[Fanfiction] Consequences

[Spikey844]

Here we go again....

[evafan002]

Oh boy... So which ancient fool is gonna be torn apart this time? Also if this Draco turns out to be related to Nikis or something I shall be VERY VERY CROSS!!!

[Raphaello]

Oh boy... So which ancient fool is gonna be torn apart this time?

One nearly as old as the two that went to collect Jesse... My estimate (only an estimate) would put them in the top five oldest (living/breathing) beings still in their original bodies (or what's left of them) that we currently know of in that solar system.

It is curious to see that individual make an attempt in such a location. They'd know how little chance of success they'd have, how likely they were to be... erased and how little mercy they could ever hope to be denied. I am most curious as to what they were attempting, since I do believe it was a highly calculated risk on their behalf and an incredibly desperate attempt to actually help.

 

Of course, I could be wrong in who I think it is.

[S3EK3R]

YESS! More mystery! I love that! Mystery and spy stuff if my favourite.

[Shadow977]

Wowzers......

[Kalenath]

Oh boy... So which ancient fool is gonna be torn apart this time? Also if this Draco turns out to be related to Nikis or something I shall be VERY VERY CROSS!!!

 

They are not related by blood.

 

Putting that out right now.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Kalenath

[renleech]

This attempted brainwashing was not clumsy at all. It was a diversion or a probing.

 

Now i ask, Kal, who made the "chair"? Did i lose something in this tale? i don't remember well.

[Kalenath]

This attempted brainwashing was not clumsy at all. It was a diversion or a probing.

 

Now i ask, Kal, who made the "chair"? Did i lose something in this tale? i don't remember well.

 

The Oracles did. As for why? They say they wanted a coordinated communication system for the oceans of Titan. Are they telling the truth? No one knows but them and they are not talking.

[renleech]

They may be telling the truth.But i think they were tricked into manufacturing the chair. To make an oracle despair, just cloud his/her vision. Then they will do anything to stop their inner fears. Specially when a small, almost noiseless voice behind their ears speak reassuring words. "Do as i say and you will see clearly again".

 

 Speculating a little, this puppeteering looks too elaborated to be a sentient plot, but i may be mistaken.

Edited February 22, 2015 by renleech

[Kalenath]

 

Who is manipulating who?

 

"Oh not again..." Jesse sighed as Iriana worked. Nikis was cursing quietly. But it was Draco who worried her. His gaze was fixed on Caroline and the turtle was frozen in place. "Wasn't her."

 

"Oh?" Nikis asked, not moving. His stillness...was frightening. "Who then?"

 

"I don't know." Jesse said with a sigh. "It... didn't work. Quite. I don't think." She hissed as something Iriana did hurt, but the Healer did something else and the pain faded. "I would have said as soon as we were clear. I didn't realize there was physical damage. I woke up feeling wrong. But... it didn't feel like her. Or any of the other Oracles I have encountered." She paused. "Admittedly, I really have only sensed Caroline and whoever operated on me. I feel... their traces. Not them."

 

"It wasn't us!" Caroline begged. She broke off as Iriana hissed "Healer?" Caroline asked.

 

"Nikis..." Iriana sounded stunned now. "You need to see this..." She held out a small device to the Nekros who looked at  it and froze. Draco glanced at it and nodded.

 

"What?" Jesse asked.

 

"Not here." Iriana said slowly. "Jesse, the physical burns are from energy reacting to your shields. You got them up in time. Good girl." She patted Jesse's arm, reassuring. "I cannot detect any changes, but with the portable scanner, I cannot be sure."

 

"What then?" Jesse asked, forcing calm. Iriana sighed.

 

"We need to get you somewhere with gear I trust." Caroline made a soft noise of dismay at Iriana's harsh tone, but the four Tenno ignored her. "Best if you sleep until you get there, just in case." Jesse nodded and relaxed as Iriana produced  a hypo. "Good girl." Iriana repeated as she injected the sedative. She felt rather than saw Iriana take hold and lift her as she crumpled.

 

Then Jesse fell into sleep that was untroubled.

 

***

 

"Iriana?" Nikis asked as the Healer set the sleeping girl on a tiny bed that had been had been readied for her in his ship.

 

"I cannot be sure, Nikis." Iriana said heavily. "And my feelings are all messed up."

 

"That was a Tenno technique." Draco said as he sat in seiza beside Jesse's bed. "Rarely used, but most often when Tenno had mental difficulty." Iriana glanced at him but he said no more.

 

"She is not..." Iriana shook her head." I can find no abnormalities. She seems like when she went to sleep. But I cannot be sure without full scans. If it was him..."

