Monkey see, Monkey do

Five to one odds. Not fair. At all.

To the five!

All five of the renegade Tenno were Royal Guard. Or... they had been. Once. Royal Guard were trained far beyond regular Tenno. Their job was two-fold. To protect the Royal Family of Orokin and to prevent said Royal Family from abusing their power. Considering that the constitutional monarchs of Orokin were not always well liked, the first part of the Royal Guard's job was dangerous. Many different groups -including political Separatist organizations and flat out terrorist cells- had attacked the Royal Family on numerous occasions throughout the time Orokin had been in existence. The Royal Guard had been the last line of defense for the Royal Family and they had done their job well.

But it was the second part that had been far harder and in the end, the failure of the Guard to prevent the abuse of power had led to Orokin falling. This was not the fault of the Guard, although many of them blamed themselves. They were corrupted and used in the plots of various factions within the Royal Family. Some of said family had wanted to change Orokin into a dictatorship, abolish the Executors and rule themselves. Others had wanted to reform Orokin, to change parts of it. Make it better.

These five were the last survivors of a group of a dozen guards who had been subverted by one member of the Royal Family. Her stated goal had been to reform Orokin, but most figured that her actual goal had been conquest. And her methods... The less said about some of them the better. Eliza was hardly the only one to bear scars from that time. She had the clearest memories, but she was not the only one who remembered.

The white armored dervish who danced into the stunned rank of warframes that faced him also remembered what had happened before. Once before he had faced them all, beaten them all and spared them. He had given them mercy. This time? He had none. Every move was elegant, every move was timed, perfectly focused. If it hadn't been so terrifyingly final, the Loki's dance would have been beautiful. Because each move, if not countered or dodged, would end a combatant's ability to fight. Then he started to blink. Here. Gone. Here. Gone. In and out of invisibility. Predicting where he would appear next was utterly impossible. Which was the point.

All five of these renegades were good. They were well trained, well armed and well motivated. They were also completely outclassed. There was a reason both detractors and admirers called Sun 'The Monkey King'. But only where he could not hear.

"Run!" Gemina screamed as she swung her Ninkondi, only to hit nothing but air. She vaguely remembered something odd happening, but it faded as she fought for her life. She managed to dodge the fast as thought retaliation attack. The Excalibur beside her was not so lucky as he tried to parry with his skana. He went down in heap, his head armor caved in from the metal staff in the hands of the master of Tenno Interrogators.

"Gem!" Siri screamed as she fired her Sicarus at the Loki. She too hit nothing but air. "What the hell?" Her Scindo was far too slow to have a chance of hitting the grandmaster and she knew it.

"He has a death warrant!" Gemina screamed. "He will kill us all!"

"Eventually." The cold unemotional word had all four still conscious renegades quaking. "We will have a talk first."

"Sun... please..." Gemina begged.

"You will not take Jesse." Sun might have been discussing the weather as he spun away from Gemina and engaged Samuel. None of the newcomers had full charges of energy in their warframes. Cathi had an Energy Siphon artifact equipped, but it would take time to draw power from the surrounding area. Time that none of them had. "Your trap is...interesting." Sun commented as Samuel took a hit that threw him aside, into Siri who caught him and spun both of them away from the dancing Loki.

"We didn't set a trap!" Gemina protested as she tried with all of her skill to defend herself and her fellows.

"I am not talking to you." Sun retorted calmly as Cathi stepped forward, her Galatine held to deflect his attacks. She couldn't hope to match his speed, but the sheer bulk of her weapon might serve as a shield. Maybe. "I am talking to your owner." He seemed to pause for just a moment and then focused on Cathi who stiffened. Then he was dancing again. "You."

Cathi screamed as Sun flowed right past her guard. One moment, she stood between him and the others. The next she lay still, her Galatine beside her. What had he hit her with?

"You are not making any sense!" Gemina shouted, throwing caution to the winds as she charged the Loki to give her kin time to aid Cathi. The Loki... ignored her, his staff spinning to keep her and the other two at bay as he looked at the fallen Mirage. "Leave her alone! Your quarrel is with me!"

"This was a nice trap." Sun commented as he knelt down beside Cathi's still form and touched something golden to her. "You know the old saying about traps though. They work two ways."

Gemina screamed in rage and frustration as both Sun and Cathi vanished.

