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[Fanfiction] Old Dreams

Kalenath

By Kalenath,
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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Life got in the way as it always does. Then the new event. Had to shuffle some things. But I am back. Updates will be sporadic for a while I think.

 

 

Unhappy

 

"A... priest?" Zack sounded confused. "You think I am a priest?" He asked incredulously.

 

"Well..." Elena sounded just reasonably sure of herself. "Yes."

 

"Why?" Zack wasn't -quite- dismissing the idea.

 

"Well..." Elena sounded a bit less sure of herself now. "At the core of things, a priest has faith. Whether it is faith in a benevolent deity, some kind of malevolent force or random chaos, they believe." She stressed the last word. "And I can tell you do."

 

"I... do?" Zack asked, confused. "I don't see that."

 

"You wouldn't." Elena reassured him. "It is really hard to see things from the... What the-...?" She broke off and a gulp was heard. "Oh dear..."

 

"What?" Zack asked quickly.

 

"Nothing to do with us." Elena reassured him. "But things just got...as the Lotus used to say... 'interesting'."

 

"Do I want to know?" Zack sounded almost punch drunk. "Interesting has all kinds of connotations. And how did you know the Lotus anyway?"

 

"We were... colleagues." Elena said after a moment. "I was actually online before her, but we were both hooked into the network at the same time. It made hiding things from each other impossible. We... were fairly close." Regret sang in her voice again and Zack stared at the wall. "She thought of me as an older sister and I felt kind of that way." She made a non-committal noise. "Ancient history aside, I am hooked into the remnants of the Orokin com network that she uses. The protocols were hard wired, but the codes have changed.  I cannot do anything with it, but I can listen in as it were. I just heard a warning being broadcast to the Tenno from the Lotus."

 

"A warning?" Zack asked. "About?"

 

"There has been a schism within the Corpus ranks. A senior member named Alad V was fairly naughty and cast out." Elena said dryly. "He didn't take that well."

 

"I..." Zack swallowed hard. "I remember a bit about the Corpus. Traders and fanatics. Dangerous."

 

"Pretty much." Elena agreed. "I won't go into their whole 'live to serve and serve to live' mindset. It's a cult and a fairly nasty one." Zack shook his head, closing one eye and the other one -the mechanical one- dimmed with it. "Zack?"

 

"I don't know." Zack said after a moment. He opened his flesh and blood eye and the other came alive again. "I don't think I knew them. Do you have any images?" Instead of answering, a screen came alive on one wall and a series of images shone. Several humanoid forms with boxy helmets and a number of two and four legged robotic forms. Zack stared at them for a long moment and shook his head. "I don't feel any connection with those. I don't think I was with them."

 

"If you had been..." Elena said mildly. "...the Grineer would have likely killed you after interrogating you. The Grineer and the Corpus... do not like each other."

 

"I see." Zack said with a grunt. "So... what now? What is this rogue Corpus doing?"

 

"Being stupid." Elena said with a sigh. "He is trying to breed some kind of super Infested." Zack went still and Elena snarled. "Yeah. That isn't going to go over well with the Tenno." Then she paused. "Wait... I might know someone who can help you. Know... of her anyway."

 

"Who?"
 

"There was a lot of encrypted information passing this way and that across the network." Elena said with another sigh, this one drawn out. "And some that wasn't. Some pertaining to a Healer named Iriana, the one who founded that hospital I was hoping to find. I don't have a lot of information on exactly what happened and why. But I did catch a snippet of a discussion of healing someone who had lost an arm using bio engineering. Using techniques that were different from any that I know of."

 

"And how will that help me?" Zack asked, touching a slow finger to cold metal on his face. It covered half of his face, wires embedded in his flesh. He touched them, but did no more. "This seems... Extensive."

 

"It is. I am not sure they can." Elena agreed. "But their techniques were fairly advanced from everything I read. Not that I could read much. Your body is functional, just... altered." Her tone was very gentle now. "The way you are may be how you have to live now. It's better than some I have seen."

 

"Agreed." Zack said after a moment. "So you think we can find this healer?"

 

"Oh, I know where she is." Elena's tone was dubious now. "Getting to her...? No, that would be a serious problem. Not just the Grineer fleets in the area, but where she is currently is highly secure and defensible. And they don't like me any more than the Lotus does." Sadness sounded again. "I can probably get a message to her, but that is about it." She made a soft, scared noise. "Of course, since she is Tenno... She will likely react as the Lotus did."

 

"How long can people hold hate?" Zack asked after a moment.

 

"Tenno?" Elena retorted evenly. "Forever. It is what they were. What they were trained to do. To defend. And I assisted in an attack that hurt them sorely. I didn't intend it. I had hoped to avoid conflict entirely. But it happened. And now? We have to deal with the aftermath." She paused as Zack inhaled. "What?"

 

"You honestly want to make a difference." Zack said slowly. "You want to make what amends you can." Elena started to protest and he made a quick, chopping gesture with his hand and she went quiet. "You cannot fix it all. You cannot bring back the slain or go back in time to undo what was done. But..." He shook his head.  "Do you think you could help now?"

 

"What do you mean?" Elena asked carefully. "I am no warship to blast the Infested breeding grounds into oblivion. My systems were designed for self preservation. No offensive capability at all. I am fast and reasonably hard to detect. No more."

 

"The Tenno are going to attack this rogue Corpus." Zack said after a moment. "I think we both know that." Elena made a noise of agreement. "Stopping this kind of thing is what they do, yes?"

 

"What they did throughout recorded history, yes." Elena agreed. "But... I don't see how that helps us. If they see me, they are going to react badly." She sighed yet again. "And I don't blame them."

 

"Stop that." Zack commanded and Elena gave a gasp. "You made a mistake. Bad things happened.  People are angry. I get it. But we need to move on from there. I need you and I think..." He shook his head a bit. "I think you need me too."