 

"Don't borrow trouble, Iriana." Nikis said, his tone oddly gentle. Draco glanced sharply at the ancient gunfighter and Nikis shook his head. "You have been stressed enough. We get her back, get her checked out and then we go on from there."

 

"Right." Iriana knelt beside Draco, her hand coming down to caress Jesse's sleeping brow. "She is such a good kid. If it was him... make it hurt." She said flatly.

 

"Iriana, you need rest too." Nikis said quietly. "Six hours to the dojo."

 

A rumble heralded the ship's drives beginning to thrust. It felt... different. Then again... it would. They were not in space. They were underwater. Spacecraft could make dandy submarines with a bit of work and the proper applications of energy. Force fields to keep the pressure at bay and ease the passage through a medium much denser than air. Sonar systems to warn of dangers. Thrusters that would not contaminate the water around them. All of which Nikis had done to be able to visit his sister. Not quite as efficient as a normal Liset, perhaps. But still just as stealthy and capable of going places that others could not.

 

"Right." Iriana sighed and sank back to begin her meditation. In moments, she was oblivious to anything the two male Tenno would do. But Nikis nodded to a small passageway and Draco followed him into it. The way led up a ramp to the claustrophobic control center of the Liset.

 

"You know who did it." Draco said without preamble.

 

"I suspect who did it." Nikis corrected as the ramp behind them closed. "With some help, we may be able to get proof. But he is a slippery one. I have hunted him occasionally. He is a kinslayer."

 

"A Tenno." Draco pressed and Nikis nodded soberly. "Aw S#&$..."

 

"Yeah. 'Aw S#&$' is right." Nikis agreed. "When Orokin fell.. When the Emperor died... Tenno were blamed for what happened. Maybe they were responsible? Maybe not. I don't know. Wasn't there."

 

"So you said." Draco replied evenly.

 

"From what little I have gathered... one of the Tenno who was there survived." Nikis said heavily. "As for... in what condition? I don't know. Various people who have encountered him say he fights as a Tenno, but... not. He wears a warframe that is unlike any we have seen and is immune to most powers. Both I can corroborate. I have faced him a few times. He usually runs."

 

"Joy." Draco said with a shake of his head. "But after so long? Don't tell me you never got him. I know you."

 

"Yeah." Nikis sighed. "When he is killed, he comes back. No one knows if it is cloning, energy transfer, or whatever. He doesn't stay dead any more than most Tenno would." Draco slumped a bit and Nikis nodded. "I have caught him a few times and blown his head off or cut him to pieces. But he keeps coming back. I can't get a grip on his energy."

 

"Definitely sounds like a Tenno then." Draco agreed. "And that makes this... much harder."

 

"Agreed." Nikis shook his head. "I need advice, Draco." The other Tenno looked at him and Nikis sighed. "If he hurt her once, he will try again."

 

"And you want to use her as bait." The shadow cloaked Tenno replied calmly. Nikis nodded. "Not my call."

 

"Her mom would flip out. Rightly so." Nikis slumped a bit. "I have to play the cold hearted scum, Draco. The rep helps a lot. Most of the time."

 

"Nikis, you know as well as I do that there is only one person you can ask for such." Draco said quietly. "Jesse."

 

"I wanted an opinion." Nikis stated.

 

"Okay..." Draco said with a sigh. "My opinion is that she is hideously vulnerable. Worse than I thought. We need to get her somewhere safe and keep her there." His shadow cloaked head twisted in a shaking motion. "If she chooses to help trap this kinslayer, I will ward her. If not..."

 

"If not, that is the end of it." Nikis agreed. "The good news is that even that lousy scum knows better than to try his luck at a Tenno Dojo."

 

"And the bad news?" Draco asked softly.

 

"Iriana has a history with the Stalker." Nikis said heavily. "A...fairly complicated one."

 

"'The Stalker'?" Draco asked and then nodded. "Short and to the point."

 

"You need to know." Nikis said with a nod. "Iriana fell in love with a man about seventeen years ago. They had a kid. Her name is Mishka." Draco looked at him and Nikis nodded. "It was him. Spying on one of our hidden colonies apparently. Either... a long laid plot or... something else." He said with a shrug.

 

"Not really germane to me." Draco gave a shrug of his own. "As long as he leaves Jesse alone, I will leave him alone. If he touches her again, I will see how good he is for myself."

 

"He is not bad." Nikis mused. "Not in our class, but then again... who is?" Draco did not respond and Nikis sighed. "I will ask her, but not until after she has had a chance to recover. To be checked out and get herself situated."

 

"How many of us are left?" Draco asked after a moment.

