Myesh. Nother pic featuring my kavat, though this time it's a good and proper picture and not merely a ref sheet. Figured I'd flex my traditional art stuff at the same time.

This pic features a number of things that I really need to work on, including: perspective, cross-hatching style shading, action poses, and drawing things from behind. The fact that it turned out even this well is a miracle. Full story behind this pic found below.

Art/Character: Cora "FrostWyrm102" Valion
Warframe, Kavat, and all things associated with it is © Digital Extremes(DE)

The Infestation is an ever-present threat in the System. As a result, it only makes sense that some Grineer technician, under the employ of Tyl Regor, would want to devise some sort of resistance to it. The Feral Kavat that a number of Lancers have encountered in some dusty old Orokin Derelicts seem to be quite immune to the effects of the Infestation, so that is where he turned. Their agility proved to be a difficulty for the Lancers who were tasked with capturing the beasts, and only a few were properly retrieved. They were brought back to Uranus, to the tech's personal lab. They were promptly analyzed, but he refrained from breaking them down just yet. They were to be cherished, since he only had so many on hand. Besides, he could make no mistakes, lest the project be terminated by the Queens.
What survived of the 'strengthened genetic molds' was copied and used by the tech to start work on a new breed of Grineer soldier; one who, in theory, would be immune, or at least resistant to Infestation. As one might expect, the first batch of these soldiers turned out quite deformed and unfeasible. Gradually, they became more and more viable, leading to the project finally gaining some traction.
Some batches in, however, something unexpected came about. In one of the tubes was a fully formed, humanoid kavat. Her viability was questionable, but the tech did not immediately consign her to becoming recycled genetic material. After all, she was 'born' with full limbs and everything- and tossing a female into the recyclers was distinctly frowned upon- so this was something he would have to research further into. He'd also have to figure out why this one turned out female, when the molds he was using were for males. As a working solution, he simply chalked it up to some kind of disruption from the source genes. Either way, this discovery could be the promotion of a lifetime for him, giving him even more power.

I don't know how long it had been since I was born.. nay, I don't even know if I was born. I have no recollection of my parents, early life.. anything. Strangely though, it doen't feel as though I'm missing any memories, either. When I first opened my eyes, all I saw was the inside of some kind of pod. There really wasn't much room to move about, and outside, I could only see only the vaguest glimpses of the surrounding area. I hear muffled voices just outside.. a pair of people speaking with one another. Their speech sounded so harsh and crude, and so nearly painful to my ears.
"Vor aktivitoi in der?"
"Noh. Nkt klaat hu gon seen."
"Ha. Uhlmast seems reaar."
I hadn't a clue what they were talking about, as it sounded like complete nonsense. After hearing them go silent, I gained my composure, looking around at the incredibly cramped space I was in. What was I being held here for? Did I wrong these people in some way? Do they hate me for some reason? My thoughts are interrupted by the hiss of some kind of mechanism coming to life, moving my pod toward the platform, followed by the opening of the nearly opaque glass. There, before me, a tall, glowing-eyed and blue-armored man stood. I was still too out of it to react with anything more than a startled gasp. After looking me over, he simply nodded, muttered something I couldn't hope to understand, and then tapped the console to send my pod back to the water once more. I stood upright moments later and tried to push on the lid, hoping in vain that it would open for me. I pounded my fist against the glass, but with how little strength I had, it came out as little more than a soft patter, easy to ignore.

Time passed, and I've no idea exactly how much. But, my cage is once more opened, this time with an offering of food and knowledge. This was my life for the longest time. Weeks, perhaps even months, but I gradually became more versed in the Grineer language. This has been both a blessing, and a curse. It's nice to not be in the dark about words spoken, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. After all, if I didn't know what they were talking about, I'd never be stressed out about knowing that my 'time' is on the horizon. It seems that all the data they could gather from me has been gathered, so I was scheduled for termination. Ramn.
That very same day, something unusual happened. I gained a partner. We could only faintly hear one another and I couldn't see his face from here, but.. the Grineer apparently had captured someone from the outside and brought him here. Little did I know at the time, this was a most fortunate turn of events.

Not a day later, I was being pulled out of my cell, dragged off to my extermination. I bided my time, waiting until we were a good distance from the wardens. There, in the dingy, damp hallway, I pulled my slender arms out of their grasp and tripped the pair of guards up, wasting no time in dashing past them as they recover.
"Get hrem!" I hear one of them call out as I run for my very life. Their angered yells fade away as I put distance between us. I thought I was home free, though I had no idea where I could possibly hide. That's when I heard it: gunfire from ahead. Perplexed, I crept to the intersection, though before I could even peer out from the corner, a pained cry was accompanied by a wave of crystalline ice. I didn't have time to gawk, as the two I'd knocked over were running down the hall, so I dashed into the shadows.
Not a moment too soon, as the opposite hall had fallen silent for mere seconds before a number of strange figures come rushing into view.
"Hut's kle Tenno, aattaf!" one says, guns rising and discharging without any hesitation. The largest of these 'Tenno' as the Lancers called them, whose shoulders and overall form seemed to radiate pure coldness, took the bullets, as the first shot seemingly dispersed the remnants of its shield and it starts to droop slightly before its fingers could pull the trigger on its gun. Its body begins to glow as the more slender figure channels some kind of energy, closing up the bulletholes. The third figure, upon whose body electricity arcs sporadically from surface to surface, lifts up its hand and, seemingly with little more than a twitch, casts a bolt of lighting that bounces between the two Grineer, forcing the two to convulse as the voltage courses through them, frying their cybernetics and augments. The Tenno who was healed up sheathes its gun and draws a large sword, leaping forward and cleaving the Lancers at the waist. As they fell apart like that, I knew I should have been afraid, concerned at what I saw, but... these two cloned soldiers were leading me to my death. I didn't want them dead, but the alternative- being my own death and subsequent genetic recycling- was definitely not something I desired.

