[Fanfiction] - Awakening.wings

[Yarizui]

Awakening.WINGS

 

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A Note from the Author

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     Greetings and salutations. So as not to lose your interest before I've even begun, I'll make my introduction as brief as possible. A short time ago, a random idea struck me, and I decided that, since I didn't have much else to do, I'd do my best to tell a strange and enthralling tale set within the world DE has created for us. Now, since the explanations provided for things such as the Void, the Orokin, the Tenno, and how everything pieces together have been vague at best, the story I'm about to tell may run contrary at points to things I've misunderstood or haven't noticed, since it will be running on my theory as to what the Tenno are, and how they work. This may turn off a few hardcore fans, but nevertheless, I hope you'll accept my ideas, even if you disagree with them, as certain elements are vital to the functioning of the plot.

 

     As for how this will work, I don't exactly have a system in mind for organizing "chapters" of the story in question yet, since I'm not sure how much I'll actually end up writing, in part because I also have no clue whether or not anybody will even notice that this story exists, let alone read it. In my experience, most things I write tend to go without any comment or significant observation, so please excuse me if I'm woefully unprepared for dealing with such things.

 

     Just in case somebody does decide to post some sort of review or opinion, in order to keep things neat and organized on this thread, I'd prefer if you limited your responses to just a few lines of text, so that if this drags on for any significant amount of time, anyone just looking to read the story parts can easily jump from one to the next without wading through a tremendous backlog of comments.

 

     Finally, on the subject of how I'll be posting it, I think treating each of my posts on this thread as an independent "chapter" should be suitable - unless this site has some sort of text limit I'm unaware of, but if it does, I'm sure I'll be finding that out soon enough myself. New chapters will come out with absolutely no regularity at all, since my ability to write tends to come and go in fits and starts like a schizophrenic amnesiac riding a Vespa with very little gas left in it. For this I apologize, but in order to ensure the story's quality, I'm going to have to take breaks from writing it now and again in order to figure out just where I am, what the hell I'm doing, and why I'm riding this Vespa. In any case, I think I've said my piece. Thank you very much for reading this story, and I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

 

     EDIT: Ah, just one other thing. The poem used for the "Magpie" is actually a translated version of one of Horace's Odes. The translation was done by Joseph Addison, and only slightly modified for the purposes of the scene. I claim no responsibility for its composition. XD

 

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Prologue

Dream.ARTIFICIALPARADISE

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     The same dream again.

 

     Vaulted white ceilings, adorned with gold. The shine of countless ghostly lights, reflecting off every surface, as though someone had contained a thunderstorm within four walls. The sound of her footsteps ringing throughout the enormous chamber like the paces of an unseen giant. The babbling of the water in countless fountains, nearly drowned out by the silence of the utterly desolate artificial paradise in which she walked, a lone trespasser. Her presence was not unnoticed, merely permitted by the legions of soulless shells that marched methodically through the halls surrounding this chamber. Had they any use for her, then she would already have been marching alongside them. The whispers - those horrible, incomprehensible whispers - would already have seen to that.

 

     But she was weak. The girl's frail hands were shaking far too much to form a fist, let alone to bring harm or damage to this place. The whispers knew that, and so they let her be, secure in her own helplessness. How long had she been wandering through these halls, drawn like a moth to follow the crisscrossing patterns of fleeting luminescence that fled before her advance, cutting swaths of bright light across the pristine white steel of the floor that vanished once again the moment she approached? It seemed like it had been an eternity since she had seen anything but the lights, the dancing lights in the midst of this heavenly hell, a labyrinth in which she was fated to walk until her legs gave out and her breath faded away. This was life. This was her life.

 

     Had there ever been more than this? She couldn't say for sure. It was hard to remember anything with the voices whispering in her ears, opening her head like a book and rewriting the story told within its pages with each new word that penetrated her thoughts. If there was a world beyond this void, then she couldn't recall what it was like. But she was different. She didn't belong here. If she didn't belong in this place, then she had to have come from another. Where was it, though? She was growing dizzy. Her body seemed weak and fleeting, as though its very shape and structure was not set in stone, but rather shifted as it willed like the water pooled in the thousand silent fountains adorning this void of absolute uncertainty.

 

     The dream was always like this, no matter how many times she had it. She walked until her thoughts grew dim and her vision began to fade, the pathways blurring as they shifted and changed. But always, it ended the same way. The voices called her onward, growing louder and louder. "Come closer, pretty one! Yes, closer, oh bright one, our precious, lovely star. Come to us, and we will make you brighter still." The singsong voice beckoned her, guiding her steps until she reached the door. It was massive, towering far beyond her sight into the distant canopy of white steel overhead. As she raised her hand towards it, it parted, splitting into countless phantasmal fractals of white and gold that morphed and shifted until a path revealed itself. The dull thud of countless locks unsealing before her and the deafening song of the crowing voice was all she could hear as she walked blindly onward, her eyes searching for the one who had led her to this place. At last, there was nowhere left to walk, and the lights vanished completely, leaving her in utter stillness save the fleshy squishing of the unnatural carpet onto which she walked. From amidst this hellish, absolute nothingness emerged a figure: a dazzling, terrifying creature of blood and flesh and iron and steel with wings as black as night. The Bloodstained Magpie floated towards her on winds unseen, its arms spread wide to embrace her, its wings wrapping themselves around her fleeting form. Her body had found its true shape at last, and her Light would gleam amidst its newfound shell even should the sun burned to ash and the world came unto its inevitable end.

 

     "Yes, yes!" chorused the Magpie - or was that voice her own? Could she even speak? "We are one and we are infinite. We are you and you are us. We are - No, I am, and evermore I shall be." The feeling of drawing breath for the last time. The feeling of being reborn. The feeling of finally being, of having a distinct, complete existence aside from that of the paradise in which she now stood, independent and resolute.

 

"Should the frame of nature around us break," The voice sang, even as flesh and steel became one, forming a shell to contain the crooning Light, drowning out the words that came next. "In ruin and confusion hurled."

 

I, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack...

 

...and stand secure amidst a falling world.

 

     In that instant, as countless ancestral thoughts and memories which she could not possibly have known flooded her mind, she was complete. As her dream ended once again, she wondered, what had happened to that sense of perfection which she had felt in that instant? Those memories, of sun and wind and sky in which she wished so sorely to fly at last, now seemed just as foggy as the dream she was destined to repeat for all eternity.

 

     Something had gone wrong. She had tried to become perfect, but had failed. She'd been a mistake, and as a mistake existing separate from a perfect paradise, she had been sealed away, cast off from the light to sleep until paradise should end. A part of her was already dead - or dying, at the very least - but which half was it? Was she the Light, or just the Magpie who craved it?

 

She didn't know. She didn't know anything.

 

The only things that remained for her were the dream, and the paradise she saw within it.

 

But one day, without warning, those things came to an end.

 

One day, she awoke from her dreams, and stepped forth once more into an imperfect world.

 

This is her story.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Yarizui

[BabyKurama]

Oh really good job really liked it

Edited December 26, 2014 by BabyKurama

[Yarizui]

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Chapter 1

Awakening.PARADISELOST

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     Mylas Phrect was running for his life. Shooting a glance back over his shoulder as another door sealed itself between him and his pursuers, the Grineer researcher breathed a momentary gasp of relief before stopping to survey the room around him, searching for some means of escape. He wouldn't have long before they caught up, and if those mindless servitors of the ancient ruin he was currently trying desperately to escape managed to find him, then his life would end even more quickly than had those of his guards. He groaned to himself, placing a mechanical hand to his shriveled, crumbling brow. He'd been given a full platoon of elite Grineer Lancers to guard him during his expedition. He'd thought he was safe. He'd been very, very wrong.

 

     Right from the start, he hadn't liked the prospect of this expedition. An ancient Orokin fortress-ship had abruptly emerged from seemingly empty space, and initial surveys of its hull by automated drones had confirmed that it wasn't generating any power, and that most of its systems seemed to be offline. He'd been dispatched to this place to see if he could salvage any working Orokin tech, and maybe, if he was especially lucky, reverse-engineer some of the ship's systems to use in future Grineer designs. A simple enough mission. Just get in, find something worth bringing back, and get out again - or so they'd said. But the drones had also discovered that the ship's life support was still functioning, and even without any traceable source of power, some of its auxilliary systems had also remained online.

 

     Nobody had ever told him that apparently, that category included the Tower's Neural Sentry. Although they'd sent him a platoon of available Lancers as an escort, none of them had been properly briefed on the danger they'd be facing either. They'd been ambushed by several squads of Corrupted - mostly Infested, but also several unknown humanoid types equipped with tech they'd never seen before. His guards had tried their best to push back the sudden attack, but with most of their front lines decimated by the initial assault, they hadn't even had the time to form up again before they were messily torn apart. With the humanoids harrying their every move from a distance with some sort of powerful long-range beam weapon, those who tried to flee had been cut down in their tracks. Only he had been blessed with the time to escape, but even that, it seemed, hadn't been enough. Even now, he could hear their footsteps moving methodically through the adjacent chambers, searching for him.

