Meanwhile, down on the planet, Oberon and Valkyr were swinging wildly at the four newcomers. Ruby, the young girl dressed in red, used her sniper-scythe to shoot at the two Tenno while Yang, Weiss, and Blake pummeled them up close.
Damn Humans! How are they moving so quickly! Oberon couldn't keep up. When he blocked a stab from Blake's sword, he was struck in the face by Yang's armored hand. When he deflected a bullet from Ruby's rifle, Weiss struck him with an ice spell.
Enough of this. He threw his arm out, and all four of the young warriors stopped in their tracks, floating in the air.
"Whoa, what?" Yang said.
"What's happening?" Ruby exclaimed. Oberon threw his hand down, and all four of them slammed into the ground, hard. They were all stunned for a moment, lying in the dirt. More Lisets appeared in the sky, dropping more Tenno. Excalibur noted Nezha, Atlas, Equinox, Chroma, Mesa, Limbo, Mirage, Hydroid, Zephyr, Nekros, Nova, Vauban, Banshee, Saryn, and Frost.
Where are all of the old Tenno? They should be here by now… hopeless… it's all hopeless… His vision began to fade. As darkness blotted out the corners of his vision, he saw more Humans appear. He didn't know their names, but he saw their weapons. A minigun, a massive pink hammer, a golden spear and shield, a… camera? Before he could see more, his vision faded, and he was no longer conscious.
"By now, Progenitor, the Tenno have most likely killed Excalibur and taken over the city. Why do you waste my time?" The Lotus shot out another beam, and the Stalker rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the deadly energy. He clutched his chest.
That last hit nearly destroyed my Warframe. I cannot risk being hit again. He raised his head towards the Lotus.
"Because the Tenno deserve to know the truth!" He shot an arrow towards the Lotus, but she vaporized the projectile as soon as it left his bow.
"They don't need to know, Progenitor. In fact, they all seem fairly content with their service, besides Excalibur, of course."
"The old Tenno have their doubts," The Stalker said.
"Oh yes, the old ones. Yes, I know. They weren't smart enough to disable the Ordis in their Lisets, unlike Excalibur. So I commanded their ships to lock down, preventing them from escaping and locking the Tenno inside." The Stalker felt as if he was hit by a baton.
If the Tenno couldn't make it to the planet, then Excalibur would surely die, but maybe he garnered some favor with the Humans. They would surely fight long enough for Excalibur to get away. I have to warn him. He tried to teleport out to his ship, to focus his energy, but nothing happened.
What? How? He thought. The Lotus laughed.
"Are you trying to escape? Don't worry, your powers do not work in here, Stalker." He sighed. He knew he couldn't defeat the Lotus head on, but maybe he could distract her long enough… He dropped his bow, and brought out his dark scythe.
Well, time to do something selfless for once in my life. Excalibur, I hope you kill her when this is all over. He shouted one last time, and charged full speed towards the Lotus.
Excalibur jolted awake, feeling the ground shake beneath his warframe. He was being dragged away by someone. He turned his head to look at his savior.
"Loki?" Excalibur said.
"You're fine, Excalibur, don't worry. Your warframe sealed itself up while you were unconscious." Excalibur looked around. He was in the middle of the street, the sounds of battle a couple of blocks away.
"I have to get back there," Excalibur said.
"You can't. The old Tenno are nowhere to be found, and the warriors here can only hold them off for so long. You must hide away, Excalibur."
"The Lotus ordered a cleanse of this planet, which means that they will wipe out every single living thing on this planet. I have no choice but to fight, Loki." Loki shook his head.
"Fine. We will stand together this one last time."
The Stalker ducked, rolled, and dodged the Lotus's energy beams, trying to find some kind of chink in her armor.
"Give up, Progenitor. You will find no weakness within me." She followed up with another energy blast, which barely singed his warframe. He grabbed his arm, feeling blood leaking from the wound.
Those blasts are far too powerful for me to fight directly, and I can only run for so long. He remembered a new power he had recently acquired, thanks to Nyx. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.
Let's see how strong these walls really are, Lotus. He threw down a smoke bomb, turning invisible for the moment.
"You say you care for the Tenno, Lotus, but now I know that you lie to yourself." She paused, listening.
"You never cared for the Tenno. You made them your mere slaves, Lotus. You stripped them of their emotions, mutilated them, lied to them, and you have the nerve to tell me that you actually care for them as your children? What a disgraceful mother." He appeared in front of the Lotus, unarmed.
"So do it then, kill me." The Lotus's hands glowed a furious red instead of their usual blue.
"Gladly." Streams of red energy swirled around her arms as she prepared to wipe the Stalker out of existence. The streams of red spun faster and faster around her, and then she let loose a devastating beam of energy powerful enough to cut an entire ship in two. For the Stalker, it was his weapon as well.
I suppose it's now or never, the Stalker thought. He exhaled, and formed a swirling, black energy bubble around himself. The Lotus's devastating beam struck the bubble, and the entire mothership shook to its very foundation. The Stalker could feel the pure energy washing over him, covering him, and most of all, absorbed into the bubble itself.
So much power… can't contain it all… the Stalker willed himself on, as he could feel the energy eating away at his warframe, ripping apart the suit bit by bit. Finally, when the power spike reached its climax, the Stalker released the bubble, and suddenly, everything; the walls, the Lotus, the ship, it all blew away, scattered about in space. For a moment, he felt completely at peace. The Tenno, the Lotus, they were no more in his mind. He knew he was exposed to the vacuum, he knew he would not survive this, but at the moment, he was… okay with it. But just as he was about to drift away forever, he saw the Lisets, six of them. The old ones.
Stand together, Tenno. Maybe someday, you will rebuild the order.
The Stalker sighed, and drifted off into a deep, everlasting sleep.