Chapter 2

The arrogance of every military leader lies in the belief that on some level the battle is in his control...when in fact it is the other way around. The only truth is that nothing is certain.

-Fleet Admiral Zet Kur of the Orokin Imperial Navy, 3281 I.A.-

Location: Local Cluster, Origin System, Orbit of Mercury, Aboard the Personal Galleon of Captain Co Vor

Date: September 23, 643 P.C.

The Grineer were not known for their skill with creating things pleasing to the eye. Everything they built had what could be only described as a cancerous aesthetic, with everything from their guns to their buildings looking like nothing so much as giant tumors. The personal Galleon of Captain Co Vor was no exception. The thing had the appearance of a great ugly insect, trawling its way between the stars with dozens of long sensor masts that could have been legs or possibly even oars to the untrained eye, sticking out at forty-five degrees in great arcs along its sides. It looked impenetrable. For anyone else it might have been.

For a Tenno, the key word was 'looked'.

In the bowels of the mighty Grineer vessel, there was a slicing sound as a sword cut through the blades of a slowly-turning air-circulation fan. Bits of metal spun loose and clanked to the ground. If anyone had been around, they would have undoubtedly noticed, but Tenno were more careful than that. This particular sector was considered storage space, and thus lightly manned. As the bits of machinery settled, out of the vent dropped four Tenno, landing like cats with little more than a quiet thud.

Follower stretched. He had been the most confined in his bulky Rhino Warframe. Usually Grineer architecture was riddled with air vents more than large enough for a man to walk through. The one they had just exited however had been quite cramped, forcing them into single file.

"The Grineer must be learning. I barely fit through that deathtrap." he grumbled. Of course, anyone nearby would've sworn they hadn't heard anything. Tenno helmets were perfectly sound-proof and they rarely spoke in battle as a matter of course. They had an image to maintain after all, that of silent, implacable warriors whose power was as inevitable as entropy. As they stretched a bit to get the cramp out of their muscles, a computerized voice entered the helmets of the Tenno warriors.

"Alright Tenno, your squad is tasked with finding and, if possible, rescuing your Tenno brother-in-arms. Once he is safe, you are authorized to assist your Warlord in bringing down Vor himself. The other cells have been tasked with destroying this vessel's reactor and raiding the storage areas for anything potentially of Orokin origin." It was the Lotus. As keeper and manager of Tenno affairs, it was not only her job to provide them with information outside combat, but in the middle of it as well. To this end, she directed reminders and tactical data on the battlefield to ensure her charges survived whatever their enemies threw at them.

None of the Tenno responded to her words. A response was unnecessary. They knew that stealth was to be maintained as long as possible, and despite their particular group holding the record for the shortest time to breaking stealth in the Clan whenever they worked together, they were going to try their best to avoid disappointing their Warlord. Drawing their weapons, they started moving towards the waypoint marked on their HUDs, guiding them towards their brother and mentor via the short-range energy signature unique to Tenno cryo-pods.

Nathan clicked open the comm as they wound through the towering stacks of munitions crates, sweeping every corner and keeping an eye on their HUDs' motion sensors.

"Let's do this fast. Don't fall behind. If you see any Grineer, mark them and try to breach their comms. That way if we have to kill them, they won't be able to radio for backup." Looking over his shoulder he said.

"We know how to keep a low profile." Follower muttered, irritated at Nathan's sudden assumption of authority. He did rank higher than Follower, having reached the level of Gold Seeker in his service to the Empire before its collapse, but whenever they worked together, the two often produced friction over the matter of who told who what to do. Follower was a proud warrior, sometimes vindictive, while Nathan was always a study in striving for virtue and determination. They never let it mess with their combat efficiency, but it had a tendency to crop up in situations such as this.

They progressed through the tall stacks of crates largely unhindered, right up until a pair of Grineer Lancers and a Trooper marched right past them, coming within a hair's-breadth of spotting them as they prepared to enter a T-shaped intersection. As soon as the three appeared on their HUDs, they pressed themselves up against the line of crates to their left, the same direction from which the clone soldiers were approaching. They ambled past without so much as a glance, chattering in their brusque, harsh language. The Tenno kept an eye on them until they were safely out of view and had turned the corner into another alley of stacked crates.

"Keeps on your toes, all this sneaking around." Zaeed muttered.