 

"I do... enjoy talking to you." Elena admitted. "After so long, in the dark, alone... It feels good to talk to someone again." She made a humming noise. "What did you have in mind?"

 

"Do we know where these breeding grounds are?" Zack asked after a moment. "The Tenno will attack them. Perhaps we can observe them? See if we can aid in any way?"

 

"Aid Tenno?" Elena asked, then barked a sour laugh. "Aid them how?"

 

"I don't know." Zack sounded unsure. "Since you have no weapons and I have no weapons..." He paused as Elena made a throat clearing noise. "Yes?"

 

"I do have some." Elena said quietly. "The Grineer managed to get inside the hull at one point before the security systems fried them. I used some of the material that remained to facilitate repairs. A few of their weapons are still intact or repairable. I think." She qualified. "I was never a soldier."

 

"Well..." Zack said, rising from the bed/table/whatever he had been lying on. "I don't know if I was or not. But I can take a look. Then..." He smiled and it was a calm smile, but distant, cold. "We shall see what we shall see."

 

***

 

It defined mess. The whole situation was awful beyond words. The Corpus ship that had been...repurposed by Alad V's madness were a Byzantine nightmare of sterile metal corridors and masses of flesh. Sometimes in the same place at the same time. Then the whole issue with the Hives...

 

The Tenno who called herself Two took careful aim at an Infested tumor and left fly. Her arrow flew true, sinking deep into the horribly mutated flesh. The alien organ gave a quiver and died. She spun in place, her Paris Prime at the ready, but no Infested showed themselves. She knew it wouldn't be long though. She had been doing this...horror for days. The stink that clung to her warframe was overpowering. They would find her again and when they did...

 

The remnants of the Corpus spaceship shuddered as the rest of her team opened fire on the hive. Until the defenses were down, any damage that the hives took would be repaired almost instantly by the living organism that was the Infested on the ship. But with the tumors destroyed, the hives were busy repairing other things and that left the main hives vulnerable. Only for a very short period of time, mind you. But the Tenno were ready.

 

The problem was... so were the Infested.

 

A Boltor, a Braton and a Hek tore through the armor of the hive with abandon. Less than a second after Two had skewered the last tumor, the hive exploded in a foul smelling spray of gunk. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that the way out, back to where their Liset ships could reach them, had been blocked by a sealed blast door. The hive's destruction let loose powerful surges of electromagnetic energy. One of those surges tore through the door controls. The safeguards worked as they had been intended. It was usually better for a door to be jammed open, after all, than shut. It slammed it open and the absolute horde of Infested who had been congregating on the other side, denied access to their prey by the door started running towards the Tenno who had just hurt them. Unfortunately for Two, the last Tumor had been very close to the door. Before even Tenno trained reflexes could react, a dozen Infested were on her. She started to bend over. A Sound Quake would clear the way, but something struck her from behind and she was flying. She scrabbled for a purchase on the slick metal, but it denied her and she fell into the abyss beneath the hive. She had a moment to see metal rapidly approaching and then it all went black.

 

"Two!" A sharp voice snapped in her ear. "Two respond!" Karl. That was Karl... Clan leader. Team leader. Angry. Two shook herself, trying to focus. She forced her fuzzy mind to work and shook herself, only to scream as pain lanced through her. She stared down at herself. At the long piece of jagged that had pierced her abdomen. It had gone clean through her warframe and thus, through her. She looked up. She was a long way down from where she had been. She could see Infested milling there, looking confused.

 

"Karl..." Two had never heard her voice so weak before. "Abort... extract..."

 

"Two!" Karl demanded. "Where are you?"

 

"Fell..." Two managed to grate out. "Stuck on...something... get clear... Tell Amelia... I love her..." Darkness was crowding in on her vision now. She was bleeding out. Even if they could get to her in time? How could they get her out?

 

"Two!" Karl demanded. "Stay awake! We are coming!"

 

"I am sorry... clan leader..." Two said softly. "I am..."

 

Something dark was nearby now. The metal holding her jerked and she screamed as pain lanced through her. A form was standing over her. Two stared at it, too dazed to comment on the Grineer Marine who was cutting the metal off at the wall with a saw!

 

"Easy, Tenno." The Marine said in a distinctly non-Grineer voice. "Almost got you. Hold on."

 

"Who...?" Two managed to say, then she screamed again as the metal holding her to the wall gave way. The pain was excruciating. But it paled as the Marine grabbed her arm and pulled her close. "No..." She begged as she saw her blood falling free. "Don't."

 

"It's okay, Tenno." The Grineer said. Odd... His face wasn't the usual mass of scars that the clones shone. It looked more human than most Grineer managed. "Your friends are waiting."

 

She could only stare as he took hold of her hip as well as her arm and literally threw her upwards. She stared down, but the odd form was gone. She grabbed feebly for a catwalk as she flew towards it and managed to grasp hold. But there were Infested. But suddenly... there weren't. A rumble and all of the infested in the area were suspended in mid-air. Karl had Stomped. Olim stood nearby, his rifle firing it's deadly payload in precise two and three bolt bursts. Each burst speared Infested to walls. Karl stood in the midst of a group of Infested, his Orthos Prime flashing.

 

"Two!" Alicia ran to her side, the familiar green mist falling from the Trinity's hand. "Don't move!" The medic begged. "I have you." She knelt down and started to work on Two's abdomen. "How did you get back up?"

 

"I..." Two fell down into blackness. But it was comforting. "I didn't..."

 

***

 

"What happened?" Karl was... unhappy. That meant a lot of people were going to be unhappy shortly.

 

"I don't know." Olim replied, looking through the window out into space. The view from the dojo fortress was spectacular. Alicia was with Brianna, Amelia and Jimmy, working on Two who hadn't regained consciousness yet. The Banshee had been hurt very badly. "I was covering my sector, Karl."

 

"So was I." Karl admitted, his gaze far away. Both of them still wore their warframes. Alicia and Two were off the roster for the moment. Two was hurt and Alicia would not leave a stricken sister while there was a gram of hope for her. "She got blindsided. I get that. Could have happened to any of us. But..."

