[Fanfiction] Weapons

[KBTKaiser]

All is NOT as it seems.

 

Just saying.

Oh, I know.  That's why I'm always at ground zero waiting for the TWEEST to drop another teraton.

[Kalenath]

 

Memory

 

"Tenno Lis?"

 

The voice was soft and gentle, but despite herself, Lis couldn't help but jump a little. Just being in the dojo was hard. She had talked to Serena and that had been hard, but Serene understood.  She was pissed, but she understood. Coming here?

 

The Royal Guard were professionals but even professionals had off moments. Seeing a former renegade wandering around in the middle of their dojo would have likely strained the control of several of them. So, Lis hadn't. She had asked for an escort to the counselor's office. Such as it was. Lis knelt on the edge of an aquatic Zen garden. The gentle motion of the water and gliding of the fish within aided her in easing her thoughts. A good thing. She looked up to see a Nova Warframe standing nearby. From the marks on it, she had just been in the field.

 

"If this is a bad time, Guardswoman Lilly..." Lis began, only to pause as the Nova waved her worry away.

 

"Not a bad time." Lilly replied quietly. "For me. You look like you have the Solar System on your shoulders."

 

"Not the whole thing." Lis quipped a little. "Just a planet or two." She smoothed her robe and then forced her hands to remain still. The other Tenno looked at her and shook her head.

 

"I had hoped to talk to you." Lilly said with a nod. "What you went through was awful."

 

"Not as bad as some." Lis said with a wince. "I... They clapped me in stasis after my last mission and I woke up to this..." She waved her hands to indicate the current time. "I saw what they wanted and freaked."

 

"Just about any sane female would." Lilly said with a dark snort. "Hold on a sec..." She moved to one wall and Lis remained still as the Nova warframe went still and a lithe form slid out of it. The other Tenno pulled a set of robes from a hidden locker to put on over her bodysuit. "Just back from a training exercise. This will set you at ease. Do you want to sit?" She indicated the small platform in the middle of the room that held a tiny artificial island with benches.

 

"I don't know." Lis said sadly. "I have never done this."

 

"Never?" Lilly asked, concerned. "Not even with... the others?" She corrected herself before speaking the name of the leader of the renegades. Hate for him still ran deep in many people, Lis included.

 

"Only the medic Cora was a social sort." Lis said quietly. "None of the others. I...wasn't quite right for them, I think. I never really fit in. Cora and Karl tried to help. Made me welcome. The others never did. And then Karl left. Then Cora...died." Lis shook her head. "I never really fit. I thought it was because I wasn't true Tenno. Now? I just don't know."

 

"True Tenno?" Lilly asked as she walked to the center of the room and sat on one bench, beckoning Lis to another. Lis followed slowly and sat, carefully and stiffly. Lilly sighed and shook her head. "Sister Lis, relax. From what I have seen, you are more Tenno than many I have dealt with away from here. Most of my contemporaries would not have put up with half of the crap that the civilians here have dropped on you. Let alone some of us." Shame sounded in her voice now. "I give apology, Sister. We can be just as prejudiced as any."

 

"I know." Lis said quietly. "But...I don't think you are wrong to do so." She went still as Lilly sighed deeply. "Ah....?"

 

"The Royal Guard are not perfect, Sister Lis." Lilly said quietly. "Far from it. We make mistakes just like any do. But when we make mistakes... it tends to be... bad." The older Tenno shook her head. "You paid for your crimes. You did your punishment with honor. Now? You need to move on. You cannot live in the past. We need you."

 

"So everyone says." Lis said weakly. "But I can't see why. Even if I am a free Tenno now, I... I still bear the stigma of being one of Nicholas' renegades. One of his murderers." She said almost inaudibly.

 

"Sister." Lilly's voice was super gentle now. "Tenno are murderers. We are weapons. It is what we are. What we do. What we are bred and trained for. Although... You came to us late, did you not?" Lis nodded and Lilly sighed. "Sister. I would like to know how you joined us. I feel I do not know you. And that is wrong. You are my sister."

 

"It is not a very interesting story." Lis said, trying to muster the courage to tell the counselor 'no' without actually saying that.

 

"From what little Karl has said..." Lilly scoffed. "I bet it is. Did you really trap him under a ton of debris?" Her tone held humor mixed with awe.

 

"I..." Lis sighed and smiled a bit sadly. "Yes. Well... I don't know exactly how much it massed. But it was a lot of metal." She slumped a bit. "I don't remember it all. The cryo took its toll."

 

"I would like to hear your side of the story." Lilly said gently. "If you don't mind."

 

"Ah well..." Lis shrugged. "Nothing else on my schedule today. You?"

 

"My schedule is clear for the rest of the day." Lilly said as she leaned back a little. "So... You were a colonist?"

 

"I don't know." Lis said softly. "I don't remember my parents. I remember the ducts where I lived. Where I ran and hid every time the odd beings came close." Lilly's eyes went wide and Lis nodded. "Sentients. Yes. There were...several of us at first. But the others either ran afoul of traps, or were caught by patrols. Some just vanished and I have no idea what happened to them. Others..." She swallowed hard. "I wish I didn't know what happened to them."

 

"How long?" Lilly pressed gently.

 

"In the tunnels?" Lis asked and Lilly nodded. "I don't know. Time got fuzzy. But eventually, I couldn't fit in the smallest ones anymore. I knew I would get caught outside of my sanctuaries sooner or later. So I set traps, weakened supports, that kind of thing. I couldn't fight directly, but I could be sneaky."

 

"How long were you alone, Lis?" Lilly sounded as if she was on the verge of upset.

 

"I don't know." Lis replied calmly. "Like I said, time got fuzzy. I couldn't keep any chronometers near myself, the Sentients detected anything powered and hunted it down swiftly." Lilly nodded, but did not speak. "Probably only a couple of weeks after Jennifer vanished. She was the last one left with me. But then, she was gone one day when I woke up. I... wish I hadn't ever seen what happened to her." Lis said sadly. "Or remember it."

 

"Strong memories seem to withstand the cryo-nesia better. Maybe the chemical markers that start our memories are sharper?" Lilly said quietly. "Or so we have surmised." She shrugged. "Karl?"

 

"I had no idea what Tenno were." Lis said with a smile of memory. "Just that there were monsters all over the place where I was living. One day, I was foraging for food when I heard loud noises. Different noises. I was curious, but not totally stupid. I had an escape plan." She shook her head. "Didn't work quite as I had planned."

 

"Does anything ever work exactly as planned?" Lilly asked with a wicked grin and Lis smiled.

