You reap what you sow
"I don't care who you are!" Nemesis snapped, jumping to her feet. "This isn't real!"
"Well, duh." Nadia said with a smirk. "Not the brightest of bulbs, are you?"
"This is intolerable!" Nemesis snapped, focusing her mind, but she couldn't hear the hivemind. She couldn't access any of her minions or the other Chosen. The Master likewise, didn't seem to be listening. "What have you done?" She demanded.
"I sequestered you so we could talk for a moment." Nadia said mildly. Nemesis readied herself and Nadia sighed. "And… before you do anything dumb…" She raised a hand and Nemesis was suddenly three or so meters in the air, hanging over empty space. "You like the view from up there?" Nadia asked snidely. "I can show you what it looks like from a thousand meters."
"Ok." Nemesis forced herself to calm. "You have power. You are still dead."
"Yes." Far from cowed, Nadia actually nodded. "Yes, I am. The thing is… I know I am. You don't."
"What are you talking about?" Nemesis scoffed. "I am not dead!"
"Yes, you are." Nadia said, her face turning sad. "You don't know it, but you are. Nothing I say or do can change it. Nothing you do or say can change it. You died."
"And I was reborn!" Nemesis shouted with glee, only to pause as Nadia sighed again. "What?" She demanded.
"Do you really think your master has that power?" Nadia asked softly. "He didn't when I knew him, although he believed he did. He was a madman then and he hasn't improved much since he keeps doing the exact same thing…" She shook her head. "One definition of true insanity is doing the exact same thing, the exact same way and expecting a different outcome each time." She shrugged. "Not my problem. I just wanted to see what you were like." She smiled bit sadly. "He picked a proper vessel to empty and refill. One filled with hate and weak of mind. Your fate is sealed, Nemesis."
"Your insults are meaningless!" Nemesis said sharply as she sat in midair. "You either a liar or a fool."
"I have been both." Nadia replied without heat. "But this I do know, Nemesis. You are doomed. In no way, in no shape or form, will you survive what is coming. They never do." She shook her head. "I keep trying, but you idiotic witches keep ignoring me. I guess it's my penance for being stupid all those years ago." She was fading now, or Nemesis was. "Enjoy the rest of your short life, moron. You won't get any second chances this time."
"You are weak!" Nemesis screamed. "I am stronger than you will ever be!"
"Yadda, yadda, yadda…" Nadia said with a sigh as she sat. "Same old Nemesis… Same taunts, same threats… Sheesh… I was a moron too, but… geez… At least I grew up a bit. Took dying, but I did. You… You won't get that chance. Bye now." She waved a hand and Nemesis was falling…
Nemesis woke up sure that something was wrong. But nothing presented itself. Mender looked up from where she sat, working on something that looked vaguely disturbing. It had… tentacles and was moving. No one else was in the room and the thrum of the ship's engines was clear and constant.
"Did you have a good rest, sister?" Mender inquired.
"I did." Nemesis replied. "Status?"
"We escaped the planet." Mender said calmly. "Pilot is being hooked into the ship as we speak. He will be connected permanently."
"The Grineer?" Nemesis asked as she sat up, checking all of her systems automatically.
"They pursued, but Tech launched a drone that they chased instead of us." Mender laughed coldly. "It will let them draw it in, drop some self-replicating controllers and then explode."
"Good." Nemesis said with a nod. "It likely won't convert the whole ship, but that will make either make them more cautious or angry. Either one can be used to our advantage." She rose from her pad and moved to where Mender sat. "What are you working on?"
"Tech found any number of mechanical problems with the Corpus design that we acquired." Mender replied evenly, her eyes all focusing on her work. "Whoever built that thing was sloppy, or drunk, according to Tech."
"Maybe both, knowing the Corpus." Nemesis said with a snort. Mender looked at her and she sighed and knelt. "Check me? I am not supposed to have emotions."
