Aid

Cass had hoped for the mercy of blacking out. He didn't.

He felt everything. Senses he had no words for reported things that made no sense and complete sense. He was drowning in data that he could barely understand, so he did as he always did when such happened. He ignored what he could not immediately comprehend and focused on what he could. He felt Lissandra in his arms and Marlena holding them both as they fell, flew, whatever through green energy that flared across his vision even with his eyes tightly shut. The Sentient felt wrong. More wrong that she should. Or...something.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but somehow, Cass knew that the energy that made Marlena who and what she was was unraveling. It wasn't pain like he knew all to well as a Special Forces soldier, but it was pain nonetheless. He could feel her agony, but when he tried to speak to her, he couldn't. He couldn't move or do anything.

Then they landed.

Marlena cushioned the two she was holding somehow and the impact was less than it should have been, but it still jarred a grunt out of Cass.

"That was fun." Cass groused. "Marlena?"

"I… I can't..." Marlena's arms released him and Cass eased Lissandra's limp form to whatever surface lay underneath them. "If you can, tell Mike 'I am sorry'."

"What have you possibly got to be sorry for?" Rage gave the exhausted soldier new energy and Cass opened his eyes to find Marlena lying beside him, her energy visibly dimming.

"Far more than you will ever know." The silver metal woman laid her head on the floor as sobs came form nearby. Alicia was still crying. "I cannot ever make what I did right. Too many died because of what I did. But… I had to try to make things right."

"Why?" A new voice spoke up. A male voice that seemed to come from the darkness that surrounded them. It was calm, serene almost. "Why must you try, young Sentient?"

Cass tried to stiffen as light brightened around the trio and they were lying on an oddly painted floor. A male form uncoiled form an odd sitting posture near a wall that was also oddly painted. It wasn't disturbing. Far from it. Cass did not know what was depicted on the wall, but it was oddly soothing, whatever it was. Even when he stepped into the light, the form was not clear. He was distinctly human in a long cloak, but wait! Was that a green mask the being was wearing? Some kind of caricature of a human face with a wide white smile?

"Who are you?" Cass and Marlena both chorused. Both stiffened as the other chuckled.

"What?" Cass demanded, fear rising.

"Who is but the form, following the function of what and what I am is a being in a mask." The other replied, amused. Cass started to retort angrily, but Marlena laughed!

"You did not just say that." Marlena chuckled weakly. "Don't tell me you watched that movie!" Cass stared at her and then at the odd being who shrugged.

"Ah, caught! I have always wanted to say that almost as much as 'No one of consequence'. No one ever asked right until now." The other snickered and then bowed deeply to them. "My horrible sense of humor aside, my name I must withhold. I do not know you and trouble follows when my name is uttered around strangers. If you must call me something, you may call me Ali. That is not my name, but it will serve." He knelt down beside them, his hands gentle as he eased Cass into a more comfortable position. He laid Lissandra out straight and then turned to Marlena who was eyeing him. "You did not answer my question, young Sentient."

"I am not who I was." Marlena said quietly. "I know that, but I cannot help but feel guilty about what the being I was did to so many. She hurt many, killed many and she enjoyed it. 'I' enjoyed it. That was wrong. I have..." She corrected herself grimly. "...had to try and make it right."

"Sentients destroyed much of Orokin." The being who called himself Ali had a frown in his tone that did not show through the mask. "The Orokin earned much hate and much sorrow, but the Sentients did just as much evil, if not more. None but them will ever know how many humans perished or were enslaved in the Old War."

"Enthralled, yes." Marlena replied, her tone listless now. "I was changed into this against my will, but I found a better way. I had hoped to make at least a little of what I messed up right, but it is not to be."

"Your energy is fading. Being devoured by some kind of energy parasite." Ali agreed. "I cannot help you."

"I know." Marlena replied. "I have time, but not a lot."

"I didn't think Sentients could die." Cass all but begged.