Just as I was thinking over their deaths, I found myself face to face with the sworld-wielding figure, signaled back to reality by the abrupt drop in temperature by its mere proximity. After nearly jumping out of my skin, I reflexively lifted my hands up into the air in the universal sign of 'don't shoot'. The group silently judged me, and by some miracle, they lowered their weapons and walked right on past. I was just about to let them go on, when I realized that they would likely have a way out of here. Wasting little time, I moved out of the shadows and picked up one of the Grakatas on the floor, as well as all the spare ammunition the deceased Lancer was carrying. I was determined to gain their trust in some capacity, so I helped them mow down the Grineer, and they thankfully didn't try to stop me. I think the moment that really cemented my position as an ally is when I took a fallen Lancer's sheev, leapt to the wall and then bound from it, sticking the heated blade into the neck of another Lancer. The weapon got stuck, so I had to drop it as another squad of Grineer soldiers came down the hall with weapons trained on us. Before a round could strike me, the Tenno made quick, bloody work of them. From there, we moved on. As we moved toward the holding cells, I realized why they were here. It had to be because of the latest prisoner here, otherwise it's a crazy coincidence.
...It wasn't. Like I expected, they cut down the wardens and rescued their 'operative'. This all seemed so routine for them, though they seemed somewhat thrown off by my presence. An odd factor in an otherwise standard mission, I figure. They were skilled, so the mission went off without further hitches, and I followed them to their next objective, which turned out to be an extraction point of sorts. As I stood on the platform, I bore witness to a strange craft rising from the waters, a little cylinder just below its nose twirling to reveal a human shaped recess. A couple other craft rose out, obviously for the other members of the team. Before I even realized what was going on, I was in the embrace of the frosty one, shivering as his very touch chilled me to the bone. Yet.. at the same time I felt safer than ever before.
The cylinder rotated again and, with him, I found myself on the inside of the craft. It was strangely larger inside... or at least, it seemed to be, I couldn't be sure. My savior knelt down at the front console of the ship after it had left the battlefield, and I watched on the holographic map as we moved further and further from Uranus. My old prison, drifting away. By all means, I could very well be moving from one prison to another here, but I have a feeling this wasn't going to happen, despite my savior's uncanny silence throughout the whole ordeal.
Once more, I was right, as I was led into a station I would later learn is referred to as a 'Relay'. Understandably, I got some weird looks, likely due to my unmodified clone uniform- and I mean, it wasn't like I was going to walk around naked- but.. I couldn't feel anything other than joy to be some place other than in the heart of some Grineer lab.
In time, I settled in and made myself at home here, most often hanging around the more natural installations on the Relay- even if it peeves the New Loka to have me, an 'abomination' waltzing about in their place, since they can't technically do anything about it without breaking some rules. Of course, I wasn't content to meekly remain in hiding forever, and after earning some credits by doing some menial labor around the Relay, I got myself weaponry to go along with my now-repainted Grakata- which, come to think of it, it's pretty amazing that it didn't disintegrate in my hands after its owner perished. Not that I'm complaining.
On the topic of oddities, I did have this one time where, while I was walking around the atrium of the Relay, a couple of shrouded individuals came up and tried to usher me out to the landing platform. Being that I didn't know them, and that they were speaking perfect Grineer, I pulled my arms from their grasp and alerted the armed guards nearby of what was going on. After being subdued, these two turned out to be Drekar operatives who had somehow bypassed all of the security, apparently to come after me. Seems that technician still has it out for me, if he's willing to send his lackeys into Tenno territory like this. Works out in my favor, though, as this little incursion has bolstered security on the Relays.
Whenever I got the chance, I went out to help the Tenno cells take on their missions, though given my frail yet stealthy nature, I opted for more of a covert support role, sniping foes and scouting for the Tenno in the field. Doing this, I eventually gained enough trust with them to have any loot split up with me. Made a whole lot of money throughout, and managed to purchase/commission my very own craft. Predictably, I fashioned it after the Liset the Tenno often use, but I could only do so much without a visual aid so it wound up looking more like some kind of Grineer-style knockoff of the Liset. Fine by me. At least I have transport I can call my own. However, since it lacks the same kind of void masking, I do have to take a little more care when running through hostile territory.