"I can do it remotely." Mender said, not moving from her spot. She paused. "You are… distressed by something."
"I am?" Nemesis asked, confused. "I don't feel it. Can you tell what?"
"No." Mender said after a moment. "It seems like a memory, but it faded before I could scan it." Nemesis waited and Mender sighed. "Whatever it was is gone now. I have set a telltale in case you have it again."
"Good." Nemesis agreed. "Your project?"
"Tech came up with number of improvements for the Corpus Command and Control MOA design." Mender sounded eager now. Then again, she was programmed to derive pleasure from molding souls to serve the master. "We are growing a body that will serve us well." Nemesis looked at the thing in front of Mender and then at Mender who laughed. "No, this is not the thing's body. This is the connection between the body and the brain."
"What is the body then?" Nemesis asked. Instead of answering, Mender waved a pseudopod at one wall and a tank appeared on it. Inside the tank, a four legged furred form floated. "What is that?" Nemesis asked. She hadn't see that kind of creature before.
"A Kubrow." Mender replied evenly. "An Orokin guard animal. I grew that one." She made a noise of disgust. "The MOA control mechanism still requires a human brain to operate though. Cloned brains don't meet all the parameters, according to Tech."
"So…" Nemesis looked from the alien dog to Mender. "What did you do? That Corpus woman? The one who tried to take control of me?"
"There was nothing left of her mind." Mender said, regret singing. But not for the death of the human. For the loss of the chance to warp and twist. "So… We had a perfectly viable human brain. And now, we have a Command and Control Kubrow. When this is finished anyway." She turned back to her work. "At the next target, see if you can find some children or adolescents. We could use more samples for bio weapon fabrication."
"Will do." Nemesis said as she rose and moved to do what she did. Find the enemies of the Master and slay them.
She was dark. She was cold. Everything was cold and wet and alien. She could not feel anything but cold. Then pain seared into her and she gave out a scream, but… it came out a bark?
Obey.
The word sidled through her mind, her consciousness and she felt…wrong. This was wrong. She was wrong. Whatever was going on, she was…
"Something is wrong!" The voice was familiar somehow. Female. Angry. Enemy. She growled at the voice, even though she could not see the speaker.
"Back off, Nemesis!" Another voice said sharply. Something touched her and she felt… odd. Something wafted through her. Soothing, calming. But… ti was wrong. She knew it was wrong. The voice spoke again. "This is odd. The Kubrow is acting as if it knows us. But it can't. The brain's memory centers were trashed completely. Nothing left even before I wiped it further."
"Is it going to work, or did we waste our time?" The first voice said with a hint of anger and she snarled again in the direction it had come from.
"It is…working." The second voice said, somewhat dubious. "The readings are clear. The signals are being translated through the command and control matrix. So it will take control of any Corpus automatons it encounters. But… This is most peculiar." Another touch and she relaxed. She didn't want to, but she did. She whined in fear. "Easy." The voice crooned, but she did not relax again.
"Mender, we have landed." The first voice said sharply. "We have to go now if we want to hit that Corpus base before they detect us. Is it ready or not?"
"I think it is." The one called Mender said, but sounded unsure. "This is…not as it should be. Here…"
She went still as light suddenly blinded her. Her eyes had opened. She stared up at a green form. Something that had no real shape, it seemed a blob of… something. She tried her legs and they moved little, but not much.
"Can you stand?" The second voice was coming from the blob thing. "Your name is Lilly." That sounded both right and wrong. She managed to get her legs underneath her and rose on unsteady feet.
"Come on." The first voice sounded from nearby and she turned to see a huge form whose skin looked like metal. One appendage was long and sharp looking, the other bulbous. "Move, you silly canine!"
She growled at them. These were not friends. She didn't know who they were, but they were not friends! Both of them retreated a bit.
"Mender, what the hell?" The armored form snapped. "Is it ours or not?"