 

"Not many." Nikis said sadly. "Sun is still doing what he does. Bellina and Richard both died." Draco bowed his head. "Others... I don't know."

 

"A fallen world..." Draco said softly and Nikis nodded. "I will protect Jesse. Anything else I should know?"

 

"There are...factions around the system." Nikis said quietly. "Syndicates, they call themselves. Mostly groups of people splintered off the main groups, but a couple of fringe groups too. They fight each other as much as they fight the Grineer, Corpus and Infested."

 

"More of a mess." Draco said with a sigh. "Jesse would be a prize for them."

 

"Over our dead bodies." Nikis snapped and Draco nodded. Nikis shook his head again. "Two other groups. Not known to most. Working in secret." Draco looked at him and Nikis sighed. "I don't fully trust either group. But they are trying to work with the Tenno instead of opposing."

 

"You are setting me up for something." Draco said firmly. "Just say it."

 

"First group is Orokin." Nikis said with a nod. Draco stiffened and Nikis nodded. "A tiny splinter group who hid away at the Emperor's Retreat, led by an Empress. One of the last Emperor's daughters." Draco whistled softly and Nikis nodded. "Limited personnel, but essentially any Orokin tech you can imagine and then some."

 

"And you trust them?" Draco paused and the scoffed. "No, of course you don't."

 

"Eliza -the current Empress- seems to mean well." Nikis said in a tone of trying to be reasonable."But no. Trusting Orokin is stupid. Eliza ran off and lived with Tenno for a good chunk of her life, so she is a bit less... straitlaced than most of the Emperor's court we dealt with."

 

"Good for her." Draco said with a nod. "And the other group?"

 

"Ah... yes..." Nikis actually squirmed a bit and Draco stared at him. "You know...what the Caretakers did, right?"

 

"Yeah." Draco replied, a bit mystified. "They maintained the quarantine. A nasty job, but needed. Technocyte infection cannot be cured."

 

"Under normal circumstances, no." Nikis agreed. "It has happened occasionally to my knowledge, but very rarely and never reliably."

 

"And all it takes is one infected to spread the mess all over again." Draco said with a sigh that Nikis matched. He paused. "The Enemy?"

 

"It rose again." Nikis said with a half groan, half sob. "Phoenix rose as well." Draco bowed his head deeply and both ancient Tenno spoke in unison.

 

"We will remember." They chorused.

 

"I... uh..." Nikis shook his head after a moment of silence. "This is going to sound nuts."

 

"More than usual?" Draco asked, perfectly serious.

 

"Yeah." Nikis replied and Draco seemed to shiver a bit.

 

"Go for it." The shrouded Tenno said with a sigh.

 

"The Caretakers were not just maintaining the quarantine." Nikis said with a nod. "They were also working on a project. An old, old project. More a make work thing than an actual hope. But... it worked."

 

"What kind of project?" Draco asked slowly.

 

"Communicating with Infested." Nikis said quietly. Draco scoffed but Nikis just shook his head. "They didn't manage it. The Infested communicated with them." Draco froze and Nikis nodded. "A tiny fragment of the mass of Infested, but...sentient. Sane."

 

"Are you saying...?" Draco swallowed hard.

 

"Most Infested are the ones we knew. Bestial. Nasty and infectious as anything we saw." Nikis said with a nod. "Not all. There are still Caretakers and their charge now is to maintain that stable mass of minds."

 

"If it were anyone else saying this, I would laugh in their face." Draco said slowly. "You are serious."

 

"Totally." Nikis said quietly. "I have dealt with them, the Infested and the Caretakers, fairly frequently. Dustin took a mate. She is one of the Caretakers." Draco swallowed hard and nodded. "She has a kid on the way." Drao stared at him and then, wonder of wonders, started to snicker. "Don't..." Nikis warned.

 

"Just when I think I have heard everything..." Draco chuckled. "Nikis the Terrible is gonna be a grandpa..."

 

"You tell anyone that name, 'Edwin', and I will hurt you." Nikis said with dreadful promise in his tone. Draco just chuckled harder and then Nikis was laughing too. They both laughed for a minute or two.

 

"Any other surprises?" Draco asked after he managed to stop laughing.

 

"Not that I know of." Nikis sighed and chuckled ruefully. "Dang I needed that. Too long serious."

 

"You know what that means, Nikis." Draco said quietly and Nikis nodded.

 

"Yeah I do, Draco." Nikis said with a sigh. "Yeah I do."

 

"Whatever is coming to blindside us is gonna be bad."

 

***

 

"Anything?" Caroline was not upset. She worked hard not to stay upset when she got that way.