 

     There was no time to lose. He needed to find some way back to his ship so that he could get the hell off of this horrible Tower. Of course, a failure like this would probably earn him a summary termination sentence anyway, so even if he didn't die here, he wouldn't likely live much longer anyway. But, of course, that was something he could deal with after he managed to actually get away from the hordes of ravening mindslaves hell-bent on causing his demise.

 

     Of course, finding his way back to his ship would be easier said than done. In his panic, he'd completely lost track of where he was. Aside from the door he'd come in by, there was only one other exit from the large antechamber in which he now stood - a towering, monolithic gate that had collapsed into countless pieces, leaving a gigantic, yawning breach in the wall opposite him. He groaned. If there was anything he had learned in his experience researching the Orokin, it was that anywhere that warranted a door that big probably had something even worse behind it than what you just left behind. Still, an uncertain death was at least slightly better for his chance of survival than awaiting a certain one. Reaching down to a holster at his side, Phrect withdrew a small pistol, the barrel of which gleamed with a sickly green light. He had no idea how effective Acrid-type toxic shrapnel rounds would be against the Corrupted, but it wouldn't hurt to try if he found himself needing to fight whatever was on the other side of that door.

 

     Moving quickly, he checked any corner that looked big enough to hide an enemy before hastily darting into the breach and advancing beyond the gate. The room within was black as pitch, far too dark to make out any distinct shapes. Cursing in his native tongue, he hastily flicked on an attached flashlight on his sidearm, scanning the room to see what secrets it held. In an instant, his hopes collapsed, for there were no other entrances or exits aside from the path he'd just taken. He could hear the doors opening behind him as the Corrupted entered the room he'd just left, trapping him in this dark and empty room.

 

     Wait... empty? No, it was by no means empty, for at its center, a console of some sort glimmered amidst the inky blackness. Advancing into the heart of the darkened chamber, he shone his light upon what looked to be a large cylinder, the gilding of which had long since worn off, but the machinery of which still seemed to be running smoothly. Was it a weapon? Probably not, but whatever it did, could it be of some use to him? Phrect moved closer, trying to get a better look through the foggy glass of the capsule at what lay within. At last, as he made out the silhouette at the device's core, his heart skipped a beat and his eyes went wide with disbelief. This cylinder was still functioning, still preserving the life of the being that slumbered within it. He'd come searching for scraps and rubbish, but instead, he'd found the greatest possible prize: a Warframe.

 

     There was no time to think about what he was doing, and so he didn't. Tenno could be reasoned with, the Corrupted could not. Perhaps, if he released this being and did not threaten it, its honor would compel it to assist him. Besides, it wasn't like the Tenno had a way off of this Tower, while he did. Clearly, the most viable solution to both their problems would be to join forces to escape. After that, although he held no hopes of bringing the Tenno back to his superiors, as he lacked any sort of restraint that could actually control such a being, at the very least they could part ways without the higher-ups having to know about it, and without him having to be messily torn apart by either Corrupted or Tenno.

 

     It took him a moment to figure out how exactly the device was supposed to function, but thankfully, its controls were rather simple, and it didn't take long to find a rather large green button he was fairly sure would open the capsule. So, steeling himself for what was to come, Phrect pushed it, and then took cover, waiting behind a fallen pillar coated with a thick layer of Infested bio-matter to see what would happen. A surge of steam escaped the capsule as, a few moments later, it began to split upon its axis, unfolding to reveal the being within. As the restraints binding the Tenno unsealed themselves, it fell from its statis pod, landing on its hands and knees in the center of the room and laying there, unflinching. Phrect stifled a groan of dismay. Of course it would still be suffering from the aftereffects of extended hibernation.

 

-

 

     Awake. She was awake. But how? Where? Why? She tried to stand, but every fiber of her being felt heavy, a burning, crushing, aching sensation filling her as though her body had become steel and her blood turned to fire in her veins. The voices that had rung in her ears for centuries as she slept were gone, but even so, she still felt dizzy. Where was she? What had happened to her? All she remembered was the dream, but even that, now, seemed faded and dim. She groaned, but no sound came out. Had she ever even opened her mouth? Raising a hand to her face, she ran two fingers over where her lips should have been - but only cold steel met her touch. There was no sign of eyes, or nose, or mouth, or even flesh - just smooth, rounded metal where her face should have been. Aside from a single pointed crest adorning her "helmet," her entire head was devoid of any distinguishing features.

 

     Yet she could still see. She could still smell the scent of blood in the air around her, and the metallic musk of the cold, damp chamber. Forcing herself to her feet, she began to look around for any sign of familiar surroundings. But although she recognized the room from her dreams, it seemed different somehow. Nothing was where it should have been. Pillars and pieces of the ceiling had crumbled, walls had toppled, and everything was covered in a thick coating of dust. How long had she been asleep? It felt like it had been an eternity since she'd last wakened to the world around her, and now it was beginning to seem like this estimate might have been more accurate than she'd thought.

 

     Alive. She was alive. She didn't know how or why, but at least she knew where she was. If this place was really the same as her dream, then it might be possible to find her way back to something she recognized. She didn't know what lay beyond the paradise of white and gold she had seen while she slept, but there had to be something, somewhere, she could escape this place to. She wouldn't fail this time. She would never go back to those dreams again.

 

     Shaking herself off, she gazed down at her body. Metal. Every inch of her was coated in silvery steel. Adorning her arms and legs were faded, white-gold protrusions, almost like wings, while she could feel similar structures around her shoulders. It felt like there were some sort of openings inside them, like vents into her core, but she couldn't have said for sure. Layers of armor coated her being, as though she were preparing for some great battle. Placing her hands on the sides of her head, she tried to remove the "helmet," to get a breath of fresh air, but found her efforts just as vain as if she'd tried to take off her own head. The armor wasn't on her, the armor was her - but all the same, she still felt like she herself was alive somewhere beneath, too.

 

     She tried to take a step, but found herself overbalanced as she nearly fell flat on her face. Catching herself on all fours, she once again forced herself up. Her body was much larger than she remembered it, throwing her center of mass completely off from the way it had been in her memories. The new weight added by her metal shell didn't help either. As matters stood, it was almost impossible to move without overextending herself and throwing herself to the floor. If she had to guess, she'd have said she was at least a foot and a half taller than she had been the last time she was awake. She really had been sleeping for a long time, she supposed.

 

     Much more tentatively this time, she took a step. Momentarily balancing herself, she turned slowly around - only to find that all of a sudden, she wasn't alone. There was an armored man standing in the corner, gazing at her with apprehension as he slowly approached. His face was wrinkled and twisted, as though by incredible age, but he moved without the look of difficulty or fragility that most such men would have. He wore a rather thick suit of blue-green combat gear, and carried a glowing pistol of some sort in his hand, but it remained at his side, rather notable in how deliberately he seemed to be keeping its barrel as far away from her as possible. Was he... scared of her? "Tenno," said the man. Was that her name? She couldn't remember, but the phrase seemed familiar somehow. Ancestral memories flooded her brain, explaining to her the meaning of the word. "One who is of Heaven," they whispered. "A divine ruler." That appelation seemed rather egotistical to just assume, but apparently, that was who she was. "Do you know where you are, Tenno?" He asked, seeming very insistent about something.

 

     She thought about it for a moment, and then shook her head slowly, very painstakingly trying to avoid any sudden movements which might result in another unwanted fall. She wanted to say that she couldn't remember anything, to ask him who he was and where this place was and what was outside of it and how long she'd been sleeping and countless other things, but if she still had a mouth somewhere beneath her new, armored shell, not even she could hear the words it produced.

 

     The old man laughed, a hollow, rasping sound that contained little mirth. "I was right about you, then. Well, there's no time to explain, but the short version is that both of us are in danger. We're going to have to work together to escape this place." Ah. Now it made sense. He wanted to leave this false paradise, too. To see what lay beyond it, it certainly made sense that she should work together with him. But although she herself thought this, something in her memories, a distant whisper in her ear, screamed at her that he could not be trusted. Memories that she didn't have, couldn't have had, warned that he was the enemy, as though she could remember facing those like him in battle.

 

     In battle? When had she ever fought anyone? She couldn't remember having any enemies, least of all this old man she didn't know. He didn't belong here either, so he must have come from the outside, which meant he had a way out. If she joined forces with him, then she, too, could escape. This reasoning seemed to placate the distant voices, and so certain of herself once again, she gave a slow nod, trying to convey that she had accepted his offer of an alliance.

 

 

-

 

 

     The researcher breathed a sigh of relief as the Tenno nodded in assent. He didn't know how useful this strange being would be in assisting him, considering how it seemed to have difficulty doing something so simple as walking, but at least it wasn't trying to kill him, which was better than nothing. Stepping clear of his cover, he decided he'd get a closer look at his unlikely ally. He'd encountered Tenno in the past during their brief alliance against the Corpus at Gradivus, but he hadn't seen a Warframe like this one before. It couldn't have been a new model - otherwise it wouldn't have been sleeping in an Orokin ship. But perhaps this was some sort of ancient prototype? Its body certainly bore the hallmarks of Orokin design, much like the vault surrounding it. It looked to be avian in appearance, but although he had certainly heard a few mutterings about a new airborne Warframe a few months prior, he had a feeling this wasn't the one they'd been talking about. Pure white in color, most of its frame - as well as several large fins on its limbs and back that seemed to function like wings - was composed of some sort of golden alloy composite that had faded somewhat with time, now bearing only a pale silvery hue, much like the rest of the Warframe's colorless armor. Was that the Orokin-manufactured Oxium he'd heard so much about? The idea of a metal that was lighter than air was certainly intriguing. How he'd have loved to analyze its function in greater depth - but sadly, they didn't have the time. Come to think of it, thought, the Corrupted should have long-since arrived in the vault. Why, then, hadn't they already attacked? Were they afraid of the Tenno sleeping inside? Maybe all of this would play out in his favor after all.