"I…" The blob made a noise of uncertainty. "It should be. The controls are in place. It should obey." Obey. The word ran through her head again and she growled louder. "Oh dear…" The blob said slowly. "Nemesis…" It made a noise of disgust as she turned and showed her disapproval of them all. Right on the floor in front of the blob thing. "Eww…."
"That is it!" The armored form drew back its arm, the sharp one. "We can make another."
"Nemesis! No!" The blob screamed as the armored form stepped forward and swung, but she was in motion. She darted past the momentarily overbalanced form and ran for where she saw an opening. "Stop it! But alive! We need it alive!"
She bowled into another armored form and yelped in pain as her shoulder hit hard metal. But she bounced off it and ran. Something sang through the air near her, but she avoided it deftly and kept running.
"Seal the ship!" The voice of the one called Nemesis sounded from behind her and she put on more speed. "Now!" Then she saw an opening ahead. A landscape shone beyond, but it was closing! She ran faster, hurdling armored form that tried to grab her, darting under, around and through the mob and then, she snacked out just as a huge metal thing slammed shut behind her.
She ran. She had no idea where she was or where she was going. But she had to get away. She would find underbrush to hide in and get to the hills she could see in the distance…
Something hit her. She yelped as she found herself flying through the air. She hit the ground and scrambled to her feet, but one of her hind legs wasn't working. She turned and saw wet red stuff on her fur. That wasn't good. Then pain. She was hurt! They had hurt her! She yowled in rage and pain and ran on three legs. She could hear the sounds of pursuit behind her. But she had to get away. She had to. She wasn't sure why. But those were not friends. Whoever they were, they were definitely not friends!
"Enough." The voice of the one called Nemesis came from the side and the ground in front of her erupted. She howled in fear and ran on. "Stop, you dumb mutt!" The armored one sounded upset now.
Something hit her as she scrambled over a low rise and she fell. She stared up at the long metal thing that pinned her leg to the ground. She snarled at the armored form that was approaching now.
"We wanted to do this the easy way, you stupid animal." Nemesis snapped. "Now we do it the hard way." Nemesis reached for the metal thing impaling her leg. It flew back to the monster's hand and then the armored thing paused as another voice sounded.
"Stupid?" The voice was odd. Old. But firm. "That is rich coming from you." The Kubrow went still as something moved between it and the form of Nemesis. It was… black. She should have been afraid of it. She knew that. But… for some reason, she wasn't.
"Tenno." Nemesis sounded elated. "I have been praying to meet another of you."
"I bet you have." The odd black form said dryly.
"Now you die." Nemesis raised her sharp arm weapon thing, but the odd black form did not react. Did not act afraid at all.
"Not today, you stupid little brat." He waved a hand at the armored form and to the Kubrow's surprise, Nemesis gave a shrill cry, turned and ran. The Kubrow growled as the dark form turned and bent down. "Easy, milady…" The black form sounded both cautious and concerned. "You are hurt."
She snapped at him, but she was weakening. She could feel warm wetness flowing down her side. She stared up at the black for and whimpered a bit.
"It's okay." The black form said gently, a hand coming down to stroke her head gently. "It's okay. I am not your enemy. I know you are confused. I know you are hurting. I can help. Will you let me?" He retreated a bit. "We don't have a lot of time, milady."
M… Milady…? The word felt wrong. Everything felt wrong. She whined. Hurts… Was it in her head or aloud? Had she spoken?
"I know." The black form sounded upset now as he reached down and gathered her up in arms that was far gentler than they looked. "It will be…"
"There!" Nemesis shouted from the distance. "Tenno! Kill it! Reclaim the controller!" The Kubrow whined, but the black form just chuckled softly.
