Spoilers for 'Call of the Tempestarii'
Gathering information
It was very quiet in the halls of this ancient place. Scratch that. It was utterly silent. No noise. No nothing.
The quartet of Tenno moved just as silently through the empty halls. In the sketchy pre-drop briefing Ric had given them, he had said that the place wasn't more than few rooms connected together. But the area they were traversing now was far larger. Add to that? It wasn't Tenno construction after the first few rooms. Now, it was clearly something else. Human design, but not anything that Elenia had encountered. Not Corpus. Not Ostron. Not any of the myriad small colonies she and Jasmina had visited as Caretakers.
The Mag clad Caretaker looked a question at Ric, but the Vauban just shook his head. If he hadn't said anything about this, then he hadn't seen it. He wasn't the type to withhold possibly important information because he could. No one had expected Corpus here of all places. They owned Venus. Mercury was a Grineer stronghold, the clones' main source of heavy metals and exotic fuels that ran their massive military infrastructure. Any Corpus who came here either were very good, very sneaky or had a death wish.
Ric held up a hand in a 'stop' gesture and everyone did. He pointed ahead, to a small stain on the floor. Elenia felt her guts freeze as she realized it was blood! Human blood! Warframes, or whatever Ali really was didn't bleed the same. Add to that? The blood still glistened. It was fresh!
Then, voices. Human.
"And I am telling you, this is a bad idea!" A male. Not happy from the sound of it.
"You know they will be back." This one was female. Tired, or hurt. "Their kind don't just give up and they knew we were here. You of all people know what they are like."
"I do." The other replied, resigned. Grunting with effort? "We both saw it so many times. But Pat… We cannot help him. We cannot keep carrying him!"
"I am not leaving him to the Corpus, Jal." Elenia stiffened. Did she know that name? It was familiar, but from where? She queried the mass mind and they worked to parse their own memories, but that would take time. She knew a lot of people. Far more than when she had been hiding after waking form cryo-stasis. "Not happening!"
"Pat, you are hurt. I am hurt. He is out cold or whatever the hell he is." The male retorted, but clearly without heat. "We cannot take him with us. You know they won't react well."
Whatever Elenia was going to do was shelved as Ric rose out of his combat crouch and stepped forward. Elenia was stunned as Ric walked right out into the view of whoever was speaking. Then he spoke.
"Pat and Jal from Iriana's hospital?" Was Ric surprised, dismayed or annoyed? Hard to say. "What are you doing here?"
Wait! Elenia did know those names! She knew them well! She too rose even as Stephen and Ming shared a 'What the hell' look. Neither of them moved as Elenia strode to stand with Ric. What she saw had her freezing in place. Yes, it was medic Pat and her mate Jal who had worked at Iriana's hospital. They had both been instrumental in saving the Healer once upon a time and Elenia had met them. What was more, she liked them both! Jal had been infected with a much more virulent form of the Technocyte Virus and while he had been cured eventually, it had taken time that he had spent with the Caretakers and those who served them.
That paled.
Both of the humans wore next to nothing. Only their heads were covered by oddly crinkly looking blue foil. Both also had the remnants of restraints on their wrists and ankles! From the markings? Corpus restraints! Had they been prisoners? They were carrying a familiar warframe like thing in between them and yes, it had a green mask. Ali. But from the limpness? Unconscious or worse.
"Jal! Pat!" Elenia shook off her shock and strode towards them. "What happened?"
"Caretaker Elenia!" Pat was bleeding. Not badly but freely from a leg wound. An oddly regular leg wound. "Oh, am I ever glad to see you!"
"Tenno, stay where you are!" Jal all but begged as Elenia and Ric would have stepped forward. "We are dangers!"
"Pat is bleeding." Elenia said with a growl at the male human who held up his hands as if to ward her off as she took a step closer. "What? Happened?"
She was hardly the only Caretaker who liked Pat and Jal. Iriana's mess [[See Warframe: Healing]] had gotten the two humans, along with a group of other refugees, in the care of Elenia and Jasmina for a bit. That was before Mishka or Janas had joined the group. The humans had been wary, of course, but they had survived and thrived.