 

     "Tell me, what can you do?" Asked the researcher, trying to get a feel for his ally's capabilities. Considering the Tenno's seemingly supernatural powers, maybe this one in particular might have an ability that would be useful for escaping from the Tower. But it didn't answer him. It cocked its head to the side, and then turned away, seeming like it was looking for something. At last, a thought seemed to dawn on it, and it placed a hand on the front of its mask, then shook its head rather vigorously. Pondering the meaning of this gesture, it at last came to him why the creature hadn't said anything.

 

     "You can't speak?" Phrect asked, rather baffled by what was, in retrospect, a rather obvious realization. He'd never heard of a Tenno actually conversing with anybody, even their employers, save by messages. Maybe they were all mute? Then how did they communicate with each other? The Tenno gave several emphatic nods, which seemed to confirm his theory. He sighed. This was going to be difficult. "Then... can you fight, at least?" He asked, trying to start with easy questions and maybe work something useful out as he went.

 

     The Tenno shrugged.

 

     What the hell was that supposed to mean? "I'm not sure?" This thing was a Tenno! They were supposed to be unstoppable, superhuman warriors! How could it not know whether or not it could fight?! What, had its makers given it a bird's brain as well as a bird's appearance? He was so taken aback that he forgot to be terrified as he realized that now he was just as doomed as he had been before he trapped himself coming into this room.

 

     The researcher swore, his shoulders slumping in defeat. It was die if he did and die if he didn't, he supposed, so he might as well see if he could at least make some use of this Tenno as a meatshield. "Fine," He sighed. "Basically, the things outside are our enemies. They've lost all higher brain functions and any sort of will they might of had, and have been directed to tear apart anybody who comes into this place. They will try to kill us on sight. Just go... punch them, or something. While you distract them, I'll see what I can do about shooting them down. If we can just break through, I have a ship we can use to get out of here. Does that sound like a plan?"

 

     The Tenno seemed to think about this for a moment, and then, at last, it nodded. He smiled. Now, at least, they were getting somewhere.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Yarizui

[psychicandroid]

This is rather amazing. More please.

[Yarizui]

:D Senpai noticed me! Thanks for reading, Android. I've been taking a look at your fic, too. It looks awesome. ^_^

[psychicandroid]

:D Senpai noticed me! Thanks for reading, Android. I've been taking a look at your fic, too. It looks awesome. ^_^

 

That made me a super happy tenno, I won't lie. :D Thank you ^^

[Yarizui]

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Chapter 2

Daze.BEYONDDREAMS

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     There it was again. It wasn't just the whispers, but now this man too? He had seemed disappointed by her answer. Did that mean she wasn't what he'd been expecting? Why did everyone and everything seem to point to her being some kind of warrior? She didn't understand anything at all, couldn't remember the reasons for any of the thoughts filling her head, or how she'd gotten in the situation she was in. But if there were threats to her life, and to that of this old man, she supposed she would have no choice but to fight, whether she actually could or not. Besides, she assured herself. Her strange new shell had to have some sort of utility for defense. Clearly, this old man thought so too, or else he wouldn't be asking her to join him in battle unarmed, while he himself had a rather dangerous-looking shrapnel gun and - in her opinion, at least - should have been perfectly capable of protecting himself without her help. After all, armored or not, she was just one person. What could she accomplish that made her so important as to deserve a name like "Tenno?"

 

     Come to think of it, though, she didn't know the first thing about combat, so why was it that his weapon, and its function, seemed so familiar to her? She was sure she'd seen its like somewhere before, and yet, nothing like that had ever appeared during her dream. Images she couldn't fully comprehend flooded her mind, bringing with them scenes of battle depicting the man's pistol - an... Acrid? Why did its name come so easily to her? - and its usage. Well, it seemed dangerous, anyway, so she had no doubts that he'd be capable of following up on his promise to shoot the enemies while she distracted them. And, since both of them were in equal danger, why wouldn't he? It seemed logical enough to assume that he was on her side, despite the screaming voices in her brain telling her otherwise, and so she silenced them as best she could and decided to proceed. Nodding, she glanced back towards the rather large hole in the wall that formed the room's only exit. Beyond that was a vast corridor of darkness, at the end of which she could seem countless dim golden lights gleaming. Were those... the enemy? The old man's gaze followed her own, and he raised his weapon.

 

     "Alright, then, Tenno. You lead the way. I'll be right behind you." She nodded again at his command, and then, steeling herself, took a step forward, still minding her new body's mass so as not to fall to the ground again. Her mind had cleared somewhat, making moving somewhat easier, but even so, she had to admit, she didn't like the idea of fighting an "enemy" determined to kill her, completely unarmed, in a form she wasn't entirely comfortable in yet. On that note, she didn't even know what these "enemies" were supposed to be, did she? Would they be soldiers with guns, like the old man? It seemed likely, but as she grew closer, she found herself able to make out their shapes as they swayed slowly to and fro. They seemed humanoid at first, but there was something wrong about them right from the start. They were unnaturally tall, standing at at least seven and a half feet, if not more. Their arms were enormously disproportionate to their tremendously slender trunks, practically dragging on the floor at their feet. And, as she realized as she at last came within their "sight," they were missing their heads. In their place was some sort of sensory package of gleaming green tendrils, bound by some sort of metallic golden crest. These gilded "ornaments" flashed suddenly, and the towering... things... began shambling slowly towards her. Yet, as they approached, they began to steadily build up speed, moving from a slow walk into a frenzied blur of motion as they rushed down upon her. Panicking, she darted to the left at the last minute, only for the thing closest to her to stretch out its massive arm, sweeping it up and slamming it headlong into her chest. But instead of the crushing impact she expected to feel, ribs giving way under the force of the overhwelming blow, all she sensed was an electric crackling ringing in her "ears" as, abruptly, the enemy's swing stopped just a fraction of a centimeter short of actually hitting her, caught by some sort of energy field. That blue light... it was shielding her. Her confidence renewed by her unexpected immunity to the enemy's strikes, she thought to herself that perhaps, fighting might not have been as difficult as she'd thought. But what to do now? The other enemies had fully encircled her, and were raising their arms to bring down similar strikes from all sides even as their companion stumbled backward. She didn't know the first thing about combat, so how would she-?

 

     A descending arm blurred into her field of vision from the left. Duck underneath it, NOW. The voice of instinct trained by years - if not centuries - of combat experience she couldn't have possibly possessed rang out in her ears, and, without thinking, she followed it, stumbling beneath the diagonal sweep. Halfway through the motion, she tripped, overbalancing herself with the sudden movement, and before she knew it, had landed on one knee, rolled between the towering creature's emaciated legs, and come up behind it, sweeping out both legs as she rose in a whirling double-kick. Long, serrated talons adorning the ends of each foot of her shell found themselves sinking into the flesh of the creature's legs, and it gave an unearthly howl as its feet were violently torn from beneath it. Black and violet blood spewed into the air as she flung herself upward in a sort of bizarre handspring, only to find herself flying several feet into the air, as though gravity had forgotten that once up, it needed to take her down again. Had she put too much force into her leap? But where had she gotten the strength to fling herself so far into the air on just her hands alone? It didn't matter. Bracing her bloodstained feet against the wall, she launched herself right back into the fray before she had time to even comprehend what she was doing. Tackling one of the giant beasts, she rammed it straight into the opposite side of the corridor with a sickening series of squishes and crunches. She thought she'd killed it, only to be proven wrong when another violent sweep of its arm slammed right into her gut. The blue field shimmered and seized before shattering into nothingness with the force of the impact, a keening whistle filling her ears as she flew backward, plowing through two more of the creatures and skidding across the floor. She groaned, trying to rise, only to find herself restrained by the beasts kneeling behind her as the one whose legs she'd clawed began to slowly piece its limbs back together, swaying and shambling to its feet. It turned with what might have been a glare, the emerald ganglion that made up its "head" focusing entirely on her as its arm raised like the blade of a guillotine, ready to crush her and put and end to her new life permanently. Strangely enough, she felt no fear of her impending death, almost as though she'd experienced it before, and its danger was nothing new to her. But she was alive... right?

 

     Her thoughts were cut off by a loud, acidic hiss as a sickly green pinprick of light slammed into the matching aura of the creature's head, scattering another torrent of two-toned inchor into the air as the creature twitched, fell backward, and lay still. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Tenno planted both feet on the ground beneath her, and then forced off with all of her might, laying hold of the arms restraining her as she did so. She didn't know how strong her new body was, but if it was anything like her last jump had seemed to indicate, then maybe...