 

"No, Oracle Caroline." Natalie E-12 was worried. Caroline was not usually quite so...frightened. "None of the sensors reported anything abnormal. There is evidence of malfunction in two of the network nodes, but that should not have degraded the sensors."

 

"Someone harmed Jesse while the girl slept." Caroline said with a sigh. "We really need to find out who and why. Preferably before Janet wakes up."

 

"As you wish, Oracle." Natalie E-12 bent to her task and the turtle that was Oracle Caroline turned to go. She paused as Natalie E-12 spoke again. "Oracle...  can you say why?"

 

"Why what?" Carolina asked, but she figured she knew the answer.

 

"Why didn't you ask Jesse to donate tissue to help her mom?" Natalie begged as she spun to face the turtle. "She would have said 'Yes'. She wouldn't have been angry. Oracle Janet would not have been angry."

 

"I can't say, Natalie E-12." Caroline said with a sigh. "For now? Keep your mask close at hand. I do not anticipate problems, but we have no moved this thing in a long, long time." Natalie E-12 was crying and Caroline sighed and stepped back to her, nuzzling her arm with her nose. "Natalie E-12... I can't say . There is a reason. A good one. You needed to be upset with us. She needed to see you upset with us. That is all I can say."

 

"So there was a reason." Natalie bowed her head. "Does... Oracle Janet know?"

 

"I don't know." Caroline admitted. "Janet plays her cards very close to her chest. She keeps secrets like nobody's business."

 

"Will Jesse be all right?" Natalie E-12 asked, rubbing her eyes.

 

"I don't know." Caroline nuzzled the girl's arm again. "For right now, we need to move. Keep looking, see if you can get anything from the records. Something had to show. Something. Anything."

 

"Where... where will we go?" Natalia E-12 begged as she bent back to her task.

 

"Run silent, run deep." Caroline said softly. "That is where. Go on. If you need anything, call."

 

With that, the turtle moved away, striding for the door. Natalie E-12 did not watch as she left, her focus was on her screens. She jerked as a rumble was felt through the floor and she stared up at the ceiling apprehensively, but nothing happened beyond that and she shook herself and returned to her work.

 

She hadn't really believed when the others had told her that the Enclave had been designed to be mobile. She has seen huge spacecraft, true. But this was very different. This...community had been situated in an underwater cave for a long time. Natalie E-12 had no idea how long. But she had heard a conversation about some of the machinery not being serviced in millennia...

 

She really hoped it worked as it...

 

Natalia E-12 jerked and stared at the screen. Then she paused as she saw a flash of red. She paused in her search and replayed the scene she had just seen again. Not much. Just a flash of red that might have been armor. She keyed the intercom.

 

"Oracle Caroline? I found something." She paused. Why was there no reply? "Oracle Caroline?" She called again. The door opened and she turned.

 

She had a bare moment to scream as the black and red armored form shot her.

 

***

 

"No permanent damage." Caroline said as Natalie E-12 was lowered into an oblong pod. She was still, so still as the pod filled with fluid and she gasped once, then relaxed as the gills that had been affixed to her neck started working. The fluid would keep her docile and allow for changes at a cellular level if needed. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

 

"Don't lie to me, Caroline." Janet said weakly from the side where she lay on a bed. She was strapped down, an odd metal circlet around her head. A mask covered her nose and mouth. "I saw who you are working with. I saw what you are going to do." Caroline did not reply and Janet snarled at her. "Do you have any idea what is going to happen? When they find out? They will."

 

"We do. Janet, we do not want to hurt anyone." Caroline replied evenly. "Not her. Not you. That is why she was sedated. She saw something she shouldn't have. She won't remember it when she wakes."

 

"I should have known." Janet said sadly. "Too good to be true. You all were. Lying, cheating pieces of crap!"

 

"We have not lied to you, Janet." Caroline said severely. "And we won't. You are restrained and your powers blocked so you do not hurt yourself again. Don't make us sedate you."

 

"And the body you are building for me...?" Janet said with a snarl as she tried to struggle and could barely move a finger. "I assume it has controls built in?"

 

"We are not the Orokin, Janet!" Caroline snapped. "Eventually, your human body will wear out, even if you do not keep hurting yourself. We need you, Janet. We are making you a body for when your human body fails."

 

"Stop lying to me!" Janet screamed at the turtle. "I know what you are..." She gave a gasp and slumped, her eyes closing.

 

I told you she would react badly. The voice of the Oracle's medic was sad. We should have brought her in fully. Explained.

 

"She would not have understood, Jean." Caroline said sadly as she stepped toward the bed Janet lay still on. "She would have fought. In her condition? It would have killed her. This way, we can explain. Let her ease into her new life."

