Lucky or unlucky

He... hurt.

Everything hurt.

For a long moment, he didn't know what had happened or why. Then memory flooded in. The red beam, the awful pain...

"NightNova!" Mitchell screamed as he...sat up? He stared around wildly, then slowly relaxed. He didn't hurt now. The room was not familiar, but he knew what it was. The feel was distinctive. He was in a virtual world. The room was bare except for the bed on which he lay. No decorations, no nothing. "What.. the...?"

The pilot shook his head and slowly sat up all the way. Nothing happened and he swung his feet off the bed, aware that he still wore his flightsuit. Had he died? Had the Balor Fomorian's beam destroyed the ship? He remembered NightNova launching the pod holding the Special Forces operative, so that was done. Out of his hands now if the man lived or died. This was...

He paused as a door suddenly materialized on one wall. One moment, the wall was bare, the next an Orokin style hatch shone. Mitchell shook his head slowly. Then he went totally still as a form entered the room, no one he knew. The female Tenno in the Mag warframe nodded to him.

"You are lucky to be alive." The newcomer said quietly.

"Am I?" Mitchell asked as calmly as he could manage. "This is virtual."

"Yes." The other nodded. "My name is Elenia. We were... in a good position to catch you as you tumbled by." Mitchell did not move and Elenia sighed. "Mitchell, we are not enemies."

"NightNova?" Mitchell asked as he slowly lay back down.

"Offline for the moment." Elenia said with a frown that was visible even through her closed faceplate. "We don't have the tech to repair it."

"No." Mitchell agreed. "Infested wouldn't, would they?" He saw the Mag tense.

"We are not enemies and you are not a prisoner, Mitchell." Elenia said sharply. "As soon as we can figure out how to get you to where you came from, we will. You need time to recover though. The neural shock was intense."

"Why would you?" Mitchell managed to keep the snide down. "After all, I am biomass, right?"

"Mitchell, don't do this..." Elenia said with a sigh. "Yes, I and my fellow Caretaker have legitimate grievances with the Orokin. Not with you. What you did was brave if somewhat foolhardy."

"I serve Orokin and this isn't real." Mitchell snapped.

"Right now, you are floating in a pod filled with blue goo." Elenia said reasonably. "Do you want to see? It's... pretty gross."

Whatever else Mitchell was going to say was cut off as another form appeared in the middle of the room, standing between Elenia and the bed. She wore and odd, flowing robe that covered almost her entire body. A veil concealed her face, except for her mouth, which had a burn scar visible.

"Shut it, pilot!" The woman snapped. "They are trying to help."

"Janet..." Elenia sighed. Mitchell went still. Janet? The Oracle?

"He is not one of the ones who screwed you Caretakers so tell Jasmina to quit sulking." The Oracle said sharply. She turned to Mitchell and her mouth was a thin line. "And yes, they are doing the best they can. They cannot trust anyone else, Mitchell. Anyone. What would you do?"

"I am just a pilot, Ma'am." Mitchell said quietly. "I go where I am told and do what I am told." The Oracle just looked at him, crossing her arms. Neither woman moved and Mitchell sighed. "What happened?" he asked, unbending a little.

"NightNova was hit by the beam." Janet said with a shiver. "The damage wasn't catastrophic, but it was close. You were linked to the ship when it was hit." Mitchell tensed and Janet nodded. "The only thing that saved you was NightNova sacrificed parts of itself to keep your core intact." Mitchell felt all of his breath leave his body in a solid whoosh.

"NightNova?" Mitchell heard someone else say in his voice? Couldn't be him. There was no way he could be that calm right now.

"We don't know." Elenia said quietly. "We cannot get it to respond. We have tried everything, even pulling you into this virtual world. It is like it is not there. We are hoping you can get through to it." Mitchell looked at her and then at the Oracle who pursed her lips.

"Why?" Mitchell asked slowly. "Why me? Why NightNova? I am no one special even if the ship is."

"Because they need you." Janet said quietly when Elenia did not reply. "The Caretakers need you and NightNova. Hence why they were shadowing you." Elenia tensed as Mitchell sat up again. Janet nodded to Mitchell. "They need a pilot. They need someone skilled in stealth and speed. They need you."

