Boarding
(At just about the same time)
The Reverend Mother looked grim when Tenno Rachel entered the room the nun was staying in. It hadn't been long at all since the Clergywoman had called. Rachel was busy, but this situation was unprecedented in recent memory. The room was as comfortable as Tenno rooms ever got. The woman within was anything but comfortable, both with this situation and with more.
"Reverend Mother? You asked to see me?" Rachel asked when the Reverend Mother rose and gave her a half bow in the Tenno style. Stood to reason. She had once been Tenno. Now? She was an enigma a lot of the time and Rachel clearly wasn't happy with her presence but it had been needed. Rachel hadn't been happy having any humans in the service of the Corpus here, but again, this whole situation was a mess.
"I need to go." The nun said with a growl. "Anyo has called a Board meeting. Almost certainly to demand Lissandra." Rachel stilled but the Clergywoman shook her head. "It isn't going to happen. What will happen is a godawful mess when everyone with grudges against us lines up behind him to take shots at us. I have to attend that meeting or he will do far more damage."
"You didn't want to leave before talking to Lissandra.' Rachel unbent a little. "Iriana didn't say anything, but she looked pleased." She shook her head. "Actually, she looked more than pleased. Roger didn't say anything, but he looked pleased too."
"If they are not safe here, then there is nowhere even possibly safe." The Reverend Mother sighed and relaxed a bit. "I am sorry. I did want to stay and talk to Lissandra, but her comfort comes first. I will wait until she leaves and talk to her then."
Rachel had been adamant that this would be the only time that the Reverend Mother would be allowed in the Citadel. To Rachel's mind, the Clergywoman wasn't 'quite' a traitor, but she was not Tenno anymore and the Corpus were enemies, so…
"That may be a while." Rachel's voice was soft now, concerned. Then again, she liked Lissandra too. Most people who met her did. The Reverend Mother glared at her, but the younger woman's heart wasn't really in it. Rachel shrugged. "The Elders are debating. I bet Eliza and her people are too. You know I won't chain her to a wall or anything, no matter how much some people may carry on. Roger and Suno both expressed some displeasure at various groups insistence on talking to her."
"I knew it would get out." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "Lissandra deserves better than that, but I do not think I can give it to her. Perhaps you can."
"No matter what, all the Healers have formed ranks in support of Lissandra." Rachel reassured the nun. "Iriana is bad enough when she gets angry, but now, Suno and Roger are both standing with her. The less said about what the Caretakers said to me, the better." She actually shuddered. "And to think I once wanted this job."
"Leadership may have its perks." The Reverend Mother agreed. "But it also has its burdens. Did you ever determine what exactly, the girl was programmed with? The sergeant was not programmed. The few records that were recovered did not say what was intended beyond installing him in a Raptor." Rage sang in her tone, but it was squelched. "Not that such wouldn't have been bad enough."
"No." Rachel admitted. "Iriana could see the alterations, but not determine what was intended. She repaired what she could, disabled the rest. Brianna has offered her aid and I am contemplating ways to get Lissandra to her since most of Brianna's strength lies in the tower and she cannot leave it easily." The Reverend Mother stiffened and Rachel nodded. "I know."
'Anywhere that the girl goes..." The Clergywoman said slowly. "If Hayden can get out of that trap the Cyberlancers tossed him into..." She trailed off.
"He will find her and take her." Rachel completed the thought with a growl. "I know. I would have called…" She paused, shook her head and spoke carefully. "... Galina in to determine what happened and why, but no one has seen her energy. I hope she isn't gone, but I fear she is."
"And I fear what will happen without her moderating influence on the others." The Reverend Mother said quietly and Rachel nodded. "I have to go. If you can? Please give Lissandra my love?" She asked, eyes glistening. "I personally may deserve all the hate and scorn that are heaped on me, but she did not deserve this. Any of it."
Something in her tone clearly bothered the warframe clad Tenno. Then again, few people knew who The Reverend Mother had been before she had assumed the role. There were still stories told about her in dark places, making monsters fear the darkness. A bit of caution was justified.