 

"Not in my experience." Lis agreed. "Anyway... I peered over pile of debris and there was a huge white form battling a horde of the monsters I knew. I was fascinated. I had never seen anything like that white armored form. He had a huge sword and he swung it as if it were made of paper."

 

"Karl." Lilly said with a nod that Lis matched.

 

"Karl." Lis said with sigh. "Not that I knew him at the time. I just watched while he tore them apart. But then he turned and looked right at me. Not near me, at me." She shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? I ran."

 

"I would have too." Lilly said with a shrug of her own. "Not knowing if he was an enemy or not? Oh yeah, I would have run. So... he followed?"

 

"I'll say." Lis said with a snort. "I couldn't lose him. Every time I doubled back, tried to evade him, he was right behind me. So, I led him to one of my deadfalls. He stopped and I dropped a mountain of junk on him." Lilly started to laugh and Lis smiled a bit forlornly. "I think I ticked him off."

 

"Ya think?" Lilly was laughing nonstop now, but she stopped as Lis' expression registered. Desolation. "Lis?" She asked, concerned.

 

"I made so much noise..." Lis said softly. "The remaining monsters converged on the area. I couldn't get away. I was snared by a net, blacked out and woke strapped to a table. Jennifer was there... but... it wasn't her anymore."

 

"Oh no..." Lilly said softly, her eyes wide. "No..."

 

"She was a thrall." Lis said sadly. "I screamed at her to run, to help me, to do anything. She ignored me. She was bringing a black mask towards me that hissed when the wall fell in. Karl. He had gotten free and tracked me." Lis said sadly. "He did what he does. He saved me. He killed all of them. Jennifer never even flinched from his blade, just kept reaching towards me with that black mask. I... didn't handle it well. What he did. But he was very gentle with me until I calmed down."

 

"I understand." Lilly was quiet and sad. "What we do is not pretty, nice or polite. It is needed. But..."

 

"Wrong." Lis agreed. "A necessary evil. But an evil."

 

"True." Lilly said softly. "So... what then?"

 

"He tried to drop me at a survival shelter." Lis said with a fond smile. "I wasn't cooperative. I kept screaming and crying every time he tried to leave. Every time he left, I ran off after him. Tried to sneak onto his ship. That never worked, but I kept trying. Finally, he left me with an old woman who sat down and sat on me. Literally. Her name was Leanna. It took several months, but I eventually called her 'Mistress'."

 

 

"Leanna...?" Lilly said, her tone awed. "Grand Master Leanna? The Banshee?"

 

"You knew her?" Lis asked, unnerved by this reaction.

 

"I did. She trained me." Lilly said, eyeing Lis in a new light. "You studied under her?"

 

"It...wasn't anything special." Lis said slowly. "She taught a bunch of people. Some human, some Tenno."

 

"Lis..." Lilly sounded somewhere between humor and awe now. "She was the most demanding of any of the instructors I have ever had. If you passed her tutelage..."

 

"I dunno if I passed." Lis said with a scowl. "She threw me out after two years. Told me to get lost and never come back." Lilly went totally still at that. Lis looked at her, confused.

 

"Lis." Lilly was shaking her head in dumbfounded amazement mixed with amusement. "A normal teaching cycle for Grand Master Leanna was ten years. And she would not have let you out without teaching you everything she could. She would not. It wasn't in her to do that. She refused far more students than she took. But once she took one? That student passed if it killed them. One poor student took thirty years to take the Trials. But he passed."

 

"She was an annoying, foul mouthed old witch!" Lis said sharply. She was not expecting Lilly to laugh. "What?"

 

"Yes, she was. But... Lis..." Lilly was grinning now. "You have met Nikis." Lis nodded. Lilly shook her head. "Leanna was one of his best protégés. She taught Tenno. It was what she did. For centuries. If she threw you out, then you had learned everything she could teach you. And in only two years..." She shook her head, awed. "I stayed with her for eleven." Lilly sounded shaken now. "I feel... kind of envious."

 

"Don't." Lis begged and Lilly relaxed. "I assume... she did not survive the Collapse?"

 

"No." Lilly said sadly. "She resides in the database now. Keeps the shades of our kin on their toes."

 

"I bet." Lis said, thinking. "All this time I thought I had failed her."

 

"If you hadn't met or exceeded her expectations, she never would have let you face the Trials." Lilly said with a firm shake of her head. "She wouldn't have. She was very set in her ways. But a good teacher."

 

''Set in her ways'?" Lis asked, incredulous. "One way to put it, I guess. Can't tell you how many times I dreamed of throttling her in her sleep." Lis froze and then her face fell. "I..."

 

"Lis." Lilly said gently. "It's okay. You didn't hurt Sara. You saved her life." She shook her head  "And you were hardly the only person to dream of throttling Grand Master Leanna. I sure did." Lis had to smile at the other's dry tone. "So... You faced the Trials."

 

"And passed." Lis said with a wince. "It was...not what I expected."

 

"No." Lilly agreed. "It wouldn't be. It is different for every Tenno. But you did pass. That does make you a sister. And one I have something in common with." Lis looked at her and Lilly chuckled. "We can share stories of how much we hated Grand Master Leanna." Lis snerked at that and Lilly grinned. But then it faded. "That wasn't why you came to me though."

 

"No." Lis said softly. "I talked to Sun." Lilly went totally still and Lis nodded. "He... it wasn't what I expected. He helped me get past a memory block."

 

"A block?" Lilly asked, concerned. "Who would...?" She trailed off as Lis bowed her head. The dots connected audibly. "No... Oh my god no..." Horror sounded.

 

"Someone... tried to get me to kill Sara." Lis said in a tiny voice. "I think... a Tenno. I...resisted."

 

"Anyone who can survive Grand Master Leanna's training and finish it in only two years had better be able to resist such." Lilly said firmly. "Or she would hop right out of the database and make you do sit-ups in a stream." Lis winced and nodded.  "What... what did you discover?"

 

"The voice was...wrong." Lis said softly. "It sounded like an old woman, but now? I am certain it wasn't one. Whoever it was demanded I kill Sara. Called her an 'it'." She could barely keep the anger from her voice now. Lilly nodded, her own face set.

 

"What else did it say?" Lilly's voice was suddenly cold and hard. But... not directed at Lis.

 

"It said I would purge the unclean from our midst." Lilly actually recoiled from Lis' soft words and Lis nodded. "Then it called Sara a 'monster' and said I would kill myself after to 'expunge the shame I brought to this sacred place'."

