Petals Of The Lotus. Flame Of The Lotus (Updated 27/5/2013)

[Jamesbiff]

Chapter one

 

Flame of the Lotus

 

 

...Warning...

 

A swift breeze rolled across the undulating hills and sweeping valleys, flowing across trees as they danced to its tune under warm sunshine sat amidst a clear blue sky, its light glinting off distant mountains. The place was familiar to Hotaru, but she couldnt place it. Birdsong came and went with the wind, fading in and out as the sound was washed over the hills. The snapping cloth of a flag in the wind drew her attention, in her hand she held a wooden staff her height and half as much more. A blue lotus flower on white material was fixed to the staff, it flicked about in the wind, the sun making the white blinding.

 

...-arboard docking bay compro-...

 

Soft footsteps stopped beside her, from a man a head taller than her. A sadness in his eyes made her heart sink. The man meant something to her, but she could not figure out why or what, there was too much fuzziness in the way. Her memories werent coming to her so easily. Memories. Is that what this is? a memory? Under his arm was tucked a helmet, in his other hand a sword, its hilt and scabbard looked organic, wrought from living metal. His armour looked the same.

 

"You shouldnt be here." He breathed as the wind whipped his dark hair behind him "The rest are leaving". His eyes were blue, set in a face that would not suggest a warrior. Gentle features contrasted with the harshness of his armour. He sounded angry, but seemed to have resigned himself to the inevitability of whatever it was he was angry at. Hotaru felt the need to speak, as if the words had been said already, long ago. "Ive never been able to make you do what you dont want to, but now more than ever i wish i could."

 

She gave him a level glare "You need everyone you can get, if you want to leave this planet alive" She said.

 

...alert, approaching vessl-...

 

What was that voice? it didnt matter, what was important was what was coming. What needed to be done. Her own hand rested on the hilt of a sword, fastened around her waist.

 

"We lost. Hotaru" The feeling came back to her when he said her name, who is he? "The only chance we have now is to wait, to regain our strength, they will need you when the time comes." The sadness in his eyes was now tinged with pleading as he turned to face her. "They need to think we are gone, we...i...are not getting off this planet alive, i cant do this knowing youll share my fate. Not here. Not now" .

 

"I know, Michael." Michael... "But i won't...i can't leave, not without you." She felt the sadness stab through her as she said it. If this is a memory...i don't want to remember it... "Why does it need to be you!"  She was pawing at his chest now, flag dropped to the floor. "...why".

 

...-econdary collision iminen-...

 

He put his helmet on the floor and raised a hand to her cheek. Even through his armour his hand was warm. Memories stirred within her again, bittersweet. I left him once, i watched him die once, enough for a thousand lifetimes, not again, please...not again.

 

"You know why Hotaru. They will never stop. It will never give up until it has me."

 

The world started to shake and Michael began to fade away, his eyes still resolute, obscured by pure blinding white light, she could still feel his hand on her cheek. The hills began to transform, the green hills were now littered with bodies that stretched as far as the eye could see, their blood flowed like rivers where once pastures grew, carrion for beasts that now moved among them, loping along like massive dogs. The blue sky was choked with darkness and fire, bird song was replaced by howling wind and the sound of chaos and war, the noise gnawed at her, this was a memory, as real as Michael. Michael...There was someone next to her again. It was Michael, but his soft features and dark hair were now replaced by a mockery of his former self. His body was ripped and contorted, bone like growths had ravaged his body and he hunched as if hundreds of years weighed down on him.

 

"The lotus will fall!" He roared, arcing back one arm, now like a festering blade made of bone, swinging at her.

 

Hotaru woke gasping for breath as if she'd been winded inside some sort of capsule. Her eyes burnt and her head pounded. 

.

...Breach, deck three through five, incursion detected. Cryo chambers cycling, stand by...

 

Panting she glanced around as the capsule shook violently, whatever was happening, wherever she was, she needed to get out quickly, a sudden prick in her neck brought life cascading back to her along with panic. Her heart felt like it was going to explode, she could feel it pushing blood into muscles and organs. The fog cleared from her mind and her senses revived to excruciating sharpness. She was cold. So cold. Instinctively she moved her arms, but they would not. Ignoring the stiffness in her neck she glanced down and saw that her arms were bound, the glass in front of her was crisp with frost and alive with information scrolling across it. Her name hung above her with various vital readings.

 

<Hotaru Higa>

<Cryo Station 4>

<Ember Class>

<Priority one>

 

...Cycling priority one Tenno complete...Beginning cycle for priority two, Standby....

 

Abruptly the display vanished. Replaced by the same lotus flower from her memory and her breath condensed on the surface. The Capsule shuddered and the glass began to lift forward and upwards, the bindings on her hand loosed and snapped back into the capsule, leaving her free to steady herself. Anchoring herself with a handle on the lower half of the front of the capsule, she stepped out and onto a metal walkway.  It was warm compared to the pod, even wearing as little as she was. 

 

The frosted glass and display had obscured her view of what lay beyond. In front of her was a vast chamber, many levels high and many hundreds of feet in length, somewhere inside this structure something was happening, the sounds of rumbling and explosions echoed up through the chamber.In front of her each wall was covered in pods like she found herself in, some were open, other figures looking around warily, all races, ages, men and women. A tall dark skinned man stood next to her, standing head and shoulders far above her.

 

"Tenno." In front of her hung an image of woman with a strange mask. Familiar. The image hung in mid air, it was addressing everyone, including her. "Tenno, this is sooner than we had expected. Your memories will return to you, you have been in stasis for many hundreds of years." Her tone was urgent yet self assured, something inside Hotaru commanded that she listen to this strange figure. We?.

