7 Base of Operations Prt. 1

Back in the Void, I'm a bit giddy at the prospect of getting into my newly acquired Nidus. As if to laugh in the face of my newfound happiness, the Lotus interrupts my state of ecstacy. "Tenno, I do hope you have had time to adjust to your awakening. I need your assistance in a matter, if you are willing to offer it."

    "Ah, Lotus, of course I was just doing some meditation and organizing some of the information Ordis has given me. I was actually kind of hoping that you would contact me soon.  As I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do, now that I've adjusted." I bullshit her.

    "That's good to hear, Tenno. Although, you should know, if you are ever in need of guidance you can just have Ordis contact me. I'd be glad to help. That being said, I've uncovered a Grineer transmission that indicates they may have access to technology they shouldn't have. Technology that may make them even more formidable, than they already are. I need you to infiltrate the facility where this information is stored and recover it."

    "I see, this sounds really important. Ordis, let's get going."

    I equip my Vulkar, Machete, and The Twins. I don't need the Lotus asking too many questions. I land on the insertion point and begin to clear the whole damn facility like a boss. I head back to extraction and board the Liset.

    "That was exceptional work, Tenno. You can task Ordis, with transmitting the data, to me. While I don't wish to overburden you, you may want to stay on alert. I suspect that there is more to this than just the information you've extracted today. If I find out anything else, I may call on you again. Until next time, Tenno." She says before disconnecting.

    "Ordis, make sure you copy all of that data, before sending it to the Lotus."

    "Ordis, has already accomplished both of these tasks, Operator."

    "...wait, both of them? You copied and sent the data? How did you know?"

    "When the Operator first showed displeasure with Ordis's performance, Ordis began to reassess his protocols. Ordis, quickly realized that the Operator is a pragmatic thinker, with some exceptions. The Operator prefers planning well ahead and covering all of the bases. Thus, when the Operator lied to the Lotus about his recent activities, Ordis suspected that the Operator did not trust the Lotus. Although, I'm at a loss as to why. Furthermore, when the Lotus suggested that the information be sent to her, Ordis knew that it would take very little effort to copy the information while simultaneously transmitting it. Knowing the Operator would order Ordis to send it, so as to maintain the ruse originating from the Operator's lie, Ordis decided to take the initiative."

    "Well, I'll be damned, Ordis! You may have had a rocky start, but you're turning out to be a damned fine Cephalon."

    "Ordis, is happy to be of service to the, Operator." He replied proudly.

    "Good to know, Ordis. Now, we've got work to do. Get us back to the Void on the double."

    'Ahhh, home sweet Void!'_"Ordis, I need you to find me an Orokin Derelict. Preferably, one that has its engines in an operable or recoverable condition."

    "At once Operator."

    The ship started to take off in a direction I knew would contain at least one Orokin Derelict, as I mentally smiled at how competent my Cephalon was becoming. Finally, I'm able to get to the Arsenal and hop into my Nidus. As soon as I'm in, I notice a foriegn presence. Taking notice of this, I head to the door directly opposite my personal quarters. Upon approaching the door, my Nidus reacts by protracting various appendages on its body. The door then opens, revealing a room filled with Infested growths, a transparent floor with water and fish underneath, a chair with various Infested appendages crowded around it in the center, and a pod like container with a transparent cover in the back. I head over to the chair and sit down. The appendages grasp Nidus's head and tilt it to the side. Another appendage, stabs Nidus in the neck causing me a slight bit of pain. I sense the foreign presence being extracted.

    "Operator, what have you unleashed within the ship?"

    "Shut it, Ordis!"

    The process concludes and I rise from the chair. "Helminth, can you hear me? Can you understand me?"

    "The master speaks and Helminth understands."

    "Excellent! Quite Excellent! We shall speak another time, I'm busy at the moment. Until then, enjoy your new home."

    I return to my Arsenal and equip my Nova and the Synoid Set. As excited as I am to take Nidus out for a test drive, I need experience (dispersed energy) for my newly crafted Nova as well as my Synoid Set. If Lotus interrupts, while in my Nidus, it might be a little too suspicious. Nova, I can say I bought and explain the derelict as 'newfound freedom, exploration, blah, blah, blah.' It would be much harder to explain me casually running around in an Old War Relic. Once we prevent the Grineer from getting the biotech that they're after, I'll drop by Venus to recover the Orokin Archive. I'll use that opportunity, to test out my Nidus.

