now deafening. ”RAP TAP TAP.”
>>6447169A viscous azure haze embraces you, the messy jumble of physical and mental sensations distant, held in stasis but you remain chillingly awake. A step back from your pathetic last stand. You are an observer, almost alien, outside looking in. Cirlyn was doing better than you had, the brunt of the force toppled against you, without any coordination the horde practically disabled itself. Catching you underneath the crushing stampede. ”RAP TAP TAP.”For what felt like years you watch the frozen scene, but then slowly that hazy afraid state of mind returns, the frozen scene before you gradually gaining a snail pace of motion. The knocking grew louder. A code, like old morse, or some simple numerical cryptography. Something in it was reaching you, trickling in, urging you. Without words or thoughts. A drive, inherent logic. An idea, a guide, a suggestion. A unilateral message.”What message do you hear Tenno?>A roar from the void, the pitch perfect resonation, you take it up, soaking it in. A white hot burning state of indifference filling your chest, seeping forth malicious wrath.>No sound, no thoughts, an image without sight, echoes felt from the vast nothingness, a beacon elsewhere, a place you loved. The simple dormizone that was your home. >A whisper, or is it a whimper? A dull senseless murmur? A lullaby that's already ended. Outside and detached yet present. Some borderline state, a door, window, eyes or a mouth.
>>6447171>No sounds, no thought, a place you loved.
>>6447171>A roar from the void, the pitch perfect resonation, you take it up, soaking it in. A white hot burning state of indifference filling your chest, seeping forth malicious wrath.All in on Sol.
>>6447171>A whisper, or is it a whimper? A dull senseless murmur? A lullaby that's already ended. Outside and detached yet present. Some borderline state, a door, window, eyes or a mouth.I'll admit I am curious about the mystery option and what it means to be closer to the Murmur and Indifference.
>>6447171>A whisper, or is it a whimper? A dull senseless murmur? A lullaby that's already ended. Outside and detached yet present. Some borderline state, a door, window, eyes or a mouth.