 

So... instead, we wind up running from the Tenno. From your brother. Jean said with a sigh. I fail to see the improvement in our situation.

 

"She is not dead." Caroline turned towards the door and glared at the form who was speaking. "Where there is life? There is hope. Without life, there is none. You needed her daughter gone. She is gone."

 

And as soon as they realize that you never intended to brainwash Jesse? Jean demanded. What then?

 

"We better be well hidden." Stalker said with a grunt as he leaned against the wall. "Or we are all dead. And then..." He sighed and Caroline nodded. The turtle's voice was soft and worried.

 

"Everything is."

 

Edited February 23, 2015 by Kalenath

[evafan002]

oh the jedis are gonna feel this one...... when Nikis finds out forget all hell breaking loose.

All of hell is gonna be too busy desperately trying to find somewhere to take cover to worry about trying to escape.....

Edited February 23, 2015 by evafan002

[Temperance000]

Well that's just bloody brilliant.  There goes my one sympathetic faction.

 

Damn you to the far end of eternity, Kalenath.

 

I would say "at least Stalker is back and being cool," but with all the concentrated "good of the many" idiocy going around, I find very little to be pleased about.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Temperance000

[Raphaello]

So, I was right. Still, more unfolds.

[renleech]

They were not manipulated. They made a deal with the devil. Hope they die screaming.

 

Nikkis and Draco are too soft for this kind of retribution required. We need someone really sadistic to punish the oracles.

Edited February 23, 2015 by renleech

[Kalenath]

They were not manipulated. They made a deal with the devil. Hope they die screaming.

 

Nikkis and Draco are too soft for this kind of retribution required. We need someone really sadistic to punish the oracles.

 

Well...

 

Um...

 

Wait for it...

[renleech]

Pardon me if i reacted this way, but right now i want blood, blood enough to reach my ankles.

 

Kal, will Nikkis kill his sister?

Edited February 23, 2015 by renleech

[Kalenath]

Pardon me if i reacted this way, but right now i want blood, blood enough to reach my ankles.

 

You... will NOT be disappointed.

[S3EK3R]

Make them suffer! Traitors shall die! Their blood needs to be spilled! Purge them with flames!

[Shadow977]

Stalker is back! And i'm giddy as a schoolgirl!

[Kalenath]

 

Moving forward

 

Jesse came awake suddenly and completely. She cracked her eyes and then smiled a little. Draco was lurking in plain sight by one the door of the small room. Raven sat in a chair by the bed Jesse was lying in.

 

"No other problems?" Jesse asked as she sat up.

 

"No." Raven said with a smile that tugged the scar tissue on her face. "Scans are clean and you are good to go."

 

"Finally, something went right." Jesse said with a groan as she swung her legs off the bed. "What now?"

 

"A couple of things." Raven nodded as she rose. "First and foremost... You are clean. You were scanned by every device Iriana could lay her hands on. Olim did a full sweep. No brainwashing was detected."

 

"None?" Jesse asked, momentarily confused. "No evidence at all?" It wasn't supposed to work like that, was it?

 

"Just the superficial. Skin burns and energy markers in places. No actual manipulations." Raven said with a frown. "And yes, it is perplexing."

 

"That...doesn't make any sense." Jesse said slowly. "Trinity told me there would be some leakage past my shields even in the best of circumstances. Not enough to control me, but enough to leave traces. There is nothing?" Raven shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense." She repeated.

 

"I know. For now? Not your concern." Raven replied. "Nikis is going to look into it." Jesse swallowed hard and Raven nodded. "Second thing? We are in the dojo you were snatched from. They are... a bit peeved."

 

"I bet." Jesse said with a wince. "Iriana?"

 

"She went back to work, but promised to check up on you when she can." Raven said with a smile. "She didn't want to go, but they need her."

 

"No rest for the weary." Jesse said with a frown. "I hope she doesn't push herself too far."

 

"Me too." Raven agreed. "She is good, but there are limits." She shook herself. "We can hope her staff are as diligent in caring for her as they are in caring for everyone else. But for now? Not your concern either." Jesse nodded.

 

"So... what first?" Jesse asked as she rose to her feet. Raven did as well.

 

"There are certain formalities to be seen to. We haven't had a new sister come the way you did in a long, long time." Raven said with a smile. "Which is good. You took some nasty bumps, girl."

 

"Could have been worse." Jesse said with a nod. "But I agree. Wouldn't want to do it again."

