Second hand mayhem
Maroo woke up slowly. That was wrong. Most of the places she had lived, you woke up fast or you died. For a long moment, she couldn't understand what was wrong. She felt...good? The music was still singing in her mind, but it was muted, fuzzy. She was fuzzy. She felt...clean? What little she could feel of her skin didn't feel dirty anyway. She knew that feeling all too well. She felt pressure on both sides of her head. Odd. She tried to move to determine what the pressure was and couldn't. Memory came crashing in.
"What the hell?" Maroo bit out through clenched teeth.
"Good morning." The voice of her jailer/keeper sounded from nearby. The voice was distorted. Through a speaker? Headphones? "Did you sleep well? How do you feel?" Warm fingers were checking her body professionally. She remembered those fingers.
"Get away from me!" Maroo snapped. The other did not stop her checks.
"I know this is hard to believe, human Maroo." The other said quietly. "But I am trying to help you. The music inside your skull will grow until it drives you mad. The queens want you alive, aware and undamaged. I am here to see that happen. I believe human courtesy dictates that I introduce myself? I am Special Envoy 3487V. I have been detailed to tend you until you meet the Queens."
"And if I don't want to meet them?" Maroo carefully didn't scream as the fingers moved to her neck. Talking her pulse or something? She didn't know. There was nothing erotic in the touch. This time.
"I am afraid your wants hold little sway here." The other actually sounded contrite. "Well, you are in good health except for that blasted Orokin crap." Something changed and Maroo felt dizziness rise. "Just relax. I will take care of you."
"Let. Me. GO!" Maroo tried to scream the last, but it came out a croak.
"I can't do that." Special Envoy 3487V's voice was gentle, kind as something brushed Maroo's hair. "I don't know what is coming, but I will do my job. I will tend you. Do you have questions? I may not have answers, but I can try to answer some."
"What have you done to me?" Maroo didn't like the sound of her voice. She hated whining. "Feel weird."
"You will." The other replied as a hand stroked Maroo's bound one. "You are not used to the nutrient paste we are feeding you. It was specially formulated for you." Something in her tone set off all kinds of internal alarms inside Maroo's head.
"'Formulated'?" Maroo asked, fear rising.
"Yes." Special Envoy 3487V sounded proud now. "We didn't have a lot of information on you, just a few DNA samples from the times you got locked up. But it became abundantly clear that normal prisons won't hold you. And every time you go into a maximum security prison, you call Tenno to your aid." Now the voice was odd. Anger was heard deep inside, but also wistfulness? Sadness? Regret? "The mix will keep you fed and hydrated. It also includes a calming agent. That will keep you from hurting yourself. The restraints you are wearing are specially built for you, padded. But you can hurt yourself if we let you. So we won't."
"What is the big deal?" Maroo begged. "I never stole from the Queens!"
"Well, technically..." Special Envoy 3487V was musing. "If you steal from any Grineer, you steal from the Queens since they own everything. But that would ordinarily just mean your death. I don't know why they want you. I don't know why they specified 'unharmed'. This seems like a lot of work for one human female. But I do not question my orders." Suddenly , Maroo was spinning, or what she was attached to was spinning. "Relax." Special Envoy 3487V said gently as Maroo tried to scream and couldn't. "Just flipping you over. You didn't react as expected to what we did before, so, we altered our program."
The fingers were touching her again, but... not erotic at all. No, the fingers were seeking out tense muscles and rubbing them, squeezing them... Maroo jerked. This Special Envoy 3487V person was giving her a massage!
"No. Please." Maroo begged as her muscles turned to putty under the strong fingers.
"We are not going to hurt you." Special Envoy 3487V said gently as the fingers worked. "What the Queens do is up to them. We have a day to Lua at this speed and keeping you sedated the whole time could harm you, so it out. Besides, the music will negate most drugs that wouldn't cause harm. So, alternate methods. Relax. I have you. You are safe. For now."
Maroo tried to fight. She tried to resist. But the relaxation swept through her and she was pulled into it. The music swelled as she fell into it. She was too weak to even scream.
Special Envoy 3487V finished her work and stepped back from where the human slept fitfully. Hopefully, she wouldn't wake too many more times. The inability to use drugs to keep the human asleep was suboptimal. There were alternate forms of sedation, but most of those would cause harm. That would directly contradict the orders from the Queens, so... out. She was Grineer, she would obey.
You are not Grineer. The voice inside her head said firmly. You know it.
Get out of my head! Special Envoy 3487V snapped mentally for all the good it would do. It never did. She moved to the locker again and pulled out her medication dispenser.
That won't help. The other voice sounded sad now. We erred, sending you as we did. We didn't think they could subvert you. They did. That was our mistake.
Just leave me alone! Special Envoy 3487V screamed in her mind as she injected herself. I AM GRINEER!
No. The other voice was fading. You are our sister. I am sorry. We will try to help, but- the voice vanished and Special Envoy 3487V breathed a sigh of relief.