"I have a life." Mitchell said slowly. "I... We have a child on the way..."

"I know." Janet said quietly. "And I am sorry, Mitchell." Was she crying? She was!

"Wha-?" Mitchell paused and stared from the Oracle to the Caretaker. "What have you done?"

"It was the only way to slow your tumble, Mitchell." Elenia said sadly. "We managed to snag NightNova with tendrils three times and each time, the tendrils broke. The stresses were too much. So finally, we launched a pod that made contact. It had thrusters that slowed you and moved you so we could intercept."

"And?" Mitchell hadn't known his voice could get that flat.

"The only substance strong enough and viscous enough to adhere to an Orokin hull..." Elenia said heavily. "...was Technocyte based." Mitchell froze. "We thought we could protect you. We were wrong."

"You... infested me..." Mitchell said softly, disbelieving.

"We pulled you in and got you secured quickly." Elenia hastened to say. "And we did everything we could. Mitchell, please!" She begged. "This is not how we wanted to do this! We just wanted to talk!"

"How long have you been shadowing me?" Mitchell felt anger rise.

"We were trying to figure out how to talk to you without you frying anyone who made contact." Elenia said quietly. "Avalon can track the portals we used. We need another means of transport. We needed a pilot. You."

"I... have a wife..." Mitchell said slowly.

"I am sorry, Mitchell." Elenia said sadly. "We did not intend the pod to break open on contact. We did not intend the virus to infect you or NightNova."

"What have you done to NightNova?" Mitchell surged to his feet, but neither female retreated.

"NightNova is infected too, Mitchell." Janet said, her tone gentle. "They meant well, Mitchell. They wanted to save your life. To ask for your help. Not this."

"Never this." Elenia was crying now too. "We didn't want it to be like this."

"I serve Orokin." Mitchell said sharply. "Not traitors." Janet and Elenia both recoiled at that. "Mitchell, Lieutenant Commander. ON12L12876012."

"Mitchell..." Elenia begged, but the Oracle just shook her head slowly and vanished.

"Mitchell, Lieutenant Commander. ON12L12876012."

Later

"I..." Elenia was sobbing as Jasmina held her. "We... we have to help him! He will be subsumed if we don't." She had tried for twenty minutes to get Mitchell to speak again. Every reply was the same. Name. Rank. Service number.

"And if he won't accept our help?" The Ember Prime asked quietly.

Forcing him to accept our help will not endear us to him. The voice of Jasmina's lost mate came through the massed mind. We need another way.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Jasmina asked with a wince that Elenia shared. "He won't accept our help. We cannot let him go back. They will kill him on sight."

It was what Tenno did to Infested allies. More 'merciful' in many cases. This case was slightly different. Mitchell was going to change physically, but with care, they could protect his mind. If he did not resist, which he would. They could slow the change dampen it. But not stop it. What had been done to cure Michelle was a once off and as far as anyone knew, not reproducible. Elenia and the mass mind's Healer had spent centuries looking for ways to remove Technocyte infection from hosts. It simply did not work. They had tried so hard not to infect him and it had happened anyway.

We cannot hold him. Dust said quietly. We cannot force him to accept our aid. Odd that Jasmina's mate was a disembodied voice most of the time, but no odder than some around the sole sane mind mass of Infested in the Solar System. Ask Janet?

"We do not want to come to rely on her." Elenia said slowly as she hugged Jasmina back. After so many centuries alone, Elenia was very much a huggy type person. "We are too close to this. We are emotionally involved. Everyone we know is."

"If we were regular Tenno with such a quandary..." Jasmina said slowly. "I would go to an Elder. But..." She paused and all three of them chorused as one.

"Raven."

A hidden colony

"This is... unexpected."

Raven was a probationary Elder. She had been chosen both for her political acumen and her absolute impartiality. She looked at the facts and nothing else. She could and did often turn her emotions off to see things clearly. Once an unwitting spy for the Sentients and then an experimental subject for Alad V's madness, she did not let the horrors of her past dim her enthusiasm for doing the right thing. She had never really been a Warrior though, unlike her sister Alicia who served Karl's clan as a combat medic. In her heart, she had always been a legist and a facilitator. She stood in her tiny office and stared at the small form that had asked for an appointment on short notice.