Somewhere

He was gentle.

She was confused. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. And he was... gentle as he laid her out on a hard surface and restrained her. He was gentle as he searched her, removing all of her tools, her tricks, her traps, leaving her defenseless in a disabled warframe. He was gentle as he opened her faceplate, something that should have been impossible. Not for him.

She did not know where she was. The machinery that she could see was...sort of familiar. Terrifyingly familiar. Then her day got worse. Her mouth opened and it wasn't her speaking.

"She is mine!"

The white armored Loki ignored the words, working on something nearby.

"She is mine!" The voice that was and was not Cathi screamed from her mouth. She didn't understand. This... wasn't right. She remembered. But... it wasn't clear. The voice was... her mistress, but... not the kind, loving person she knew and adored. No. This was different. "You will not take what is mine!"

"Begone." Sun's cold, hard word sent a pulse of power through Cathi. Something tore inside her and she was sobbing in pain and a long, drawn out scream of rage and frustration came from...somewhere. Then it was gone! She could speak, but not move.

"What..." Cathi was crying. "What are you doing?" Sun ignored her. "Please?" She begged.

"Did you mean what you said?" Sun asked after a moment of doing something that she couldn't -quite- make out.

"What?" Cathi stared at the Loki, confused. "What I said?"

"What you said about Jesse, in the dreamscape." Sun said quietly. "She wasn't aware, but you are not the only ones who can read minds. You said she needed a friend." Cathi inhaled in shock and fear and Sun chuckled darkly. "She was stressed before I told her who Horat was. Before I pulled her memories back to her conscious mind. Now? She is one small step from madness. We had to sedate her and will have to keep her that way for some time. You people..." He shook his head. "Did you mean it, Cathi? I can save you. Gemina is too far gone. You are not. Yet. It won't be fun for you, but I can do it. And then... you can save Jesse."

"I don't understand." Cathi was so fuzzy. Nothing was clear.. "Will you kill me?"

"No." Sun replied calmly. "Either way, no. I will not. Cathi, did you mean what you said?" He laid a hand on Cathi's cheek, but... for some reason, that touch did not frighten her. It... was soothing? "It is very important. To everyone."

"I do not understand." Cathi managed to get the words out. "But yes. She is so hurt. As hurt as we are... as hurt as the... the mistress was... She is worse."

"You know about half of what has been done to her, Cathi." Sun looked away. "Some of it is not in the records." Energy was sweeping over Cathi now, but... it felt good. It was coming from all around her. "Do you know what happened to her mother?"

"Her mother died." Cathi felt tears threaten. "The Corpus killed her."

"Nothing so simple." Sun's voice had sadness now. He turned and nodded to the empty air. "We are ready." Cathi couldn't move as a form simply appeared nearby. The human woman stood, looking at her. "This will not be fun Cathi, for any of us. We can help you. You have to want it though."

"I don't understand."Cathi begged as the woman came close. The restrained Tenno stared through tears as the face resolved into someone she did know! Well, know of. She has seen pictures in Jesse's records they had recovered. "Janet... I..."

"Oh Cathi..." Janet laid a hand beside Sun's, the two pressing gently down on the crying Tenno's forehead. "We can help you. I can help you. But it will not be quick or easy. Sun..." She turned to the interrogator who nodded.

"You do not remember, Cathi." Sun said softly. "So we will help you remember. Help you past what was done. You will curse us for this. Freedom... is as much as a curse as a blessing, girl. But it is better than what was done to you. We will need them, Oracle."

"They won't come, Sun." Janet retorted. "Raven won't come anywhere near Cathi after what happened to Mavri. The Lotus refuses to watch and... Eliza..." She shrugged. "They won't talk to me."

"They will talk to me." Sun pulled his hand out from under Janet's. Cathi felt an armored hand squeeze hers. "Be strong, Cathi." Sun said softly. "Janet will help. The trap was set for me. Not her. Your owner has no idea how much she pissed Janet off by going after Jesse." Then he...was gone.

"I don't understand." Cathi was not this weepy. Was she?

"This is not you. This is what she wanted you to be. A thing." Janet said softly. "I saw who you were before. Who you...should have remained. You were the champion in the Imperial Games three years running. The little Tenno girl with the huge sword. She took you after the third year. Do you remember?" She asked kindly.