"What are you going to do?" Rachel asked slowly.
"Like you and others, I am going to do whatever I have to in order protect my people." The Reverend Mother started for the door, only to pause as Rachel barred her way. "I have no quarrel with you, Tenno Rachel." The Clergywoman said quietly. "Nor do I wish one. But what Anyo did cannot stand."
"If you could talk to them from here, would you?" Rachel asked and the Clergywoman stared at her. "Hypothetically."
"If I did, I would put you and yours at risk. They will track the transmission. They always do, trying to seek me out. There are as many reasons as there are Board members." The Reverend Mother shrugged. "I won't do that. You are focused on the outbreaks of the Technocyte Virus. Something that is desperately needed right now."
"No, you won't." Rachel had a smile in her voice as the world fell away. Suddenly, both were standing in a room that looked very much like a Corpus control center. The Reverend Mother stared around and then at Rachel, whose garb morphed into a nun's habit, much like hers. Her long dark hair plaited itself in a conservative style as she folded her hands properly. The screens lit up with information that the Reverend Mother hissed as she recognized. Corpus communication frequencies!
"How?" The Clergywoman asked. "This is accessing every Corpus… Oh." She smiled a bit sadly. "Jesse."
"Among others." Rachel smiled at the Clergywoman. "I have to stay to monitor, but they won't track this."
"I know better than to ask. I am going to say and do things that bother you." The Reverend Mother warned as she touched a holographic display and it lit up to show her credentials being scanned. "They bother me."
"If you are going to do what I think you are going to do, you will need an official witness that the Board cannot bribe, blackmail or threaten into silence." Rachel replied with a nod. The Reverend Mother looked at her and Rachel shrugged again. "I know vengeance when I see it."
"'Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord'." The Reverend Mother sank to her knees and folded her hands in prayer. Rachel did not interrupt as the Clergywoman spoke under her breath head bowing. Several screens flashed to life, each showing a Corpus executive's head. Then a familiar hated voice had both the Tenno and the Clergywoman stiffened.
"Ah, I see the Void has chastised you for your crime." Nef Anyo gloated from another screen. He paused as the Reverend Mother rose to her feet, ignoring him to eye a screen marked 'Chairman Pro-Tem'.
"You asked my presence, Chairman. I am here." The Reverend Mother's tone was calm. Oddly calm. As if she was controlling herself tighter than usual.
"Nef Anyo has requested the return of stolen property." The Chairman looked worried?
"Indeed." The Reverend Mother's reply was still calm.
"By the Void, you will-" Anyo started, only to pause as the Chairman sighed. "She will pay." The Reverend Mother ignored him again!
"Reverend Mother." The Chairman was wary. He knew her and her moods better than most. He also knew what she could do. "He called this meeting. He says you took two of his employees."
"Did I now?" The Reverend Mother tilted her head as if in thought. "That is odd. He didn't do this when his evangelist scum got they deserved."
"You had no right to do that!" Anyo snapped. "The Void knows it own and you will pay for your crimes." She ignored him again!
"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman tried. "If a crime has been committed by the Clergy..." He made a face. "You are not supposed to do things like that."
"Yes, I know." The Clergywoman sighed deeply. "It isn't a crime to steal credits from employees as long as Anyo does it." The Chairman stiffened and she continued. "It isn't a crime to steal a new mother's life savings as long as he and his morons do it." She shook her head. "I do believe that a person's faith is their own as long as they follow the Company Guidelines. Profit numbs the feeling, but under Profit, we may believe as we will. I had no right to bar Anyo's fool from the facility until he stole from one of the mothers. She did not give him access to her account and he took her entire savings anyway." At that, the Chairman recoiled and the Reverend Mother nodded as Rachel looked grim. "I know that Anyo says he has the right to do anything he wants, since the Void says he can, but still..." She trailed off and the Chairman shook his head.
"That is not within the Guidelines. That was never reported." The Chairman glared at Anyo who did not react.
"For good reason." The Reverend Mother agreed. "The transaction was stopped before he could make off with her credits and the thief was dealt with."