"This form will reanimate eventually if it absorbs enough energy from its surroundings." Marlena said softly. "But the memories that make me who I am are part of the energy and they will fade. Who I am will cease to be. I had hoped to have more time. Funny. I thought myself all but immortal, but he killed me just as surely as he killed Nyx."

"Nyx? She was already dead and-" Ali stiffened and then he moaned. "Oh, no. No. That is what woke me! She… No!" Was he about to cry?

"You knew Nyx?" Marlena asked, her tone sad. "She was scary, but she was kind."

"Yes." Ali put a hand to his face and nodded. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'Sallah'. "A kinder and scarier being, I do not think I will ever meet. She did not kill me when she had the chance. To this day, I do not know if it was mercy or malice that led her to spare me." He took a deep breath. "Who did this?" He paused. "Wait… If she sent you here… Oh no." He moaned again. "No. Not Hayden!"

"I don't think he meant to. He seemed just as shocked as you are." Marlena offered as Ali knelt and bowed to the wall three times, ritually. When he rose from his last bow he looked to where Alicia lay, still crying softly.

"And this one?" Ali's voice turned hard as he rose to his feet. He held no weapon, but somehow, Cass knew that death lurked very close at hand. Tenno or no, Alicia's life hung in the balance and she had no way to defend herself. " From the look of her, she tried to stop Nyx. Stress 'tried'. Was she part of what destroyed Nyx?"

"I don't know." Marlena admitted. "She seemed to be with Hayden Tenno, but she..." Marlena sighed helplessly. "Nyx lost her temper."

"Oh dear." Ali knelt beside Alicia and shook his head. He touched her shaking head and she stilled, seeming to fall asleep. "I see. Even Hayden Tenno stepped carefully around Nyx when she got angry. With good reason. We learned. Everyone learned." Cass stared at the odd being. He had known both? That was not second hand knowledge. That was personal experience talking. From what he said and how he said it? Said experience had not been pleasant. "Hayden always did think with his Glaive far too often." Ali said sourly. "But this..." He looked at the trio and then at Alicia. He slumped a bit. "Tenno fighting Tenno. Again. This is going to be a mess and no mistake."

"Nyx was trying to help us." Cass said sadly. "She sent us here. From your words, you cannot help Marlena. Can you help Lissandra?"

Ali rose from Alicia's side to stride to where Lissandra lay. Cass tried to remain still as the odd being knelt beside her. His hands were gentle as he checked her vitals and something more that Cass could almost sense.

"She feels… strange." Ali said slowly. "Odd, but not disturbing." He looked at Marlena who nodded.

"She was tampered with, her mind and body both have been altered. Not by me or my kind. It is not Tenno power, either. I know those feelings." The stricken Sentient said quietly. "I do not know how or why she was brainwashed, but she was."

"Something to do with me, probably." Cass said with a growl. "Damn that Anyo. Damn him to hell."

"Watch your mouth, human." Ali said sternly and Cass stared at him, closing his mouth with a click. "Blasphemy will not be tolerated here. I won't kill you, but you might prefer that." He moved to check Cass who remained still.

"Careful. He is showing the abilities of a Cyberlancer with no training." Marlena warned as Ali reached for Cass. Ali froze and then nodded slowly. "It was done to him, not by his will. Nyx slowed the change. She said she could not stop it."

"For all of her faults, Nyx did know her limits." Ali laid a hand on Cass's forehead and soothing warmth swept through the soldier. Cass sighed as pain he had barely registered faded. Ali had a sad, gentle smile in his voice when he spoke again. "She did well. You are a mess, human. Your physical wounds are the least of it."

"Are you a healer?" Marlena all but begged. "They need healing."

"Me? No. Not by trade, but when you get to be my age, you pick up tricks." Ali replied, noncommittal. "This is beyond my paltry skill. I can get you somewhere that they can tend you. That said, if Hayden Tenno is after you… Then anywhere you go will be dangerous to both you and those helping you." Again, that was personal experience. Cass opened his mouth and then shut it. He probably didn't want to know. "And if Nyx is truly gone, then Nikis will likely get involved and be very angry." He shuddered. "Not something I ever wanted to see again."