 

"There is little time to lose, Tenno, the Grineer are almost upon you, you know them and they know you, they seek to destroy you, buy time for your comrades". The image fizzled out and all Hotaru was left with was hate, she remembered hate, clearly, like a fresh wound. She hated the Grineer. The man next to her uttered their name in a thick accent, his lips curled around the name as he spat it like a curse, a deep rumble like a growl came from him. She found herself echoing it. She couldnt remember why, but the Grineer inspired in her the purest hate she could imagine. A loud mechanical noise ground into life behind them, the back of her pod split apart revealing in it a single blade. Every fibre in her pushed her to take it. In her hands it felt like an extension of herself, its balance perfect, its edge sharp. Her neighbour, too, pulled his hand back, in it, a gargantuan Axe. He whirled it round as if it were a bamboo cane, gracefully cutting through the air. He smiled , looked at her and broke into a dead run down the walkway.

 

She found herself following, the blade ready at her side, her teeth clenched in anticipation. She could see others running too. The voice was there again, though without the image. "Tenno, you must secure the frame sanctuary." It seemed to move around with her as she ran...as if it was in her head. "You are powerful now, with your frames, you are unbeatable".

 

Frames.

 

A part of her pulled to be near this frame, as if there was a part of her missing, she could feel a heat, a power absent from herself, she put it to the back of her mind, for now, It felt good to run, her muscles screamed to be used, metallic halls passed, rooms of glinting lights became a blur as the group moved together. The voice returned,"Careful Tenno, Grineer approach".

 

Something like nostalgia coupled with pure rage, hate and nausea washed over her. The Grineer were there, in a large hangar, their misshapen ships were familiar to Hotaru. But it was them themselves that she remembered most. Their body armour in sickly greens, yellows and reds  surged forwards, they hadnt noticed the Tenno, but she wanted them to, she wanted them to look in her eyes as she cut them down, hear her voice as she screamed death at them. Inside, their twisted, maligned bodies, their snarling faces. They came in all sizes, grunts that stood taller than her, shouldering crude rifles. Lithe figures that darted around with wicked blades and cruel smiles. They needed to be killed. Erased. Washed away like filth, worse than filth. A pox on the galaxy, a smear in history, the rage she felt was almost uncontrollable. 

 

Hotaru's urge to destroy them built to a crescendo, surrounded by other 'Tenno' she could see it in their faces too. Snarling hatred, they fell into stances with their weapons. Swords, hammers, axes, daggers all thirsting for Grineer blood.They'd forced them to this, so long ago, forced humanity to the edge, their betrayal destroyed her home, their home...killed Michael... my memories...are coming back.

 

 

"Go, Tenno. Vengeance is yours."

 

Her heart rate levelled out now. She put emotion out of her mind, memories, all that had happened, into another place. All that was left was a flickering light. The battle. Pure instinct resonated through her and guided her body. With the rest of the Tenno, she vaulted the metal bars of the walkway and down into the hangar. Hate had a place in the heart of men, but not in battle. Serenity, peace and strength ruled the Tenno in battle, that was the path to absolute victory. I remember being taught...

 

She felt an absence, without her frame, whatever it was. Potential unfilled, strength unused, but it did not hinder her. She fell among the Grineer in a crouch, they were aware of them now, their harsh, guttural voices spat the alert and orders to their comrades, fear in their voices betrayed them.

 

"Tenno scum! Grineer, form up, space yourselves you dogs! do not let them get behind you!".

 

The Grineer that barked that order was too late to heed his own advice, as Hotaru's blade cut his leg at the knee whirling round to remove his head on the backswing. It was too late for the Grineer already, there were too many of them to fight effectively in the space. Crossfire cut down their own as the Tenno weaved in and out of them. She saw the man with the axe cut down a dozen of the lithe figures that had set upon him in no more than a few swings of his axe, his footwork made it seem as if he was dancing, gliding from one group to the next as the axe cut through their armour like hot steel through linen. Her own blade was drenched already, she moved among them slicing and stabbing, instinct guiding her to the best position, the best stance, the best swing, parrying blows and scurrying under blindfire, blood smeared up her face. It made her want to vomit, the taint of their blood, but she pressed down the urge. A group of Grineer were making a break for the first floor. Buy time for your comrades. She set upon them, the first falling as she cut through his midsection, dropping  two short blades as he fell. She picked one up and subconsciously inspected it. A rough mess of metal bound together, its edge hot and glowing. She ran up the handrail of the stairs the Grineer were using, supreme balance allowed her to sprint up it as assuredly as running across flat earth. Somersaulting at the summit she cut through the lead Grineer at the neck, his fate sealed, he writhed around, obscuring the aim of the other Grineer. The first to show himself after the Grineer fell was met with the same glowing blade whirling through the air, burying itself in his chest hilt deep. Dead before he hit the floor. The second was met with her barreling into him, planting her feet on his chest he stood firm as she drove the blade downwards through his neck, twisting it to hear the snapping of bone.

 

She made light work of the rest. The sound of fighting died down, a few strangled, gurgling rasps as Grineer drew their last breath signalled the end. Walking back out into the hangar she inspected the chaos, dark blood stained the cool blue metal of the structure. Not a single Tenno body lay amongst the dead. The screen appeared again with the masked woman.

 

"The Grineer rule this solar system now, Tenno. This was but a drop in the ocean." Even with the mask, Hotaru could sense anger from the woman "Other Tenno are awakening now, your brothers and sisters have secured the other wings of the ship and now move inwards to the Frame Sanctuary, there you will find what completes you. Hurry, Tenno, there is work to be done." Her heart rate rose again at the prospect of being reunited with the Frame. An urge to be one with it, forced a smile on her face, replicated throughout the Tenno stood in the hangar. Directions flowed into her mind, the layout of the ship became second nature to her. As one the Tenno moved again, to the heart of the ship.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2013 by Jamesbiff