"I know." The Mag warframe was unadorned. "Please... hear me out?" Elenia begged.

She was unarmed. One did not come into one of the hidden Tenno colonies armed to the teeth. Maybe if the Relays actually worked as planned, then Tenno could come and go as they wished in those. But these colonies survived by being hidden. Weapons were available in case of emergency, but normally, the peace was kept because people wanted it kept. Break the peace and bad things happened. Especially now.

"I can see why you gave the guards a false name." Raven said mildly, not moving from where she stood. "But you are not garnering trust. As soon as they ID you every alarm in this colony will go off. You know this. With Horus on the loose... They are on hair trigger."

"I know." Elenia said sadly. "But we have little time. We need an Elder and none of the others would even give a Caretaker of the Unclean the time of day."

"Any of the others would call guards." Raven said mildly. "Or draw and fire." She smiled a bit thinly at that. Yes, people were supposed to be unarmed. Tenno? Ha! Especially after Nikis had barged into one of their 'sealed' meetings to exercise his own peculiar brand of diplomacy. "Why me?" The Elder asked quietly. "I am just a probationary Elder."

"You were called to run this colony when Mavri was incapacitated." Elenia said quietly. "He recovered so you were not needed. You are at loose ends with no job. We need an unbiased opinion. We screwed up and we want to make it right." Raven jerked a little at that and Elenia nodded. "But not here. Not now. We... don't have a lot of time."

"Sister..." Raven did not speak Elenia's name. "I am biased. I saw what happened." Elenia stiffened and Raven nodded. "Recordings only. But..." She sighed. "Orders may be interpreted or questioned. We are Tenno, not robots. I am not perfect, I might have been swayed by the madman's lies as well."

"I know." Elenia said quietly. "You are what we have. You are available and you are as close to unbiased as anyone who might listen to us."

"I agree that the whole episode was shameful." Raven said with a sigh. "I... can agree to listen. No more."

"That is all I -we- ask." Elenia said quietly. She jerked as the door hissed open. "No!" She screamed as a Trinity warframe stepped in, an oddly shaped device in her hand. "Don't!" A golden haze surrounded her and then Alicia fired her device. Elenia screamed and vanished. Raven snarled.

"What have you done?" The Elder demanded.

"What I had to." Alicia said calmly as she lowered the device. "She is a threat."

"We were talking!" Raven snapped. "Where did you send her?" Alicia just looked at her older sister and Raven shook her head. "I can and will go and get her to order you to tell me. You know I will." Raven was not a Warrior, but at the moment, it didn't matter. The threat was no joke.

"Orders were clear." Alicia said softly. "She is in no danger. We... hurt her enough. Before."

"Where?" Raven snapped, moving towards the door.

"Where do you think?" Raven froze at the words and Alicia nodded. "We need to end the rift. Whatever it takes. They may be our best weapon against Horus."

Elsewhere

Alone.

She was alone. It... wasn't supposed to be like this. Elenia beat at the walls that surrounded her. The golden walls. They were soft. Padded? But they would not give.

Alone.

For most of her life, she had been in a group. She had company in her mind. It had been... odd at first but she had adapted quickly and come to rely on the others in their small group. Healer's bottomless compassion. Lars' strength of will. Helga's spontaneous cheerfulness even when things looked worst. But now... She was alone.

The golden walls faded and she was falling. She heard someone crying. It sounded like her voice. Other voices babbled.

"Oh my god!" A female voice sounded as Elenia hit the floor and curled into a ball. "Caretaker? Elenia? What happened?" Gentle hands were touching her now, easing her, trying to calm her. But she could not respond.

Elenia! Jasmina's voice screamed in her mind. No! Stay! Don't you dare fade on me! We need you!

Fire... Heart... Elenia managed to croak out in her mind. I...

I will kill them! Jasmina screamed, her rage flying free. I will kill them all!

No. Elenia begged. You are better than me, Jasmina... Don't... Don't give in... to your hate...

