Good point renleech. I am working on a character list now, but it may be a bit. I will focus on warframe stories to start with. This chapter will explain bit more about Lissandra, but there will be surprises.
Heat
Ric's ship was quiet. It hummed with an efficiency that even normal Tenno could not dream of. He had his problems and his quirks, but he was still probably one of the best technicians that the Tenno had. If it was mechanical, he could make it or fix it. Ric was not the easiest Tenno to deal with. Quite frankly? He would have been deemed insane by just about any competent mental health professional. His memory came and went, sometimes with no warning whatsoever. Sometimes he remembered facts, names from long ago and other times? He was hard pressed to remember his name. He was much better now than he had been when he had first joined the clan, but still, he had moments.
Elenia did not press when he turned away form her and started working on something at the foundry. Both of the other Tenno in the bay seemed resigned to Ric's idiosyncrasies, but then again? They shared a clan with him, so they had to know his ways by now.
"Will we bother him if we talk?" Elenia asked the closest, careful to keep her voice down.
"He seems to be focused on what he is doing. He likely won't hear us unless we say his name." Stephen replied. The Excalibur clad Tenno was just as quiet as she was. Just in case. "But then again? He does like messing with people. Especially when he has a captive audience."
Like now, in a small spacecraft.
"That he does. He is better." Elenia nodded. "I am glad. But… Any word on-" She paused a both of the others shook their heads. "I see."
Many people had flat out vanished when Avalon had fallen to a Sentient attack. Ric's mate Cecelia had been there along with Jesse's bodyguard Draco and three very young, very special Tenno children. Jack's twins and very special orphan named Rocky. No one that Elenia knew had heard anything about those. And yes, everyone was worried. Not the least of which about what Draco would do to get back to the one who he was sworn to defend. That Tenno was terrifying at times.
"No word." Stephen said sadly. "We just don't know. We got word that they are safe, but wherever they went when Avalon fell… They likely cannot come back."
"Not until we put Lorinos in the ground. Preferably in pieces." Elenia tone was savage, but she had many reasons to hate almost any Orokin. That one had earned all kinds of hate from all kinds of people.
"Maybe not even then." Stephen was sad now. "Wherever they went had to be way out of the box to evade such an attack." Avalon had been one of the most protected places in the Solar System. Even if its location had been discovered, getting to a space station hidden in the middle of the corona of the Sun that gave light to the solar system would have been a daunting prospect for any with nefarious intentions. Or it should have been. "It almost certainly wasn't Void travel, but beyond that? Your guess is as good as mine."
"Probably best not to inquire." Elenia did know a little bit more than the clan did, it seemed, but when you started talking about multiple realities (entire universes!) existing in parallel, things got very complicated, very fast. "If they are safe, then we only have to worry about ourselves and our people."
Stephen nodded and the other Tenno did as well. The massive Chroma warframe was an eye catcher for sure, but silent. Ming didn't talk. Ever. He had sworn an oath of silence for some reason, so he wouldn't speak. That said? He had no trouble communicating. The nod he gave Elenia was worried but also said that he wasn't going to press. It was often downright eerie how he could put so much into simple gestures, but it was also comforting in a way. He was not a complicated soul. He was Warrior Tenno, no more, no less and he was a solid and dependable being. Elenia was happy to have him. So, when he jerked and spun quickly to a console nearby, she was more than bit concerned. She was even more concerned when Ric straightened from whatever he was working on to stride to scrutinize the same console. Elenia looked at Stephen who shrugged, but was clearly going to wait.
"Distress call." Ric said flatly. "But… Odd. Ancient."
"Orokin?" Elenia inquired.
"No. Tenno." Ric replied and then stepped towards the upper section of his vessel. Elenia and Stephen shared a glance, but followed the tech up the ramp into the assault section of his craft when Ming did. "We are close." Ric called from the navigation console. Then he paused, looking at Elenia. "Caretaker?"
She knew what he was asking. Her mission was why they were together. She was in command, much as she disliked that idea. She had enough responsibilities. Continue her mission or investigate the distress call? To her, that was a no-brainer.
"Deimos isn't going anywhere." Elenia replied. "The First won't act without more information unless the situation gets far worse than it is likely to in a few days. Any information on the call?"
"No." Ric said softly. "That said… I know where it is coming from and if it is what I fear… This is bad." At that, all of the others jerked and stared at him. "Recently, I was called in to help make sure a very secure facility stayed secure. This isn't from one of my telltales. This one is different, older. The coordinates are the same."
"Where?" Elenia asked, moving to his side.
""Mercury." Ric waved and a hologram of a familiar scorched planet appeared over the navigation console. Elenia hissed as she saw the spot. "You know." The Vauban's words were not a question.
"Ali." Elenia snarled that and all of the Tenno in the craft nodded agreement. Every Tenno had cause to hate him. His mentor had been the absolute worst kind of terrorist scum and her patron had been worse! "But he wouldn't dare try to leave, would he?"