 

     A sickening tearing and squelching of flesh as it was ripped from its socket rang through the corridor as she launched into the air, taking the arms of both creatures as she did so. Flipping overhead, she floated gently down to the ground, releasing the dismembered limbs that could no longer hold her down as three more darts of green streaked out of the darkness, striking one of the two crippled creatures repeatedly and dropping it in the same state as their comrade. But even so, more were advancing with every second. The one that had thrown her got up and charged, forcing her to dodge again - this time anticipating the sweep of its arm and catching it as it passed, spinning to hurl it into several of the other beings rushing to aid it. Had she a face any longer, she would have grimaced, or groaned with dismay, or conveyed herself through any other similar means, for no matter how tough or strong her new body seemed to be, these creatures simply refused to stay down - and the old man couldn't shoot them all, try though he might. Some shots went high, others went low - one even arced wide and grazed her arm, spreading a foul-looking substance across her "gauntlet" that, fortunately, was swiftly vaporized by the return of her energy shield. In any case, although several more fell in the seconds that followed, the both of them could do little to stop her from being swiftly overtaken. Forced to catch a "punch" from one beast's deformed arm, she found herself tackled by several more, knocked once again to the floor and pinned there beneath a mass of crushing, writhing flesh as countless arms constricted around her. She could hear the discharges of the old man's gun, but they were growing fainter and fainter as he fell back into the vault, more enemies advancing past her immobile form to assault him. That man... he'd helped her, hadn't he? Then why was it that she was of no use to him? Was she failing again? Would she return to her dreams once more, a failure? Would she never see the world beyond the artificial paradise?

 

     No. No matter what it took, she wouldn't accept a second imprisonment, much less her death. There had to be something her new body could do. Something she could do. It felt like the air was being sucked from her lungs - assuming this body even had any - but defiantly, she held on to her very last breath. Fight. She was supposed to fight. She had to... she had to keep fighting! Reviewing what she knew of her body, she tried to think of something, anything, that might help her. As though guided by some prior knowledge, her thoughts settled upon one seemingly innocuous thing. The fins on her armor had some sort of vents in them, didn't they? Maybe, if she used those... But how? What was she supposed to do? What were they supposed to do?

 

     She didn't know. But, unable to move her body, employing its existing capabilities was her only remaining option. If those vents led to her core, then she could use the air still within her, right? Something told her this was the case, and so she trusted to her unknowable instincts. Concentrating on her "lungs," she took a deep "breath," and then released it. Of course, she couldn't have said for sure whether she was actually breathing, but she could feel something regardless. The air inside her was building, spiraling into her body like a devastating whirlwind. All that was left was to let that wind free. And so, letting go of all restraints on the gale inside, she heeded the hurricane's screams for release, and rose, safe in the eye of a cataclysmic storm.

 

-

 

     Phrect couldn't have said for sure what happened. All he knew was that a Corrupted Infested - and a rather ancient and durable one, by the look of it - was shrugging off his darts like they were made of foam and preparing to charge him down and reduce him to a gory smear on the wall. But just before it happened, something else did. There was an overwhelming howl, like the shockwave of an explosion, that knocked him to the ground. He felt an almost solid wall of air rushing over his head, carrying with it several pulverized pieces of Infested flesh. By the time he had steadied himself enough to look up, a silver form, wrapped in a vermillion wind as though it was a mantle, was standing before him, its hand piercing clean through the body of the Infested that had been about to kill him - or what was left of it, anyway. Most of the creature's torso had been reduced to a fine paste, and scattered clear into the next room by some sort of blast of compressed air. He stared in equal parts awe and horror as the Corrupted from further down the hall only then started hitting the floor - or at least, pieces of them. Most of their remains were drenching the floor, walls, and ceiling, or vaporizing upon the energy shields of his unexpected savior. The Tenno cocked its head at him, slowly drawing back its arm and allowing the near-unrecognizable pile of mutilated, Infested flesh to fall prone against the wall to his left. Phrect mentally gave thanks for the sturdiness of his mechanical legs as he pulled himself to his feet. Had he still been using his biological appendages, they'd doubtless have been trembling too much to walk upon.

 

     The Tenno continued to stare at him, giving him the sort of unsettling, head-half-tilted look that a curious bird might have. Was it trying to ask him something? Oh, right. He'd nearly just died. He put on his calmest, most dignified face, remembering that even if he wasn't technically a soldier, he was still a Grineer, with all the pride that entailed. "I'm fine," He said, reloading the cartridge on his pistol. "Although I must say, if you could do that all along, you should have just swatted them to begin with and saved me the trouble of nearly dying."

 

     The Tenno shrugged again. He sighed. Was it toying with him, or did it just have no idea what it was doing? He couldn't believe his fate was in the hands of such a being. Nevertheless, it looked like he was safe, at least for now, so he supposed there was that to be thankful for.

 

     "Yeah, yeah, I still have no idea what you're trying to tell me," He grumbled, brushing some of the lingering gore from his armor. "Let's just get a move on before more of these things show up."

 

     The Tenno nodded, and the researcher sighed again, taking the lead once more as he began retracing his steps back to the shuttle bay where his ship waited. At least with a superhuman, tornado-spewing, mute killing machine, he wouldn't have to worry about the Corrupted anymore, he supposed.

 

 

-

 

 

     It had hurt a bit at first; a feeling which had come as a surprise to her, as although her shell seemed capable of all five of the biological senses she was accustomed to, pain hadn't been one she'd experienced in her dreams, let alone since her awakening. However, after she'd had time to recover her "breath," the pain in her fins had subsided, replaced by a smooth flow of air into and out of the vents within them. She'd practiced surging the air through them a few more times, and, although it was a little difficult to choose the path it would take, she'd managed to succeed at least once in sending just enough of a blast to launch herself forward, as though gliding on wings of the madder red breeze that flowed freely now from the series of larger verniers on her back. She couldn't really control her movement directionally yet, but maybe if she just had more time to work out the controls for each vent individually, she'd be able to use the air more reliably to her advantage. Either way, she felt quite satisfied at having worked out one of the functions of her new body so quickly, and founds herself much more confident of her chances against the mysterious "enemies," should they return. That being said, she was a little miffed when the old man snarled at her to stop "dallying about in the ceiling" and to follow him. She needed to know what she could do before she could reliably help him, so why was he so angry that she was stopping to work out the ins and outs of utilizing her new body?

 

     Of course, although she called it her new body, she couldn't really remember much about what she'd used to be like before she'd woken up. All she knew was that her whole being felt different now, and it was taking some serious getting used to. Although she had managed to master walking without falling on her face during the long trip back to the old man's ship, she still felt inexplicably heavy, and yet at the same time, too light. It was as though the entire shell covering her wanted to float away on the breeze emanating from it, while her core felt like it was made of lead. It was an incomprehensible, perplexing sensation, and one it was very difficult to get to feel all right, especially when moving. She still felt like half of her was going to take flight if she put too much force behind one foot while she was taking a step. That was another problem, actually. Since gravity seemed to have, to an extent, forgotten she existed, her new body's tremendous strength was becoming quite problematic. Unless she purposefully held back each time she moved, she would find herself accidentally launching herself into the air, or else bounding forward too fast to control herself. Each time this happened, the old man merely sighed and averted his eyes. He seemed like a very frustrated, hopeless person. She found herself feeling sorry for him, but couldn't express her apologies, just like she couldn't ask him who he was or why he was there - or even about herself.

 

     Fortunately, aside from a pair of strange, human-like figures on a balcony above them - whom the old man had swiftly shot down before she could get a good look at them - they hadn't been attacked again during their Exodus. And, although they'd gotten turned around a few times, the old man soon found himself retracing a path that he seemed to know quite well. The Tenno, for her part, merely followed him in silence, unable to make a sound even if she wanted. Glancing around at her surroundings, she couldn't help but feel a little distraught at the state of the once-pristine artificial paradise around her. Walls were shattered, as though ripped apart by some great blast. Pillars lay strewn in pieces on the floor. Bullet holes and plasma scars pockmarked the formerly silvery walls, now faded to a dull, lifeless gray. The lights she remembered following danced before her no more, and the terrible light of countless reactors no longer shone throughout the Tower. Everything there seemed... dead, save for the monsters that yet lingered, patrolling the dark corridors to protect what had already been lost. If they were one and the same as the sentinels from her dream, she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. After all, they'd been standing guard here the whole time - and for what? Even so, the old man said they'd lost their minds, and they had tried to kill both him and her. She supposed their deaths were for the best, then, although their fate was rather pitiful, nonetheless.

 

     Then, like in her dream, she found herself standing before a door. It opened before her, and blackness covered her view. But unlike the absolute darkness of the vault, this empty void was filled with countless distant pinpricks of silvery light, innumerable and indescribable in their radiance. Was this the outside? It was beautiful, yet cold, much like the elegant ruins of the long-lost paradise. Yet, beyond the confines of the rather large room they were in, there seemed to be nothing but the lights. Were they really going out there? Her memories - or instincts, or whatever they were - told her that if she went out as she was now, she'd die. That was where the old man's ship came in. Right, she just had to ride it, and it would take her to a place where she could move and "breathe" freely. Still, she had to admit, after having just discovered the usefulness of air, she didn't like the idea of traversing a void where there was none. The air made her feel safe, as though even unarmed, she still wasn't helpless. But, if it was the only way out...