"Idiots." Suddenly… The Kubrow went still as dark forms simply appeared all around the black form that was carrying her easily now. There were many of them. Dozens. They turned as one and charged where Nemesis stood, obviously gaping at the sudden army that was attacking her. The Kubrow whined again as something hurt. But then the pain faded. "Easy, Milady…" The dark form said gently as he picked up speed. "The shades will keep them busy until they won't have a chance of tracking us quickly. But you need help. Takes a really rotten type to shoot a Kubrow… Really, really rotten."
She tried to stay awake. She really did. But the darkness dragged her down. Odd. She wasn't afraid now. She should be. This being was terrifying. But… She wasn't.
"Have you lost your mind, Nikis?" Karl demanded as Alicia worked. "We are setting up for battle and you bring a Kubrow for Alicia to tend?" The Kubrow was unconscious, which was a mercy from the wounds that the Trinity was tending.
"Not just a Kubrow, Karl." Nikis wasn't perturbed by Karl's anger. "Something odd about her. Alicia?"
"This isn't…"Alicia made a confused noise. "It's a Kubrow, but the brain is human and these…" She waved at a series of highlighted holographic scans. "I swear these bio circuits look like the mess that was in Cecelia's MOA body."
"They built a Command and Control form." Karl inhaled sharply. "Nikis…"
"She was running from them." Nikis said with a shrug. "Might be a setup of some kind, but my gut says no. She was trying hard to get away from them." He sighed. "They shot her, Karl."
"Nikis…" Karl groaned. 'We don't have time for this!"
"I know." Nikis agreed. "I bought a bit of time. They will hunt for me. Want to ambush them?"
"Yeah." Karl said sourly. "Now that you have left us no alternatives." He sighed. "Aeron and Two are set up to take out the big one with the big guns. We will take the other two."
"It ain't gonna be that easy, Karl." Nikis said softly. "It never is."
"I know." Karl agreed. "I looked over the records." He sounded sick now.
"I am with you, Karl." Nikis said quietly. "I know how these fight. They will have a mob of minions. They will try to pin us in place for their big guns to hit. If they can't –and we won't let them- they will localize us so their leaders can engage. The one with the whip will be a handful, likely a berserker type. The last three occurrences had those. But Nemesis is the key. That one is the leader. Kill or disable it, and the others will retreat."
"Just like that?" Karl asked dubiously.
"Oh, it will be a bit more involved than that." Nikis turned as a soft sound came. He nodded to the Kubrow whose eyes were open. "You do good work, Alicia. Rest, milady." He said to the Kubrow who was staring at him and the others in open curiosity. "When you can, flee."
You… good… The Kubrow managed to croak out. Bioengineered or not, it's voice was odd. More bark than human voice, it was intelligible.
"No, I am not." Nikis said sadly. "I am making up for a lot of bad."
You… good. The Kubrow gave a sigh and relaxed.
Nikis snorted and then paused. Karl, Alicia, Will, Ric, Olim, and Mori were all looking at him. "What?" He demanded.
"Nothing." Karl said, but his tone said otherwise.
"Not a word, boy." Nikis said sharply as he started off back the way he had come. "Not. A. Word."
He was following an ancient stream bed when he saw them approaching. He stopped in the middle of the dry waterway and waited, his hands on his pistols.
"You…" The voice was one he remembered. It was coming from the new Nemesis, but it wasn't female. "Where is the sword?" The master of this evil demanded.
"Wouldn't you love to know?" Nikis retorted evenly. "You haven't learned a thing since the last time have you?"
"Your tricks will not save you this time, charlatan." This was Nemesis. As arrogant as ever. In the distance, he could see more Grineer slaves approaching. All looked to be carrying heavy weapons and the big Chosen was with them, its huge weapon glinting ominously.
"No tricks this time, idiot child." Nikis said, his tone cold. "Your master has left, hasn't he?" Nemesis stared at him and he laughed coldly. "He remembers what happened the last time we faced one another."
"You do not have the sword." Nemesis said with a laugh of her own.
"Against you?" Nikis hawked and spat. "Do I need it?" Then his pistols were in hand and spewing fire.