 

Kalr and Olim would go back out again. They had to. As long as the Infested Breeding Grounds existed, they were a massive threat to everything in the Solar System. Alad V's madness had to be stopped. But they could take the time to support their hurt sister. Restock, repair what they could and then go back out.

 

"Karl." Olim said softly. "She is alive."

 

"She shouldn't be." Karl said quietly. "How did she get back up to the catwalk where we found her? She couldn't have jumped. Not with that piece of metal in her."

 

"I don't know." Olim replied just as quietly. "My sensors were all mucked up by the magnetic plumes coming from that hive. I got no readings or odd readings." The Frost Prime shrugged. "There was no way she could have jumped back up... so..."

 

"Someone else?" Karl asked after a moment. "Someone helped her?"

 

"Had to be." Olim agreed. Then he jerked. "I..." He began and cut himself off.

 

"What?" Karl asked as he checked his Hek. Not that it needed it, but it gave him something to do besides fret.

 

"Riana?" Olim said, his tone oddly hesitant. The holo of his sister appeared beside them. She also looked oddly hesitant. Karl looked from one to the other.

 

"What?" Karl pressed.

 

"I have been running a series of enhancement algorithms on the sensor data." Riana said, a far cry from her usual ebullient self. "I don't know what happened to Two. She fell. That was clear. Olim and I managed to triangulate her position, as you know." Karl nodded. That had been fast work by the cyberlancer and his sister. "I didn't know how to get to her. But..." Riana looked... scared now.

 

"Riana." Karl said slowly. "I am not angry. I am glad Two is alive."

 

"Karl." Riana said soberly. "I got a reading. Two in fact. One... I can see. Sort of. Now why he helped Two I have no idea..."

 

"Who?" Karl demanded.

 

"The readings were consistent with a Grineer Hellion." Riana said quietly. Karl went still and she nodded. "A Hellion in a jetpack could have gotten to her. Nothing else I know of. Not quickly."

 

"Zephyr warframe." Olim said automatically but then shook his head. "But they couldn't have hidden the energy discharges from me and Riana. It wasn't a warframe. So..."

 

"A Grineer?" Karl demanded. "What would  Grineer have been doing there?"

 

"Probably hiding." Olim said, his tone noncommittal. "But that doesn't explain why he would help Two. Or... the other reading..."

 

"What other reading?" Karl demanded. "Don't make me start singing, Olim." Both Olim and Riana winced at that. Karl's singing was, in a word, terrible. He used it for punishments not worth physical pain.

 

"Below where Two was stuck..." Riana said, turning a beseeching look at her Brother who nodded. "...was nothing. A hole in the ship leading to space. But I got a reading there. Something that... couldn't have been there."

 

"What?" Karl snapped, his patience fleeing. "What did you sense?"

 

"An Orokin spaceship." Riana said quietly. Karl recoiled as if struck and she nodded. "The readings were faint, but distinctive. It wasn't there when the Liset swept in to evac everyone.  But it was there, Karl."

 

"Are you telling me an Orokin ship moved in close, unseen by any of our ships..." Karl said slowly, feeling each word with care. "Dropped off a Grineer Hellion of all people... to save Two's life?"

 

"So it would seem." Riana said, swallowing hard. "And Karl...?" He looked at her and she paled slightly. "I recognized her. From my datafiles."

 

"Her?" The clan leader demanded.

 

"It was the Elena Greensky." Riana said softly. Karl went totally still and Olim nodded with his sister. "The traitor ship."

 

"The...?" The Rhino stared from the Cyberlancer to the AI's hologram and shook his head slowly. "Just when I thought life might be looking up." Karl said slowly, then he turned and left the room.

 

"Not happy, our clan leader." Riana said soberly.

 

"Nope."

 

Edited by Kalenath
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evafan002

evafan002

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Problem with that...

 

Black holes are not good hiding places. They often lead to alternate universes. If you violate the reality boundary... Well... It is going to get messy. Dragons define territorial.

yes that may be so but if I'm in a warframe i think I stand a better than 50/50 chance of survival which is better than the .0000000.9 percent chance of survival I would have otherwise also who said anything about hiding? I just said I was going on vacation

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  • 2 weeks later...
Kalenath

Kalenath

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Sorry it has been so long. Real Life gets in the way.

 

 

Enemies

 

"That was... not all that well thought out." Zack said quietly as he watched the screen. "Was it?"

 

The ship's interior was far, far smaller than he had initially thought. It was essentially three rooms. One, the living quarters, doubled as a sick bay of sorts and had been where he had woken in Elena's care. A fairly luxurious sanitary facility had been idle for a long, long time from the dust that had accumulated. But Elena had put it to rights quickly enough when he had asked her to. He didn't need to take showers, but it made him feel better. The main room was an observation deck with several work stations arrayed around it. From what Elena had said, occasionally she had carried VIPs. She wasn't a passenger liner, but she did have more space available if they needed more living area. The Grineer armor and jet pack took some getting used to, but both worked well.

 

He had been happy to help out the stricken Tenno who had fallen into the chasm and been impaled on a protruding piece of metal. Cutting her free and tossing her back up to her allies had been the work of minutes and hadn't been hard or dangerous. But...

 

A swarm of small Tenno craft now circled the derelict Corpus ship that had once held a breeding ground for Alad V's madness. It took no imagination at all to know they were looking for something. And he could guess what.

 

"Do you think they got a scan of you?" Zack asked after watching the flitting assault ships. He had taken the ill fitting Grineer armor off and now wore golden robes that were very comfortable.

 

"I fear they did." Elena replied sadly. "This is... about how I would expect them to react to my presence. They hate me. With reason."

 

She was moving out of the area slowly and carefully, keeping her stealth systems fully energized and trying to use the remnants of the Corpus fleet as cover. She had no weapons, just speed and stealth. And if the Tenno discovered her... Their speed matched hers and their stealth likewise. It would not end well if she was detected again.