"It is not your fault." Pat said weakly as she laid the still humanoid form she had been hefting down. "It isn't Iriana's fault. Tell her that."
"Pat?" Elenia stared as the woman stepped away from the still form on the ground, Jal joining her. "What is going on?"
"It is not your fault." Pat said weakly. "It is mine."
"No, it's not." Jal said fiercely. "No one could have seen it happening. No one could have prepared for it. Not even Iri is a goddess." He laid an arm around Pat's shoulder even as blue energy started to glow around them. Corpus energy. "We failed. That is a good thing."
"Pat!" Elenia screamed as the blue energy surged around the pair, she started forward, but Ric had her arm and she was not going to break his grip.
"DO NOT TRUST US!" Jal shouted as the blue built around them. "You know what they do!"
Then they were gone.
"Corpus…" Elenia said weakly as Ric released her arm and moved to examine the fallen Ali. "The Corpus took Pat and Jal? Oh my god! Iriana is going to flip right out."
"They didn't shoot holes in the walls." Ric said firmly. "Ali's energy is there, but dimmed somehow. He has been in a fight and from the plasma scoring? Against Corpus."
"We cannot trust him." Elenia said with a growl as the mass mind she was part of tried to parse this insane course of events.
"And if we leave him here, you know what the Corpus will do." Ric shrugged. "Kind of fitting, actually."
Considering what Ali and his mentor had done in their own brand of fanaticism? Oh yes, such a fate as death at the hands of the tech fanatics was fitting, if gruesome. Ali may or may not have ever committed acts of terrorism with his own two hands, but the blood of thousands was laid on his soul.
"I don't know what to do." Elenia admitted and Ric nodded. "I mean… He is scum. The worst kind of scum, but does even he deserve what they do?"
"I would say 'Yes', but I am not in command of the mission." Ric replied and Elenia stiffened. With those simple words, he dropped the responsibility squarely in her lap. He shrugged when she glared at him.
"He may not be Tenno, but we are." Elenia said softly and Ric stiffened. "'Follow your heart, not just your orders'." She quoted her earliest Tenno instructors.
With that, she bent down and gathered up the still warframe like thing that housed the ancient criminal. Then she started off down the tunnel back towards the sanctuary that had been Ali's prison.
This is all wrong. Jasmina's mind touched Elenia's. Wary. Worried. Pat and Jal are safe. They are working in the hospital.
When as the last time anyone checked on them? Elenia asked as she walked, aware of the other three Tenno forming up around her. It has been a while, no?
True. If anything has happened to her staff, her friends, Iriana will go nuts. Jasmina actually gulped. Any healer in a rage was a terrifying thing to contemplate. Iriana's rage had given Grandmaster Nikis pause on occasion. I will go. I can get there quick and quiet.
You need to tend the biomass, Jasmina. Elenia countered. Send someone else.
No one else is available! Jasmina countered. They are my friends too.
That was true. Jasmina and Elenia had bonded with several of the refugees. The humans had been distrustful of Tenno, with good reason after a horrible betrayal Thanks to the actions of several honorable Tenno, Iriana and Grandmaster Nikis, the worst of the betrayals had been eased, but the loss of life had been considerable. They did not trust Tenno and likely never would again. The Caretakers had worked hard never to lie to the refugees and involve them in everything that was being done on their behalf. Said refugees had treated the Caretakers and their frightening charges as friends, but still, there had always been the layer of distrust no matter how hard many had tried to ease it on both sides. If anything else had happened to them…
I know you want to do things, Fire Heart, but you need to take time to heal too. Elenia warned. Don't try to tell me you are already. Taking the hit from that Fass worm hurt you badly. If not for everyone's help, we would have lost you.
I will find someone. Jasmina admitted. Be careful, Mind of Light. I have lost you before and I… I can't… She was sobbing.
I know. Elenia reassured the other and then came to a sudden halt as the tunnel in front of them ended. "What the hell?"