"Funny you should say that since Grineer don't have toes." Follower chuckled, trying to smooth over their near-discovery.

"True enough." Zaeed admitted, before adding: They're also all flat-footed."

"Makes catching them off guard all the easier." Kasumi giggled. They continued their movement, a line of post-human assassins dancing around patrols like a witch through raindrops, never getting caught...right up until they reached the huge cargo bay's exit. It was being monitored by a security camera linked to a mag-discharger, a device that generated a permeable, nearly invisible barrier designed to strip anyone that passed through of their shields and whatever energy their equipment might hold. This wouldn't have been a problem had there not been two Troopers and six Lancers guarding the round metal portal.

"Fuck." Nathan muttered, "I was hoping we'd be able to get through one room without having to fire a shot." He turned to Kasumi and beckoned her forward.

"Alright, Kassie, work your magic. We need them out of the way." he said, then glanced at Follower and added: "And keep them away from any control panels. If we can take out the camera and the guards without the alarm sounding we can avoid-"

"Reinforcements. Right, I get it." Follower growled. He took the time to breach the Grineer soldiers' communications, ensuring that if killed, they would not be missed, uploading a repeating, self-modifying audio loop to their supervisors that would maintain the illusion of them checking in whenever their orders required.

"Got it." he said as he finished. "They'll tell no tales."

Kasumi nodded in acknowledgment. Then reached out into the mind of one of the Troopers. Grineer minds were clay, weak and easily molded. Their thoughts were crude, little more than hammers and axes compared to hers, which might, for the sake of continuing the metaphor, be described as a cabinet full of every sharp piece of metal you could imagine. For this one, she used a stiletto, sliding into the thought-processes of one of the Troopers with barely a ripple in his mental pond.

There's a Tenno about to land on your back., she said in his head, masking the idea's source with his own prejudices, leaving him convinced that the idea was not only his own, but true. The trooper, who had been holding position on the right side of the door, suddenly spun in a panic and blindly fired his shotgun at the door and everywhere around it, the notion that he was about to be stabbed by an unseen enemy filling every nook and cranny of his mind. Instantly the formation of Grineer soldiers fell into chaos as they all tried to subdue their comrade, too late to stop him taking out the camera.

"Now, let's pour some salt in the wound." Kasumi chuckled. She reached out again and seized command of the mind of one of the Lancers, using the basic Mind Control technique that every Nyx knew to override his inhibitions and force him to fire into the ranks of his fellow warriors, convinced that they were his enemies. Instantly, his compatriots turned their weapons on him, shredding him with hundreds of hollow-point Grakata rounds. The Trooper Kasumi had previously used was caught in the crossfire as well, and moments later the formation was down by two soldiers, leaving five Lancers and one Trooper still standing.

The remaining Trooper ran for the nearest control console.

"Take him down!" Nathan growled. Follower reacted first, taking one of his Lex pistols and putting a hole in the head of the runner. As soon as the shot was fired, the remaining Lancers turned to face the source of the sound.

"Break cover!" Nathan shouted over the radio, and pulled out his Gremlins. He'd loaded the weapons with shatter-bolt rounds, special ammunition made for boltkaan weapons like the Gremlins, designed to split into multiple spikes in-flight. He opened up on the nearest Lancer without hesitation, instantly propelling the heavily-armored warrior off his feet and through the air, pinning him to the wall with a dozen steel rods. Kasumi followed his lead with her Bolto pistols, nailing two more Lancers to the bulkhead. The remaining two went down before they could even aim, cut down by Zaeed's Alta pistols.

"And that is how you do it!" laughed Follower, kicking one of the corpses. Immediately, the body began to dissolve, the flesh becoming liquid and the armor vaporizing as the built-in sanitation systems of the Grineer warriors kicked in. The Grineer had little care for their individual soldiers. In their view, it was easier to reduce a body to raw materials and clean it up later for recycling, rather than leave it where it fell as an overweight, heavily-armored obstruction.

As he said the words, an alarm began to sound from hidden speakers overhead. A gruff Grineer voice began to bellow out warnings in their harsh language. Nathan turned to face Follower with a glare that was invisible behind his helmet, but could be felt all the same.

"What the fuck!?" Follower exploded, "How in the name of the Void-"

"Doesn't matter." Nathan grumbled, putting away his Gremlins and pulling out his Goblin rifle, "We could've been seen or heard by a lucky observer, or it could've been one of the other teams. Either way, they know we're here."