"The Void know what you did!" Anyo snapped. 'You had no right to mutilate our faithful!" More than one set of eyebrows went up at that and more went up when she ignored him yet again!
"I…" The Chairman actually slumped. "I don't want to know, do I?" His tone was long suffering.
"He got lynched." The Reverend Mother shrugged as the Chairman goggled at her."Say what you will about pregnant women, angering a mob of them is a bad idea. We saved his life, but not his genitals. It was bad enough when all Anyo was doing was spamming the holo-channels and inboxes." She shook her head. "I guess he never read clause Eight Seven Gamma Six of the Communication Guidelines." More than one of the watchers gulped at that as she finally turned to Anyo and her face was cool, remote. "You might want to read that. You might want to see the penalties for spam telemarketing to Company personnel before you try that again. If you ever spam my inbox with your holo crap again, I will tear off your beard and beat you to death with it. I will be perfectly justified to do so."
That was not calm! Rachel was hardly the only one to look worried as darkness reared its ugly head in the Reverend Mother's tone but then she forced herself to relax and everyone else did.
"Ah..." The Chairman swallowed hard. "That is not what this meeting is about." He tried to steer it back and the Reverend Mother shrugged.
"Burning at the stake is also fully justified for telemarketers who do not understand the word 'No'." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "I am held to a higher standard unfortunately. But… I do know why he called this meeting. Do you?"
"He says that you stole two of his employees." The Chairman said slowly. "A Cee-24 and a Lissa H-12."
"I do not know those names." The Reverend Mother replied. "I have no one in my employment by those names. When did I supposedly steal them from this telemarketer?" Heavy irony sang in her question and more than one of the holographic faces twitched as if fighting smiles as Anyo choked.
"Your people cordoned off the facility!" Anyo snapped. "The Void knows you took them!" Again, she ignored him!
"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman sighed. "We are trying to keep this from becoming a conflict."
"You are too late." The Reverend Mother replied calmly and everyone stilled.
"What?" The Chairman asked as almost every single Board Member suddenly looked worried! Anyo did not, he was busy ranting.
"I know what he has said." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "I have been briefed on his rants. C-24, a male soldier." Not a question. "Lissa H-12, a female nurse. Those names are not known to me but the people he describes are."
"By the Void, you admit-! Anyo cut himself off as the Chairman snarled at him.
"Shut up, Anyo!" The Chairman snapped. "Before you start a war!"
"He has." At the Reverend Mother's soft words, the Chairman paled. "The man's name is actually Cass. Sergeant Cass of the Corpus Special Forces. He was abducted from his barracks, experimented on and intended to become the cyborg controller of a new type of Raptor."
"He… He what?" That came form Frohd Bek of all people! "No! No, he didn't!"
Then again, he knew first hand just how expensive angering the Special Forces got. Many of the Board did, but Bek more than most. He also knew what happened when anyone tried to restart the C&C MOA program. Expensive didn't begin to cover it when Tenno got involved. Even Bek had learned not to do that. It had taken a while.
"He was stopped from doing that but just barely. The sergeant will likely not survive." The Reverend Mother replied when the Chairman looked at her. "That pales beside the other, however."
"The girl accepted enlightenment!" Anyo sneered. "You cannot change that!" He broke off as her glare pinned him.
"And you cannot change the fact that mercenaries that you hired stole her from one of my breeding colonies."
A pin dropping might have sounded like a Grineer Galleon's broadside in the sudden silence that fell.
"He… He what?" The Chairman asked, even paler. Was he about to faint? "Are you insane?" He demanded of Anyo. He paused and then sighed. "Of course you are. You moron."
"He wanted the girl and was going to launch a full scale assault." The Reverend Mother replied. "Who cares that it would have triggered Company wide warfare?" She shook her head as the Chairman gaped at her and Anyo started to rant. She muted his feed and all the others stared at her. "A third party intervened, snatched the girl and the sergeant to keep such from happening and then gave them to him. I do not know why, but rest assured, I will find out."
"Reverend Mother..." The Chairman swallowed hard. "If he did… If he violated the sanctity of the breeding colony..."