 

"Who the hell would dare?" Lilly actually sounded afraid now. "To... to control you... to kill Sara...? I..."

 

"People have said I bring shame here." Lis said quietly. "I have heard them. But the attack... it was coils of gray mist that solidified into nightmares." Lilly hissed and Lis nodded. "A Tenno mental attack. I faced a Nyx once who did something similar to me."

 

"Any Tenno can do such." Lilly's voice was far away. "At our core, we are energy. We can use far more of our inner energies than humans can. But... to do such a horrid thing. To attack a child?" She shook her head. "I know there has been...rumblings of discontent. But this..."

 

"I have no proof." Lis wanted to curl up under a rock somewhere as Lilly's gaze landed on her. "Just a memory that may or may not have been planted." Lilly tilted her head in curiosity and Lis swallowed hard. "The voice...felt wrong. It wasn't an old woman no matter what it sounded like."

 

"One of us did this." Lilly sounded stunned and Lis could relate.

 

"It could have been me." Lis said sadly. "Sun said it wasn't a delusion or psychosis of mine. But I can't know for sure." She froze as Lilly surged to her feet. But the other simply strode to where she sat and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in gentle grips.

 

"If Sun says it wasn't you, then it wasn't you." Lilly gave Lis' hands a squeeze and released them. "But it was one of us. A Tenno hurt Sara. Again."

 

"I..." Lis felt something stir within her. Something old. Something was worrying her. Lilly's reaction... scared her. This Nova was powerful and old herself. And now? Angry. "Whoever did this will do it again."

 

"No, they won't." Lilly snapped as she rose and held out a hand to Lis. "Come sister. Time to end this."

 

"Lilly..." Lis begged as the other hauled her to her feet gently. "Don't..." She gulped as Lilly moved to her warframe, shedding her robes as she went. She slid into it and it went live again. "Lilly..." She begged.

 

"No one will die." Lilly promised the scared younger Tenno as she held out a gauntleted hand. "But we need to get to the bottom of this fast. Serene is angry enough as it is." She shuddered dramatically. "Come."

 

"Lilly..." Lis begged, but Lilly just started off, tugging Lis behind her. She did not move as fast as she could. Nova warframes were insanely quick even when they didn't use Wormholes to transit huge chucks of area in the blink of an eye. She quailed as they passed several prime warframes that turned and followed.

 

Finally, Lilly led the small cavalcade into a large room that was set up for training. A salle. Several pairs of warfames and Tenno in robes were sparring or working on techniques around the area. All of the activity came to a stop as Lilly entered the salle and strode towards the being in the middle. The Ash Prime warframe stared at her, then at Lis. The derision in his posture came through clear and strong.

 

"Don't say it." Lilly snapped at the Ash Prime who froze in place. The Nova's tone might have frozen hard vacuum. "I want everyone's attention. Now."

 

This was not a kind and gentle counselor. No. This Tenno demanded respect. She got it. All eyes turned to her and the robed forms were wary. The warframes' postures said the same as a small circular thing appeared in Lilly's hand. Lis' eyes went huge as a Glaive sprang into life in her hand. Not a Prime or regular Glaive, no, this one was longer, sharper and deadlier... A copy of the First's Glaive! Lilly... snarled.

 

"Who the f*** attacked Sara Priosa?"

 

[Raphaello]

Never EVER mess with a healer. Someone is in for it and I really don't blame them if they stay quiet.

[Shadow977]

Lilly really doesn't want to F*** around.

[Shadow977]

Never EVER mess with a healer. Someone is in for it and I really don't blame them if they stay quiet.

Son of a *@##$ you ninja'd the first comment from me

[Kalenath]

Never EVER mess with a healer. Someone is in for it and I really don't blame them if they stay quiet.

 

Lilly is a Counselor and I have known a couple who could be DANG scary when they wanted to be.

 

And if someone doesn't speak up fast, she WILL lose her temper.

 

A Nova losing her temper... not pretty...

Edited September 16, 2014 by Kalenath

[Spikey844]

And now this gets fun.

[Kalenath]

And now this gets fun.

 

You have an... ODD definition of fun.

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

Challenges

 

"Lilly... what?" The Ash Prime sounded stunned, but he didn't move. Wise as keyed up as Lilly seemed.

 

"Don't play stupid, Guiscard!" Lilly snapped, her tone icy. "I know you have been spouting your BS about Tenno purity to anyone who will listen. This is not about Lis." The Nova said with another snarl. "This is about Sara. One of us attacked her."A horrified gasp swept the room. "Who? I want to know and I want to know now!" Her anger skittered around the room as if on claws.

 

"Lilly..." The Ash Prime didn't move. "That doesn't make any..." He ducked as the Glaive flew from Lilly's hand and arced just over his head. "Lilly!"  He protested as it flew back to her hand and she caught it effortlessly.

 

"Guiscard. Shut up. " Lilly's tone was quiet, but no less angry. "If I have to, I will get Sun to come in here and talk to every last one of us. You know I will do that if I have to." The Ash stiffened and Lilly continued. "Who attacked Sara? I am waiting!" Her tone said that her patience was running out swiftly.

 

"Lilly..." One of the robed Tenno shook her head nearby. "None of us would dare. Serene is not one to anger. We all know this."

 

"Apparently not all. One of us did." Lilly snapped and the one who had spoken paled. Lilly continued, still in that icy tone. "And before anyone says anything, Lis here was interrogated by Sun and he corroborated it. A Tenno attacked Sara." The room... stilled. "Do I need to tell you what Serene will do when she finds out? I really want to have something, anything to show her before she finds out!" She shuddered. "I do not want to have to clean up the mess she will leave. Any of us could have done it. All it would take is a minor mental push. She isn't trained. She isn't defended. She is a small girl. Weak and sick. Easy prey." The derision in her voice could have cut steel. "We have all been on guard details near her. Every. Last. One. Of. Us."

 

"Lilly..." Guiscard sounded sick now. "She is a little girl. A hurt little girl. Yes, I am..." He glanced at Lis. "...concerned. But about Sara?" He demanded. "She is trying so hard to fit in. To be good. You know I wouldn't do that." A murmur of agreement came from all around. "Even if we dared Serene's wrath, Sara is not a valid target. She never was. She is kin." He shrugged. "Well. Half kin..."

 

"You... dare..." Lis couldn't imagine who had spoken, but then she went still. She had. All eyes in the room shifted from Lilly to her. Lis squared her shoulders and spoke evenly. "So any who were not born Tenno are... lesser?" She asked in a soft voice. Lilly looked at her but did not speak. "'False'?" Her tone hardened as more than one in the room inhaled in shock.