"Smart man." Cass would have said more, but Lissandra moaned and Cass turned to see her open her eyes, clearly confused by this change in location. "Lissandra? You are okay. You are safe for the moment."

"What is going on?" Lissandra asked, staring from Cass to Marlena. She cringed as she saw the man in the mask but he shook his head.

"You are in no danger from me, human Lissandra. You may call me Ali and I have done what I can for you." Ali said kindly and Lissandra relaxed a little. "How do you feel?"

"Odd." Lissandra said softly. "I feel..." She turned to look at Marlena and gasped. "You are hurting!"

"I am dying." Marlena corrected her grimly. "Perhaps this being can help you where I could not." She smiled a little forlornly. "I had so many hopes, but I did help Cass, so that is a good thing."

"No." Lissandra said weakly. "You… You can't die! You are a Sentient!"

"Everything dies, child."Ali said sadly. "Tenno and Sentients are no different. They may cheat it, but in the end, oblivion will come for all of us." He paused as Lissandra surged to a sitting position. "Do not push yourself too-"

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Lissandra reached for Marlena and the odd tubes that were housed in her body extended. He was clearly staring at her as the tubes connected to Marlena as the girl had normally connected to Cass. For her part, Marlena tried to retreat, but she couldn't move.

"No!" Marlena begged as Lissandra lay down next to her. "Don't!"

"Not for me." Lissandra said very quietly. "No one else dies for me." Cass stared at her and then sat up, struggling to reach her as her face twisted into a grimace. "Ick." She swallowed hard as Marlena gasped and Ali juts stood as if shocked. "Those are foul!"

"What are you doing?" Marlena said softly, still trying to move, but unable to. "I feel weird."

"I am filtering your energy." Lissandra said with a grunt of effort. "It is… different, but I can sense the wrong in it, so I can filter the bad out."

"That is not possible." Ali said very slowly as Marlena gasped and then relaxed. "Sentient?"

"She… It… She pulled it out. The thing that was killing me. It was wrongness in my energy and I couldn't touch it. She pulled it out!" Marlena stared at Lissandra in awe that turned to horror as the girl's eyes rolled up into her head and she fell over. The tubed retracted when she lost consciousness. "Lissandra!"

Cass was in reach and caught Lissandra before she hit the floor. He laid her down and checked her pulse. He had a moment of absolute terror until it fluttered under his fingers.

"Alive." Cass said, stunned. "Thank God! She is alive. That... She..."

"I do not sense the energy that was poisoning the Sentient anymore. That is not possible." Ali said very softly. "She 'filtered' it?" He inquired carefully.

"That is what she said she did for me every time I woke up in what I came to realize was a cell." Cass slumped and shook his head. "She was hurt. I could tell that just by looking at her, but she didn't care about herself. All she cared about was that 'I' was hurt and she wanted to help. We didn't know each other until then. Now?" He shrugged. "That had to be planned, that we would feel for each other."

"Likely. Psychological manipulation of prisoners is a time honored evil tradition." Ali agreed, not moving as Marlena sat up slowly and carefully. She slid across the floor to Cass and Lissandra, looking a question at Cass who shrugged.

"I don't know what to do." Cass said weakly. "I was trained in battlefield medicine, but this is not battlefield medicine."

"No, it most definitely is not. As Ali says, what she just did is not possible but she did it." Marlena said with a sigh. "She saved my life. I..." She started to cry. "I didn't want to die, but I was ready!" Ali stepped up and laid his hand on Marlena's shoulder. She covered it with her own.

"Take this gift that was given to you, young Sentient." Ali said heavily. "All such gifts come with a cost. I fear she will pay for what she did."

"Not if I can help it." Marlena growled.

"You may not be able to." Ali warned. "I wasn't when I tried to repay a similar debt." He looked away.

"We need to get these somewhere safe." Marlena said weakly as she laid a hand on Lissandra and then relaxed a bit. "Her vitals are strong. I would think that she should be okay with some rest, but… I don't know what she did or how. So we need to get her to proper medical care."

