"And so the time for further recordings is over. The path ahead is clear. Actions will determine our outcome. Theirs, and mine.
I go now to meet them. I must admit that I am, to a certain degree, nervous.
Long have I pictured this moment. Of bonds renewed. Of an order restored.
And reunions."
- Vitruvian 2:1
The Dax led them up the ramp and through a golden corridor threaded with loops of flowing silver.
The threshold ahead was dark. The Tenno stepped into the gloom together.
Into the past.
It was as it had always been. The far wall was a giant banner of the House Eternal; bronze and splendid, set into the walls; in stark bas-relief.
The throne room was dimly lit. Even in the gloom, its layout was all too familiar; etched in their collective memory. They could see the steps of the dais, the stonework lovingly wrought into the deck. Seamlessly integrated. It was if the House Eternal's reception hall had simply been transplanted into the heart of the ship itself. The resources required to reproduce such a scene were staggering. Shallow pools of water edged the chamber, underlit by lamps that cast dancing reflections against the ceiling. Brilliant orange coy jinked and flitted, inane mouths jawing endlessly.
A familiar voice called to them in the dark. In the clipped tones of the Orokin dialect. Precise and calm; tinged with a gravel that skirted the realm between rasp and growl. And yet still, familiar.
"What happened to those, who buried our Empire? Did we pursue them, put them to the sword? Enact swift and terrible justice, as the Seven demanded for countless generations?"
The four Tenno of The House Eternal stepped forward. The Dax filed in two separate directions, taking assigned positions along the edge of the chamber, moving as one.
The voice continued, rich and melodious.
"No. We let them sleep. Watched as our civilisation became ruin, as our people starved and our borders crumbled from within. We bade our time: for a moment when magnificence became memory; the truth of our power little more than a faded footnote of a history long forgotten."
The shadow arose from his throne, tall and imposing.
"Now that wait is ended. Now, we are ascendant."
The figure stepped forward, into the light.
Sohren stared down at them, a soft smile on his face.
"My Brothers and Sisters." Sohren bowed graciously. "I bid you welcome. My, but it has been some time."
It was Sohren but not as they remembered.
He was older. A man, fully grown; handsome and proud. His face was lined with laughter lines, his eyes pinched with a knowing humour. Long hair spilled back down to his shoulders in a golden mane, tied in a warrior's bun. He wore the armour of a Dax, adorned with that flowing cloak of pristine white. Twinned nikana adorned his left hip, an unusual pairing. Their hilts were studded with gemstones, that danced in the half-light.
Sohren regarded them, a wondrous smile frozen upon his face.
The Warframes looked at one another. As one, the Tenno materialised before their frames, stepping forward hesitantly. It was instinctual. Isolde and Kael, taken aback. Sara, her eyes saucers of wonder.
Only Doric stood back, arms folded. When Sara went to rush forward Doric stopped her, a forestalling hand clamping on her arm. The expression on his face was grave.
Sohren blinked twice, the smile faltering ever so slightly.
"Is something the matter, friends?" he asked.
"Everything is the matter." Doric retorted, as he released Sara's arm. "This is not the man you remember, Tenno. Not in the ways that count."
"Wise Doric, you wound me." Sohren descended the steps, as the lights in the chamber glowed brighter, responding to his every movement. "It is true that I have changed. Aged, certainly. I awoke many years ago. Decades, in fact. But I can assure you I am a Tenno, same as you. The same Tenno that trained with you, served with you. Bled with you."
Sohren stopped before Kael. A gauntleted hand swallowed Kael's shoulder. Kael stared at it, then at Sohren.
"Friend Kael. I still remember my fury, when they ambushed you above the planet's surface. Such loyalty. Know that such an order came from Septimus, and Septimus alone. He paid the price for his treachery."
Kael looked at Doric, entirely uncertain. His taller friend's face was pinched with a scowl.