 

     She followed the old man, who motioned wordlessly - he did know that she could hear him, even if she couldn't speak, right? - towards a rather large, bulky brown... thing. It was covered in rather prominent spines, like some sort of crustacean, upon which it rested, while a large ramp stood open like a gaping maw, inviting them inward. She didn't like the look of the transport, but she nevertheless followed the old man aboard. As she shot one last glance back at the paradise behind her, she felt... sad? She hadn't thought she'd regret leaving this horrifying place behind, but somehow, it still seemed like home to her - like its familiar hallways, even if she couldn't remember walking them aside from in her dreams, were all there was to the world. Leaving them behind seemed almost unfathomable. Yet, at the same time, there was no choice. She was not welcome here. Staying would only pose her further danger. And so, with a heavy heart, she turned, and stepped aboard the transport. As the ramp shut behind her, and the ship's engines rumbled to life beneath her feet, she steeled herself for what was to come.

 

     She was free. But now what? What was she to do in a world she knew nothing of?

 

     She didn't know. Of course she didn't know. But as usual, there was nothing she could do about that.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Yarizui

[Yarizui]

-

A Note from the Author

-

Hey there! If you can see this, thanks for reading this far! This chapter's a little short, and takes a few liberties with the state of the Grineer Empire. While it's been established that the Grineer soldiers are unspeakably loyal to the Queens and to the cause, I figured that the scientists like Phrect who oversee the sorts of brutality that goes on behind the scenes - like Grineer being dissolved for their genetic matter in order to keep the race alive, etc. - might be somewhat more dissilusioned about the state of things, hence his titular "re-evaluation" of the status quo in this chapter. What with Steel Meridian's existence, it seems plausible enough, in my opinion.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and for the feedback you guys have given me. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too! ^_^
 

-

Chapter 3

Future.RE-EVALUATION

-

     A chill air filled the spacecraft, as it tended to on long flights. Grineer combat transports like the one the researcher been assigned for his mission tended to focus mostly on packing as much ordinance and armor plating as possible into the hull, then strapping gigantic rocket engines onto the back to make it go as fast as possible. Consequently, due to the amount of coolant required aboard to keep the engines from overheating, and the shoddy life support systems, ships such as this one usually felt more like freezers after a few minutes of flight, let alone hours. But, if the Tenno seated in the copilot's chair beside him felt any discomfort, it didn't show it. It just continued staring almost motionlessly out into the black void of space beyond, as though dazzled by the starlight on the viewscreen.

     Now that they were out of the darkened halls of the derelict, and weren't being threatened by Corrupted dogging their heels, he examined his unexpected comrade a little more closely, idly wondering about its identity. For example, was it a she? From what he understood, Tenno did have distinct genders in some sense, but it was a little hard to tell with the creature's armor. Still, given the frame's lithe build and short stature - or at least, it was short when compared to a Grineer engineered to be as formidable as possible or to the other Tenno he'd come into contact with in the past - it seemed like the Tenno inside it was probably female. Of course, all these thoughts were just idle conjecture. It didn't do him any good getting close to a Tenno. He was a Grineer, after all. Technically, they were enemies - or at least, they should have been. Phrect sighed once again. He had a feeling he'd been doing that a lot, lately.

     The Tenno had saved him. Phrect considered himself an honorable man, and indeed, he felt quite grateful for the unexpected and unquestioning assistance this being had shown him. For one of the legendary betrayers rumored to have exterminated their Orokin masters, it - no, she - seemed somehow innocent and trusting. Although, it was rather hard to tell, given her inability to speak. Maybe he was just reading too much into her rather clumsy bearing and instant acceptance of his plan, even when, apparently, she hadn't the slightest idea what she was doing, and was charging right into a group of rather dangerous Infested without a single weapon to protect herself. Even so, it seemed a pity that she was his foe.

     Right. She was Tenno. They possessed perfect bodies which would not decay like those of the imperfectly cloned Grineer. They possessed the abillity to stand in the way of the Grineer Empire's expansion, and, what was more, to impede it. Everything he'd ever been told pointed to Tenno being unspeakable, self-interested monsters who could and would butcher armies without a thought, just like they had ravaged the empire of their makers, bringing ruin to the entire Origin system. Phrect, and all like him, were doomed to die, be it by the sword or the steady rotting of his own flesh, because of the Tenno. But if he could capture this one, and bring her back to the Empire intact, then not only would his failures be pardoned, and his life spared, but her flesh and the technology of her Warframe might be analyzed and used to unify the entire system under Grineer leadership. Then, at last, he and his fellows could live their lives. It seemed perfect. But normally, it would be impossible.

     Normally. But this situation wasn't normal at all. Right now, he was setting the course taken by a Tenno who couldn't have known anything of the world, of the Grineer, or of anything that had happened while she had slept. It should have been simple to manipulate her trust of him, lull her into a false sense of security, then take her directly to Grineer high command. He could have easily handed her over to the Empire, who might be able to control the Tenno, given the chance. They could test her, discover her secrets, and save the Grineer. He'd be lauded as a hero to his Empire, and even if he, aged as he was, might not live long enough to reap the benefits of his work, the next generation of Grineer would sing his praises as they grew to inherit the works of his era, and to surpass them. He, Mylus Phrect, would become the greatest hero his people had ever known.

     But what then? He sighed again, mulling over his options in his head. If he went to any of those who had the means to control a Tenno such as this one, it was quite likely he'd be disposed of so that they could claim credit for themselves. Either that, or they'd use his botched mission as an excuse to remove him as a liability. Either way, his name probably would never come up by the time his work made it to the Queens. Even if it might be possible to use the Tenno, he himself would only be walking to his death. But even so, shouldn't the choice have been obvious? His lifespan was reaching its end, regardless of what that fate might have been. If by dying, he could save the Empire, he should have sacrificed himself without question. That was what had been ironed into his very nature since his birth - an absolute, unquestioning devotion to his people.

     Then why was he hesitating now? Why was he taking pity on this Tenno, who should have been his enemy? He told himself that he wasn't pitying her, just trying to ensure his chances for survival. He wasn't a soldier, he was a scientist. He had every right to be a coward. So, by distancing himself as much as possible from her, he could save his own skin, at least for a little longer. But if that was the case, why not just bring her to the Corpus? They'd pay him handsomely for both the Tenno and for his knowledge of the workings of the Empire, and protect him from both Grineer and Tenno assassins as a bonus. Yet again the choice should have been obvious, so why wait when he should have acted?

     He knew. Of course he knew. He'd treated her like a meat shield to be sacrificed as a convenient distraction to save his own skin, but even so, when he'd been about to die, she'd saved him. In that instant, all she would have needed to do was blast through the Corrupted restraining her and then make a run for it while he was being torn to shreds. Yet despite that, she'd rushed to his side the instant she was free, and killed the Infested Ancient that otherwise would have disembowled him. Of course, she'd probably only saved him for her own convenience in escaping, but even so, it was a courtesy he wouldn't have recieved from any of his own fellows. It was that blind, trusting loyalty and allegiance, and how silly it seemed when somebody else was the one suffering from it, that had been enough to make him question his own, and to allow him to realize that there was no point in surviving if his life meant nothing.

     Even if the Grineer did manage to unify the system, what then? With all the betrayals and the power politics, nothing would change. There would be just as much, if not more infighting amongst the different stata of Grineer society. He and his fellows would be pushed aside in favor of a newer, better generation, and all his life's work would be quickly absorbed into the Grineer machine, as was always the fate of those without power. He had served his Empire loyally, but had he ever been given a choice in the matter? No. Never. At least, not until now. And now, the choice really was obvious.

     He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't betray this Tenno, whether she was a girl or a monster or just a machine. Not out of loyalty to her, or to himself, or even out of spite towards his people. He was doing it because he wanted to. He would let her go, and find her own way, while he would take the position of the Tower he'd just escaped, sell it on the Corpus black market along with his transport, and then disappear into obscurity. One day, he might wake to find a knife in his throat, but if that day came, then so be it. At least he'd die knowing that his last days had been lived according to his own will.

     "You're getting crochety in your old age, Phrect. Nobody cares for a stubborn old man, you know," He muttered to himself, altering the coordinates in the transport's computer, he changed course and headed for Europa. In such a remote place, governed only by the laws of profit and prosperity, he'd be sure to find a means to restart. As for the Tenno, she'd need to find her own path. It was best for the both of them that way.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Yarizui

[CheeseHasLeafs]

Oh wow this is great! 

[psychicandroid]

I am liking Phrect, I admit. He's kind of an adorable crotchety old man. "I don't like you and you're an idiot! ... Have a piece of candy, idgit."