"I..." Cathi tried to focus, tried to remember. "No. The cryo... I..." She swallowed hard as her warframe suddenly vanished. She was wearing a patient gown instead. She was lying on and in something that pulsed with energy. Energy that was seeping into her mind. "No..." She breathed as horror came from somewhere. She couldn't remember where! "No!"

"That is not real." Janet's voice was firm from nearby and suddenly, Cathi was back in her warframe. Back where she had been. "That was a memory given form. A control. You are Tenno, beyond such. It took her a month to break you. The Corpus I served once would never have been able to. You are Tenno. Be true to the Code. Jesse needs you!"

"I didn't want to hurt Jesse!" Cathi was sobbing as Janet stroked her helmet. "She is a good kid!"

"Yeah, she is." Janet said with a sigh. "Cathi, you are going to shift again. Back into your memory. You will be back there. You will remember. It will hurt you." She looked away. "I have no right to do this without your permission, Cathi. This will cause harm."

"Oh my god..." Another voice had Cathi stiffening. A new form appeared in the room. The scarred face said it all. The newcomer was Raven. She retched, hand to her mouth. "This is what they wanted me for?"

"Yes, Raven." Janet said sadly. "Cathi had no choice and no chance against what was done to her. She obeyed orders. This sister of yours needs help. Will you give it?" Raven bowed her head and then nodded silently. "We are expecting two more."

"There are times I truly hate Sun." The irate voice preceded a familiar blue masked form into the room. She was not happy. "This is one of them." Janet nodded to her and the Lotus nodded back, moving to stand by Raven.

"What?" Cathi begged. "I don't... This makes no sense."

"What was done is deep, Cathi." Janet stroked her arm gently. "It is possible to break but it will be hard and hurt you very badly." To her horror, Cathi started to cry and Janet crooned to her. "It is okay, Cathi. It will be okay. Please...?" She wasn't talking to Cathi now. She was looking off into the distance. "To save Jesse? What would you do to save yours?"

"Anything." A totally unexpected voice shook Cathi as a form in a golden gown appeared nearby. "Hello Cathi." She wore a golden crown.

"Eliza..." Cathi breathed. "You... you took the crown?"

"Didn't have much of a choice." Eliza, Empress of Orokin, said sourly. "About as much as I had when Sun barged into my meeting and demanded my presence."

"I am sorry." Cathi was crying again and Eliza's face softened. "I am so sorry! You kept trying to get away and I... I..." She had been Eliza's personal guard when the Empress had been a child. For several reasons.

"I don't blame you, Cathi." Eliza sighed but then smiled a little forlornly. "I never did. You were just following orders each time you corralled me and brought me back. Even as a little kid, I knew something was wrong. Just not what. She punished me and that I could handle. The thought of her punishing you for it... that really bothered me."

"I don't remember much of that." Cathi said slowly. "I... it is all fuzzy. Patchy."

"I am sorry I drugged you to escape the last time, Cathi. I knew she would punish you." Eliza said softly. "But now? Jesse needs help. She won't let anyone close. She has walled herself off and she is going mad." Cathi stiffened. "Yes, Gemina's betrayal hurt her far worse than your owner could have imagined."

"My...owner?" Cathi asked. "I do not understand. She freed me."

"No, Cathi." Eliza said sadly. "She didn't." The white armored form reappeared nearby and Sun nodded to the assemblage. Eliza growled at him. "You are a pain, Sun." He shrugged and focused on Cathi who quailed in her bonds.

"I don't..." Cathi slumped a bit. "This isn't right. She freed me. I was a slave and she freed me."

"That is what she told you." Sun said as he took a step towards where Cathi lay. "She lied. We will show you the truth."

He tapped her head and her warframe vanished again. She barely noticed, entranced by the small globe of blue energy that had appeared on the end of his long index finger. It expanded in her vision, becoming a machine made of energy. Small silver tendrils extended down and out from a central point as she watched in fascination. The tendrils each started to glow blue and then became brighter. She barely noticed beams of energy lancing out form each tendril to converge on her forehead..

Then the energy burned into her skull and all she could do was scream.

Quite a bit later

Cathi was still screaming.