 

"Well, we are going to do our best to make sure you don't do it again." Raven bent down and picked up a long thing from the floor. "But there is something..." Jesse stared at the wrapped bundle and slowly knelt. "Ah... Trinity explained."

 

"They all did." Jesse watched as Raven unwrapped the long metal thing. A sword. "I know the words."

 

"Then speak." Raven said as she knelt and held out the sword balanced on both of her hands. Jesse laid her hands on it, but did not take it. Instead, she looked at Draco and spoke quietly but firmly.

 

"This is my skana. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

 

My skana is my best friend. It is my life and my soul. I must master it as I must master my life.

 

My skana, without me, is useless. Without my skana, I am useless. I will strike true with my skana. I must strike faster and harder than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I will kill him before he kills me. I will be the metal of my skana. I will be the edge that cuts, the point that pierces, the guard that parries. I will be my skana.

 

My skana is my life. My duty is laid on the edge of the skana, and is exposed for all to see.

 

I am Tenno. This is my skana."

 

Jesse bowed her head at the end and closed her hands around the metal object, careful of the razor sharp edge. One hand above the blade, one hand below, just as her first instructor had taught her. She brought the blade up to vertical and then slowly swung it beck behind her. It was no surprise that the blade snapped into place against her back. She was wearing a Tenno bodysuit. Of course it had provisions for weapons attachment. She could feel the mass of the blade and it was ready to her hand.

 

"I am Tenno." Jesse said, drawing her skana and holding it in a formal kneeling bow to Raven and Draco.

 

"Hail Tenno." Raven and Draco both replied just as formally. Jesse smiled a bit forlornly as she returned the blade to her back.

 

"Problem, Jesse?" Raven asked as she started to get up.

 

"I am not strong enough to do it justice." Jesse said with a sigh as she waited for Raven to rise and then did likewise.

 

"You will get better." Raven promised her. "Even decrepit fossils like me use the skana for exercise. That one is keyed to you though. No one else will be able to use it without extensive reworking." She paused. "You might be able to break a genetic lock, but I do not recommend experimenting."

 

"Someone told me that dojos were very strict about unauthorized weapons." Jesse said suddenly as she looked at Draco. She could tell he was armed, but not with what. His cloak foiled even her enhanced senses.

 

"Mine are authorized." Draco replied evenly. "I have to be armed to be your guard. So is that." He inclined his head to her skana. "But you will not want to walk around armed all the time, I do not think."

 

"I will need to get used to this..." Jesse drew the skana and looked at it. "I don't think it really sank in until now. I am not human anymore." Raven shook her head as Jesse sheathed her skana again. "I never practiced with swords."

 

"Did you practice other weapons?"  Raven asked as she led the way towards the door. Jesse made a face and Raven paused. "Jesse?"

 

"You will laugh." Jesse's voice was tiny.

 

"I might." Raven shrugged. "But if you have practiced any weapons it will help. What have you practiced?" Jesse muttered something and Raven looked at her "Excuse me?"

 

"They didn't have swords or anything but shock batons." Jesse said with a sigh. "So I looked up some stuff and made some Michelangelos."

 

"Some... what?" Raven asked, confused. "What are Michelangelos?"

 

"I..." Jesse sighed and shook her head. "I don't know where they were from. I found them in an ancient historical holo about mutants."

 

"Mutants?" Raven sounded even more confused. But Draco had stopped in mid-step. He was obviously staring at Jesse. "Draco?" The Elder asked, her tone halfway to cross.

 

"Mutants." Draco said slowly. "Four brothers. All who used different weapons? Staff, two swords, two short three pronged daggers and those?" Jesse nodded and Draco made noise that was... odd. Suspiciously like a chuckle. "Hold on a sec..." He pulled a datapad from somewhere and started tapping it... "Michelangelos..." He said in an undertone. He pulled an image up and held the pad out to Jesse who took it. "These?" The pad showed two sticks connected by a chain. Jesse nodded. "The proper term is nunchaku, Jesse. Not Michelangelos."

 

"Nun-cha-ku?" Jesse sounded the word out slowly. "I see." Raven looked at the image and frowned.

 

"What kind of a weapon is that?" Raven asked, curious. "It doesn't look very dangerous."

 

"That was the whole point." Draco said with a shrug as he reclaimed the datapad. "Originally, they were improvised from a kind of agricultural tool. A flail. Farmers who were attacked in their fields used them to defend themselves and learned how to use them well. Spies and assassins also used them because they were easy to hide and not the dead giveaway that a sword would be. But they were fast and hard hitting in the hands of a master."

 

"I only used one at a time." Jesse said weakly. "The image showed one in each hand, but I always hurt myself when I tried to do that."

