//------------------------------// // Implications // Story: Keys, Suits, and Swords // by Silent Ghost //------------------------------// Note: Translations in yellow ~~~>><<~~~ "RAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ragnarok yelled as he furiously grabbed his chair, hurling it into the wall of the finely decorated conference room, the chair breaking into pieces. "King Ragnarok, you must stop, this incessant ranting is bad for your heal-" "HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN THE PLAN WON'T WORK?!" He screeched, his eyes bloodshot with anger, slamming his claws into the table . Minutes passed as the room remained silent, the sound of Ragnarok's heavy panting broke the relative silence. He turned angrily towards the arced windows peering through the stained glass windows, a layer of frost accumulating on the outside as the sun was setting over the horizon. He was a Griffon of impressive stature, the feathers on his head and neck sterling white, the dark brown feathers that covered his body were hidden by an assortment of silver battle armor and a long satin red cape. Claws razor sharp, protected by a pair of silver gauntlets, its metal claws sharpened to a fine point. “Read it again.” Ragnarok said, his deep voice echoing throughout the war room. “…Y-your majesty?” “I said,” his voice boomed, “read it again Gershwin.” Gershwin, the king’s yeoman, was a much smaller Griffon compared to king Ragnarok, he was a young griffon, wearing no armor except for a bronze chest plate. His body feathers a dark grey, the feathers on his head gave the impression of a cowlick, his wings average sized and hidden under a white cape that was attached to the chest plate. The generals, all in their own versions of decorated armor, looked to the king’s yeoman. “Oh, umm…” Gershwin remarked, fiddling through the papers in front of him before finding the worn parchment paper. “The letter says…” King Ragnarok, It is with much thought that we have come to the conclusion of declining your offer of forming a military alliance. We have no conflicts with the Equine nation and as such do not wish to participate in a military conflict with an otherwise peaceful nation. Signed, High Imperial Ideo “That’s all it says, your majesty” he said, speaking in a quiet tone. King Ragnarok gave a loud sigh before turning to face the table of generals and his yeoman. “Fair enough, we will have to do it ourselves. We will have to train our soldiers harder to compensate for the military disadvantage, can it be done?” A group of “yes” and “it’s possible” sounded out quietly, each of the generals looking at each other and nodding. “Good, this meeting is adjourned. My orders go into effect in the morning.” The Griffon generals got off from their seats, all of them unfurling one of their wings and performing a military salute to the king, Ragnarok waving it off. The generals left the room, leaving the king and his yeoman in relative silence as Gershwin collected all his papers, placing all of them under his wing and walked towards the door. “Gershwin.” “Your majesty?” Gershwin stopped in his tracks as he grabbed the door’s gold handle, looking back at the king who had moved back to the stained glass window. “Do you believe in our cause? Be truthful.” Ragnarok spoke quietly but loud enough for his voice to echo about the room. A look of confusion on Gershwin’s face appeared, “…Yes, of course your majesty.” “You hesitated.” He said, eyes fixated past the frosted window. Gershwin didn’t know what to say, raising a claw only to stop with mouth agape. He lowered his claw and shut his mouth, reaching for the door handle, opening and closing with a quiet click, leaving Ragnarok alone in the war room. Jupiter Sector 11 Atmospheric Gas Reclamation Station #1568 “So,” Alad V said, looking out the window of the station, hands grabbing onto the metal railing, “You’re saying…that both ships…simply…disappeared?” “I po top k’toj, yit.” “I do not know, sir.” The Corpus soldier responded. Alad threw his hands off the railing and faced the soldier, a look of neutrality on his face before exploding ,“HOW?!” The sudden outburst made the Corpus soldier flinch slightly, but was barely noticeable. “I po top k’toj, yit, I as yotty atout p’kat. J’ket p’ke atea jay yutteyep, p’kete jay pipp’pe pett’tiy.” “I do not know, sir, I am sorry about that. When the area was surveyed, there was little debris.” Alad’s face still red with anger, returning back to the railing and grabbing onto it as he stared intently at Jupiter’s cloudy atmosphere. “What about the Tenno’s ship?” “Jote , yit.” “Gone, sir.” “Any Tenno corpses?” “Tote tout’p.” “None found.” “Tempered rubidium hull plating?” “Ot’py t’tos out y’kik, yit, ot j’kap iy pe’tp ot p’kes ” “Only from our ships, sir, or what is left of them.” “What about the key?” Alad said, diverting his gaze to a curled up Zanuka. “Je youpp top tit’p ip, tup je pip pep’eyp say’yite asout’py ot Toip etet’jy. Je youpp top jep a’ty ypoyet po p’ke a’tea p’kat 17,000 sepety pue po p’ke it’petye j’tatiseptiy t’puypuapioty.” “We could not find it, but we did detect massive amounts of Void energy. We could not get any closer to the area than 17,000 meters due to the intense gravimetric fluctuations.” “Any possibility to move closer?” “Top utip p’ke puypuapiot yut’yipe.” “Not until the fluctuations subside.” The room grew quiet as Alad pondered. He turned away from the window, walking towards the stairway and stopped behind the Corpus soldier, “Inform command that I’ll be leaving in my ship, we’re going to the area. I want as many scans as possible to be done.” “Yit?” “Sir?” The Corpus soldier slightly turned, maintaining a straight posture. “You heard me, soldier,” he said sternly. “Ready my ship and set coordinates for the Tenno’s last position.” “Yey yit.” “Yes sir.” Void Space Sector Void Space 001 Tenno HQ "What do you mean 'We lost contact with her'?" The Lotus questioned. "I do not understand it as well, m'am, we simply lost her ID radio signature." The Lotus sat on an elevated gold and violet throne, a series of violet wires were connected to her helmet and rose into the ceiling, a long violet dress draped down to the floor, violet armor fastened onto the fabric. The room dimly lit with blue lighting, consoles on the lower floor chirped and beeped, accompanied by personnel who were focused on their screens. A series of holograms floated above the room, monitoring Tenno operations, Grineer movements, and the Corpus economy. A Tenno personnel stood before the throne, holding a holographic pad close to her chest. “I’m sorry, m’am, but we simply lost her.” The Lotus meditated on the thought before refusing, “No, I cannot accept that. What was her last known position?” The female personnel turned, swiping her hand across the air, a holographic screen appeared with an image of a system map, focusing in on an asteroid field. “Right there,” she pointed, a reticle forming on the location, “ sector 1275-C, that was the last time we heard from her Nav beacon.” “Is there anything in the area now?” “We are detecting extremely high levels of Void energy within the region, spanning a radius of 17,000 meters in all directions. We've also detected small amounts of tempered rubidium, but they appear to be of Corpus manufacture." The Lotus was deep in thought, analyzing the situation. “Mobilize a fireteam of four, I want data on what is happening, their main priority is to gather data, stay cloaked as much as possible.” The female personnel turned to face the Lotus, “Yes, m’am.” She said as she genuflected, walking down the steps and minimizing the holographic screen with a swipe of her hand and walked down the center walkway.