"The portal Nyx used to transport you will be tracked." Ali said heavily. "This place was supposed to define the word 'inaccessible', but that was just proven false." He took a deep breath. "Can your people help?" He asked Marlena who thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Hunhow would just destroy us all. The others? They are coming back to the system, but had to slow and turn before accelerating again. We were almost a light year away." Marlena replied. "Mother could likely help, but she has to stay with Adiina. The poor dear is very fragile still. She frightens easily and since she is an armed starship, we do not want her frightened. Such would not end well."

"No." Ali shook his head. "I shouldn't be surprised that I am out of touch. Likely out of date as well. I sleep here until and unless Tenno come to talk. The last one was Karl and that was some time ago." He sighed. "If Hayden Tenno is hunting you, then hiding will not work. Nor will running. You will never see him coming." Again, that was experience!

"If we cannot hide and we cannot run, then what can we do? Die?" Cass demanded, trying for calm as Lissandra whimpered in her sleep. He stroked her short hair and she subsided. "Fighting him won't work!"

"There are many ways to fight." Ali's tone was dry now. "Contrary to popular belief, not all involve physical violence." He turned to Marlena. "Can you hold silence? I may be able to talk to someone who can help, but she will not react well to me. Let alone to you."

"I am sort of stuck here, seeing as how I have no idea where 'here' is." Marlena sighed deeply and then nodded. "I would hope that whoever you talk to can protect these, but I do owe Lissandra a life." She warned. "We all owe her. I am a nurturer and the death of such is a grievous blow to my people."

"Fair enough." Ali turned to the wall and spoke aloud in a language that Cass did not know. Marlena shrugged when he looked at her.

"You." The irate female voice preceded a small holographic screen appearing on the wall. It looked archaic, that screen, but it still functioned. The Saryn Prime warframe was all but bristling with rage. Cass stiffened as he recognized her from Special Forces briefings. Rachel! The Tenno who led the First! "What do you want?"

"I felt Nyx pass beyond the database." Ali said quietly. "You know what that means."

"You try any of your tricks and I will obliterate your ass." Rachel snapped, only to pause as Ali sighed. "What?"

"Language, my dear." Ali protested mildly. "You have been hanging around Nikis too long."

"Gah!" Rachel snarled but then visibly forced herself to relax. "This is not a good time."

"Considering that Hayden Tenno just destroyed Nyx?" Ali asked and his mild tone hardened. "No, it is not a good time."

"What did you-?" Rachel broke off and when she spoke again, it was slow and careful. "That seems implausible. You better have proof of such a wild claim."

"I have talked with beings who were there." Ali replied, not moving. "I do not know the specifics, but I do owe Nyx." The last few words were quiet, but the intensity level went through the roof. Rachel stared at him and then she nodded, manifestly against her will. "If he was involved… Then this is going to get very bad, very fast."

"And you know all about bad." Rachel said sourly.

"Nyx didn't kill me." Ali might have been carved from ice now. "Such would have been far more merciful. That is beside the point. I have reason to believe that humans were harmed by Hayden Tenno." Rachel hissed at that. "I do not know how or why, but Nyx tried to rescue them and fell doing so. If you were involved in such, we will become enemies." Was he threatening Rachel? He was insane!

"I have been trying to make sense of things that happened recently." Rachel said through clearly gritted teeth. "My focus is as it has always been. The Virus and its outbreaks. No more, no less."

"Except when you sat on your rear for millennia." Ali retorted. "How is that following your precious 'Way'?" He inquired coldly.

"The Infested were dormant until the idiot Grineer woke them." Rachel said slowly but then she bowed her head. "For what is worth? I agree it was wrong, but we were angry."

"So am I." Ali admitted. "You had every right to anger after what happened to Richard." Ali consoled her. "I am not your enemy, Rachel. I do not want to be. Nyx was my jailer, but more than that?

It took a while, but she wore me down until she was my friend."