 

It hadn't been that long ago that there had been a schism in the ranks of the Tenno. 'True' Tenno versus 'False' Tenno. It had ended, but not without dreadful cost.

 

"I didn't say that!" Guiscard snapped. "But she is only half..." He froze as Lis moved. She moved right past Lilly and stood in front of him. From his position in the salle, he was the training master. She didn't care.

 

"I find your behavior.... dishonorable." Lis said softly, but her words carried easily to the entire hall. "I challenge." A murmur of disbelief circled the hall. Lilly... did not join it. Her posture was smug!

 

"Denied." Guiscard said in a dismissive tone. "Get out of..." Then he was flying backwards as Lis slid under his guard and tripped him, kicking out at the same time. He hadn't been prepared for her sudden rush. After all... Who in their right mind attacked a warframe while not wearing one? He snapped to his feet and his skana was in hand as Lis set herself, her own hands empty.

 

"You dishonorable piece of crap!" Lis snapped. "You mutter and murmur, but when faced by a foe who might, might threaten you, you flee? Such a... wonderful Tenno." Guiscard snarled at the insult but did not move. Wise of him. Lilly's Glaive was poised and ready. "Or are you just a bully? Afraid of a base, Guiscard?" Lis inquired coldly. At that, everyone stiffened. Grineer called humans 'base line', 'base' for short. Grineer were bullies, the strong taking from the weak. It was what they were. All they were. Lis shook her head and turned back to Lilly. "Never mind. I shouldn't have expected to find honor here."

 

"Don't turn your back on me, renegade!" Guiscard snapped. Lis looked over her shoulder at him, but he hadn't moved. Lilly was still ready to throw.

 

"I was a renegade, yes." Lis' voice was quiet, but carried easily. "Do you think I had a choice? I was in my first year in the clan when they rebelled. I..." She slumped. "Yes, I trusted Nicholas. I shouldn't have. I should have left when Karl called on us to. But Nicholas... When he spoke, you believed." Sadness sounded in her voice now. "He was so charismatic. You wanted to believe it wasn't insanity that he was spouting.  Even when he ordered me to kill people who were just doing their jobs... I wanted to believe!" Tears were falling now as she turned to face Guiscard who was staring at her. "What do you know of pain and regret, Guardsman? What the hell do you know? I had to kill people who had no chance against me because my clan leader ordered me to! Because they knew right from wrong and I didn't. I couldn't."

 

"Where, Lis?" Lilly's soft voice cut through the silence that had enveloped the salle like her Glaive might have.  "Where was that?"

 

"Mars." Lis said quietly. "Nicholas said he wanted the warheads for the plutonium. For the reactors. A thousand years of power for the taking. We... we believed him. The Marines who blocked our way did not. They had no chance against us. None. And they fought and died anyway!" She slumped in place. "I am a renegade. I am a murderer. I tried to moderate my toxins to sedate. To disable the Marines non lethally and the others killed everyone anyway!" She shook her head. "I managed to save one. One!" She speared a lone finger at Giscard who flinched away.  She was screaming now but no one seemed to notice. "And what did Nicholas do? He enslaved the poor guy! Used Sentient tech on him!" She shook her head. "I didn't know about the enthrallment... until later... but I saw the Marine... he... he wasn't the same."

 

"Gunny Miguel." Lilly said softly.

 

"You can call me renegade, you can call me base, you can call me anything you @(*()$ want!" Lis screamed at Guiscard who was staring at her. "Nothing you do or say can match what I call myself. Fool! Traitor! Coward! Weakling! I am all of that! All of that and more!" She shook her head angrily, dashing the tears from her face with the sleeve of her robe. "But when I find who hurt Sara, I will hurt that person and drag them kicking and screaming to explain to Serene why." She set herself and nodded to the frozen Ash. "Sara is a child. A child born of fear and hate, made by monsters for a monstrous purpose. But she is a child! A weak and sick child who was rescued by love. If you threaten her, I will take your broken body to Serene or die trying." No idle threat this. A solemn vow.

 

"Well, Guiscard?" Lilly... sheathed her Glaive. "What say you?"

 

"I..."  The Ash shook his head slowly. "Challenge accepted and..." Lis stiffened as he knelt and bowed his head. "You prevail."

 

"Do not kneel to me." Lis said with a low moan. "I am... unworthy." She turned for the door, but several Tenno in Prime warframes were blocking her path. "Please." She begged. She went totally still as a murmur swept the room.

 

'Sister to sister' 'Brother to sister'

 

"No!" Lis pleaded, her hands coming up to cover her ears. "I am not worth it!" She screamed. She jumped as Lilly laid a hand on her arm, easing Lis into a gentle embrace. Lis was fighting her tears with everything she was worth but...

 

"We disagree." Lis lost her battle and sobbed as Lilly held her. Hand were touching her. Offering comfort, offering strength that she needed. Finally, her tears were spent and she just stood, Lilly holding her. Lilly sighed as she rubbed Lis' head gently. "Someone hurt Sara. Lis says it was coils of gray mist that solidified into Sara's worst nightmares. That sounds like a Tenno attack, no?"

 

"It does." Guiscard sounded calm, but it was a facade. He was just as angry as Lilly and Lis now. "We need to be checked. All of us. Me first."

 

"Who will...?" Lis started to say and went still as Giscard moved to stand near her and held out his hands to her. "No... I... I can't."

 

"You heard the voice." Giscard said quietly. "I bet you will recognize it."

 

"I doubt it." Lis said weakly. The Ash looked at her and she sighed. "It...wasn't right. That voice. It wasn't an old woman like it sounded. It was as if someone was disguising their mental signature."

 

"Then we need Sun to check." Giscard said with a nod. Lis went still as all of the other Tenno in the room nodded. "If one of us did such a horrific thing... Then anyone could be at risk. Even the Empress." Lis was shaking her head, but Giscard was not dissuaded. "Lis, think. We all have to trust one another. We have to. I... may spout as Lilly here says, but do you really think I would knowingly harm a child?"

 

"I want to say 'no'." Lis said weakly. "But... I don't know. I... want to believe. But..." Lilly hugged her gently again.

 

"Once violated, trust is nearly impossible to regain." Lilly said quietly. "But you are strong. We do need you. Anyone who can pass Grand Master Leanna's training in two years we need. Bad."

 

"Lilly?" Giscard actually sounded awed. "She...studied with Grand Master Leanna?" A hum of awe went around the room that faded as Lilly nodded.