"I... I thought I knew..." Eliza had been sick twice. Raven held a pail ready just in case, but the Empress waved it away. "I thought I knew what she was capable of. But that?" Janet held her as the Empress fought to keep from crying. "She is my mother and she did that... to her own champion... I..."

"She wanted to rule and any means to that end was worthwhile." The Lotus said softly. "It was before... Before I came back to the system." She hadn't taken her eyes off the screaming Cathi or the silent Sun. He voice was sad. "All I knew was the records that were made available to me. After The Emperor accepted that I was the best choice for coordinating the Tenno. This... The records do not do it justice."

"I didn't see much of it myself." Eliza said softly. She too had not taken her eyes from Cathi except when she was sick. "She was my mother's tool. No more. She tried to be kind to me. But I knew she was my mother's. I couldn't trust. Not then. My mother was evil. Is evil. She isn't dead."

"Why didn't the Emperor have her executed? None of the records said." The Lotus demanded. "This is... this is wrong. On so many levels. The Guard served with honor. They did as they should. And their reward? Slavery."

"He wanted to." Eliza patted Janet's arm and stood up, her face still a bit green. She was steady on her feet now. "She had a lot of political support at the time. When it came out what she had done, to Tenno and others, said support evaporated. I don't know if the Emperor was 'adjusted' around that time or later. Lilly and the others said he changed significantly a decade or so after my mother was sent into her prison. That was just about the time the first reports of Sentient incursions came in so no one noticed."

"I can make no excuse for what I was." The Lotus said softly.

"You do not have to." Eliza replied with a shake of her head. "In the end, the blame for everything lies squarely on my family. The Executors didn't help matters but in the end, my family was supposed to be above such things and we were not. My mother was a symptom, not the disease. Orokin was rotten to the core and needed to go." She froze as Cathi' screams stopped abruptly. "Cathi?" She asked carefully.

"I am... myself..." Cathi sounded a bit dubious. "I... Will it hold, Interrogator Sun?"

"Yes." Sun nodded to her and started undoing her restraints. Eliza jumped to help. The others watched as Eliza pulled the Tenno up into her arms.

"I am sorry, Cathi." Eliza said sadly. "My family has much to answer for. This... is high on that list."

"You did not do this to me, Empress." Cathi laid a hand on Eliza's shoulder and then rose to stand with the ruler's aid. "You shouldn't do that, Empress. People will talk."

"Let them." Eliza snapped, but she was smiling. "Welcome back."

"How may I serve?" Cathi asked quietly. "If you need me to be tested..." She broke off as Eliza shook her head. "Empress... no one will trust me."

"Jesse will." Janet said quietly.

"Begging your pardon, Miss Janet..." Cathi said with a frown. "But how can you be sure?" She was not expecting everyone else in the virtual room to snort in unison. "What?"

"Just 'Janet', Cathi." Janet said with a smile that faded. "And... I am an Oracle." Cathi stared at her and then Guardswoman's eyes went huge. "Yeah."

"That is a hell of a burden." Cathi said quietly. "So... you knew." Janet nodded. "Why didn't you stop us?"

"Because Jesse became a target for all kinds when she showed her power as a Cyberlancer." Janet said quietly. "You know why your group wanted her."

"To free the monster who enslaved me. But... you could have stopped us!" Cathi protested. Janet bowed her head."She is your daughter! Why didn't you stop us?"

"Because if you hadn't managed to access her mind, Gemina would have tried a kidnap and brainwash." Janet said softly and Cathi froze. "And yes. Jesse would have died. Either in the kidnap or suicide to prevent being co-opted. Every vision, Cathi. Every single one." Cathi swallowed hard and nodded.

"What do you need from me?" Cathi asked. "I will need a new warframe. This one is tainted."

"It is handled." Sun spoke up from where he was doing something that no one looked too closely at. No one wanted to know.

"May I make a request?" Cathi asked. The others looked at her. "Valkyr. I wish to choose some slain." The fires of hell rang in her voice but none of the others as much as flinched.

"We will see." Eliza said noncommittally. "Raven? Lotus?" The two named nodded.

"What?" Cathi asked.

"They have their parts to play, but... We need you to do something very hard, Cathi."Janet said slowly. "Something that had a good chance of getting you killed or mindwiped."

"Name it." Cathi said quietly.

"We need you to kidnap Jesse."