She jerked as a blaring alarm sounded. Her first thought was Maroo, but the headphones over the human's hears kept any sounds from disturbing her rest. The subliminal tones might -might- counter the Orokin music for a time. Her second thought was worry. Very few would attack Grineer. She hit the com system to her specially chosen guards.
"Report, Captain." Special Envoy 3487V's voice was clipped and calm.
"Envoy." The leader of the Night Watch Squad that had been assigned as her protection detail sounded calm, but then again, she always did. "Tenno detected in the lower decks. Troops are responding. None of them seem to be heading this way."
"Tenno are highly unpredictable." Special Envoy 3487V said sharply. "Ready our escape ship. I will prepare the subject for transfer."
"As ordered, but might that not-" Whatever else the clone was going to say was cut off by a new, more strident alarm. "They breached the reactor! Team is enroute to secure the passage!" The Heavy Gunner snarled, battle singing in her veins even though it was almost a certainty that she was about to die. "Go! For the Queens!"
"For the Queens." Special Envoy 3487V replied as she turned to where Maroo slept. A quick series of controls activated and the bed she lay on became a gurney. Special Envoy 3487V moved to the locker and pulled her medication dispenser out, then she started for the door, guiding the gurney. She opened the door and had a bare moment to see three not Grineer forms in the hidden passage before one of them shot her.
The small Special Forces team worked fast, but no matter how they tried, none of their tools could open the locks on the restraints that bound Maroo to the gurney. None of the locks seemed electronic. Or... not just electronic.
"Move!" The female member of the team drew a Spectra pistol and took aim at the closest lock, but...
"Don't." A croak sounded from nearby and all the weapons turned to where the human looking woman in the silver gown lay still. Her face was slack, but her mouth was moving. A hole in her showed in her gown, almost dead center on her chest. So how was she talking? "You will kill her." Now all three Special Forces troops had weapons aimed at her, but she didn't seem to see. Or care. "Don't kill her. She is... important. Very important." Her eyes opened and she stared at the three soldiers. "Corpus...? How...?"
"Release her or die." The female soldier snapped, her pistol aimed.
"No. You have at best three minutes before this ship's reactor melts down and kills everything aboard." The odd human asked. "Do you have time to dither?"
"We will kill you." The soldier was obviously not happy.
"Then kill me. And doom her." The silver garbed woman said firmly as she sat up. The hole in her gown... vanished. "She is poisoned and I have the only antidote. Kill me and it dies with me. Then she dies in agony." The female soldier looked at one of the others, one who held a Supra ready. He gave a short, sharp nod.
"You step a foot out of place and you will beg for death." The female soldier snapped as she stepped back. She did not lower her weapon.
"You think I fear death?" The woman rose slowly, three weapons tracking her. "I will welcome death when it comes for me. I have seen too much. Done too much. Hurt too many. I didn't... understand until they showed me, but... I messed up. This was supposed to be a good thing for me, but... now I am stuck." She moved to the gurney and it started off. The corridor was lined with dead Grineer and she had to guide the gurney around them. "If the ship is not ready to go, we are dead." None of the soldiers replied. None of them relaxed their vigilance for a moment. "My orders are to take her to the Queens, but in all things to keep her alive and as comfortable as I can. Letting her die on this ship would violate my orders. Are we so different, soldiers?"
None of them answered her and she focused on guiding the gurney. The hangar bay wasn't far. It was small, only big enough for one ship, a small troop transport. There were no Grineer anywhere to be seen. The woman started the gurney towards the transport.
"Halt in the name of the Queens!" A loud and commanding voice sounded. A dozen forms stepped out form another door, weapons aimed at the Corpus team. "Submit to your masters!" Instead of replying, the Corpus sought cover and directed a punishing fire at the Grineer.
The silver garbed woman winced as rounds flew around the gurney, but none of them struck the sleeping woman and the envoy relaxed as the hatch of the transport opened. But instead of Grineer... She swallowed as two forms out of nightmare appeared in the hatch. The Tenno looked at her, weapons ready.
"I am ordered to tend this one." She said, dipping her head. "She is infected with Orokin music and poisoned. I will tend."
She guided the gurney into the transport, ignoring the battle still raging behind her. Ignoring the footsteps that clanged away and the cry of 'Tenno SKUUUM!' that went up from the Grineer ranks. She secured the gurney, sat herself in a chair next to it and attached the built in harness to her own body. She did not look at the Tenno. She didn't need to look to know it was still aiming at her.
Don't move. The voice inside her skull warned. Don't even breathe hard. Maroo needs you.
I am afraid. The envoy said to her inner evil voice. But not of death. Of what they will do to me before and after they kill me.
They don't know you as you are, Marlena. They only know who you were. The other said firmly. You gave them cause to hate. These may not know your face. Do not tell them. Do not. Give only what you must, no more. We cannot aid you but so much. We will try.
