Dust and Ice: The Sentries of the Centuries
On How the Forgotten Warriors Awoke to a Shattered System, in a Schism of Exploitation and Amorality
Running, running down corridors etched into the red sandstone, Trinity blindly ventured down every small niche in the labyrinth, seeking escape from the cruel, twisted hands that had held her captive for time immeasurable. She had been fortunate enough to have found her weapons in a storage locker nearby her cryopod, and she brandished them fearfully, praying that she would find no living soul in these halls. But she found none other than the occasional mutilated corpse. Turning one over, she saw an insignia that she had grown to know well. The age-old Grineer Empire had sank to barbaric depths, their minds as corrupted as their biologies.
"War makes heroes. Heroes become legends. And legends never die." Lech Kril hefted his hammer, and swung it at the glass. The cryopod shook violently but did not even crack. Trinity was frozen inside, unable to move but she could hear his grinding words in crystal clarity. "That is why I have confined myself to this dusty asteroid; this miserable excuse for a moon. The Tenno have secrets, and what good are your miraculous technologies if kept to your puny mercenary faction? Oh yes, I'll find out what makes you tick. And I will, in time, become a god. As powerful and pure as the men of myths of old."
Trinity was imprisoned for days as scans and research were begun. Lt. Kril's right-hand brute, Captain Vor, often came by to insult her in his guttural tongue. The minutes dragged by as she could scarcely move a single muscle.
She reached a clearing where three figures were running towards a docked ship. Other Tenno? It seemed their bloodshed had given Trinity enough time to thaw, recover and find them. But by the time she reached the platform, the ship had risen high above.
But wait! Trinity remembered her operative catalogues in which she could see all Tenno missions, whether freelanced or commissioned. She brought up the display files. It took a few seconds to warm up, but showed every mission, stretching back to the dawn of the Tenno, but with a wide gap when the Tenno were sent to the far corners of the system to sleep. The first mission since then was only a few weeks prior, by a group that had grown to three operatives in a short time; likely the ones that had saved her.
The display was glitching somewhat, filled with static. It was unusual for such astounding Orokin technology to behave in such a manner. A window appeared next to the database, showing a feminine face, wearing a flowering headdress. Eyeless and elegant, certain to be an ally and a useful source of information.
"Tenno, you are not the first to be reawakened. The Grineer and Corpus have taken others captive, and are exploiting their priceless technology. Find the others, and free your fellow Tenno." The message fuzzed out, and the display was returned to its usual clarity.
Who was this mysterious figure? And how was she to reach her comrades and saviors while stranded on this deserted moon?
-6 Days Later-
The solar system had opened itself to Trinity's eyes. She had managed to hijack a Grineer rustbucket of a ship and pilot it to the asteroid belt.
She wandered the aimless asteroids, consumed by her questioning. How many had been taken captive? Who was the resistance? And how had the Corpus become a system-wide force? They were once a small settlement in Neptune's moons, caught up with cutting-edge technology and familial politics. Now they vied for domination with the ailing Grineer Empire. How times had changed.
After a few days of navigating the perilous belt, she made a discovery that only luck could have facilitated. And ancient Orokin tower was drifting through the wreckage of what seemed to be an old base. The metal plating had corroded to a dull black, but the lights were still shining brightly.
Originally the towers were used for governmental purposes, but as the surrounding political minorities grew more hostile and began revolting, the towers were militarized. Eventually they were all but abandoned, loaded with safeguarding traps.
Even so, Trinity was surprised to find that the tower was far from deserted. Hordes of Grineer and what she took to be Corpus proxies were roaming the halls, seeming to have exploited the surrounding technology to upgrade themselves.
She tried to question the inhabitants, but the Grineer had been driven mad by their immortality, and the ship had kept their bodies sound but allowed their minds to degrade and become pointlessly territorial. The Corpus had been programmed for complete hostility, and never made any intelligible communications. Disillusioned by the state of the whole affair, Trinity tactically slaughtered the masses, with great difficulty. Alone once more, she explored the tower.
Searching every room from fore to aft took hours, but she scoured everything for a trace of explanation. The ancient technology had glitched a fair amount from the hacking and exploiting of its past inhabitants, and required Trinity to locate the mainframe and reprogram certain sections of the broken code. Continuing her search, she opened the door to a storage room and came face to face with a lithe figure perched on a terminal.