 

"We did the right thing." Zack said softly, but then shook himself. "We need to help you. Somehow."

 

"You can't." Elena replied, her tone even. "My fate is sealed. What I did was wrong. I thought I knew what I was doing and a lot of people paid for my mistake." Zack turned to look at the main console. It wasn't where she resided, but it worked as a point of reference. "Zack..." She pleaded.

 

"Did you drop the nuke yourself?" Zack said quietly. Elena snarled at him.

 

"Of course not!" Elena snapped.  "But..." For once, she cut herself off as he snarled right back at her.

 

"No 'buts'." Zack said sternly. "You did not nuke the Citadel. I bet the ones who did..." He swallowed hard. "...didn't last very long."

 

"No." Elena said in a small voice. "No, they didn't. The Orokin were not kind to people who did such things. And the Tenno..." There was no way to see her shiver, but there was an audible one in her voice. "I am the last vestige of the horror that befell their kin. Small wonder they want me gone."

 

"It's not right." Zack said quietly, turning back to the viewscreen. "Yes, you bear a measure of responsibility, but you are not to blame."

 

"Zack." Elena said softly. "Tenno can out-stubborn anything in existence. It is what they are. What they have always been. Stubbornness and hatred made manifest." The screen showed empty space finally and Elena gave a small noise of relief. "We are clear."

 

"Where to?" Zack said quietly. A chart of the Solar System appeared in front of him and a planet started pulsing. "Mercury?" Zack asked, worried. "Why Mercury?"

 

"That is where the hospital was moved to." Elena replied. "I will drop you off. Then..." She trailed off as Zack spun to glare at the console. "Zack, please..." She begged.

 

"Elena, I cannot just leave you to die." Zack protested. "Not without trying. Trying whatever I can."

 

"You cannot help me, Zack." Elena said softly, sadly. "I am glad to have met you." Zack froze in place as a golden beam came from somewhere and lethargy started dragging him towards unconsciousness. "But you cannot help me. And... I will not allow to you destroy yourself trying."

 

Elena! Zack screamed in his mind as darkness took hold and soothed him into sleep.

 

***

 

They had no clue. None.

 

The Grineer were very good at many things. Swaggering. Bullying. Basically being a bunch of over-cloned piles of refuse. They were very good at fighting people who they understood. Who fought in predictable ways. The Corpus, they could -and did- fight with ease. As often as the Corpus made a robotic soldier, the Grineer could make two more clones. That made conflicts between the Grineer and the Corpus long, drawn out -and very bloody- affairs. Infested, they could fight as well. They were not as good fighting Infested, because Infested bred as quickly as the Grineer could clone. But they managed. They learned how to focus their fire on each and every Infested, burn them down before the misshapen horrors reached melee range. They were not... totally stupid... in all situations.

 

It did them no good at all.

 

What had infiltrated the asteroid that had previously been a prison for a traitor ship was no Corpus. No Infested. No. This was worse. Far, far worse.

 

No one saw him. No one heard him. None of the many guards that were clustered here and there around the area noted his passing. A whiff of air had a Grineer Heavy Gunner pause, but there was nothing there. She shook her head and continued her patrol, never knowing just how close to extinction she had been. How close every single Grineer on the asteroid was to death.

 

Has to be here somewhere... Sun thought to himself as he ghosted by the patrol, careful to keep far enough away from them to avoid their close range scanners. There has to be a command center here... aha! He crowed silently as he saw a set of guards ahead, all turned carefully away from a door where... He paused as a scream sounded. Female. Grineer.

 

He moved forward carefully until he could see in the open door. What he saw made him blanch under his helmet. A Grineer Scorpion lay on a table, surrounded by other female Grineer. Those were not in armor. He shook his head. He had heard of those. Reclaimers. Grineer 'medics' who specialized in torture as well. They were likely punishing the one that had let Elena escape. Or healing her. Or both. Either way... Not his concern. Another heart wrenching scream and Sun moved away, towards a terminal he could see in a shadowed alcove. But then he paused. There was a Grineer in the alcove. Another Scorpion. He had a throwing blade in hand, but then paused. She wasn't looking at him. She was kneeling on the floor, head bowed. Tears were falling. Wait... Tears? Grineer did not feel. They did not do emotion. Why was this Grineer crying?

 

It piqued his curiosity. He wasn't sure why he did things sometimes. But... He did them and he did them well. He sheathed his throwing blade and before the female Grineer even knew he was there, his Bo staff was choking her. Her hand scrabbled but a motion and her sword fell away out of reach.

 

"Be still." Sun said in a quiet conversational tone. " A wrong move and you die."

 

"T...Tenno..." The Grineer managed to grate out. Wonder of wonders, she did not cry out. Did not cry for help. Did not resist. "Do it. Please..." Sun jerked. That wasn't on the script , was it? "I had one chance. I blew it. We blew it. My sister is dying. I am next."

 

"You are weak." The Tenno said as he dragged her further into the alcove. "Why should I believe anything you say?"

 

"No one does." The Grineer replied softly. Sun was... intrigued. This was odd. Very odd. Utterly out of character for a Grineer. The possibilities for mayhem... The boundless possibilities...

 

A quick blow sent the Grineer female to the floor when she landed on her stomach. Then a precise strike rendered her incapable of movement. Even Grineer armor would not protect the cervical vertebrae from a close range hit from a Bo staff. Her armor would keep her alive, but she was literally incapable of speech. Or screams. He held his hand over her and she writhed silently as his warframe digitized her. In moments, it was done and he was hacking the database. He didn't bother to search the files. He just downloaded everything into a datamass. He would go over it later. He paused as a sickly sweet female voice sounded.

 

"All done, Mora dear. Your turn." The voice of what had to be a Reclaimer came and Sun activated his stealth again just in time. The unarmored Grineer paused as she looked around and didn't see the Grineer that Sun had abducted. "What the-? Where is she?" She snapped. "Guards!"