Before Doric could speak, Isolde snarled and started forward. Criss-crossing halberds blocked her path with a resounding flash. The Dax had moved with lightning speed.
"Enough lies. You wear their armour. You command them." Isolde spat at Eythan Dax. "Those that enslaved us. Used us as a weapon!"
"A weapon that stopped the Sentient." Sohren replied levelly. "That saved us from certain destruction."
"So it's us now?" Doric questioned softly.
Sohren snorted in disbelief.
"I see. You think they got to me. That Septimus wears me, like some sorry puppet." Sohren's smile was rueful. "For all your wisdom, Friend Doric, you think so little of me. I'm just a swordsman to you, a dutiful soldier."
Doric looked at him with a grave sense of pity.
"Any wisdom I might possess is born of research, Septimus. We know all about the Orokin, and their wretched Continuity. What they did to Sohren. What they would have done to us all, in time." Doric shook his head. "No, I see your lies for what they are. The man who was our friend is dead."
Sohren looked at each of them in turn. The suspicion and grief etched upon their faces. He smiled, reassuringly.
"Far from it, Friend Doric. I am very much alive. For years I have waited for this moment, when the five of us might be together once more. You were right about me once. I was a mere soldier. A dutiful servant. Now I command the warriors of The Last Cadre, loyal and true."
The Dax thumbed the bottom of their halberds off the ground in dutiful response.
"To what end?" Doric asked, warily.
"Why to the only end that matters." Sohren blinked. "The restoration of the Empire."
An invisible storm cloud gathered in the air above the Tenno. An electric tension.
"I don't know if you noticed, Sohren, but that ship sailed centuries ago." Sara replied. "Little more than old ruins and the occasional broken sculpture."
"It is true that the Origin System is in a state of flux." Sohren granted, gesturing from his left to his right. "The Grineer armies on one side, the Corpus and their fleets on the other. But we are not helpless."
Sohren turned and waved a gauntleted hand.
A holographic display swirled to life above them. It showed the planet in exacting detail. The orbital defence grid, the various ships in traffic to and from the habitable portions of the planet. The Dominant Position, hovering in high orbit over Prospect 141. The isolated settlements and remote factories; the atmospheric facilities and lonely prison colonies where so many Solaris eked out a miserable existence deep beneath the planet's surface. The level of information was unprecedented.
"Tactical reports, fed live from the Board's most secure internal network."
Sohren waved his hand again.
The view spread out. A wider view of the Origin System now. Venus and Jupiter. Frozen Europa. The Corpus strongholds on Neptune. Trade routes and links throughout the Rail. Real time feeds on ship movements and currency exchanges. A tableau that could only be compiled by many lifetimes of research.
"How did you get this?" Doric breathed.
"I have been around a very long time, Friend Doric. As the Corpus grew and flourished, so too did my own network of spies and infiltrators. The Merchant Guilds rely on proxies so often that replacing them is easier than one might expect." Sohren's smile was ruthless. "Board membership has its privileges, I can assure you."
"So you're one of them now?" Sara asked, visibly sickened.
"Only when it suits me." Sohren replied. "And right now it suits me. Observe."
Sohren opened fist and the display exploded, showing the Origin System in its totality.
He swiped his hand in the air. Flashpoints and major conflict zones rippled a ruby red, spreading like a ravenous cancer. It was in constant state of flux.
"The System is in a deadlock. An impasse. The Corpus have the material, manpower and logistics necessary to sustain a successful campaign against the Grineer. To prosecute a war fully, and win; with the right direction and sustained commitment. They choose not to, of course, because the present conflict is measured, predictable. Profitable, above all else. The Grineer invade, and are repelled. The Corpus expand, and are in turn met by a corresponding counter-invasions in return. Each side lacking the strategic foresight, each side ably assisted in their inadequacy by the Tenno and their Lotus, a wild card who explores no agenda but her own."
Sohren shook his head, sadly.
"Equilibrium is kept, and the Board's credit balance continues to sky-rocket. Nothing changes."