[Yarizui]

-

Chapter 4

Restart.NEWWORLD

-

    The Tenno had spent most of the trip along the Solar Rail simply watching the stars pass by, wondering what sorts of new and interesting things might await her in the outside world. Although they'd been hailed twice, neither time had they been stopped. The first one to contact them was a gruff-sounding man whose voice was very similar to that of her partner, whose name, she had figured out by now, was apparently Phrect. Although it sounded like there had been trouble of some sort, Phrect had quickly dismissed the call, saying something about a change in his "mission," and some important goods that needed to be "taken to General Ruk immediately." The one contacting them had hastily ended the transmission shortly thereafter, and hadn't asked any more questions. The Tenno wondered, did Phrect mean her? Who was this "General Ruk," and why did she need to go see him? She had cocked her head inquisitively at him to ask, but he hadn't seemed to notice.

 

     "As if," He'd muttered to himself, seeming equal parts satisfied with his apparent ruse, and nervous at how close they'd apparently come to trouble. The outside world seemed much more dangerous than her dreams, now that she thought about it. Although with her shell to protect her, she felt reasonably confident of her chances of survival, she couldn't help but worry that something seemed very wrong, a thought that was corroborated by the lingering voices in her head, still nudging at her psyche constantly and telling her not to trust Phrect, that he was dangerous and should be either avoided or dealt with as quickly as possible. Still, she didn't see what was so wrong about the old man...

 

     About half an hour later, the second transmission had come. The speaker in this one sounded rather different - very mechanical and smooth in his locution, with an accent distinctly different from that of Phrect. "Unidentified Grineer trespasser, this is Exceliant Mechanisms factory station 22-B, Overseer Sirrus Tal speaking. You are entering privately owned territory. Please identify yourself and present clearance, or I will have my defense systems purge you from this sector. Repeat, identify yourself or die." Even speaking such threatening the words, the man had sounded calm, composed, and businesslike - polite, even. Phrect had seemed surprised at first by the sudden call, but slowly, a dawning grin of realization appeared upon his lips, and hastily, he flicked a switch on the main console, opening a channel to reply.

 

     "Sirrus. Just the man I was hoping to hear. Punctual as always, I see," Said the old man, giving another hoarse laugh. "This is Dr. Mylus Phrect, former Chief of Research and Development for Section Tok-Chee-Shux. I doubt you've forgotten me, considering the results of our last partnership. I don't have any sort of clearance, but I've come to offer you a deal. Will you hear me out?"

 

     "Phrect? Well, you're the last dog I expected to hear barking at my door today." The man's tone changed, seeming much less formal and a great deal more familiar. Yet, at the same time, he also sounded wary. The Tenno listened silently, waiting to see what would happen. "You're a reasonable man, so I'm fairly certain this isn't the foolhardy botched infiltration attempt it looks like. Fine. Speak, and I'll listen... assuming it's profitable for me."

 

     "I assure you, it will be. Myself and the Kweens have had a bit of a falling out lately. Or rather, matters have changed such that I am no longer able to return to the Empire," Explained Phrect. The man on the other end gave an incredulous laugh.

 

     "So you come to me for protection? I'm honored, but I fail to see how this benefits me. As you are now, you're just a liability." Phrect, however, merely sighed.

 

     "A liability? Surely, you're joking, Sirrus. You know full well the sort of knowledge I have of Grineer technology and engineering. I could give you exactly the information you need to get an edge on one of your biggest competitors." There was silence on the other end for several long seconds, as though the Overseer was wordlessly prompting the old man to make his deal sweeter if he wanted him to bite. Phrect merely shrugged, and continued. "Aside from that, this transport could prove valuable for you to study. It's a fairly new model, just a year out of the shipyards at Ceres. An added bonus on top of my earlier offer." More silence. "Still not satisfied? Then what if I told you I knew the location of an Orokin fortress-ship, in near mint condition aside from minor damage to the interior and loss of power?"

 

     "Color me interested. But what's the catch?" The Overseer said at last. "I can't have been the first person you thought of sharing this with."

 

     "Well, for one thing, the ship's completely overrun with Corrupted. They wiped out an entire squadron of the Empire's finest in a matter of seconds, and nearly killed me. I was lucky to get away with my life."

 

     "So that's why you're on the run," mused Sirrus. "Yes... Yes, it all makes sense now. Very well, then. In that case, how about this? I'll offer you protection, employment, and a cut of the profits in exchange for the coordinates, whatever other information you can provide me, and the transport?"

 

     "How much are we talking here?" Asked Phrect.

 

     "We can negotiate that once you come aboard," replied the Overseer. "Please just give us a moment to run preliminary scans before we clear you for docki-" The man halted mid-sentence, cut off by a cry of alarm.

 

     "Sirrus? What's wrong?" Asked Phrect, sounding concerned.

 

     "Er... Doctor, you wouldn't happen to have any... contraband that you'd like to declare, would you?" The Overseer asked after taking a moment to compose himself. "We're detecting additional life signs on board your ship, and traces of void energy. Is there... is there a Tenno on board that ship with you, Phrect?"

 

     "Oh, but of course," laughed the researcher, seeming to take great relish in revealing his hand. "You don't need to worry about her." He stopped, turning away from the reciever rather sheepishly. "Er... you are a 'her,' right?" He asked. The Tenno nodded quickly, glad she could be of assistance in his negotiations. Seeming satisfied with himself for guessing her gender correctly, he returned to the matters at hand. "She's just a bodyguard of sorts I happened to pick up in my travels. Right now, she's just insurance," He explained. "You have nothing to fear."

 

     "You... You... You madman!" Exclaimed the Overseer, giving a nervous, disbelieving laugh. "For the love of profit, you're serious, aren't you? You're actually serious? You have actually, somehow, through some incomprehensible stroke of genius, convinced a Tenno to stoop to being your bodyguard?" The Tenno was rather surprised by this reaction. Was her presence really that unusual? Like Phrect initially had, this man, too, sounded afraid of her. What was more, though, he was talking about her as though she was just one of many. Were there really others like her? She couldn't remember for sure.

 

     "It's no joke, I assure you. I would ask her to say something to prove it, but unfortunately, she seems to be mute." There it was again, her inability to voice her thoughts posing more trouble. "In any case, she won't be armed when she comes aboard the station, and I'll keep a close eye on her. I'll assume personal responsibility for anything that comes of her presence, even if it means forfeiting my paycheck."

 

     "If you trust this Tenno that much, then I'll allow it- Erm, her aboard as well," Sighed the Overseer. A moment later, a window flashed open on the console saying they were cleared for docking, and providing a pre-planned trajectory for them to take to land on the station that was already looming, vast and silvery-blue, upon the viewscreen. "However, I must ask that you keep her with your ship," insisted Sirrus. "Many of my employees have lost friends and family due to Tenno assaults on our industries, and likely would not be able to function at peak efficiency if they knew one was aboard."

 

     "I thought your 'employees' were just brainwashed drones and machines?" Asked Phrect pointedly.

 

     "Please. Don't start this argument with me, Doctor. Corpus indoctrination technology is at the forefront of the field, but even so, you can't just reprogram a person's mind like a computer. Really, it's more like giving them suggestions as to what they should do, and a little extra incentive in the form of payment. Even so, strong trauma leaves imprints on the psyche which can sometimes override common sense instincts such as 'do your job, get paid.' Those who've been through one Tenno attack and lived to tell about it are seldom the same afterward, and even when 'corrected,' they run the risk of a relapse into disorderly and unreasonable behavior in the event of a trigger activating old and unwanted memories. Really, it's just better for everybody involved if we keep Tenno at arms length from our business." The Overseer sighed, and the Tenno could only feel even more confused. Others like her were... attacking people? Hurting them? In some cases, even killing them? But why? According to this Overseer, the victims were just doing their jobs, and might not have even been acting on their own wills. Wasn't that wrong? Yet, now that she thought about it, it was no different from the mindless creatures she'd killed to escape the vault. Had that been wrong of her, too? Yet again, her mind drew a blank.

 

     "In any case, I'll be waiting in my office. I'll send an attendant to fetch you and bring you up so we can have a nice, private talk about your cut of the profits. It's certainly been quite a long time since we last chatted, hasn't it? I'm sure you'll have many interesting stories to tell me about your work."

 

     "Indeed I do," Phrect said. "'...Assuming it's profitable for me,'" He added, parroting Sirrus' earlier words.

 

     "In that case, I'll be looking forward to hearing them. See you soon." With that, the Overseer cut the transmission, and the ship rather bumpily jolted onto its assigned course, making its way for the station. The old man turned to her and sighed.

 

     "Sorry," He said. "But it looks like you'll be staying aboard the ship for a while. Just remain aboard, and don't cause any trouble, alright? Hopefully, all this should be over with soon. After that, I can arrange you transport to... wherever it is you want to go."

 

     The Tenno nodded, and when the old man left, she kept her promise and remained aboard, waiting patiently for his return. In the meantime, though, she had much to think about. What was she, that her kind was apparently feared and hated as a threat? Where had she come from, if there were others like her? And finally, where was it that she intended to go from here? She knew nothing of the outside world, and with all the dangers it had thus far shown, she couldn't help but feel an intense feeling of trepidation, like something was about to go horribly, irrevocably wrong...