 

"I have seen a master do kata with two sets." Draco said with another shrug. "But for actual fighting? One set would probably be best. Even better? We can fabricate something quickly for you to train with and it will help you ease into the changes." He stepped back and Jesse nodded slowly.

 

"I did... enjoy working out with them." Jesse said with a sigh. "The Clergy encouraged it's members to try new and unusual things. Mine was just a bit more unusual than usual." She paused as Raven chuckled. "Did that make any sense?"

 

"Some." Raven was chuckling as she started off again. "Come on. Drill starts in twenty minutes and I would like to work on my skana forms."

 

"Do I have to learn weapons?" Jesse asked, a little plaintive as she followed.

 

"No." Raven replied. "The exercise does good. But no one will expect you to be able to fight at Tenno levels immediately. This isn't the Old War." Raven said, her tone turning dark. "Thank god..."

 

"You... were there?" Jesse swallowed as Raven nodded. "I see."

 

"I do not remember it all." Raven said with a sigh. "Cryo-nesia took its toll. But this is now. Not then. We will not make you fight."

 

"I want to learn." Jesse said firmly. "Even if I do not ever use the skills. I want to learn how to."

 

"We will ease you into it." Raven said with a nod. "But this is a good place to learn. Good teachers for melee and firearm."

 

"And abilities." Jesse said with a grimace. "I have lot to learn."

 

"And you have time." Raven reassured her. "Ah..." She smiled as a door ahead lit up green. "Here we are. Ah... Karl." She smiled as a huge form in robes approached, he nodded to Jesse.

 

"Cyberlancer Jesse." The voice was the white Rhino Jesse had met before.

 

"What is the proper honorific?" Jesse asked, bowing slightly.

 

"We try not to be formal here. There is some formality, mostly to do with safety but we try not to overdo it." Karl replied. "You may call me Karl or Sensei. I may not be teaching you personally, but that is what my clan calls me. You are not obligated in any way."

 

"I would like to learn what I can." Jesse said firmly and Karl nodded approvingly.

 

"We would be happy to teach you." The huge Tenno replied. "Anything in particular?"

 

"I... um..." Jesse straightened a bit. "I was practicing with a set of weapons I found in a historic text, but I have no idea if I was doing it right or not."

 

"That was not a historic text." Draco said mildly. Jesse and Karl both glanced at him and he shook his head. "She described her weapon and I recognized them. She was practicing with nunchaku."

 

"That is a term I have not heard in a long time." Karl said, his eyes appraising as they swept over Jesse who flushed a bit. "Effective weapon though. Fast and light."

 

"And easy to hide." Draco agreed. Karl nodded to him. "Can you fabricate a training set?"

 

"Easily." Karl replied as he opened the door and entered the room, the others following. Inside, over a dozen Tenno were working out with various weapons. They all paused as the quartet entered, but Karl just waved and they went back to what they were doing. "For right now, we need to see what Jesse can do."

 

"Not much." Jesse said with a sigh.

 

"Come on, Jesse." Raven said as she stepped to the edge of the dojo and bowed to the Excalibur warframe that was obviously overseeing everything. "Only one way to find out how you do."

 

"I just know I am going to hurt when this is over..." Jesse said as she bowed with Raven to the Excalibur who returned it.

 

"Probably." Raven said with a smile as she entered the dojo proper and led Jesse to one wall where  a space had been cleared.

 

"But I bet you enjoy it."

 

***

 

"What the hell...?" Nikis shook his head as he stared through the canopy of his Liset at the empty cavern. He hadn't expected this. He had expected Caroline and the others to be cagy, unhelpful or just plain uninformative. Not this. Not... them gone. The Enclave of the Oracles of Saturn... was gone. "You crazy girl, Caroline. What have you done?"

 

It was a big ocean. He knew that. He had helped survey the place for the initial landing of the Enclave way back when. He shook his head. He had to find them, figure out what was going on. Janet hadn't responded to his last call to her. That... really worried him. She always responded, even if only with a 'Busy now, can't talk', she always responded. But not this time.

 

He had known that the Enclave was capable of movement. It had once been a spacecraft after all and then converted to an underwater habitat. So it stood to reason. But it hadn't moved in a long, long time. What could possibly have made...

 

Nikis went still as a light started blinking in the near distance. He stared at it and hten sighed. Someone was either being very careful, or very sneaky. Or both. The light was flashing in short sequences and long sequences. No one he knew of besides the Oracles would know that code. He barely remembered it. But there was one code he was never going to forget. Three short, three long, three short. Morse Code. SOS. A distress call. Nikis sighed.