Her words echoed oddly in the suddenly blocked tunnel. She spun and the others had their weapons in hand, but the tunnel behind her was still there.
A trap! Jasmina all but screamed. Elenia, run!
Elenia didn't move even as the other three Tenno fanned out. Then it happened. Ric vanished. No gold energy, no blue energy, no energy at all! Just gone! Not a teleport, he was just gone!
Without a word, both other Tenno moved to flank Elenia who slowly shook her head. Whoever was doing this was very powerful. That was clear.
I love you, Jasmina. When you see her? Give Mishka a kiss for me. Elenia laid Ali's body down and then readied her pistol.
ELENIA! Jasmina's scream cut off in a rush of static, but her worry, her rage and pain were not gone. Not entirely. A good thing. If Elenia disconnected from the mass mind, she would die. Period. That wasn't something that anyone had planned. It had just happened over the centuries that she had been working with the sane mass of Infested flesh. The Tenno and that mass of Infestation were entwined too closely to separate.
Whatever had washed over them hadn't seemed to affect either Stephen or Ming. Then Stephen vanished the same way Ric had. Elenia shook her head and shouted.
"COME AND GET ME, YOU CORPUS SCUM!"
What the-?
That was not a voice Elenia knew. She felt nothing now but rage as she set herself and Ming moved to her side, his polearm up, ready to strike or ward. They knew they probably couldn't win and it didn't matter. They were Tenno. They would die fighting.
This is wrong. The voice was female. Not old, not young. Wary, but not worried. Warframes do not talk.
"Fuck you!" Elenia retorted. That wasn't her, that was Jasmina talking through her. Or so Elenia devoutly hoped.
Suddenly a blue field surrounded the pair of warframes and Corpus proxies started appearing nearby. A dozen, two dozen, three dozen! With the the Nullifier field negating all of Elenia's and Ming's most powerful abilities, this fight was not one the Tenno could win. Neither cared. Ming set himself to charge, but the voice spoke again.
Wait! This is… What is this? Stand down! To Elenia's shock, all of the proxies retreated a step! You will not be harmed. You… You talk? The woman asked Elenia who snarled at her.
"And you don't?" Elenia snapped, her ire fully fanned even as Jasmina's rage reached new peaks in her mind. She couldn't talk to Jasmina, but she could feel.
Who are you? What are you? The voice was coming from one of the proxies. Warframes do not speak. This is new.
"You are Corpus! Go screw yourself." Elenia all but threw the words at the closest proxy. "You kill our kind! You will die! If not by my hand, then by by one of ours!"
You are different. The voice was shaken now. I- She broke off and when she spoke again, it wasn't to Elenia! Yes, sir.
Elenia was ready for almost anything, but not for the voice that spoke up next.
"Tenno." The voice wasn't one Elenia had heard in person, but every Tenno knew it. They had seen the records, seen the videos taken form battle cameras. Parvos Granum! The Founder of the Corpus who through an odd series of events had survived to the present day only to be released from his stasis in the Void by Nef Anyo of all people. The world he had found when he had come out had clearly disgusted him even with apparent information on happenings while he had been in there somehow. No one knew if he was friend or foe. All knew he was incredibly dangerous. He didn't know warframe tech, but he did know specter tech and that was far too close for comfort in an unknown, powerful player. "The Corpus today either have forgotten or never learned the histories. There were Tenno who spoke in the field and those were almost always the most dangerous of their kind. Remember that, Vala."
Yes, sir. The female voice was subdued now, but the other coughed and she all but choked. Um, Yes, brother.
Vala? Vala Glarios? The Corpus captain who had been hunting the ancient railjack Tempestarii? Elenia had heard a bit about that and the Void Storms that either followed the Tempestarii or let it journey into real space after so long in the Void were clear even to regular people across the system. But… She was dead, wasn't she? Crushed with her ship in a Void Storm. And, why was she calling Granum 'brother'? That did not bode well. Elenia could feel Jasmina's shock mirroring her own, but she was still focused on the hopeless fight in front of her.