 

"And that evil crone kicked her out after only two years." Lilly said with a grin in her voice. At that, Giscard shook his head. "You know what that meant." Lis wilted a little under the Ash Prime's scrutiny.

 

"Then I have done you a grave disservice, sister." Giscard said quietly. "Anyone who passed her training was worthy to bear the title 'Tenno'. It took me... a while."

 

"It took him fifteen years." Lilly said with a snort. The Ash Prime sighed, but it was obviously humorous. Lis stared from the Nova to the Ash Prime and back, her eyes wide. "And we know that she didn't let just anyone through her teaching."

 

"She did kill students occasionally." Guiscard said quietly. Lis gulped and the Ash nodded. "To finish in two years... Dang... I misjudged you, Lis. Forgive me, Sister?" He asked formally.

 

"Apology accepted. If you will accept mine." Lis said sadly. "I hated you. All of you. You were... so much better than me. I knew that. But seeing you... like this... I... wanted you to be better than me. I hated you when you were not."

 

"No Tenno is perfect, Sister Lis." Guiscard said quietly. "Perfection is an impossible goal, but one to strive for. I will take your apology. Now..." He shook his head. "We need to find out what happened. If one of us did attack Sara, then we need to know. Now."

 

"It might have been a subconscious thing." Lis said, a bit timid still.

 

"We will figure it out." Lilly gave Lis a squeeze of approval. "With your help."

 

***

 

"None of us?"

 

Lilly and Lis both said the same thing at the same time. Guiscard and Sun both seemed tense and Lis could understand. They were still in the salle and a procession of Royal Guard had come in, been scanned by Sun and left. But then he had shaken his head. Lilly still wore her warframe, but her faceplate was retracted now.

 

"I haven't done full sweeps." Sun said with a shrug. "But none of any of the ones I have scanned here have the same mental feel of the one I sensed in Lis' mind. It is not conclusive, but my gut feeling is that they are all horrified by this. None of them did it." Serene growled from where she sat nearby, Sara on her lap. Mishka stood beside her, her face ashen.

 

"Someone did." Serene said sharply. Sara hugged her tight and Serene returned the hug. "Scan me."

 

"Mom!" Sara protested.

 

"Serene, it wasn't you either." Sun said with a sigh. "I know your mental signature. It wasn't you." Serene looked as if she was going to argue for a moment, then she sighed and relaxed as Sara hugged her tighter.

 

"Well someone attacked Sara twice." Lis said into the silence that fell. "And that was a Tenno technique. Or..." She paused. "Or was it...?" She mused. "It felt like one, but if none of the Tenno present did it... Then someone else did."

 

"I am not perfect." Sun said quietly. "I might have missed something. But I was careful."

 

"Sun, I will take your 90% over most people's 100%." Serene said with a small smile. "If you didn't find an assailant, one isn't there. So... where does that leave us?"

 

"Set a trap." Sara said quietly. All eyes landed on her and she met them calmly. "Whoever did it will do it again."

 

"And what are we supposed to use for bait?" Lis asked, then shook her head violently when Sara looked at her. "No! Not going to happen."

 

"Lis." Sara said quietly. "I trust you."

 

"I don't!" Lis said sharply. "I was lucky both times. Whoever it was didn't want to fight me. Or..." She paused. "Couldn't fight me?" She asked nobody, her face thoughtful. "I... never sensed any counterattacks. Most Tenno would have responded to my assaults, yes?" She asked Lilly who pursed her lips but nodded.

 

"It's basic training for Warriors, yes." Lilly mused. "Sun? Your thoughts?" The Loki Prime was a long moment in responding and when he did it was slow and careful.

 

"Whoever did this had some training." Sun said quietly. "That is clear from the attempted suggestion placed in Lis' mind. And the fact that whoever it was covered their tracks with a block. But you are right, Lis." He nodded to her. "Any Warrior, when attacked, will counterattack if possible. It is a trained reflex from our earliest training. Mental or physical, any attack meets a response."

 

"So..." Lis filled the empty air when Sun stopped speaking. "Someone trained as a Tenno. But... not a Warrior." Sara inhaled sharply and Lis looked at her.

 

"The only Tenno on this station who are not Warriors or Warrior trained..." Sara said slowly. "Are Mishka and me... But... Mishka wouldn't do that. She wouldn't!" The girl said sharply as the older Tenno all looked at one another.

 

"Mishka." Lis said slowly as she held out her hands. "Touch my mind." Mishka didn't want to take Lis' hands, that was patently obvious. Sara jerked but Serene held her gently and firmly. "Sara... it's okay."

 

"No." Sara said softly. "No! It can't be Mishka! It...can't be..."

 

"Sara." Sun said softly as he took Lis' hands in his own and they both grasped Mishka's limp hands. "We need to know." It was the work of moments, then both shook their heads in unison. "It wasn't her either." Mishka slumped in relief and Lis gave her a squeeze as Sun retreated a step.

 

"I..." Sara swallowed hard and then slowly slid out of Serene's lap. "I..."

 

"It's okay, Sara." Lis said quietly as she handed Mishka to Lilly who held the shuddering girl gently. "We need to know." She took a step towards Sara and paused as Sara retreated a step. "No one will hurt you, Sara."

 

"I... Did I... try to hurt myself?" Sara begged Lis who stepped close and took her hands in gentle grips. "Using... you?"

 

"Sun?" Lis asked as she held Sara's hands gently. But then she gasped. The feeling...was familiar. "Sara..." The girl recoiled and when she looked up, her face was a mask of fear. "Sara... no... It wasn't conscious."

 

"I am... dirty..." Sara said in a slow and deliberate voice. Serene stared at her, the female Tenno's face slowly paling. "I... I heard them call me unclean. They are right... I am a monster!"

 

"No, Sara." This from Guiscard. "We were wrong. You are a victim. Let Sun test." Sara jerked, but Lis held her hands as Sun took a slow step close. "Easy, girl..." The Ash Prime said in a soft voice.

 

"You... I..." Sara shook her head savagely as the Loki Prime stepped close and laid a gentle hand on her head. "I... I can't... What have I done?" He went still.

 

"Sara." Sun's voice... broke. For the Interrogator to act emotional... "Oh Sara."

 

"I did it... didn't I?" Sara asked, her heartache clear to everyone with ears. "I hurt Lis. Tried to get her to hurt me... Didn't I?" Sun nodded slowly and Sara slumped. "What have I done?" She screamed. Serene went even paler, but then she rose and took a step towards Sara. "No! Stay away! I... No!"

 

"It is not your fault, Sara." Lis said slowly. "Easy, Sara. Easy..." She crooned.