    "Operator, I've located quite a few Orokin Derelicts so far. However, only two meet your criteria. One, has engines that have external deterioration but are fully functional, although the rest of the ship is nearly unrecognizable as such. The other would require some immediate interventions as well as some long term maintenance until their condition can be stabilized. The rest of the second ship is in nearly as good condition as the first ship's engines."

    "Ordis, can you make another one of those Cephalids we used to take control of the galleon?"

    "Absolutely, Operator. Taking and maintaining control of an Orokin ship, however, is a much taller order than a simple galleon. I would need to construct a Pseudo-Cephalon, a Cephalid that has nearly crossed the threshold to a Cephalon. Only this could accomplish that task and it would require my assistance as well."

    "So what are the chances of being able to take both of them?"

    "It is possible to take both, however, it would require quite a bit more time. Certainly, more time than we have before the Lotus calls again."

    "I see, in that case focus on the one with fully functioning engines. Once we have control, assuming the Lotus hasn't called yet, move it so that it is right alongside the second one facing the same direction. We also need to find a section of Void Space that is far away from the Void Space boundary but also not too close to the Orokin Towers. Once both are under our control, we'll move them into that space and start building and repairing our Base of Operations.";

    "Leave it to me, Operator. You can depart as soon as the Cephalid is finished. If the Lotus calls, after installing the Cephalid but before it takes control, I can give it instructions and leave it to accomplish the task on its own. It will, however, take much longer that way."

    "Sounds like a plan, Ordis. I'll be meditating until you're ready."

    I spend the next hour in meditation. During that time I begin to focus on my Nova's first ability. It seems that this version of Null-Star allows me to consciously direct the particles in a chosen direction, while also automatically targeting my nearest enemies. After a half hour more, of meditation, Ordis interrupts me with the news I've been waiting for. "Operator, the Cephalid is finished. Once on board, you will need to find the conduit that I've marked. The primary interface has been destroyed and the conduit leads directly to the engines."

    "Finally, let's do this."

    Aboard the derelict, I creep along as much as possible. Whenever I encounter a group of Infested, I snatch them all up into a gravity orb, with the Simulor, and Null-Star does the rest. Any Infested not caught in the gravity orb, I chase down with the Heliocore. I finally reach the conduit and embed the Pseudo-Cephalon.  

    After I embed it, some of the machinery surrounding me starts to come to life, as the conduit gives off a potent energy. All of the Infested, within a fifty yard radius, are sure to have heard that. Quickly, I sit down and commit my Nova's first two levels, it only takes ten seconds. I only need a few more kills, for level three. As I stand, I look up and notice a couple of Chargers at the end of the corridor. I'm currently in a trench like corridor with raised platforms on either side. The Chargers notice me and begin to, not surprisingly, charge. I pull out my Gammacor and whittle down the one on the right. The one on the right dies, as I switch to the one on the left. Once he is in range, I smash him with my Heliocor. I jump onto the right platform, while using my Sentry to determine through which lies the least Infested. I dash through the left side door. Having entered a long rectangular room that inclines upward and to the left from my position, I begin moving up the incline, while blasting Infested with my Gammacor. Halfway up the incline, I spy a rectangular corridor above a door on the right. Bullet jumping towards the corridor, I spray gravity orbs below me. Coming to rest, at the opposite end of the corridor, I commit one more level. Five seconds later, I've unlocked Antimatter Drop and I refresh my Null-Star. I dash back to the opening and I see the gravity orbs have gone and the flying type Infested are coming for me, while grounded enemies fire toxic projectiles. I mow down the airborne Infested with my Gammacor and then blast several more gravity orbs along with an Antimatter Drop into the grounded masses. I turn around, exit out the other side of the elevated corridor, and begin furiously bullet jumping and sprinting towards the extraction while firing gravity orbs and Antimatter Drops behind me.

