AN: Hello, hello? Anyone still alive? If you are - hey, nice. So am I (apparently). As usual - thanks for reading, sorry for the hiatus, and enjoy the new chapter. Feel free to yell at me for massive upload gap/inconsistency/spelling/how your day is not going all too well. :D

The City of Silence

Shadows

"Zeifer, fall back." Vaan commanded. He was calm-voiced but an ever so slight twitch in his posture betrayed his nervousness. Dala was gripping her weapon hard, the strain of her muscles giving the flamethrower a jittering sway. Not that it would matter much.

Shera kept a loose grip on the rifle she had picked up. Her eyes however were darting around, her body ready to snap into a firing position, on even the slightest provocation.

Meanwhile, the figure before them calmly rose his free hand and stated:"Do not be alarmed, Children of the Dragon. I merely wish to speak with you, for now…"

His voice - a completely flat monotone, completely devoid of any intonation, was unsettling to the Tenno.

"You speak kindly, but your armed welcome, and active assault on our way here seem to prove otherwise." Vaan spoke up, slightly lowering his bow.

"What the hell are you doing, Vaan? It's a-..." Dala started her rant in a private channel, but immediately stopped. She was not one hundred percent sure, but the Ember could've sworn that the green glow of their host's eyes shifted ever so slightly towards her.

"Yeah, but whatever your plan is, we probably can't do better than this. We are not being shot at, and that's a good enough start for diplomacy as you can get." Vaan responded on the private channel, hoping that this little mute mimicking wouldn't offend the royal.

He was in for a hefty surprise however.

"Indeed. Your leader speaks wise." the royal denoted. "As for the… assault… as you call it - that was merely the autonomous sentries acting upon their defense protocols."

Vaan slowly turned his head. The other three Tenno were just as dumbfounded. They had no privacy between them, as the enemy was fully aware of their communications.

"You… heard that?" Vaan asked incredulously. The question was mostly to himself, but he was swiftly proven how true the cell's collective though was - they were allowed not a single misplaced word.

"Was I not supposed to?" came an answer from the metal being. Shera could swear there was amusement in the flat monotone voice. She shifted uncomfortably, and noticed one of the shield-carrying figures 'tense up', if the phrase could be attributed to solid metal constructs. Almost as if he was keeping a close eye on her, akin to what she was doing.

"Let us end this silly standoff. I am Ozrahkan, phaeron of the Vexhi dynasty, and this is my crown world. The shining blue gem of this planetary system - Araxis." the phaeron seemed to exude pride, at disclosing his name and title, along with praising his crownworld.

For a second the Tenno were stumped. It seemed like an awfully jarring tone-shift. Then, Vaan relaxed (accompanied by a hiss from Dala) and bowed slightly.

"I am not familiar with either your title, or the planet's name, but we are grateful for the chance to learn of it. I am Vaan, and these are my comrades - Zeifer, Dala and Shera."

As each of the three were introduced, they stiffly nodded, save for Dala, who defiantly stared at the phearon. Ozrahkan seemed to not care. However it was near impossible to tell with his expressionless skull peering back at her.

"Stubborness in the presence of a royalty. It would be admirable, if it didn't stem from ignorance." the Phaeron concluded, and dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand.

This slight only worked to tick Dala off even more, albeit she did her best to restrain herself. She clenched her hand muttered something, that sounded a lot like furious cursing.

The Phaeron stood still for a moment, as if eyeing the group and then turned his back on them.

"Come. I feel amicable, and thus will show you around, before expelling you as transgressors." Ozrahkan waved, and set forth. The Tenno were half-corralled to follow him, as the three shield-bearers took on position behind the cell.

Confused and on edge, the four followed. Even Vaan, who was the most positively dispositioned towards the original inhabitants felt a strong sense of unease.

The rest of the troops seemed to disperse silently. There was a noticeable lack of any form of interaction between them. As if they were mere puppets. But the shieldbearers seemed to hold a form of vigor in their motions, undetectable in the common foot soldiers. There was determination in their gait.

The group advanced forth, and soon, the Tenno saw the first structures out of the complex. The squat, semi-buried pyramids seemed to have just enough room for one or two of the skeletal figures, and most of them were visibly inactive, while some were tended to by the same type of beetle that the Tenno had fought.

"Excuse me… Ozrahkan…?" Zeifer spoke up observing the beetles. Out of the corner of his periphery he saw the closest shieldbearer move slightly towards him, but he fell back in line just a second after.

"Yes, child of the Dragon? What is it?" Ozrahkan paused and looked back at the Loki.

Still keeping his eyes on the beetles, the Loki asked: "What… uh, is the purpose of those beetles?"

The Phaeron turned to face the Loki, who resisted the urge to turn invisible. For a moment he simply stared down the frame, with Zeifer growing more and more nervous. However, soon the Phaeron let up and asked a counterquestion.

"Why do you ask, child of the Dragon?" Ozrahkan's voice, as always monotone, still left a strange impression.

"Well - it's beyond anything that we have encountered thus far. Nothing that I've seen comes close to them, and I regularly sabotage or steal projects or blueprints from both Corpus and the Grineer…"

The Phaeron seemed thoughtful. He even took on a pose akin to a man pondering what he'd heard. The fluid, subtle motions as he gazed slightly upwards for a moment were incredibly uncanny in conjunction with his automata body.

"Well… these specific ones are geared for maintenance and scavenging. If you are interested, I'm sure Szaretoth would be happy to exchange information with you." the Phaeron motioned one of the Lychguard to move up. The shield-bearer silently obeyed.

"Escort our guest to the Cryptek. Make sure that he comes under no harm on his way there and back." Ozrakhan continued.

"I'll tag along! I'd like to know how this gun works." Shera stepped up, and lifted the alien weapon.

"I will have to ask you to return that to the Cryptek. But yes, Szaretoth will be able to explain the principles of our weaponry." Ozrakhan nodded, and motioned the two Tenno to follow the Lychguard.

Without the ability to converse between themselves, without prying ears listening in, the group of Tenno split up with a nod. Ozrakhan gazed as they left, and then turned to the other two.

"You, children of the Dragon, are not local to my star system… I know that you hail from one of the systems closer to the galactic centre. Thus I would like to exchange some information with you myself. What can you tell me of the planet called Mars?" he asked, finally voicing his demand towards the Tenno.