 

"I love you, Lis and I hurt you!" Sara said with mounting anger. "I... I got everyone upset! They are right. I am... filthy. Dirty... un... unclean..."

 

"That is not true." Lis said softly, pulling Sara into a hug. "Sara, you are sick and hurting. I know all about that, Sara. It is okay, Sara. We will make it okay."

 

"Lis..." Sara hugged her back for a  moment and then slid out of her arms. "No. You would try and I would hurt you again." She shook her head and her voice hardened. "I won't allow it."

 

Without any further warning, Sara dropped a smoke bomb and was gone!

 

Edited September 17, 2014 by Kalenath

[TestSubject2159]

well F***.

[Spikey844]

* does a tap dance*

He he he I knew it would get fun.

*caclkes*

[Shadow977]

S#&$ is heavily going down.

[Kalenath]

* does a tap dance*

He he he I knew it would get fun.

*caclkes*

 

*Female growl from the shadows*

 

'Are you... happy that Sara is hurting? Scared out of her mind and running from the only people who might be able to help her?'

 

A night black Banshee warframe appears from the darkness, her bow held ready. She simply exudes barely repressed rage.

 

 

NOT Two

 

Edited September 17, 2014 by Kalenath

[Shadow977]

*Female growl from the shadows*

 

'Are you... happy that Sara is hurting? Scared out of her mind and running from the only people who might be able to help her?'

 

A night black Banshee warframe appears from the darkness, her bow held ready. She simply exudes barely repressed rage.

 

 

NOT Two

 

I think that's my que of getting outta here.

[Vahlak]

I think that's my que of getting outta here.

Unless you can out run sound, your screwed.

[Kalenath]

Unless you can out run sound, your screwed.

 

He can TRY... He will die tired.

[Shadow977]

He can TRY... He will die tired.

Her anger isn't actually directed to me but i don't want to be anywhere near when She catches poor Spikey.

 

I don't think i'll make it far enough though.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Shadow977

[Kalenath]

Her anger isn't actually directed to me but i don't want to be anywhere near when She catches poor Spikey.

 

Serene has excellent target control, but still...

 

Might NOT want to move. if you flee, you draw a predator's attention. (Which Serene IS btw if you haven't guessed) That rarely ends well for the fleeing one.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Kalenath

[Shadow977]

Serene has excellent target control, but still...

 

Might NOT want to move. if you flee, you draw a predator's attention. (Which Serene IS btw if you haven't guessed) That rarely ends well for the fleeing one.

Oh S#&$ i completely forgot about that....That's what i get for sleeping in Biology class.

[Jeahanne]

*giggles*

I feel like a bad person for finding all of that stuff involving Spikey amusing, but I do anyhow. I'm sorry?

Edited September 17, 2014 by Jeahanne

[Kalenath]

*giggles*

I feel like a bad person for finding all of that stuff involving Spikey amusing, but I do anyhow. I'm sorry?

 

Don't be. He deserves every moment of wrath people throw at him. Serene won't KILL him or anything...

 

 

She isn't that NICE...

 

[Jeahanne]

Don't be. He deserves every moment of wrath people throw at him. Serene won't KILL him or anything...

 

 

She isn't that NICE...

 

 

Well in that case, I'll be in Serene's cheering section, somewhere safe (wherever is most useful/out of the way to her).

[Kalenath]

 

Chase

 

"Sara!" Lis screamed. She wasn't alone. "How the hell? Seal the room!"

 

"She teleported!" Guiscard was moving fast, but then he stopped at a wall. "Here! She is in the ducts!"

 

"Contact maintenance!" Lis snapped as she darted for where Guiscard had a vent cover off. There was simply no way a Tenno in a warframe was going to fit in there. Lis slid in like a greased eel. "Track her!" She called behind her as she slid forward. Sara was smaller than Lis was, but not by much. "Sara!" She called. "Sara, stop! We can help!"

 

"Leave me alone!" Came a cry from ahead and Lis poured on the speed.

 

She had to catch Sara before the girl got hurt accidentally or hurt herself intentionally. The ducts were not safe. Fans, sheer drops, even some traps and defenses left over from when Avalon was built all made the air vents a dangerous place. This was not a good place to be travelling. But Sara was, so Lis would. She had to.

 

"Sara, it is not your fault." Lis slid aside around a corner as a clang came from ahead. "Sara, stop!" Then her heart plummeted as shrill scream sounded. "Sara!" She cried, doubling she speed. She jerked to  a halt as something flashed ahead of her. She stared and then slowly, ever so slowly, reached out and tapped the small flashing object. The tiny explosive device shut down and Lis breathed a sigh of relief. But... Sara hadn't come this way. Where had she gone? She shook her head. "Com!" She commanded and a hiss of static sounded in her ear. "Dammit!" Lotus! She called desperately. I lost her! She was just ahead of me and now she isn't! Tell me you have her on scan!

 

I have been monitoring. The Lotus' voice was calm and serene as always. But worry was there too. That area is difficult to penetrate with scanners. It is automated systems. Most have not been touched by humans hands in millennia.

 

She has to be here! Lis said sharply, glancing around. Then her eyes lit on something. A panel nearby that was just a little off kilter. As if someone had replaced it a little too quickly. I know she and Mishka played in the ducts until we begged them to stop, but this... She slowly and carefully pried a panel off a wall and a small passage shone beyond. If she hits a trap... I already found one explosive.

 

I cannot track her effectively, Tenno Lis. The Lotus said, worried. But those air vents are not endless. She will have to come out somewhere. When she does, I will vector teams to her location.

 

Tell them to be gentle. She is not rational. Lis said as she slid forward slowly, then stared at a long dark area that opened beneath her. A fragment of cloth shone on a protruding piece of metal and Lis went still as she saw wetness on it. Blood. She is hurt! I am following!

 

Tenno Lis, be careful! The Lotus commanded. I cannot scan you either. You are not in a warframe.

 

Sara is hurt. Lis said with a snarl as she eased her feet into the shaft below. I am not leaving her.

 

And if we wind up having to rescue you? The Lotus replied. Then the guide of the Tenno sighed. Go. Be careful, please?

 

I will. Lis promised as she let go and slid down the shaft. There was no reply and Lis tried again. Lotus? She sighed inaudibly as she heard no response. "Great... scanner and com resistant. Joy. Who the hell builds air vents to be scanner and com resistant?" She was not expecting a reply and she did not get one.