Edited December 30, 2014 by Yarizui

[Yarizui]

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A Note from the Author

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     Hey there everybody! Thanks again for reading, and sorry about the lack of updates in the past few days. Winter break is winding down to an end and my job is returning to normal hours, so although I tried to churn out a chapter every day up until now, new chapters will probably start coming out a bit slower from this point onward. Nevertheless, I hope you'll be patient with me and keep reading.

 

     This chapter's probably also going to be a fairly short one, since it's largely focused on setting the stage for things to follow. I hope the ending makes it worth it, though. :3 Anyway, you're probably here to read the story, not to hear me ramble, so without any further ado, let's get started!

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Chapter 5

Business.COMINGSTORM

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     The elderly Grineer gave a wary glance at his escort as the two Corpus security officers muttered something amongst themselves in the traders' language. Even if he didn't know what they were saying, it was fairly obvious that they distrusted him just as much as he was wary of them. Regardless, they seemed to have accepted the Overseer's orders that Phrect was to be allowed aboard and taken directly to Sirrus' office, even if, technically, the hierarchy of the corporation was such that they were technically autonomous from the business branch of the company. Sirrus was just the Overseer of a specific facility of a specific branch of the all-encompassing Corpus trading conglomerate, and as such, while he had full command of this station and the personnel furnished by Exceliant Mehcanicals as laborers, the security forces and associated proxy systems provided instead by the Corpus militia only answered to him as a matter of convenience, and thus their commanders could refuse his orders at will if they deemed them unprofitable. Phrect had to admit, it hadn't been getting the Overseer's approval he'd been particularly worried about. Dangle a big enough prize in front of a Corpus executive, and they'd take the bait without fail. The fact that Sirrus was already fairly well acquainted with him had only made it easier. All along, the real issue had been - and would continue to be - getting the militiamen to go along with whatever contract they might forge in the upcoming negotiations. Phrect didn't look it, but years of dealing with Corpus both as his competitors and his coworkers had made him quite the savvy businessman. Even so, he still knew very little about the decision-making processes of the Corpus militia. Getting their assistance might prove problematic.

 

     The researcher glanced around him, allowing his eyes to run over the almost painfully pristine, featureless metallic corridors through which he walked. He always hated Corpus design. As a Grineer, he found the lack of steam-spewing, grating, roaring mechanisms to be incredibly uncanny, as those sorts of rough, tried-and-tested machines were the only sort that ever saw use on Grineer ships. Without them, the entire place just seemed empty, like some sort of mechanical tomb. "Damned Corpus efficiency," He muttered to himself in his native tongue. "Always showing off how pretty they can make their toys look. Give me a base on a good, solid asteroid over this sort of shiny rubbish any day."

 

     Passing on catwalks over long assembly lines filled with countless mechanisms of unknown function, through corridors walked by uniformed, marching crewmen, and through multiple lift tubes through countless similar levels of the station, the small group made their way steadily towards the top of the station. Phrect had a feeling that this was all part of Sirrus' negotiation strategy. Doubtless, there were hangars higher in the station than the one he'd been directed to land in. The Overseer must have been trying to intimidate him by forcing him to climb the whole spire himself, witnessing just how prolific the station's functions really were in the process. Of course, he might have just been gambling on the fact that Phrect's crumbling body wouldn't be able to take the trip unwinded, and that he'd just give up and settle for whatever paltry sum Sirrus offered once he actually got to the cheeky executive's office. If Corpus-designed implants for all the higher ups of their corporations hadn't made such things as age irrelevant, he would have given anything to see an old and decrepit Sirrus make the same trip on his weak, fleshy legs. He didn't care that the man was probably at least fifty years his senior in actual age; the old researcher still felt that this was the act of an upstart, youthful brat.

 

     When he at last reached the office, Phrect stopped to catch his breath once the security officers had left him. He didn't want to meet his soon-to-be business partner face-to-face looking like he was on his last legs. He wouldn't give Sirrus the satisfaction of seeing him show his age. Once he had composed himself, he knocked on the door, and found it swiftly opened by a young secretary who hastily scrambled out of the room. Phrect raised the two or so white hairs that constituted his "eyebrow," a slight grin appearing on his face. It was nice to see that some things, like fear of the Grineer warrior race, were still alive and well, even in Corpus society. Granted, his only time as a "warrior" had been during the earliest period of his life, when he'd served his obligatory period as a conscript and then swiftly moved away from the front lines to pursue more useful prospects as a researcher, but even so, he had his pride.

 

     Walking calmly into the room, his prosthetic legs clacking against the steel floor, he strode up to the Overseer's desk. It seemed he wasn't so uncouth as to make an old man stand during a private meeting, as a chair had been set for him opposite Sirrus' own. "Mylus, my old friend, why don't you have a seat and tell me more about this wonderful treasure you've discovered for me?" The researcher gave a gruff nod and lowered his aching body slowly into the seat.

 

     "As I said on the comms, it's a genuine Orokin fortress-ship. It was located by a Grineer repair crew when they accidentally restored power to an unused section of the Solar Rail, and it appeared seemingly from empty space. The working theory we have is that it was displaced by some sort of battle to the Void, and when power was restored, it returned to its former position," The scientist explained. Sirrus nodded, folding his hands as he gazed intently at the Grineer.

 

     "I was afraid you'd say that. I suppose that means that even if you were the first crew in, that doesn't mean there won't be more now that you've vanished. If the dogs don't get what they want the first time, they'll just throw armies of waddling idiots at the problem until it disappears beneath a sea of bodies. Knowing your Empire, there'll be nothing left intact to study by the time they're finished." Phrect gave a resigned shrug.

 

     "That's why I came here immediately. There's little time left, but you still can get a head start if you take up my offer, assemble a crew within the next day or two, and head into the Tower. I have a feeling there are plenty of valuable things in there just waiting to be discovered. I know for a fact that my team saw several large areas that looked like laboratories - although we didn't have time to investigate before we were ambushed."

 

     "Labs, you say? Now there's a delightful prospect. If this ship were some sort of research installation, there's a high chance that it might contain archives of some sort. There's no telling what sorts of discoveries might lie within Orokin scientific records. But, if you don't mind my asking, how was it that your group was overpowered if you had a Tenno with you? Aside from that, however did you convince a Tenno to help you loot the relics of its creators?"

 

     "I didn't," Replied Phrect, shaking his head. The Overseer seemed confused by this gesture.

 

     "But then how did it come to be on your ship when you arrived here if you came to this station immediately?" He asked, rather perplexed, before the answer suddenly dawned on him. "Wait..." He murmured, narrowing his eyes. "You didn't find a Tenno on this Orokin ship and convince it to join you, did you?"

 

     "And here I was hoping my methods would remain a trade secret," Sighed the old man sarcastically. "I ended up chased into some sort of vault by Corrupted. There was a cryopod there that had a live Tenno already equipped with a Warframe sleeping inside it. Since there was no way out for either of us, we made a deal to join forces for the time being."

 

     "But this is wonderful!" Exclaimed the Overseer. "You should have told me there were Tenno aboard. Can't you see that this is the most incredible opportunity we've had to study them since that horrible little squabble at Gradivus? Only this time, they'll be guaranteed to have slept since the time of the Orokin. As you've proven, they're not entirely averse to the prospect of an alliance so long as they haven't been contacted by that 'Lotus' thing, which means if we just get to them first, we might be able to convince them to willingly reveal some of their secrets instead of having to resort to force! In fact, even if the one you found is the only one aboard, we could just ask it!"

 

     "Like I said before," Phrect sighed; "The one I found is mute. She seems to have some level of understanding of what I'm saying, but I don't know how much she can comprehend, much less remember. Besides, now that I've gotten her out of the Tower, there's no telling how long she'll even stick around for."

 

     "Fair enough. But it doesn't hurt to ask. For now, why don't the two of you stay here until we have a survey crew together? I can arrange for temporary quarters in addition to your payment. Speaking of which, I've had my secretary calculate a very basic estimate of potential profits. Even assuming nothing new is discovered, the sheer amount of salvagable Orokin materials would be more than enough to fund an operation on this scale a hundred times over, and the company will doubtless give me its full support. As such, I'm willing to offer you five percent of the profits as a finder's fee, with arrangements on the side such as protection and accomodations granted on the condition that you give us as much information as possible about your own superiors." The researcher hadn't expected the offer to be that generous. His casual slip that the Grineer knew about the Tower and would doubtless try to salvage it had evidently been enough to make Sirrus suitably desperate to have its coordinates as quickly as possible. Corpus were always stingy, even with money they didn't yet have, but if there was a chance that they wouldn't earn anything, they suddenly became quite willing to pay however much they needed to in order to avoid that outcome. Five percent might not have sounded like much, but for a venture of this scale, it would be more than enough to make him comfortably wealthy for the rest of his short life. Either way, it wasn't a bad offer, and the sooner he accepted, the better his chances of being paid. The deal was favorable to both of them at this point, so there was no point in delaying.

 

     "I have no complaints," Phrect said, grinning. The Overseer stood up, a pleased smile emerging on his lips.

 

     "Excellent, excellent," He said, extending his hand. The old man took it, standing up as he did so. "Then we have a deal."

 

     "It appears so," replied the researcher. For that instant, everything seemed to finally be looking up.