"Which means we're running out of time." Zaeed agreed, putting away his own pistols to shoulder his Dera.

"Let's move." Nathan said.

Location: Local Cluster, Origin System, Orbit of Mercury, Aboard the Personal Galleon of Captain Co Vor

Three decks up, Haigen and his team had found themselves in a far trickier situation. Their exit had landed them in the middle of a swarm of Lancers and Butchers. Though they had easily fended them off, three of the Grineer close-combat specialists had beat a hasty retreat. Haigen had caught one, hitting him with a Freeze dart that instantly turned him into a fatally frostbitten sculpture which broke into pieces as it toppled over. Baldur Keraat, the squad's Loki-wearer, had done a Switch Teleport with another, getting him in range of Haigen's Reaper Prime, which took his head off with extreme prejudice. Yet for all their running, the last had made it to the control panel and sounded the alarm. As the Butcher turned, he hurled his Grineer Cleaver at Haigen, who dodged, letting the weapon imbed itself in the far wall before he blew the soldier's brainpan open with a well-placed shot from his Latron Prime.

The sound of warnings in the harsh tongue of the Grineer began to bellow from the overhead speaker systems, calling the Galleon's crew to arms.

"This is Haigen to all other squads, prepare for incoming hostiles." he grudgingly announced over the Tenno-only helmet network he shared in. He didn't mention that it had been him who allowed the alarm system to be tripped, but someone would work it out eventually. He cursed his own slowness before swearing not to let it happen again.

"Keep to the objective." he stated calmly to his immediate squad-mates. The plan was to take out the primary coolant pumps when the reactor went down, courtesy of a squad from Clan Shinto. When Haigen and his squad sabotaged the pumps, coolant would flood the ship as pipes ruptured in response to increasing pressure. It would reduce the shield capacity of the Tenno, but it would also slow down the Grineer, and one of the biggest advantages the Tenno had over Grineer was their speed and maneuverability. Furthermore, it would shut down the systems Vor was using to keep Atton's cryo-pod inactive and its occupant asleep.

Haigen had worked that one out for himself. If the cryo-pod had sent out a distress signal, it was because it had been tampered with. Tampering likely meant damage, and when damaged, the pod was designed to wake and release its occupant. Vor doubtlessly had enough understanding of Orokin technology to halt the cycle, but doing so would further damage the cooling systems of the pod, meaning he'd have to use his ship's coolant network to take up the slack. If Haigen busted the pumps, the trapped Tenno would begin to thaw on their own, and eventually Atton would break free. Vor's only chance of keeping his prize would be to flee to a shuttle and try to use its systems to stop the cycle again...and when he did, Nathan, Follower, Kasumi and Zaeed would be waiting for him.

Location: Horse Head Nebula, Interstellar Space, Aboard Unknown Corpus Freighter

Date: June 20, 672 P.C.

Cadmus awoke to the shock of a needle puncturing his neck, filling him with an unnatural vigor and clarity, dragging him back into consciousness. He gasping and jerked, half-expecting to awake to the view you got when strapped to a dissection table or some equally unpleasant sight. He was not disappointed, though his guess about the dissection table was wrong. He was sitting in a cell, cold and alone, obviously aboard a Corpus vessel. The huge window to his left was a dead giveaway. Outside, the stars twinkled without the mixed blessing of intelligence, heedless to his situation. He had never been a religious man, but right now, he felt compared to offer a prayer to any god that might take it. That he was willing to do this spoke to how bad his situation was.

Any hope he had of rescue was minimal at best. The Council rarely recovered prisoners alive from Corpus captivity. They were very efficient like that. As his vision cleared and the aches and pains of his last battle queued up to make themselves known, he tried to examine his surroundings further. The cell was dark, with that irritating offset lighting that was so common in Corpus architecture. From somewhere in front of him came the sound of boots on deck plating and slurred alien speech that sounded like it was coming through a broken translator. Suddenly there was a click and the voice became a clear, harsh monotone speaking in flawless Basic Pavalese.

"State your name for the record." it commanded. Feeling as though his throat was lined with wet toweling, Cadmus responded on instinct.

"Vakarian, Cadmus. Special Tasks and Reconnaissance, service number 9833-5434-7893." he recited, then clamped his mandibles shut. They would get nothing further from him, that much he swore.