"He did to get the refugees to the Citadel, but that took Rachel and him working in concert. Nyx said that the portal she used to put him back was a one time deal, no one else could get through." Ric replied, cold as ice. "But… He went back. I don't know." He allowed. "That whole situation was weird." He complained.
Elenia nodded. No joke. Lissandra's mess had been a catalyst for the Clergy to declare open on Nef Anyo. Holy War no less! Even now, Elenia had no real idea all of the twists and turns that had been taken, but she did know that the medic had been hurt many times and finally given a home among the Tenno of Karl's Shadow. That clan were good people who accepted her for who she was and what she wanted to do. Elenia knew the First Tenno had been involved somehow. That Hayden Tenno of all people had abducted the poor girl from the Clergy at Anyo's orders, but beyond that? Elenia had been busy working as a Caretaker. Jasmina had been a bit more involved, but neither of them had much more information. She queried the mass mind and it didn't have any information.
Something is off here, Mind of Light. Came a warning from Dust, the mind of Jasmina's slain mate who resided inside the mass mind now. We don't have all the information, but… I don't think Ali played us false. He was just as irate at what happened to Lissandra as any of us were.
The touch of the mass mind held confusion, but also a hesitant acknowledgment. The ancient 'not Tenno' energy being in a 'sort of' warframe hadn't lied, had fought hard to help quell a horrid mess that Nef Anyo had started. Whatever Ali had done in the ancient past, his actions in the present had been noble. Mostly.
"Nyx's prison held him ever since she dropped him into it all those millennia ago." Elenia said slowly. "You helped refurbish the systems?"
"Yeah. Didn't have to do much." Ric shrugged. "Good design. Self repairing. It held up well. No way there was an internal failure."
"External?" Elenia asked.
"No one sane was going to try and get to there. Nyx was the only one who could portal there and come out intact." Ric replied. "We might not be able to get there physically." He warned.
"We have time to check it out." Elenia replied. "Better to know, yes?" She did not miss the look Ric gave Ming and Stephen, but neither of them responded. "Or is this another secret?"
"Not a secret. We had some discussions in the clan about security and such." Ric sighed deeply. "How resistant is that warframe to heat?" Elenia stared at him and he shook his head. "Nyx built the prison in the core of an active volcano."
"Oh." Shock and fear resounded in the mass mind as they absorbed that. The Caretakers and their charges had known the coordinates, but not that. Warframes were notoriously durable, but there were limits. If Elenia fell into a pit of molten magma, her energy would probably survive, but anyone who attempted a rescue would have a hell of a time getting her out. She reassured them with a thought.
"Yeah." Ric sighed. "I can get us in, but the less we take with us, the better. Maybe one weapon apiece? One mistake and we are stuck. Lava probably won't destroy our energy, but it won't tickle either. I will set up contingencies."
"So will I." Elenia promised. "But if he is loose or something happened to the prison? We need to know."
"This is going to be fun, isn't it?" Stephen asked Ming who slowly shook his reptilian looking head. "Figured."
Thirty minutes later
"Ow!" Elenia tried to keep the mutters under her breath as she stepped on a surface that looked like bare rock and it was solid under her foot. It was also was hotter than blazes. Add to that? The tiny spur of rock was less than ten centimeters wide, so she balanced carefully on one foot as she surveyed the churning mass of magma around her. And yes, her foot hated her. "How the hell did Nyx get in here?" She demanded as Ric lofted through the air from a bounce pad to land on another outcropping a few meters away. "Why the hell did Nyx come in here?"
"I never asked and I am not going to." Ric replied over the hissing roar of the molten rock all around them. "She might answer me and I think I sleep better not knowing some things." He held out a hand to Elenia who nodded and set herself.
"Good point." Elenia jumped. It was a long jump, even for a Tenno in a warframe, but before landing she had set her warframe for such things as well as being as resistant to heat as she could. That said? She was also motivated by the raw power that flowed underneath her. Fear was a hell of a motivator! She made it with room to spare, but a bit of rock crumpled under her foot and she slid a little. Sh wasn't really in danger, but her mind didn't care. Terror was terror. Ric grabbed her and held her until she steadied and for once, she was not going to quibble about assistance!
"Thanks." Elenia said quietly as Ming and Stephen made their way across the same fiery pit as the other two had. The Excalibur made it on one leap and the Chroma all but flew. Scratch that! Wings sprouted from the back of Ming's warframe and he was flying! Or gliding. Same difference. They were pretty. Ric just shook his head as the quartet of Tenno eyed their destination. The cave mouth was just that. A cave mouth gaped on the other side of the magma pool. Elenia paused. "Isn't there supposed to be a wall there?"
"It is there." Ric warned when everyone else tensed. "That is not actually a cave. If you try to jump in… Well…" He waved towards the fiery pit underneath them. A quick look showed nowhere to grip near the cave mouth and no convenient perches either. No way to avoid falling if for some reason you didn't get into the cave. Ouch.
"Hit the wall and fall into the fire." Elenia said with a groan. "I would rather not, if it is all the same to you."