 

She slid down the shaft, her back against one wall, her feet moving swiftly down as she went. She was literally running down the wall with her back against the other, the pressure of her steps holding her against the other. Vertical Parkour. Her eyes were roving, looking for other passages, any sign of the girl she sought. But nothing. Then she came to an end and braced herself above the opening for a moment. Below her, she could see blackness. A dim form lay huddled on the floor. It was a long ways down, at least ten meters.

 

"Sara?" Lis called, but the form did not move. "Damn it... Com?" There was no response and Lis snarled. Lotus? She tried but again. No reply. "Hold on, Sara. I am coming."

 

Gravity was always a harsh mistress. Tenno learned very early on how to fall. Lis had learned that lesson many, many times while running and hiding in ducts as a child. Ten meters was a long way, but the area looked clear except for the still form that lay beneath her. Lis spared a quick glance around, but no visible signs showed in the darkness that was the chamber beneath her.

 

"Metal floor doesn't give..." Li said to herself. "I must or I will break. Be as water... flow..." She focused her mind as she had been taught and then retracted her legs and fell like a stone. She angled herself and caught on something. She jerked away so she wouldn't land on the human form below her. She landed with an oof and rolled as she had been taught, letting the energy of her fall transfer into the floor away from her. It hurt, but nothing broke so she must have done it right. She shook herself and rolled to her feet, reaching for the still form beside her. "Sara?"

 

Sara lay still, blood flowing from a cut on her forehead. Lis checked it quickly and shook her head. Scalp wounds bled a lot and there didn't seem to be any damage to the bone underneath. But the way Sara was lying, Lis didn't want to move her. Ten meters was long way to fall for a human, especially a weak and sick human girl. Lis shook her head and quickly pulled Sara's belt from the girl's waist. Heaven only knew what other tricks the girl had in there. Lis knew Sara had a set of throwing knives as well as other surprises hidden, but the smoke bomb had been new. And where had she learned how to teleport? That...wasn't normal. Sara wore no warframe, so... Maybe she had just managed to move quickly enough when the smoke bomb had hidden her? But no... Guiscard was an Ash. He knew the difference between a smoke bomb's invisibility and a teleport. She went still as Sara moaned.

 

"Easy, Sara." Lis said quietly. "Easy..."

 

"Lis?" Sara sounded confused. No surprise with a head wound. "No... get away..."

 

"I am not leaving you, you silly girl." Lis said in a mock stern voice. "So get it..." Her voice trailed off as Sara's hand moved and... "No!" Lis grabbed for the tiny device that Sara had hidden in a sleeve and they both struggled for it.

 

Everything stopped as a muffled report sounded. Lis... felt faint. Sara was staring at her.

 

"No..." Sara begged.  "No, Lis no!" She screamed as the tiny one shot hideout pistol fell from her hand. Lis put a hand to her abdomen and she felt hot wetness. She had been shot. But... it wasn't going to kill her quickly from what she felt.

 

"Sara..." Lis said softly as she crumpled, her energy fading. "Come here." She held out her hand and pulled Sara close. "It's okay, Sara. It's okay..." She said weakly as Sara was starting to cry. "It is not your fault. It never was."

 

"Lis, I am sorry." Sara blubbered. "I didn't... I didn't mean to... They all talked as if I wasn't there. Dirty... unclean... half breed..."

 

"Not your fault." Lis said, hugging Sara tight. "Not your fault, Sara." She said fiercely. "We Tenno are supposed to be better than that, Sara." The shock was fading and the pain was setting in. But it was manageable. "Sara..." She ruffled the girl's hair affectionately, careful to avoid the matted mess of blood and hair. "This wound won't kill me fast, Sara. But you are bleeding too. We both need help. Is there a com in here anywhere?"

 

"I don't know." Sara stared around at the dark chamber. "I have never been in here."

 

"Me neither." Lis pulled Sara's belt to her and searched it until she found  a small flashlight. Sara looked at the belt and Lis snarled at her. "Don't even think it. Do you have any idea what Serene would do to me if I let you suicide?" She asked with a shudder.

 

"I don't deserve you, Lis." Sara said weakly. But she held her hands clasped tight to her chest.

 

"I don't care." Lis said with a snap. "I love you and I am not going to give up on you. Clear?" She asked with  snap and Sara smiled as she nodded.

 

"Totally clear, Miss Tyrannical Tenno Type Person." The girl said with a smile and Lis surprised herself with a laugh. Sara had called her that occasionally when Lis had been forced to take charge during Serene's disability. She hissed a little. That hurt. "Lis?" Sara asked, worried.

 

"Hurts." Lis said with a grimace. "But... I will live." She swept the light around the room and whistled in awe. "Wow... this place hasn't been used recently." Indeed, the dust was finger deep in places. Sara did not move but her eyes followed the light as well. Finally, Lis saw what she wanted. A control panel. "Come on, Sara. We both need medical attention and you need help. It is not your fault." She repeated as she rose slowly and painfully. Sara rose to stand with the hurt Tenno.

 

"I don't remember hurting you or commanding you to hurt me." Sara said uneasily. "If I did... I might do it again..."

 

"I am on guard now, Sara. It won't happen." Lis reassured her as she stepped up to the panel. The controls were not anything she knew. "Dang it..." She shook her head. She was forgetting things. Maybe she had hit her own head? "Com?" She called but there was no reply. "Who the hell builds a room with such protections and...why?" She demanded. Lotus? She called in her mind, but there was no reply. She tapped a control, but again, nothing happened. "Dead?"

 

"I don't think so." Sara said, her voice uneasy. Lis spun to see the girl staring at the floor at her feet. Floor that was starting to glow! "What is...?"

 

"SARA GET OFF THE PLATFORM!" Lis screamed as she threw herself at the girl, but the immobilization field hit them both and she knew no more.

 

***

 

"What do you mean, they are gone?" Serene begged. She stared at Eliza, but the Empress just shook her head, her face severe. "How can they be gone?"

 

"We tracked them to a disused portal nexus chamber." Lilly stood at attention before her Empress. Others of the Royal Guard stood at similar attention. All braced to deliver bad news.  "It hasn't been used in millennia. The area was apparently used for maintenance supply when Avalon was first built and sealed off several hundred years before the Collapse. But the portal field had been activated. Accidently, from what we can determine. The controls were... a mess."

 

"Then we can track it." Eliza said with a nod that faltered as Lilly shook her head. "Guardswoman?" She demanded.

 

"There was no guide pulse sent, Empress." Lilly said softly. Serene stared from Lilly to Eliza who paled.

 

"What does that mean?" Serene demanded. "Is it going to scramble their molecules across space and time? What?" She snapped, fear for both her daughter and for Lis rising to a crescendo.