"Excellent." said the voice. Cadmus' vision had improved enough for him to see exactly who was speaking now. There was a Corpus male standing in front of him flanked by two Crewmen and a another Corpus in a long white coat with several pouches on its person. The speaker had no helmet, but Cadmus could see the collar section of one featured as part of its garb. A small holographic display was being projected in front of the speaker's face from the collar and he could also see, as he spoke again, that his lips did not move in time with his words. In the back of his mind, he wondered at the ghastly tricks of evolution that had caused this species to resemble Asari so deeply.

"Assuming that was your name and rank, and that it follows the same patterns as that of most militaries, Cadmus Vakarian, you are an enemy combatant and an attempted saboteur, found to be working against the interests to the Corpus and all its shareholders."

"Why am I not dead?" he asked. The speaker stretched out an arm and tapped a small console affixed to his wrist. Pain shot through Cadmus and for the first time, he noticed the collar fastened around his neck, big and bulky and connected to some sort of power pack strapped to his back. The collar glowed a dull blue around its circumference and buzzed a low, threatening buzz as agony gripped his nervous system. Then the speaker tapped his wrist-controls again, causing the pain the cease its circulation through his body.

"You are not permitted to speak. You are an enemy combatant and since you were found trespassing on the property of the Honorable Board of Directors, you are subject to Corpus law." intoned the cold, mechanical voice of the translator. Cadmus winced. He didn't like the sound of where this was going.

"You will be held here until further notice and remain monitored at all times." it continued, "If you leave your cell, the restraining bolt will subdue you. If you leave the ship without authorization, say, by way of being rescued, the plasma charge strapped to your back will detonate. You and your fellow saboteurs are now, by Corpus law, property of the Honorable Board of Directors, who have sentenced all of you to be transferred to a research and development facility in need of test subjects. You will remain there until you expire. Do you understand?"

Cadmus ground his mandibles together, then roared with pain as the bastard repeated his manipulation of the arm-controls linked to his restraining bolt.

"Y-yes!" he finally spat out. The speaker, probably either the warden or some sort of specialist he finally realized, now wore and expression that made him seethe with fury as he deactivated the collar again. It was on he'd seen on Asari, a smug, cruel smile where the lips perked up on one side of the face in an expression of vicious pleasure. He wanted to spit every curse he could think of in that smirking face, but refrained, because it would only cost him strength he needed if he was ever to escape.

"We are in transit to the facility even now. We expect to arrive in four standard days. Use this time to reflect on your mistakes." the mechanized voice stated. Then without further ado, the speaker, or translator or warden or whatever he was, turned on his heel and strode out of the cell, followed closely by the medic and the two Crewmen. The hydraulic door slammed shut, its status lights turning red as its locking bolts slid into place, leaving Cadmus alone in near-darkness, practically naked and in the worst situation of his career.

"Well...fuck." he growled after a few moments of silence.

A good soldier knows how to think on his feet. Improvisation is a cornerstone of warfare, and it is a soldier's job to use that cornerstone to beat their enemy's brains out.

-Grand Marshal Hieronymus Baphomet of the Orokin Imperial Guard, 3930 I.A.-

A/N: I know, short chapter, but we're rushing ahead through some material before things take a major leap. The problem with the previous story was that we were trying to merge a static universe (ME, which has ceased growing lore-wise) with a dynamic one (WF, which is still receiving updates). To counter this, we will leap ahead at a certain point to a time where we (Follower and myself) have crafted a static merging of the two universes. The gap will be such that we can insert any new events that might occur into the story should we desire, given it will remain largely vague save for some key points. I won't spoil, but what I'm essentially talking about is Tenno side of the story catching up with Cadmus' adventures, and how, later, our Tenno friends will get to watch our beloved ME characters as the grow up, while shaping the universe they will have their adventures in. Also, to a question by a certain reviewer, no, Tali will not be stuck in a Mag frame. It may sound racist right now, but ONLY Tenno wear Warframes, and there's a good reason for it. As for the Corpus codex, that's coming. I have a rough draft of it all written up. And for further note, humanity will have some alien races of their own by their side when they meet the council, totally original creations that we've put in because the WF lore mentions other species but never shows them.

P.S: I.A. stands for Imperial Age, the golden era of the Orokin Empire, which includes the Sentient War. Who the sentients are in our story...well...you'll see ;)