 

     Then, in the next, everything went straight to hell. A sudden flash of light blazed across the viewscreen looking out from the Overseer's office, and the entire station shuddered violently as the lights flickered and died. A moment later, they were replaced by a dim red gloom as the emergency power kicked in. Rushing to the viewscreen, Sirrus watched with horror as a giant chunk of the station beneath them - his station - split into countless pieces, the last shock of a gigantic explosion sweeping this debris into space. On the horizon loomed a massive shape of gray steel, wreathed in blood-red light: A Balor Fomorian.

 

     "This is... General... Sargas Ruk," Snarled a breathy voice, projected across all channels throughout the station. "I have come... for my prize... Doctor... Phrect."

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ANOTHER Note from the Author

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     And of course I end it there, because I'm a very cruel person. Yeah, I just gave General Sargas Ruk one of Hek's precious Balor Fomorians. I figured that as the vanguard of Grineer expansion into the outer areas of the solar system, and as one of the Grineer officers most commonly seen in battle with the Corpus, he'd probably have been assigned one of the new ships following Hek's whole declaration of all-out war on their industries during the reveal of the completed Fomorians in the Archwing quest. I mean, there have been Fomorians at Saturn already, so as the commander in chief of all the forces stationed there, good old Sargas could probably just comandeer one in an urgent situation, even if I'm not sure he has the authority to command ships in normal circumstances, since General is a rank usually just associated with ground forces. In any case, Sargas Ruk is one of my favorite bosses in the whole game - in part because seriously, those explosions, man, but also because he's just a really awesome character what with all the shouting and the crushing and the greedy milk and the filling lungs with death - so I really wanted to include him in the story, even though I'm mostly trying to veer away from using canon characters in this fic. Or at least, I'm trying not to use major ones, hence why Lotus hasn't appeared at all, and why the Tenno's identity has been somewhat... vague up until now. Is she Zephyr? Zephyr Prime? Some related but different Birdframe? NOBODY KNOWS. (Including myself. @_@)

 

     Speaking of our amnesiac protagonist, she'll be making a major comeback in the next few chapters, as sadly, the focus will be moving slightly away from Phrect in favor of chronicling her adventures. Although, I really have enjoyed writing Phrect, and he's ended up becoming much more important than I originally envisioned him. Actually, my original plan was for him to just die the moment he found and awakened the Tenno, but I ended up liking him too much to kill him off there.

 

     Anyway, tune in next time to see what happens. Thanks for reading! :D

[Yarizui]

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Chapter 6

Followed.ENEMYATTACK

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     "You... you conniving, backstabbing cur!" Howled Sirrus, raising his hands to his head as though to tear at the hair he didn't have. "What have you done? What have you done?! Was this entire deal just a trick so that you could sneak that Fomorian in here and seize my station?!" Reaching down to his side, the Corpus executive snatched up a standard issue Cestra-class sidearm from a holster at his side, pointing it straight at Phrect's head. The Grineer researcher hastily shook his head, raising his hands into the air. His Acrid was still resting in its concealed holster underneath his armored coat, but if possible, he'd rather not have this turn into a shootout when Sirrus was, at this point, his only potential ally.

 

     "This attack isn't my doing," He said quickly. "If it was, I'd have made sure to leave the station before the Fomorian started firing, wouldn't I?" The Overseer scowled at him, brandishing the Cestra as menacingly as he could, given that his countenance betrayed a state of pants-wetting terror at the Grineer capital ship already lining up its guns for a second shot.

 

     "Then why are the dogs here?!" He screamed. "Why are they attacking, looking specifically for you?!"

 

     "I don't know!" Roared back the doctor angrily. "They must have tracked my ship and realized I was defecting!"

 

     "You fool! How could you have-" The Overseer began, only to be cut off as the growling voice on the loudspeakers chimed in once again.

 

     "To you... greedy... spineless... Corpus... machines...That was... a... warning... shot. You will... surrender... the researcher... Mylus... Phrect... to... me... and you will... hand... over... whatever... he... brought... aboard... this... station. If you... refuse...then I willl burn... this puny base... until nothing... but dust... and... ashes... remain." Phrect cocked his head to the side, nodding out the viewport towards the cruiser as though to say "I told you so."

 

     "Normally, Grineer transports only have a single transponder system. I thought I shut it down when I took off," Phrect said, trying to keep cool in the face of this overwhelming display of force. "They must have set up some sort of auxilliary tracking system in case we got sucked into the Void, or the Tower moved, or something!"

 

     "And you didn't think to change ships before coming here why?!"

 

     "I thought they couldn't track me!" Protested the Doctor lamely. "Now will you please stop pointing that gun at me?! This is helping nobody."

 

     "Fine," Growled the Overseer, holstering his pistol once again. The door hissed open just then, and three armed security agents ran into the room, surrounding the doctor. Sirrus waved his hand dismissively, commanding them to lower their weapons. "This station has nothing that can fend off a Fomorian, and it'll take far too long for the company to send help. We've got no choice but to retreat and find a new base from which to mount a salvage operation, assuming it's not already too late." He turned to his guards. "This dog has information that can pay for a dozen stations like this one. I want you to spread the word that we're abandoning the station, and then stall the dogs for as long as you can to buy us time to evacuate. Understand?" The guards turned away from the doctor, and rounded on the Overseer. Their featureless helmets focused intently on him, as, strangely, two of their number stepped outward to each side. The one in the center - a higher ranked officer amongst the militia, if his red-colored jumpsuit was any indication, abruptly began to speak, his voice echoing dully from underneath his helmet like that of a computer.

 

     "You are abandoning priceless company property to be destroyed, then?" He asked quietly. "None of this would have happened had you not brought such a risky individual on board. Due to your recklessness, you've cost the company billions in credits, all in the sake of some treasure hunt you don't have the means to carry out."

 

     "What? What are you talking about?!" Growled the Overseer. "Are you questioning my orders, crewman? I have license from the Board of Directors to operate this station as I see fit. Right now, the only course of action available to us is to retreat and recuperate. You will do as I say, or else I-"

 

     "No," Said the crewman, raising his plasma rifle. Phrect realized what was happening only too late as the crewman's finger pressed down on the trigger, and Sirrus' cry of horror was cut short by a plasma round burning a swath clean through his forehead. The Overseer fell limply backwards, dead before he even hit the ground. "I won't." Turning to his suboordinates, the crewman began barking out orders in a garbled, mechanical tongue which the Grineer researcher couldn't comprehend. However, he didn't need to understand to know what was being said. The militia had made its decision. They would hand Phrect and his ship over to the Grineer in order to preserve the station, and that was not something he could allow. While the crewman's back was turned, Phrect snatched up the Acrid in his coat, took aim, and fired. A low hiss of decompression was heard as countless razor sharp needles coated in deadly toxin tore threw the commander's shields like a hot knife through butter, burying themselves in the back of his neck. His words were silenced in a pathetic rasping choke as Phrect charged forward, ramming into him from behind with his armored shoulderplate and launching him into his two comrades as they frantically raised their weapons to fire. Plasma rounds seared through the security commander's body to no avail as the Grineer rolled to the side, bringing up his weapon and firing twice with military precision. The two crewmen joined their Overseer and their commander on the floor as, gasping for breath in the face of his near death experience, Phrect rose back to his feet.

 

     Shaking his head sadly at the limp body of the Overseer, the researcher wasted no time, moving quickly to the edge of the door. As he peered around its frame and into the hallway, he saw the portal on the opposite end of the corridor opening as several more crewmen emerged from an elevator and began rushing towards the office. Cursing, he frantically turned to the door console, aligning several quick diagrams with a sweep of his hand, and then hastily mashing down on a rather prominent red button. Grinning, he listened as more alarms began blaring throughout the station, and the door shut itself tightly, the sound of countless locks sealing ringing in his ears. Corpus terminals may have been different from Grineer systems, but thankfully, the emergency lockdown button was always rather prominently located. He'd shut down all the doors in the entire station, and had done it from the Overseer's personal office, meaning it would probably take quite some time for the security crews to override it. For now, each and every room of the facility would be sealed off from all others, buying him some time before the security crews could reach him, since they'd have to either shut down the lockdown - impossible without Overseer level clearance or some very smooth hacking work, if he knew the Corpus - or simply cut through the bulkhead. Of course, given that it was probably rated for heavy cannonfire given that it was meant to protect the administrator in the event of an attack, that would be very difficult. Even so, time didn't mean anything if he couldn't use it to escape, and right now, he was trapped. He'd need somebody outside to clear a path for him to escape. But fighting through an entire Corpus station's security complement, as well as any marines that might be sent over from the Fomorian in order to help retrieve him, would be nigh impossible for anybody, no matter how skilled they were... wouldn't it?

 

     Fortunately, he just so happened to have a Tenno. Unfolding a small communicator on his wrist, he hailed his ship, praying he was calling soon enough to warn her about the crewmen who would doubtless be coming for her, also, and to tell her what she'd need to do before she came under attack. He just hoped she'd answer, or else both of them were doomed...

[perfect-insanity]

I need more!

[psychicandroid]

I agree. More please. o.O I am so far behind in everything I'm reading...