 

The armored Grineer came running, but Sun was gone. Out was no different from in. None of the Grineer so much as sensed him. The ship was waiting for him and he let out a sigh of relief as his Liset detached from the asteroid and headed out into deep space. He started a data search of his purloined information and then focused on his passenger. She was sleeping. But... if he wanted information... He had hurt her. Ordinarily, he would take prisoners to HQ for interrogation. But that wasn't an option if the Lotus was compromised somehow. He had to get her healed, so...

 

Sun shook his head and set course for Mercury and the hospital there.

 

***

 

"I am fine!" Two snapped as she finished sealing her warframe. "Amelia, stop hovering!" She said in a far harsher tone that she had intended. Her paramour took a step back and Two sighed. "Amelia, I am sorry, but... Guys, I am fine."

 

"You are not fine, Two." Alicia said sternly, blocking the door with her warframe, arms crossed. "We nearly lost you permanently. That piece of metal went clean through you. You are not going. You are not fully healed. Two..."

 

"I need to find out what happened." Two said with a sigh as she relaxed. Yes, her warframe had repaired itself, but it had no weapons and Alicia was fully armed. "I don't... That was a Hellion... A Grineer... But that makes no sense."

 

"Two." Alicia said sternly. "Stand down. Now." She commanded. "Do I need to restrain you?" Two sighed and shook her head. Alicia was fully capable of doing just that. Sneaky healer.

 

"At least tell me the mission status." Two begged, sitting on the bed.

 

"Mission accomplished." Amelia said with a smile as she sat beside Two, taking the Banshee's hand in hers. "We nearly lost you. Please." She begged, her heart in her mouth. She gave Two's hand a squeeze.

 

"I saw what had to be a ship... below..." Two said, thinking hard. "The Grineer must have come from that. I didn't recognize it."

 

"Olim and Riana saw it too." Alicia said slowly. "They did recognize it." Two looked at her and Alicia shook her head. "Two, out of the warframe. Now."

 

"Alicia..." Two said with a deep sigh that turned into something else as Amelia tickled her. Unfair that a warframe transmitted every single impulse to the user. "Hey!" She batted Amelia's hand away, careful to limit her strength.

 

"You need rest and time, Two." Alicia said quietly. "We will find the ship. We will find answers." Something in her voice...

 

"Alicia." Two said softly. "What?" Alicia looked at her and shook her head.

 

"You are still healing." Alicia said quietly. "You are off the roster and off status until both Amelia and I concur that you are capable. Which we do not."

 

"But... Alicia..." Two begged, but sighed as Alicia started tapping her foot. A bad sign. "Okay, okay... sheesh..." A hissing sound and the Tenno wiggled out of her warframe, only to stiffen as another hiss sounded. She stared at Amelia. "Amelia?" She asked, sounding betrayed, only to fall asleep.

 

"We can't tell her." Amelia said sadly, arranging Two to lie comfortably. Alicia stepped forward, grabbing the immobile warframe and moving it easily. Behind them, the bed arced over Two's still form, covering her and then lifting into a cocoon shape that started to hover off the ground. A golden haze surrounded it and then, it was gone.

 

"No." Alicia agreed. "If we do, she will insist on coming. On helping. She isn't even half healed. It would hurt her, maybe kill her even with her warframe's systems repairing the damage. Everything is cleared with the hospital."

 

"I... feel... odd." Amelia said softly as she followed Alicia from the room. "This is... home." She slumped a bit. "I shouldn't go."

 

"You have proven you are trustworthy, Amelia." The Trinity replied calmly as she deposited Two's warframe on a conveyor that would take it to be serviced. "Besides... It's not like you will be alone."

 

How is she? The voice was odd, but clear. The small four legged form that stepped into view was also odd, but distinctive. No other Kubrow sized warframes existed. Or would.

 

"She is a mess, Kori. And she is there." Amelia said as she knelt. "May I?" She held out a hand.

 

You, I trust. The Kubrow replied and Amelia smiled sadly as the canine warframe's helmet retracted enough so she could scratch behind the canid's ears. Ah, that feels good. I need the calm. Nikis is... incensed.

 

"Everyone is." Alicia said with a shudder. "Brianna and Amelia's therapies are helping me cope. But I am angry too. Every single Tenno is. We all remember. We all know our enemy."

 

I know what you all told me. The lives lost. The foolishness that caused it. Kori replied, clearly uneasy. But this... this is excessive, even for Tenno.

 

"I know." Alicia sighed. "We have a lot of history, we Tenno. A lot of good. A lot of bad. But few things that stirred our ire survived very long. We thought that one was gone. It wasn't. We um... we don't take that well." Her tone was dry, but her posture was tense.

 

But why would she save Two? Kori pressed. And use a Grineer to do it? We need answers, Alicia. Not just death.

 

"Answers first." Alicia agreed. "But then..." She made a throat cutting gesture and the Kubrow barked in agreement. "What she did demands retribution."

 

"No argument here." Amelia replied. Both the Kubrow and the Trinity looked at her and the doctor flushed a bit. "I know about making bad choices. I do. But there are limits."

 

"At least it came out well in the end." Alicia's voice was gentle as she laid a hand on the other's shoulder. "For you, for Sara, for Serene." She had a wicked smile in her voice now. "And for Two." Amelia had the grace to blush.

 

"I am ready." Amelia said softly. Kori whined a little, but a pat from Amelia quieted her. Alicia sighed and moved to a locker nearby. She came back holding what looked for all the world like a golden necklace. Amelia incline her head up, pulling her body suit's neck down. Alicia snapped the necklace around Amelia's neck. The golden jewelry gave a hum and vanished from sight. Amelia swallowed hard. "I thought... I thought it would hurt."

 

"The whole idea is not to be noticeable." The Trinity said softly. "You are very brave, Amelia."