Sohren clenched his fist. The busy display vanished in an instant.
"I would see this deadlock broken."
"How?" Doric asked.
"There is a vacuum in the System. An absence of leadership only we can fill. We alone have access to Orokin technology necessary to upset the balance. We can't act in the open, not directly. But the Corpus Navy is a powerful tool. My agents are everywhere, well positioned; waiting for the right signal, the right moment. We can turn the tide, marshal the Corpus' forces from within. A guiding force. An invisible hand."
"You're right. You're so much more than a soldier." Doric shook his head. "You're a mad man. And an arrogant fool, to think you can control the Corpus."
Sohren's eyes blazed at that.
"The only fools I see are the ones standing before me! What must it take for you to see sense, Tenno? What more can I say?!"
Finally Kael spoke.
"There's nothing you can say." The Tenno's voice was low as he studied the floor, despondent. "I knew Sohren. How he thought, how he fought. He led us; not because he was ambitious, or for any dreams of conquest or glory. But because he was the best. Not for him, these lofty speeches and grandiose displays."
Kael looked up, meeting Sohren's gaze openly.
"He would never call us fools, as you do now."
Sohren's expression became granite.
"Nothing has changed, Brother. It is me, your sword-brother. Your friend."
Kael drew the blade from Volt's sheath. Sohren's ancient sword scraped free. The Dax's sheathes shivered as they drew steel as one.
Kael ignored them. He held the nikana levelled at Sohren, heedless of the dozen swords and spear tips pointed at him.
"Prove it."
Parson-Luk grunted as he lugged the rotary cannon into the back of the now open-top limousine. Brakarr gleefully took it in his hands, balancing it over the back as he settled into a position that allowed him sweep it left to right at his leisure.
Comfort and destruction. Two of his favourite things.
The Ostron had seen the cataclysmic beam of light that wiped the Forward Transaction from existence. Had witnessed the Severance's fitful landing, and tracked the Tenno as they were marched into the belly of the Orokin vessel.
They had two options, as he saw it.
They could sit here and wait for the Corpus Navy to find them, eventually.
Or they could do what they did best. Stir up some real trouble.
He settled into the driver's seat. Settled a pair of dust goggles over his eyes. He keyed the ignition sequence.
The Ostron grinned tightly as the engine growled to life.
Decision made.
The silence on the bridge was deafening. Moans of pain filled the air. The crew tended to each other as best they could, but supplies were exhausted.
Telin and Kelpo stood by the observation window. A great crack was riven through it. The ship was held together by rigging tape at this point.
"So what's the plan?" Kelpo asked.
"You're asking me? Still?"
"Well you've gotten us this far."
Telin studied the Orokin ship through his binoculars.
"That wasn't planning. That was more…" Telin hunted for the word, "…improvisation."
"Well then let's improvise some more."
Telin sighed, lowering the binoculars. His morose eyes never left the Orokin ship.
"We can't take that monster in the air. Not a hope."
"Then we take it on the ground."
That was Stren. His head was bandaged, his face a swollen cross-hatch of indented skin where he had lain face down on the checker plate of the deck.
"You're awake." Kelpo observed.
"Also crazy." Telin added.
"No Captain, I'm upset. Far more dangerous."
The stocky weapons engineer scratched at his jowls as he peered through his eye-scope.
"There's only six guards outside." The older man mused.
"Six monsters." Kelpo countered. "Look at them. Their thighs are as wide as my torso."
"They don't look armed."
"Those giant spear things aren't weapons?"
"Guns lad. I mean guns."
"You saw what their ship did to the Forward. No way in hell they don't have guns. We'll be cut to pieces before we cross the gap."
Telin tutted in mock-surprise.
"Kelpo Marr, afraid of a fight?"
"Never. I'm just saying we're scavengers, not career soldiers."
"No, you're right. We're not soldiers. Not scavengers, either. Not anymore." Telin's smile spread to a wolfish grin. "Pirates."