"Easy." A familiar voice sounded close at hand and warmth spread from her neck to suffuse every pore of Elenia's body."The transit jarred your communication with your charges, Caretaker. It will recover."

Hands were easing her now as lethargy seeped through her following the fire that had sparked her. She could feel the others on the mind mass again as darkness pulled her into welcoming arms. She was... dying.

"You... I..." Elenia stared up at... The Empress of Orokin. "You... idiots..." Then she fell still.

"You motherfucking idiots!" Nikis was in rare form as he stalked into the hall. "Have you all completely lost your fucking minds?" He utterly ignored the Space Marine and Sister of Battle who covered him with their bolters. "Get away from her!" No one else dared even breathe hard as the furious Nekros stormed up to where Elenia lay.

"Nikis... I..." Eliza recoiled as the Nekros bent down to touch the still Mag. What happened next... boggled the mind.

"Mind of Light..." Nikis said gently. "Stay. You are needed. She is angry. Very angry. You are needed, little one."

Nikis... A tiny voice spoke from nowhere. Elenia. It hurts...

"I know, honey." Nikis said quietly as energy flared around his hand and poured slowly over the still Mag Prime. "But you feel them now. Jasmina is going nuts."

She is a good person. The love in the tiny voice was easy to hear. Nikis... I... I am dying aren't I?

"Yes." Nikis said slowly. "They didn't know, Elenia. They didn't know how closely tied you were to your charges." A gasp swept the room, horrified. "Let me try..." More energy swept over the fallen Mag.

Not your fault, Nikis. The other replied. Don't... Don't... do anything rash. I love you Nikis, don't... Don't lose yourself now. Let me go. Help Jamina and Lisa. They will need you. Soul Guardian. I... go into the darkness... unafraid. You are there to ward me...

"I... Elenia..." The Nekros shook his head. "Mind of Light, please." There was no response. A soft growl came from the Nekros as the Mag warframe... was still. The lights under its skin... went out. He bowed his head and a rush of orange energy flew from her warframe into his gauntlet.

"Nikis, we can..." Eliza started to speak and froze as Jane Talona screamed.

"NOBODY MOVE!" The Mesa... had her hands well out from her sides where her pistols sat. Then again... she was a gunfighter too. She knew how utterly outclassed she was. The Nekros rose, his own hands on his pistols. "Nikis... please... it wasn't her fault. Ours if anyone's... Nikis please!"

"You killed her." Nikis said softly. "Taking her from the mind mass after so long killed her. There was nothing I could do." When he looked at Eliza, the Empress shrank from his gaze. "I am going to say this only the once. Lisa is sacrosanct. Touch her and Horus won't have to do a thing. I will throw your haven into the Sun with every living soul still inside. Men, women, children, Tenno. No one will survive. Do I make myself clear?" He asked, his voice calm but not.

"Nikis, we may be able to save her." Eliza begged.

"Like you just did?" Nikis snapped. "Begging your pardon, you motherfucking bitch, but I have something far more important to do now than listen to your prattle. I have to go help Jasmina cope with losing the only solid thing she had in her life."

"Nikis, please!" Eliza begged. "We can bring her back! But we need her energy!"

"So you can play with her?" Nikis snapped. "No." He started for the door. The red armored Space Marine blocked it and Nikis shook his head. "Move, moron. Now."

"You are not thinking clearly." Abrahaim said firmly. "We erred. If we can help, we must." Nikis... paused.

"What do you mean?" The Nekros demanded.

"I was Grineer." The Space Marine said quietly. "Now I am not. You could not save her. That is a tragedy for we need her and her people against Horus. I do not know why you do distrust the Empress, but I can understand betrayals. We..." He nodded to Tiana, Two, Abigail and Jane Talona who stood frozen. "...would aid if we can. To end the threat Horus represents. To prove we mean what we say."

"How?" Nikis demanded. "She is dead."

"Is she?" The Space Marine asked quietly. "Then what resides inside your armor?"

"I..." For the first time in a long, long time, Nikis was stunned speechless. "You would do that? For her?" Instead of the Space Marine, Eliza answered.

"Yes."