AN: Don't you just hate it when a story is nothing but words...?
Underneath: Re-awakening
- An hour prior -
As the Cell rested, the tension diminished. They were all together, and despite the two unpleasant encounters, were in an overall good shape.
"So, a Lancer, a Crewman and a Tenno walk into a bar-..." Zeifer spoke up.
"Zei, we've heard this one. If two bar jokes and a few stabs at Grineer inadequacy is all you've got, you might as well give up on your dream of being a stand-up comedian." Dala pointed out and chuckled.
"Hey, it's not all I've got. I just don't want to use my best ones on such a small audience." the Loki responded and took mock offence.
"We're the only audience you've ever had, wise guy." Vaan laughed at the trickster.
The tunnels had been dead silent, apart from the sensation of marching feet, so nothing could prepare the Tenno for what happened next. The group got up and headed back into the chamber, only for the floor to fade out from underneath them.
Before anyone could react they were plummeting towards a shimmering green vortex. The Loki managed to put a decoy image of himself on the ledge and switched places with it.
"Fuck! FUCK THIS IS BAD! What-..." Zeifer's despair was cut short by a lone damaged scarab launching itself at the Tenno's face and knocking him back down the chasm, and subsequently vanishing in the acid green portal.
One of the skeletal statues stood on the opposite edge. It's vibrant green eyes showed no emotion, but visibly tracked the victims of the trap, until they vanished.
The four Tenno awoke all piled up on the stony floor of a natural looking cave tunnel.
Confusion was palpable between the group but they silently got up and scouted the nearby area, before huddling at their landing point.
"Alright. This is really bizarre…" Vaan scratched the back of his head. "looks like we've been dropped deeper down the complex, but that should be impossible. Phobos isn't big enough to house anything this size."
"Simple... " Shera spoke up "either whoever we're up against possesses techniques to create massive pocket dimensions… Or we've been transported elsewhere."
There was a heavy silence hanging in the air for a moment afterwards, as everyone realised what exactly this meant. If either of the implications were true, it meant that they were dealing with a genuinely alien threat. That, despite looking like some offshoot Orokin clan, these humanoids had originated elsewhere, and were wholly unrelated to the Origin system.
"Ok… Alright. If they are… were… from outside the Origin system, that might explain the disparity of the tech, compared to ours." Vaan said, pacing back and forth. "Let's… Let's find something to bring back to the Lotus and find our way out of here. If any of them are alive somewhere, I'd rather try a diplomatic approach, before resorting to hostilities."
The others nodded, prepared their weapons, and the quartet moved forward silently. No one had a wish to argue, as the possible threat they faced was too large to be distracted from by what could amount to a petty squabble.
"They were brought here by an Eternity Gate, my Phaeron. The gate's tether point is the outpost orbiting Mag'ladroth's tomb. It seems it has been reactivated." came the answer to Ozrahkan. The Phaeron clenched his fist tighter, and growled, as much as his voice allowed him.
"Agents of the Dragon. Now we absolutely must take them alive, and drain even the tiniest scrap of information from them." the Phaeron responded.
"My Liege, based on the communication between these creatures, they are not aware of the Dragon. They did however mention something called a "Lotus", and expressed an intent to bring back something from our… your glorious Tomb Complex…" Szarethot sent another reply.
"Are you saying, that they have the intention to steal from me as well? How very disappointing… No matter, as soon as they'll arrive, I shall bring one to interrogate." the Phaeron stated, his circuitry alight, plotting on further actions.
"Only one? What about the rest?" Szarethot was confused by Ozrahkan's conflicting statements.
"Yes. Only one. You will have to monitor the rest, for the time being. Or send one of the Tomb Stalkers to shepard them." The Phaeron said, just as a platoon of warriors arrived, with a Canoptek Spyder trailing close behind the silently marching troops.
The cell was advancing forward at a steady pace. There had been sounds echoing from behind them, that the group was not all too keen on identifying.
"Vaan, whatever it is, it's shepherding us. Clearly we are being driven not chased!" Dala voiced her protest against them running. She grabbed the Frost and forced him to turn around. "Don't just blindly run into a trap! We have to do so-..."