The sounds of battle from outside had ended. The sound of running feet heralded the arrival of the three Special Forces troops. Two of them looked wounded, but all of them were mobile. The female trooper was nursing her arm, but the glare she leveled on the envoy was clear even through her closed helmet. Another presence was felt and the envoy did not move as the hatch closed and sealed. The rumble of the ship's drives pressed into her spine and she slumped a bit. Then she looked at the hurt humans. All three of them were aiming at her.
"You are wounded. I am trained as a medic." The envoy said softly. "I can help."
"You move, you die." The female soldier said firmly. "I don't know what you are, but you are not human or Grineer." The envoy didn't need to see to know that both Tenno had stiffened. The soldier raised her voice. "I shot her, point blank range, center of the chest. The hole in her gown repaired itself."
A powerful blow slammed into the left side of the envoy's head, throwing her painfully against the straps that held her to the seat. She felt blood start to fall from her scalp, then stop. The straps released her and an iron grip held her off the ground by her arms. She stared into the faceplate of the Tenno and fear the likes of which she had rarely known blossomed. She knew what it would do.
"I AM HERE TO HELP MAROO! THAT IS ALL!" The envoy screamed as the Tenno carried her towards the airlock. "Please! No! Don't space me! That won't kill me! I will float in nothing forever!" The hatch opened. The Tenno ignored her, tossed her into the airlock and shut the hatch. She stared at the door and then she curled up on the floor, crying.
Easy... The voice in her head said softly. They haven't started the venting procedure. We do not know why.
I am Grineer... This is all wrong. The envoy was sobbing both mentally and physically.
You are not Grineer no matter what they tried to make you believe. The other's voice was gentle. Tengus has much to answer for. The impact of the bullet and repairing the damage it did caused a shock to your system. We can talk now. We need to talk. The envoy pulled her drug dispenser out. Please Marlena, talk to us! Let us help you!
I... am... Grineer. The envoy snarled as she injected herself again. She gave herself a shake as the voice in her head gave a cry and vanished again. When she spoke, it was aloud and calm. "I assume someone is monitoring. Maroo will need care. The gurney is set to feed and hydrate her as well as providing limited doses of the palliative that works to keep her calm. When those run out, she will die. You cannot save her. The Tenno cannot save her. I can."
With that, she sat back and started to sing a hymn of adoration to the Queens.
Neither of the Tenno moved or spoke. Both still had weapons ready. Not surprising with an unknown life form stuck in the airlock and Maroo ensconced in that Grineer crap. Kai shook her head as she finished her checks. She was cross trained as a medic, but it wasn't her specialty. The tube that went into Maroo's left nostril was easy to understand, but the rest of it?
"Getting her out of this is going to be a pain in the butt." She hissed as Cass finished tending her arm. "Easy there, you quack. I do need that arm."
"The locks don't respond to any attempted overrides and we cannot cut the metal." Cass ignored her insult. It was just who she was. "Whoa!"
He backpedaled as the closest Tenno holstered his rifle and drew a sword. But when the Tenno cut, the edge of the sword just skittered over the odd metal that bound Maroo's arm to the gurney. Despite the Tenno obviously fighting for control, the tip of the blade left a long scratch on Maroo's arm. The Tenno looked at the scratch and then at the Special Forces. He shook his head firmly and sheathed his sword, drawing his rifle.
"I will tend her arm." Kai said with a sigh, reaching for her medkit. "If she really was poisoned, I can't do anything about that." She looked at the closed airlock and shook her head. "And trusting that one is foolish. There are a bunch of things wrong about that being. She is not human. May not even be a 'she'." Both Tenno shrugged in unison, both kept their weapons trained on the airlock. The thought was clear. Maroo wasn't a threat currently. The other was. Kai nodded. "Well, at least Maroo isn't healing like that one did."
Unspoken was the scary word. The word that worried all of them, human and Tenno alike.
Yet.
What can we do? She won't hear us! She... they hurt her, so badly. And now? She really believes she is Grineer. We erred, Mother.
That we did. She was so sure of her reception. The probabilities were not clear. We thought we could protect her mind, we were wrong. If they do kill her, the human will die as well. Nothing can stop that but what the human was seeking. And that would doom us all.
I... might be able to make contact.
She will destroy you. No.
Mother, if it is the only way... We need Maroo alive. Do you think the Grineer knew?
The probabilities are... unclear. If so, they will not give her up. They will seek Maroo and Marlena. That energy form can come and go as he wishes and few can face him. No. No, they will not trust us. They cannot. If we try to make contact, they will kill Maroo and Marlena. All we can do is hope that Marlena can break free of what was done to her before the Tenno realize who she was. Before.
I don't want to lose my sister!
And I don't want to lose my daughter. Once was enough. We drove Natah away and forced her to choose a side that guaranteed our defeat. We caused that. Never forget that.
I know. I am scared, Mother.
So am I.