 

"This is almost certainly a trap of some kind..." He mused. "But... ah well. Been bored anyway..."

 

A thought had his converted Liset in motion and it approached the light quickly. It was coming from a wall of rock, but Nikis could see a spot that had been shaped... Like a Liset. The light illuminated an airlock.

 

"This is way too easy..." Nikis said sourly. "Caroline... what the hell are you playing at?"

 

The ship's sensors did not detect anything past the wall of rock and Nikis sighed again. If he wasn't mistaken -and he didn't think he was- this part of the cavern had backed up to the mer village. The settlement of aquatic adapted humans who had lived near the Oracles, providing what services they could in return for aid the Oracles could give occasionally. But the settlement had grown up alongside the Enclave and it too was gone.

 

"They could be on the other side of the planet by now..." Nikis mused as he considered his options.

 

He shook his head and keyed his ship to match with the airlock. He expected and explosion, some kind of rumble of power, but... nothing. He stepped into his own airlock and cycled to the cavern one. As he exited the cylindrical portion of the ship that provided access to the outside, he had his pistols in hand, but nothing showed. He keyed it to cycle and it did.

 

He was not expecting what he found. The room was small and it was packed. Bodies lay every which way. Merfolk. All slain. He checked, but none of their energy was recoverable. All dead and more than dead. Gone completely.

 

"What the F***...?" Nikis said with a grunt as he stalked forward, his pistols at the ready.

 

"Nikis..." The voice was familiar and Nikis spun to see a form whose eyes were open. She lay in a heap, her head lolling. But she was breathing. She was the only one. It looked like at least two dozen of the adults of the settlement had been herded into this area and slaughtered. The gore was knee deep in places. And the wounds... he knew the weapon that had made the wounds. A scythe called 'Hate'. "Run. Help... Janet..."

 

"Mira!" Nikis went to his knees beside the mermaid, his hands checking her vitals. She had been cut, but the wounds were disabling. Not mortal. "What the hell?"

 

"Trap..." Mira begged. "Run... get away. Janet... Needs..." She gasped as Nikis started working. "No... help Janet."

 

"When did Stalker get here?" Nikis demanded as he worked.

 

"Just...after they pulled Iriana and Jesse..." Mira gasped and then relaxed as Nikis worked. "We had no idea..." Mira was crying now. "We didn't have a chance!"

 

"What did he do?" Nikis asked as he finished patching her up.

 

"After... After Caroline showed Jesse the kids... They all got sick..." Mira said weakly. "We thought it was the water in the school. We found... Him. Here. He... killed..." She slumped. "He poisoned the kids... All of them! When we investigated, he killed everyone but me. Left me. A trap."

 

"The... the kids?" Nikis said softly, disbelieving. "His vendetta is against Tenno. No one else. Why would he...?" He groaned suddenly. "The Oracles. He is using them to blackmail the Oracles." Mira nodded weakly. "What kind of trap?"

 

"Some kind of explosives..." Mira said with a sigh. "In the bodies. He put... things in each. He... knew you would come. Please, Nikis. Run..."

 

"I leave you to die and Janet will never forgive me, Mira." Nikis said heavily. "We will get you out of this."

 

"He put one in me, Nikis!" Mira screamed. "Whatever it is... it will hurt or kill you! I... You are too important! I... I can't..."

 

"Crap." Nikis said with a sigh as he looked around. The placement of the bodies hadn't seemed to be random and it wasn't. He could see glows starting to shine now. The traps were live. Anywhere he stepped he would step on a body. If he did... Probably boom. He might be able to survive one blast. More than one? Not likely. It wouldn't stop him. It would disable him for a time. And Mira was badly hurt. Even if she was wrong and there wasn't an explosive charge inside her, any blast would hurt or kill her. "Damn him."

 

"Mira... I won't say it is gonna be okay, because I don't know for sure." Nikis said as he started to gather power. He would need help and he knew just who to call. "What I do know?"

 

"I am now officially pissed off."

 

[Shadow977]

Stalker is doomed....

[Spikey844]

And everyone who can see or hear Nikis at that moment is now doing all they can to make themselves very, very,very small....

[Kalenath]

And everyone who can see or hear Nikis at that moment is now doing all they can to make themselves very, very,very small....

 

Or cheering silently.

[Spikey844]

Or cheering silently.

Or both. Depends what their relationship with Nikis is.

 

The Grinner, for example, will not be cheering...

[evafan002]

Oh s@#t oh s#$t DEAR GODS HELP US!!!! we are doomed i tell you DOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEEDDDD!!!! also is nikis gonna need any help on this stalker hunt? if so i will drag my ash out of mothballs and link up with him...