Before she could finish her sentence, however, a giant metallic centipede erupted from the ground, grabbing Dala and smashing her into the tunnel's ceiling, before vanishing again. Oddly enough, it did not leave entry or exit holes in the solid stone.
All of this happened within a couple of seconds, before the others could react. Dala slumped to the ground, her warframe status on flat zeroes. The operator of the frame was fuming, stuck in limbo. She took a moment to gather herself, before burning one of her four technocyte catalysts. The spherical capsule, located within the warframe, let out a Technocyte generated electrical wave, that revitalised the passive Technocyte tissue of the Warframe, overcharged the shields and let out an electromagnetic shockwave… followed up by the Ember's own shockwave of scorching flame.
"This is utter bullshit! Vaan, we are getting out of here! I do not care if Lotus would need the goddamn head of a dead emperor, or whatever, we. Are. OUTCLASSED! We are beyond any capability to fight against the lone sentries! What if there's a standing army, just waiting for us deeper down!?" she angrily exclaimed, stomping her foot down.
Vaan simply looked at her, before delivering a forceful backhand slap, knocking the pyromancer down. "Pull yourself together. If you are that eager to leave, disconnect, and leave your Warframe here."
"Maybe I will!" Dala rose up, clenching her fists.
"That would be a bad idea, Dala…" Shera stepped up and interjected. "Zeifer has been analyzing the scans of the beetle bots we destroyed. It is clear that whoever lives… or lived, here knew technology on an unimaginably deep level…"
"Yes, Shera, that much is obvious… I think you don't need Zei's analytical skills to discern that." Dala interjected sharply.
"Cool it, matchstick. You didn't let her finish. The construction of the bots bears some similarity to the biological bugs found in the origin system." Zeifer cut in, shutting Dala up.
"Aaaand…?" Vaan pitched in, now interested in the findings.
"It means that they also have a considerable knowledge of biology. If they can use principles of mechanics and biology combined…"
The elemental duo just stared at Zei, their confusion clearly palpable.
"You… you don't get it, right?" the Loki let disappointment heavily coat his words. The silent answer was on par with the perplexed stares.
"Ughh… Warframes are tools of war, made by employing the principles of mechanics, biology and a fair dose of unexplained arcana. The sentries here are built by employing unknown materials, with their components organised in accordance to biological laws, and are granted the ability to completely ignore physics." Zeifer slowly explained, using excessive gesticulation, as if he was trying to communicate something to a Kubrow pup.
"Sooo… what you're saying… is?" Dala was too annoyed to piece the puzzle pieces together.
"I'd guess, that what Zei means is that by principle, these sentries are our equivalents. Only whoever made them had much more time to perfect their creation." Shera did it for her flaming squadmate.
"Quite accurate, Shera." Zei nodded. Vaan meanwhile had taken a few steps back towards where they'd been driven from. The metallic centipede was gone, and so were the sounds it made. However, now a rhythmic marching approached the cell.
"Guess the original dwellers are still very much present here." He turned around and hurried down the tunnel. "Let's go. We're sitting ducks in this tunnel, and by the sounds of it there's too many of them to take on in the open, if things go sour."
"Vaan, their sentries have been actively attacking us… I'm pretty sure things are as sour as they get." Shera pointed out.
"Let's not forget that to any and all automated sentries we are nothing more than intruders. And the marching sounds like that of highly trained troops than a ramshackle militia. These people have seen war and have prepared for war. Until we have some leverage, we are nothing but simple targets. Ergo, in my opinion, things seem much worse, than they are." was Vaan's well constructed argument, that reeked of unbased hopes like a wharf smells of fish.
Shera found it folly to argue further. And neither Dala nor Zeifer had anything to add to the exchange. In semi-silent trudge onwards, the group soon found the tunnel widening. A barely perceivable green glow came from ahead, as the marching foot noises echoed behind them. It sounded as if the original group of pursuers had multiplied and scattered throughout the adjoining tunnels.