"I can get us past the wall, but I have to touch it to do that." Ric said after a moment. He threw something into the magma but whatever it was fizzed and vanished. "Dang. My bounce pads are not heat resistant enough." He snorted. "Not that much would be against that."
"Can we chain our powers?" Elenia asked. "I can hold someone up for a bit, but not long and the heat is doing odd things to magnetism in this area."
"Not just that." Ric replied."There is something in there that dampens our abilities. I think it is some kind of naturally occurring resonance like the Corpus use in Nullifier fields. Probably why Nyx set up the prison there in the first place."
"Makes sense." Elenia admitted. '"You told us powers would be nullified in there, but how far does it extend outside?"
"Not sure." Ric admitted. "Never asked. Can you toss one of my orbs that far?"
"I know better than to touch your gear, wizard." Elenia gave loud sniff and the other two Tenno chuckled.
"I wouldn't zap you. I am a good wizard!" Ric gave as good as he got. Elenia crossed her arms and glared at him. He put on a show of affront. "Hey!"
"Guys." Stephen was clearly hard not to laugh at their antics. "Later. Elenia, can you see if you can get soemthing across?"
"Magnetic fields are being messed up by the heat." Elenia said after a moment's thought. She picked up a rock that was mostly metal and threw it with her powers. The projectile made it halfway across the pool before veering off course, hitting a wall and then falling into the magma where it vanished without a trace. "Um... No."
"Well, crap." Ric swallowed hard. "I… I may be able to-" He broke off as Ming laid a hand on his arm. "Ming?"
The huge Chroma shook his head, took a step closer to the end and then his hands flashed. Was that an orange bow made of energy that appeared in them? Only a for a moment and then a line of orange energy sang across the pool to sink into the wall next to the cave mouth. It stayed there! Everyone was staring at the Chroma as Ming stepped back, clearly satisfied. He nodded to Ric who was shaking his head now.
"Just when I think I have you figured out, big guy, you do something weirder." Ric jumped and landed on the Dashwire that Ming had shot across the pool. "You know? I don't want to know when you had an Ivara warframe subsumed by Karl and Helminth to get that ability on your warframe."
Was Ming laughing at Ric? Sure seemed that way.
"Be careful, Ric." Elenia pleaded as the Vauban started across the wire.
"Hey! It's me!" Ric replied to a groan from both the Mag and the Excalibur.
All three of the other Tenno watched in worry as the engineer made it across the magma pool to the cave opening. He leaned way too far over to to touch the cave mouth and it was clearly solid from how he patted it. Then he laid something against the picture or whatever and it shimmered with golden energy. Then all three stiffened as he jumped off the wire into the cave! He went in, so...
All three of the others looked at one another and shrugged in unison. Ming waved for the others to go and neither wasted any time. Dashwires made by Ivara warframes existed until said warframe banished them, but no one could know how long a 'borrowed' ability might last. Elenia pointedly did not look down as she ran across the wire and then, without a thought threw herself into the yawning cave mouth. It was downright odd, that feeling. She hit something but passed right through it!
Ric was standing just beyond the wall or whatever as Elenia came out of it and shifted her away as Stephen all but flew out of the passage. Then they waited. A minute or so later, just enough time for Elenia to get worried, and the massive Chroma stepped in.
"Think we can get out that way?" Elenia asked.
"Dunno." Ric replied. "If not? We will find another way or ask Ali to contact the Citadel. Rachel won't be too upset if we answered a distress call and…" He paused as Ming drew the sole weapon he had carried into this place, a massive Guandao spear. The Chroma moved in front of Ric and pointed his spear down the hallway they were in. Everyone tensed as they saw blast damage on the walls!
"That wasn't here." Ric's tone was flat as he drew his Dakra Prime. Stephen had his two handed sword out and this time, it morphed into a Gram design. He could make it take different shapes as he desired, even throw it like a massive, unwieldy Glaive at times. Elenia had her pistol out, a weapon that pulsed with life that had nothing to do with human kind. "This place was pristine when I left it. Admittedly, that was six months ago, but still… It self repairs." He paused as his words sank in.
"So whatever happened was recent." Elenia said into the sudden absolute silence. "Any idea how long?"
"Not long." Ric said as he scrutinized the marks. "This was plasma fire. From the size and spread? Probably from a Dera rifle. Probably Corpus. Within the last hour or so. Maybe half that."
"Aw shit." Elenia snarled. "We are not set up to fight a Corpus strike team." Despite what many said, Corpus were no joke to fight. Their tech weaponry and robotics were quite powerful as many Tenno had found out to their cost. The fate of any Tenno taken by Corpus was horrific in the extreme. The only upside? Most had almost as much free will as a pistol did and never thought outside the box. "We sneak, get info and get out. Clear? I am not losing any of you!"
"And we are not losing you." Ric retorted. "Because what Jasmina would do to us doesn't bear saying."
With that, the four Tenno started moving slowly and carefully into the ancient Sanctuary that had been made as a prison to hold one of worst of the worst.