"It has been moved." The Reverend Mother reassured him. "The security has also been beefed up. As we are not allowed fleets and armies, we fight as we can. From the shadows. He will not enjoy the Holy War he has begun."
"Reverend Mother! No!" The Chairman all but screamed that! "We can fix this!"
"Can you?" The Clergywoman growled. "You are all about Profit. Every one of you is about Profit. Profit numbs the feeling. I know. I even accept that most of the time, but I am about the survival of our race! If we all die, what does it matter how rich we are when it happens? He doesn't care about such. I do."
"You cannot threaten me, woman!" Anyo somehow had his feed back. "The Void will show you the True Way!"
"Will it?" The Reverend Mother turned and smiled as Commander Horatius appeared in the virtual environment. "Commander? Time?"
"Time." The Commander saluted her!
Everyone stilled again as Anyo's feed fuzzed and then stabilized. He stared at her. "What have you done?" The nutcase demanded.
"I am afraid the main Index broadcast station you had in Neptune orbit just ran afoul of a Grineer task force." The Reverend Mother smiled, and everyone shuddered as Death itself seemed to smile at them. "Odd. The ships didn't show up on our sensors. We will need to calibrate again, it seems, Commander." He nodded with a matching smile.
"Your lies fall flat, woman!" Anyo snorted. "There are a thousand people on-"
"Were." The Commander interrupted and everyone froze. The Reverend Mother shook her head, her face sad. "There were a thousand beings on that station. Of which, three hundred and six were your employees. The others?" He shrugged. "Some chose to flee. Others chose to renegotiate their contracts. Three hundred and six chose to join your Void." Now? His smile might have frightened a Tenno! "They won't be alone long."
"You dare." Anyo said softly, incredulous.
"I could say the same about you." The Reverend Mother shrugged as all of the other Board members started talking at once. The Chairman demanded order and they subsided.
"Reverend Mother! Don't do this!" The part time leader of the Corpus begged and she shook her head.
"The Guidelines are painfully clear on this." The Reverend Mother said flatly. "The breeding colonies are not to be touched. Period. Anyone who does, faces Holy War. So, thus I declare Holy War on Nef Anyo, his holdings, his personnel. All of his assets are valid targets for our Crusade. We will act as we can to end this as quickly as we can. Anyone else who wishes to face our Crusade is welcome to." She snarled the last. "I am done putting up with your filth, ignoring your filth! I am done letting you scum hurt my people and get away with it! I will protect humanity. From anyone who threatens it. Outside the Company, or inside. You have no idea how many you angered, Anyo. Not just us." Rachel nodded, silent.
"The girl is mine!" Anyo shouted.
"Oh, do shut up." The Reverend Mother nodded to the Commander who snapped his fingers and the Anyo's hologram winked out! "Really?" she inquired, calming. "That was… A bit dramatic for you, don't you think?"
"What can I say?" Horatius shrugged. "Married life agrees with me." The Clergywoman snickered at that and relaxed.
"Please tell me you didn't just kill him!" The Chairman begged.
"He is far too well protected to be a short term target." Horatius was not saying that Anyo was not a target. "Several of his communication satellites and facilities just suffered misfortunes." The Chairman winced and Horatius continued. "Not all exploded. They are Company assets, after all. Some have simply been jammed, hacked and then redistributed." Before anyone relaxed, he smirked. "Three did explode."
"Reverend Mother! Please!" The Chairman begged, but Frohd Bek of all people spoke up.
"She is within her rights." Bek said quietly. "Within the Guidelines. He started it."
"And we will finish it." The Reverend Mother promised. "The human race will continue. Any of you who wish to side with him against our Crusade, feel free! Take shots at us, please! You will not destroy us and we will destroy you! You will never see Death coming!"
"No!" The Chairman snapped as everyone looked at him. "No one else will interfere! That is a Company wide edict! This is between the Clergy and Anyo. No one else!" That was a statement and a warning. He shook his head. "Even as it is, this is going to be bad."
"Oh, we haven't seen bad yet, Chairman." The Reverend Mother's smile might have turned out the Sun!
"But it is coming."