 

"With you, Jimmy and Brianna here..." Amelia said with a sigh. "You do not really need me. Two does. Iriana can use the help. This..."She waved a hand at her neck as she rolled the body suit's neck back up to cover what wasn't visible. "This is just insurance."

 

I don't want to lose you. Kori protested. You are kind. If that goes off...

 

"The secrets I know cannot get out, Kori." Amelia replied. "They cannot. I am glad of the chance to help Iriana. To save lives. Working with the clan has been... wonderful. But... I am not Tenno. I never will be."

 

"Never say never." A deep voice spoke from nearby and all turned to see Karl standing at a hatch. "Just when you think nothing can surprise you further... life has a way of doing just that." The Rhino sounded...amused.

 

"Karl?" Amelia asked, worried. "Is it done?"

 

"Shouldn't you be asking me that?" A tart voice asked and everything stopped as another warframe appeared nearby. A new one. A different one. "Hello Amelia, Alicia, Kori." She said formally. "I am Tiana."

 

Alicia bowed to the newcomer. "Well met, Sister. Mirage, huh?" Tiana chuckled.

 

"Yes, Mirage. The better to cause mischief among our enemies." The warframe's faceplate retracted and the familiar face of what had been the former Grineer Cora until she had taken the Tenno Trials smiled at them all. Then she sobered. "I do not know what is going to happen, but I do stand with our clan. Now and always."

 

"All right."Karl said with a nod. "Let's do this. Amelia, Kori... Alicia will convey you to Mercury. The rest of us...are hunting."

 

"Karl..." Alicia warned. "You know what Sun will do if any get in his way." It would not be pleasant.

 

"I know, Alicia." The Rhino said with a groan. "But Sun is running dark. We cannot contact him. For now? We lost the trace we had. We will keep looking." Iron might have bent under his tone now. "Until we find that thing and end it."

 

The others nodded. Vengeance would be served. Hot.

 

Edited by Kalenath
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Kalenath

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Dreams of Darkness

 

"You want us to do... what?"

 

Sun stood where he was and tried not to sigh as Healer Iriana glared at him. He had known that this would be a hard sell. The information that he needed resided in the mind of his prisoner. He personally did not have the power to simply extract it the way the interrogators at HQ would have been able. So... he had to improvise. Carefully. The tower security systems had no sense of humor. The three drones hovering around him were a very pointed him that being polite was a good idea.

 

Coming here hadn't been that bad. Maxine was enjoying the time out of the ship, sniffing here and there, whining, begging for pets and scratches and generally acting like a puppy. Which she was. He had left his weapons on the ship and brought her specifically to set the Healer's mind at ease while he asked for something that the ethical being would have... difficulty with.

 

"She has information we need." Sun said slowly. "The Lotus... sounds off, Iriana." Iriana paled slightly, but shook her head. "We need the information and taking this one to HQ is.. a bad idea I think."

 

"It gets worse." Iriana said quietly and Sun paused, looking at her. "The Elena Greensky was seen." Sun went still and Iriana nodded. "About half the Tenno in this system are hunting it right now."

 

"Oh dear..." Sun said quietly. Maxine gave a whine and sidled up to him. He scratched behind her ears, eliciting a happy sound. "Healer... We need the information. My prisoner has it. I hurt her, bad. But she is alive."

 

"Sun, you are asking me to abet torture." Iriana said softly. "I can't do that."

 

"No, I am not." Sun was trying to be reasonable. Not his most practiced ability. "I am asking you to fix her neck. No more, no less."

 

"And after?" Iriana's tone could have pierced steel.

 

"I won't do anything here, Healer." Sun said quietly. "You have my word on that. We all need closure on this, Healer. All of us. Every Tenno in this system. You know it. I know it." Iriana shook her head slowly. "Healer, please?" It went against the grain, begging. But Sun was no medic. "If I pull her out, she dies. We need to know how she found the ship and what the Grineer were planning to do with it." He shrugged. "Ordis is doing a..." He paused as Iriana hissed. "What?"

 

"Ordis? You still have the original...? You do know that Cephalon is insane, right?" The Healer asked carefully.

 

"And your point is?" Sun asked quietly.

 

"Sun..." Iriana gave a long suffering groan. "All right, point taken. It is nuts. You are nuts." She said with a small grin that faded. "We have... some problems at the moment, Sun."

 

"I heard there was a bioweapon contamination." Sun said carefully. All Tenno knew that the most ancient of Tenno enemies had returned and been stopped again. The sacrifice of the Phoenix would not be in vain. The Tenno would watch, would always remember.

 

"One of my staff yes." Iriana said with a sigh. "We have him in stasis currently while we seek a cure. But..." She shrugged. "Most of my staff are focused on that and our other patients. I literally don't have anyone I could use who is cleared for such things, Sun." Sun looked at her and she actually snarled at him. "No. I go into surgery in thirty minutes. A little girl with an autoimmune problem." Sun just stood and Iriana shook her head. "I know you are a hard hearted piece of work, Sun. But a little girl?" Maxine whined a little and Sun nodded with a sigh of his own.

 

"The longer we wait, doc, the more frenzied our kin will become." Sun said evenly. "You know it. I know it. It is not every day we get a chance for vengeance on one who hurt us so sorely." Hate colored his tone now and Iriana just looked at him. "Okay, okay..." He placated the healer. "Yes, I am irrational. Yes, I am driven."

 

"You have cause." Iriana slumped a bit. "We all do. We all feel the rage, the pain. The fear that is the residual of the attack." Sun nodded and she paused. "Do you think the Lotus...?" If the guide of the Tenno was corrupted...  Or even just distracted...

 

"I don't know." Sun admitted. "Which is why we really need to find out. Soon." Iriana shook her head, but pulled out a datapad and started scanning it. Sun let her work in silence.

 

"I have one possibility." Iriana said after a moment. " A new staff member. She hasn't been assigned duties yet and I know she is cleared." Sun looked at her and Iriana shook her head. "Her name is Amelia."