"This is not what was supposed to happen." Granum spoke up when no one else did. "It seems I have missed far more than I thought. From your actions and lack of action, you know who I am." Elenia did not react and Granum continued. "And you assume I will act as your modern Corpus do."
"Why wouldn't you act like a self centered, egotistical jerk?" Elenia spit that out and there was utter silence in the hall. Then Granum laughed!
"I am a self centered, egotistical jerk." Granum replied to Elenia's shock. "The thing is, I know that. Self delusion is a weakness that others can exploit. My way is not the way of the modern Corpus. The are nothing like mine." The hate in his tone would might impressed a Grineer!
"Your actions speak otherwise." Elenia was not fooled.
"I have erred." Granum shocked Elenia again, saying such a thing! No Corpus Executive would say such! Or, no modern one. "There have been many who have acted in my name. Some of those without my knowledge or consent. What information I have, I will offer."
"I cannot trust Corpus. Any Corpus." Elenia snarled. "Your kind kill mine."
"Or worse." Granum replied and Elenia felt new shock! He knew? And from his words? He seemed honestly appalled. She couldn't trust that. Corpus lied. It was what they did. "They don't know, Tenno. No one remembers or cares now, but I do."
"Trust will not happen, Corpus!" Elenia retorted. "Release us or this is going to end in slaughter."
"I have no wish to hold you." The Corpus Founder replied. "All I wish is the one you were carrying."
Elenia stared at the proxies and then at the fallen Ali. She looked at Ming and the Chroma slowly shook his head. Whatever Granum wanted Ali for, it wouldn't be good. She didn't like Ali, but she liked the Corpus less.
"Tenno! No!" Granum begged as Elenia set herself. Ming did the same and all the proxies resumed hostile stances. "There is no need!"
Then Ming charged, Elenia at his heels.
The battle was very uneven. In any normal situation, even this many proxies would have been laughable to Elenia in her Mag warframe. She could short them out, drain their shields to restore her own, crush them or simply freeze them in place for their own allies to hit with ranged weaponry. But the blue field surrounding the pair of Tenno negated their abilities. So, Ming with his polearm and Elenia with her pistol against a horde of proxies. Ancient biotech metal against modern composites.
Carnage.
Every sweep of Ming's massive Gaundao cut down two or three robots. Even Ospreys could not escape his reach in the cramped tunnel. Elenia picked her targets and fired carefully, wary of her limited ammo supply. Every target she hit went down, whatever protections they had built in no match for the Caretaker's weapon. She lashed out with her free hand every so often, slamming proxies away as they charged her? None of them were using ranged weapons! They wanted her alive!
The the blue field collapsed and Elenia felt energy surge into her warframe! She readied her abilities, but… something was wrong. She felt a tug on her energy that she resisted, but the tug became a yank. Then a pull as irresistible as one of her own. She didn't quite black out, but when she could see again, she was stunned.
ELENIA! Jasmina's impassioned scream in her mind had Elenia reeling.
I am here! Elenia reassured the other! I am here. But… Where am I?
She wasn't in a warframe. She felt flesh as she twitched her fingers. A body? She was in another meat shell? She looked up at a ceiling that bore Corpus colors! Oh shit!
"Ah, you are awake. Good." Elenia tried to turn her head, but she couldn't. A form in Corpus attire appeared nearby, but odd. The woman's garb wasn't armored. She looked like a nurse, not a soldier! "We were afraid we had caused harm. We do not know the technology that the Founder showed us. We had no idea if it would work or not. If it would harm you. Are you well, Tenno?" The woman begged as Elenia started to struggle. "Please do not struggle! You will harm yourself! Parvos ordered, we obey. You are not be harmed."
Yeah, right. Jasmina sneered in Elenia's mind and Elenia fought to keep from scoffing even as something wafted through her. It felt heavenly.
"It is all right." The nurse laid a gentle hand on Elenia's brow as whatever the Tenno had been given worked its magic and the Caretaker fell asleep. "It is going to be all right."