 

"No, Serene." Eliza rose from her throne and strode to where Serene and Mishka stood. "The system was designed expressly not to do that. The safety features will not allow for quantum transportation if there is any kind of danger of... signal instability." She shook her head. "They will come out the other side."

 

"Where?" Serene demanded.

 

"Without a guide pulse, Serene, there is no easy way to know." Eliza said softly. "The guide pulse is the preliminary signal. It was how the portal knew where to send the people being transported. They could have gone anywhere that the portal system went to." Serene paled and then she slowly collapsed. Eliza held her and eased the woman down. "I know."

 

"Anywhere?" Serene begged. "Anywhere?" Her voice broke.

 

At least nine tenths of the places that the ancient Orokin portal network had once connected to were... not good for humans. Outside of a warframe, Lis was nearly as vulnerable. Infested hives, Grineer strongholds, Corpus bases... The Void. Not good.

 

"I..." Serene swallowed as Mishka went to her knees beside the sobbing Tenno, holding her tight. "I... should have seen..."

 

"Not your fault." Eliza said firmly. "You need rest, Serene. Real rest. If I have to, I will order you sedated. Do I have to?"

 

"No." Serene said weakly. "But...Sara.. I..."

 

"We will find her, Serene." Lilly said in a tone that brooked no argument. "We have all hurt her." Guiscard nodded from where he stood. "And Lis. Serene..." She knelt beside the sobbing woman too. "You know Lis. She is a survivor. Do not count her out. You know she will fight to protect Sara. You know this. If it is even remotely possible for Lis to survive, she will. And even if she can't? She will find a way to protect Sara even if it isn't possible. She will find a way."

 

"I... I know." Serene said softly, her voice muffled as Mishka hugged her tight. "Who... who will tell Amelia...? I..."

 

"I will." Guiscard said softly. "I wronged both of them the worst. I will go and face her wrath." Eliza nodded to him and he bowed. To Serene! "We will find your daughter and our sister, Lady Serene. We will bring them home." No scream could have been more final than his cold, stern words. Eliza waved at him and he left the room.

 

A pair of medics moved forward to assist Serene and she accepted their help without argument. They bundled her into a wheelchair and set off, Mishka following, the girl's face stricken. Only after they had left did Eliza resume her throne and speak again.

 

"Tell me the rest." Eliza said sternly. Lilly rose and nodded. "You didn't want to tell Serene. What is it?"

 

"There was blood." Lilly said quietly. "Both Sara's and Lis'. Sara's blood was from a fall, we think. Lis was shot."

 

"Shot?" Eliza's exclamation was dumbfounded. "By who?"

 

"We are not sure." Lilly said quietly. "But preliminary evidence points to Sara. From what we have saw in tracks in the dust, they struggled over something and then there was a spray of blood. It looked like an accident." Eliza was shaking her head slowly and Lilly continued. "We found a small improvised single shot handgun, sized for a young woman's hand."

 

"Sara..." Eliza shook her head, both stunned and amazed. "That girl... First a smoke bomb and now a pistol... Did she really teleport?"

 

"Scans say yes." Lilly said a bit dubiously. "I didn't actually see it. But she was there one moment and at the vent the next. Empress... If she does have Tenno abilities... outside of a warframe..."

 

"Then we haven't seen problems yet." Eliza said quietly. "Geez, we need to find her. And Lis... The blood, was it... bad, her wound?"

 

"We don't think so. There wasn't that much and it wasn't arterial. " Lilly said softly. "From what we can determine, she was trying to take the weapon away from Sara when it discharged. The sensors in there were turned off a long, long time ago and the walls are resistant to coms and most sensors. I..." She paused. "Empress, word from my team."

 

"What word?" Eliza said with a sigh. "This day just gets better and better." She went still as Lilly gave a small cry of fear. "Lilly?"

 

"The team searching the portal records narrowed the field of choices, Empress..." Lilly said slowly. "One planet." Eliza went still. "Neptune."

 

"Oh no..." Eliza said softly. "No... Not them."

 

"With no guide pulse, they can't track it back..." Lilly said weakly. "But... Empress..." She was shaking her head now. "What can we do?"

 

"Pray they don't figure out who Sara is." Eliza said softly as tears started to fall from her as well. "And pray Lis is as good as you think she is..."

 

"She will need to be."

 

***

 

Lis was falling. But she was on her side. She was screaming. But she heard nothing. She felt pain in her side. But she felt but nothing at all. She had no idea how long she had been in this odd place, what had happened or why. She had seen the portal field start to glow under Sara and had tried to knock the girl off it, but the field had grabbed her. It felt... different from when she had used portals before. Of course, those times she had either been in a warframe or a slave to an Orokin tower, so...

 

She landed on her injured side and bit back a scream. She was... Sara! She had to check Sara! Lis rolled onto her uninjured side and stared. The girl lay beside her, breathing shallowly. A gentle touch had the girl murmur, so she was semiconscious...

 

Something jabbed Lis in the ribs and she was in motion before she even realized it was the muzzle of a rifle. She grabbed the rifle and, using it as a lever, spun herself up to her feet while tossing the idiot who had poked her aside. What she saw had her freezing in place. Five large two legged machines aimed weapons at her and Sara.

 

"Stand down!" A firm voice called in a language that Lis sort of understood. "Everyone be calm! Ma'am..." A male in a silver/white jumpsuit stepped forward, careful to stay out of the line of fire of the machines and the three human guards that Lis could see now. The one she had tossed shook his boxy helmeted head and rose, unsteady as he aimed at her too. "Easy..." He said slowly as Lis coiled herself. Sara's protection was her primary focus and if there were any who she feared... "You are bleeding, Ma'am. So is she. We can help." The man sounded reasonable. But she knew what he was.

 

Corpus...

 

[Temperance000]

Gorramit.  I forget to hit the "Follow" button, and I miss the opening act of the story.

 

Great work so far Kal, as always.  Bets on this being a Clergy stronghold, anyone?

[Shadow977]

Powers outside a Warframe? This is getting very interesting.

[Kalenath]

Powers outside a Warframe? This is getting very interesting.

 

*an arrow hits the floor ten millimeters from Shadow977's foot*

 

A soft, silky -DANGEROUS- female voice sounds from nowhere!

 

'You find my daughter's pain... interesting? Really?'

 

An evil chuckle sounds.

 

'Let see how interesting you find this... Start running. I am a good sport. Nikis taught me this and it is fun.  For me anyway. I will give you... one minute...'

 

'One Mississippi...'

 

'Two Mississippi...'