 

"Amelia?" The name exploded from the male Tenno's throat before he could stop himself. "The one who interrogated Serene? Stole the access ways to Orokin towers to give to the Corpus?"

 

"She wasn't in control of her actions, Sun." Iriana said sternly. "You know what they did to her. You have heard. Every Tenno in system has heard." Sun nodded reluctantly. "She hasn't lied about anything, has been remarkably open about everything. Her clearances are valid and current."

 

"I see." Sun said after a moment's thought. "And your view on this?"

 

"My personal view is that what you want is wrong." Iriana said calmly. "That you are as you have always been. A nutcase." She was absolutely serious. "So... You will be watched. If you step out of line, you will be ejected using whatever force is needed. Clear?"

 

"Clear." Sun said with a nod. "And for what it is worth, Healer? I hope the little girl gets better." Iriana just looked at him.

 

"Don't try to manipulate me, Sun." Iriana said sternly. "I know you don't care about such things. I will have facilities set up. You will not harm, antagonize or browbeat Amelia. Clear?" Her face assumed a stern mien. "That includes psychological." She snapped as he opened his mouth to protest. "You hurt people, Sun." Iriana said as he shut his mouth with a click. "It is what you do and you are good at it. Ancestors help us, we need you in these dark times, but so help me... if you torment my staff I will kick your stubborn Tenno @$$ right off this tower. Clear?"

 

"Clear." Sun said with a nod.

 

"I need to get prepped for surgery." Iriana said with a scowl. "A drone will be by to guide you to another room where your prisoner can be removed and treated. Amelia is escorted."

 

"Doc, I am not stupid." Sun said quietly.

 

"No, you are not." Iriana said with a sigh. "You are a psychopath, not stupid." She started moving but paused at the door. "Just so you know... Amelia is under the protection of Karl's clan." Sun went still and Iriana nodded. "You know what they would do."

 

"Fine." Sun groused, but nodded. "You have my word, Healer. I won't hurt her."

 

"She is a full doctor. She will be the charge physician, Sun." Iriana said with a glower.  "What she says, goes. She hates the Grineer almost as much as we Tenno do. Not a patch on how she feels about the Corpus but..." She shrugged. "I will see if she will help. I bet she will. But if she says 'No'..." She trailed off menacingly.

 

"If she says no, I will leave my prisoner here and start hunting from scratch." Sun said quietly. Iriana paused and he shook his head. "I don't always like what I am, doc. But I am good at it. This is what I am. All I am."

 

"I know." Iriana's face fell, but then she was gone. A moment later a drone came in. It flashed and he followed into another room. Maxine came with him.

 

Master? Maxine asked softly, her mental voice worried. What is wrong?

 

"Nothing, Maxine honey." Sun said with a sigh as he scratched her ears again. "I am not... civilized. Never was. Never will be."

 

What is 'civilized'? Maxine asked after a moment.

 

"Ah..." Sun groaned good naturedly. "You and your hard questions. Civilized means... acting in a way to promote order within a society. Basically." He qualified. "Like how a pack would operate. There is a hierarchy. I... don't always work within said hierarchy." Just a little understatement there.

 

You lead our pack. Maxine said, nuzzling his side. Sun smiled and nodded to her.

 

"That I do." Sun said scratching behind her ears. He went still as the door opened and a human woman in Tenno medical garb entered the room. She was followed by a Kubrow, but... not just any Kubrow. This one wore what was obviously a warframe! "Doctor Amelia?" Sun started, but broke off as Maxine gave an inquisitive bark. The armored Kubrow responded in kind. Both stepped forward and touched noses. "Maxine..." He chided the puppy gently.

 

No offense taken. The other Kubrow said quietly. Your friend is curious. I am as well. Amelia? She said, turning to look at the human.

 

"Sun isn't stupid." Amelia said quietly. "Go on, Kori." She smiled as the armored Kubrow and the puppy started circling each other, sniffing her and there, exchanging soft barks. "Kids, huh?" She asked Sun.

 

"The sooner we do this, the faster I can be off." Sun said without preamble. "What do you need?"

 

"Let me be sure I have this straight." Amelia said, not moving. "Your prisoner has information on the traitor ship."

 

"She was part of the team that found it." Sun agreed. Amelia swallowed hard and nodded.

 

"So..." Amelia moved to one side and started keying controls on a terminal that appeared under her hands. "You want us to pull her out of your warframe buffer. Then heal her injuries. Then... what?"

 

"Then I put her back in my warframe buffers and we leave." Sun said quietly.

 

"And then what?" Amelia asked, worried.

 

"Doc..."The male Tenno said carefully. "Do you really want to know?" Amelia swallowed hard and shook her head. "Smart." Amelia sighed and nodded.

 

"I will help. If just to get you off this tower." Amelai said sternly. "You worry people, Sun."

 

"I scare people, Doc." Sun corrected her. "And for what it worth? I know I do. I use that fear. But..." He shrugged. "In this case, not on any of your staff." Amelia sighed and nodded again. A table extruded from one wall and a drone moved over to hover next to it.

 

"There." Amelia said quietly, her hands flying over her controls. A golden field of energy appeared over the table. Human sized. Sun nodded. He moved to the table and held his hand over the golden field. A stream of particles fell from his hand, coalescing into a jerking form that suddenly stilled as Amelia worked her controls. "You really did a number on her neck, Sun..." Amelia complained absently as golden energy played across the still Grineer. Everywhere it touched, her armor vaporized, leavign just a thin membrane to cover her that left nothing to the imagination.

 

"It is what I do, doc." Sun did not take his eyes from the Grineer, who was staring around wildly. She couldn't move anything but her eyes. "Can you fix it?"

 

"Duh." Amelia sounded snappish now and Sun had to grin. Several golden armatures extended from the wall to touch the still form on the neck. "Fairly straightforward. One crushed vertebrae, two fractured..." Her voice was absent now. The Grineer was gasping now but a tube extended on it's own into her nose and she relaxed as the gas calmed her and kept her body oxygenated. Moment later a golden neck brace appeared around the Grineer woman's neck and snapped closed. "Done." Amelia said, stepping away from the controls. The armatures and tube retracted.