Sohren held up a hand, calming his honour guard.
"Stay your hands." He ordered sternly, "The Tenno are not to be harmed."
The Dax lowered their blades, hesitantly. Sohren looked at Kael, intently.
"What did I say to you, when we last met?"
Kael didn't reply. The nikana never wavered. Sohren answered for him, as he stepped up toward the blade, never once breaking eye contact.
"You have command of the Cell." Sohren said, "Until I return."
Sohren smiled slightly. His nose was mere inches from the nikana. Still he did not blink as he spoke.
"I said those words then. I meant them. Yet I would ask you to hold onto that sword just a little longer."
Kael blinked. Finally he lowered the sword, entirely uncertain.
"Why?"
"Because I need you at my side, Kael. My most loyal friend, my most trusted lieutenant. There is much work to be done. My place is here, at the head of The House Eternal. I need you in the field. Will you help me, one last time?"
"More Orokin tricks, Kael." Doric warned. "This man is Septimus! Don't listen to his lies!"
"Are they lies when I say that the system lies in ruin? That the people cry out for something more than abject squalor? The Rail is broken, the Grineer maraud freely, setting upon the scattered colonies like wild dogs. You've seen the privations inflicted by the Corpus and their pitiless rule. Is that acceptable to you?"
"How is it any different to the Orokin?" Sara asked. She stepped around the Dax that surrounded Kael, padding softly to the base of the steps, looking up at the throne.
"We fought and killed, again and again. So they could rule in their golden houses on their golden thrones. Choosing who lived, and who died, and when." Sara's eyes could melt armour plating as she fixed Sohren with a glare. "A tyrant is a tyrant, I don't care how shiny they are."
Sara looked at Kael, surrounded on all sides by Sohren's bodyguards. She smiled at him, despite the tension.
"You've only been awake a short time. You haven't seen all that's out there. The good that's been done. It's not all squalor. The other Tenno, they're out there, making a difference. It's slow. It's painful, but we're building something, together. Something better."
"The Relays. The Solaris. Those scavengers who found you. We can help them." Doric added, "But on our terms. Not his."
Sohren scowled.
"You forget yourselves, Tenno." The frustration in his voice was clear. "We have a sworn duty; an oath to The House Eternal. Our place is here!"
"Yours, perhaps." Isolde took a step back toward her Warframe. "Me? Frankly I'm long past fighting for anyone but myself. I only know that nothing good comes from this House, its symbols and its pomp. So the Orokin are no more. Good. The galaxy is better for it."
Isolde glanced at Doric, Kael and Sara.
"I don't know about you, but I've a job to finish. A promise to keep."
"And what promise is that, exactly?" Sohren asked.
"The simple kind." Isolde spared a glare at Eythan Dax, a slow smile spreading on her face. "A bit of old fashioned vengeance."
"I've seen your handiwork." Sohren scoffed. "Revenge? You've already had it."
Isolde scowled.
"Not even close."
She vanished in a burst of light. Mesa sprang to life. The Regulators whipped into her hands. Clicked as they locked squarely onto Eythan Dax's head.
Sohren sighed and waved a hand.
Mesa locked in place, frozen in place by a beam of light. Quivering with impotent fury.
The Cell looked up. The vaulted ceiling contained all manner of hidden projectors. Similar beams of light encased the other Frames. They shuddered in place, becoming twisted statues locked in rictus poses like some twisted museum.
The Cell came to the same realisation at once.
Here, in the heart of the Orokin ship, their Warframes were useless.
Sohren chuckled in pity.
"Warframe Technology. Orokin Technology. There is no difference." Sohren tutted, as he ascended the steps, turning to address them all.
"Make no mistake, Tenno: this is The House Eternal."
Sohren squeezed his fist.
Mesa fell to her knees shuddering in silent agony.
Sohren's expression was stone, his voice matter-of-fact.
"You will honour your vows, or die as oathbreakers."