    Once I reach the extraction point, I head into a storage room on the other side of the extraction room. The Antimatter Drops and gravity orbs have slowed them down a bit but they'll be here shortly, no time to waste. I commit another level. I reload my weapons, prep a Simulor replacement "clip" from my inventory, refresh my Null-Star, and immediately head back towards the oncoming tide of Infested. Once in site, I fire an AD, then unload my Simulor's entire "clip" evenly just over the heads of the Infested, one more AD,  and then I bullet jump over their heads. I land on a Charger and bullet jump onto an Ancient, while recasting my NS. I bullet jump, off of the Ancient, and bypass the Infested pouring into the antechamber leading to the extraction room. I lead them back to the elevated corridor, while dropping Antimatter. Arriving at the corridor, I quickly commit another level, reload, empty my Simulor, recast NS, spend all my remaining energy on four ADs, and begin waving my Gammacor Death Wand across the battlefield. I assess the battlefield, for the highest saturation of energy orbs. Once located, I reload, wall run from the corridor to the wall adjacent to it, head towards my scouted location, bullet jump in that direction, take aim below me slowing my decent, fire six gravity orbs in a circle around the target location, pull out my Heliocor out as I land, and begin pummelling any Infested unfortunate enough to have survived my earlier salvo, while picking up those precious energy orbs. Once my energy is recovered, and my gravity orbs begin to decay, I begin dropping more Antimatter and replacing my orbs and my NS. I'm able to maintain this dance for approximately twenty minutes, before my inventory's ammo reserves begin running low. I'm down to one clip of Simulor ammo, and four of Gammacor. Refreshing my NS, I unleash all my energy in the form of ADs, begin pummelling a calculated path through the Infested to restore my energy. Energy restored, I book it towards extraction, while asking Ordis how much longer the take over will take.

    "Five more minutes at the most, Operator. I'm working as fast as I can I assure you."

    With this assurance, I continue to drop Antimatter and a couple of now precious gravity orbs to slow them down. Back in the storage room, I commit two more levels and I'm now master of the battlefield. I unlocked WormHole! I reload, make full use of my Sentry to plan my assault, and run headlong towards the Infested swarm. Right before I come in range I swing my Heliocor with all my might before placing a Worm Hole. The impacted Infested go flying,  as I bullet jump over their heads gliding approximately twenty meters away. I ground slam my Heliocor, stunning all the Infested around me as I connect the Worm Hole. Making another wide swing around me, as I turn towards the Worm Hole, I dash through, come out the other side swinging, and begin snatching up energy orbs. I continue to refresh my NS, drop Antimatter, and gather energy until the WH disappears. I replace the WH, and I continue my slaughter.

    I begin to notice the Infested swarm starting to dwindle. The replacement rates are steadily declining. I begin to use my Simulor, again spraying gravity orbs everywhere. Once my WH disappears, I bullet jump into the air and take aim with my Gammacor. I continue bouncing around, until all my ammo is depleted. Placing another WH, I notice the Infested's numbers decrease even further and resume my melee/ability assault.

    My WH disappears, as I smash a Charger into the wall turn around, bullet jump overhead of an Ancient, and bring my Heliocor down into his face(?) I slowly rise up, sling my Heliocor across my back, stand for several seconds in the middle of the countless Infested corpses, and take in the sight of my merciless handiwork.

    "Operator, the ship is now in our control. I've instructed the Pseudo-Cephalon, to position the ship as you indicated earlier. The Liset is ready for extraction, whenever you are."

    Smiling mentally, I make my way contentedly towards extraction.

Once on board the Orbiter, I commit my Nova's fifteen other levels. At level twenty one, I'm absolutely confident that I can take on anything the Lotus can throw at me this early on. My Syniod Set have all gained eight levels and a few of their installed mods have made some progress as well.

We follow our derelict, as it approaches the other derelict. As soon as it's close enough,...'Hah! I knew it, just as I suspected.' On the outside of the derelict, are several gaint Infested growths that look like an Ancient's arms. I suspected that these appendages(?) weren't just for decoration. The appendages of each ship are now wrapping around the other ship drawing themselves towards each other. The two ships are now securely bound together and the Infested flesh, on the exterior, has begun to fuse into one another.

"Ordis, if we calculate the weight that will need to be offset by the extra ship can we maneuver this strange amalgam to where we need it?"

"A space, meeting all of the Operator's earlier specifications, has already been located. The only thing left to do is to maneuver it into position which, yes, is more than doable."

"Ordis, you have performed splendidly today and I hope you continue to do so in the future. For now I'm going to continue my..."

"Tenno..."

'God Dammit!'