 

"Thanks, doc." Sun said as he held his hand over the still form on the table. She didn't scream this time as she was digitized. Probably didn't even feel it through the drugs.

 

"Give her an hour or two for the sedative to wear off. If you find out anything, forward it to Alicia." Amelia said with a snap as she waved to the door. "And if there is anything left when you are done..."

 

"There won't be." Sun said quietly. "But as for information? I will." Sun said as he clicked his fingers. Maxine looked up from where she was still sniffing Kori and came to his side. He nodded to Kori, bowed to Amelia and left the room.

 

They are afraid of you. Maxine complained as they walked towards the docking ring. Why are they so afraid of you, Master? You are kind.

 

"Only to my friends, Maxine." Sun replied as the airlock beckoned. "You ready for a nap?"

 

Do I have to? Maxine begged. It is so cold and my dreams are strange.

 

"What I have to do... is not for you to know, Maxine." Sun said as they entered his ship. Maxine sighed deeply and moved to her den. Sun paused, knelt down beside her and scratched her ears. "Rest well."

 

I don't like my dreams. Maxine said in a tiny voice. Sun scratched her ears again, then stepped back as the stasis chamber arced up and over his friend. His voice was small as he checked the readouts, seeing she was in perfect hibernation.

 

"Me neither." Sun shook his head and knelt. "Ordis, set course into the Deep Cold. Get us somewhere we won't be disturbed."

 

"Who would dare, Operator?" The voice of the Cephalon asked, but Sun did not reply. He was... busy. The Liset's engines rumbled , taking them away from the tower. Away from civilization. Towards Sun's true path.

 

It had been some time since he had last used this virtual simulation. He wouldn't get a second chance at this information.  He materialized in the room. It was as he had last seen it. The tools, the frame with restraints, the stimulation apparatus. All designed for one purpose. To get information from unwilling sources. He checked each and every item carefully. All was as it should be. He bowed his head and spoke.

 

"New subject. Grineer protocols." The form of the Grineer female appeared into the frame and the restraints locked shut. She woke shouting profanities. Sun shook his head. "Don't waste your strength, my dear." He kept his voice kind and soft with the skill of long practice. "You are going to need it."

 

"I will tell you..." The Grineer female stared at him, her eyes wide as he picked up a long tool with a sharp blade on the end. "I will tell you everything."

 

"Yes, you will." Sun said calmly as he twirled the tool. "Then you will tell it to me again. Then again. Then and only then will I let you expire."

 

"Who are you?" The Grineer screamed.

 

"My name is Sun." The Tenno replied softly as he stepped towards her. "My rank is Interrogator First Class." The Grineer's eyes went even wider. "As skilled as your 'Reclaimers' may be... they are limited. I am not. Shall we begin?"

 

"What do you want?" The Grineer screamed as the blade traced her arm, parting the membrane over it with no difficulty.

 

"What do I want?" Sun asked as power started playing over the bound Grineer's body. "Let's start with everything... I am going to ask questions, you will give answers. Lie and... it won't be fun for you. So, to begin. What is your name?" The energy snapping at her synapses had her screaming before the first cut even drew blood.

 

***

 

"Iriana." Amelia sounded sick and Iriana could relate. The Healer had finished her surgery. It had been rough, but they had managed. But now... Amelia looked just as rough and Iriana understood.

 

"You okay?" Iriana asked, then shook her head. "Stupid question. That Tenno..."

 

"I have never..." Amelia looked green and Iriana sighed, poured a drink and held it out to the other. Amelia drank the water without a glance. "There is something wrong with him."

 

"There are a lot of things wrong with Sun, Amelia." Iriana guided her colleague to a chair and pulled another close. "He is... very good at what he does, but..." She shook her head as Amelia started to cry. "Easy... Easy..." She held the other medic gently.

 

"What will he...?" Amelia broke off as Iriana laid a finger across her lips.

 

"No." The kind and gentle healer said quietly. "Focus on what we can do. On who we can save. That Grineer is dead. You did nothing but fix an injury. Focus on that, my dear."

 

"Yes, Healer." Amelia said weakly. "Even Kori was scared of him."

 

"Everyone sane is scared of Sun, Amelia." Iriana said tartly. "But come on, buck up. We have work to do." Amelia shook herself and nodded.

 

"The John Doe." Amelia gave herself a savage shake and nodded. "Did we ever find out where he came from?"

 

"No." Iriana said with a scowl. "Obviously a Grineer slave from the patterns of wounds. But... odd. He was interrogated. Heavily."

 

"Ow." Amelia winced in sympathy and then rose with her boss. They strode quickly to another room where a human male lay on an exam table. "The prosthesis?" Amelia asked as she looked at his face. Where an eye had been.

 

"Removed as soon as he arrived." Iriana said with a shrug. "Standard procedure even when the implants are not geared for surveillance as these were. We can regrow the eye easily enough. The neural trauma will be a problem."

 

"Agreed." Amelia paused. Something...

 

"Amelia?" Iriana asked quietly. "What is wrong?"

 

"I know him." Amelia said slowly. "But...from where?" Then her eyes went wide and she took a step back. "Iriana, he is Corpus!" Amelia grabbed for her belt and came up with a sonic scalpel. She held it like a dagger. But not... to attack? As if to ward off an atatck?

 

"What?" Iriana asked as alarms started to sound. "Amelia!"

 

"He was one of the Corpus docs who hurt me! Who made Sara!"

 

Edited by Kalenath
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Kalenath

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Wait, the Joe Doe person, that's Zachariah isn't it?

And Elena thought he was a priest... Hmmm...

Corpus clergy if they have male members. That's my bet anyway.

 

Do the Clergy have male members?

 

*whistles innocently*

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