"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I know myself, and I know the true nature of the Lotus – hence I need not fear the results of a hundred battles. Not that it will take that many, I intend to make one decisive strike to liberate my brethren.

Loose Ends

The other voice in my head has taught me meditation, in the hope our combined focus will bring back the memories of my 'past life'. I am certain I had a life before I was Tenno, my other personality is certain I didn't. I kneel in the sieza position, as I have for hours, as my brain scours what is left of my memory. Which isn't much... Cyronesia is apparently to blame. The gilded cocoon in which I awoke had kept me asleep for centuries, unfortunately it had also shredded chunks of my memory.

So, how did you know that those soldiers were Grineer? If you are me, and the last thing I remember was being imprisoned...

Well, the last thing I remember was getting into the cryopod... I have no memories of being arrested, imprisoned or punished. Unlike you.

Are you sure we are the same person?

Yes! We both control the same body. Additionally, when you focus I see your memories. So they are likely shared.

You do?

Yep, when you focused a minute ago, I figured out what that 'commandment' you broke was.

Oh? Do tell.

You referred to it as 'the 11th commandment' "Do not get caught, ever."

Yea... I agree ruefully. That sounds like something I'd go with. So... now that our life is no longer in danger... do you remember when you promised to teach me to teleport?

I did not promise. Nor am I sure I'd trust you with that information! Can you imagine the havoc you'd cause?

Is it even possible? Or were you just trying to get me moving?

Well... it is possible. But you need to be channelling your power through certain conduits, and there are conditions...

Do I want to know? And what 'conduits' are you talking about?

A warframe is a conduit for our power. A Loki or Ash warframe will allow you to teleport. But neither is exactly easy to come by... and both are very much stealth frames... we want heavy warframes, we want the enemy to notice us – so we can see the fear on their faces before they die!

You really disturb me sometimes...

Come on, a heavily armoured warframe has a lot of advantages as well... Aside from the whole terrified faces deal.

Like what?

Well, they're heavily armoured – obviously – so they can take a lot more hits before you get hurt. Then they can also go solo on missions, so you can avoid socialising.

I can't speak! How on Earth would I socialise?

"Operator, we are still orbiting Mercury. We are nowhere near Earth."

Shut up Ordis!

You do realise all other Tenno can communicate telepathically, don't you?

So there are other Tenno?

There were when we entered the cryopod... whether there are any left alive and awake is a different question... I don't remember where the rest of our fire-team slept, but those three must be around somewhere...

Any suggestions for finding them?

Just follow the screams, explosions and chaos. If it isn't them, it'll be someone equally awesome... or infested.

Infested? What are infested?

They were a virus, an Orokin super weapon. They were released to counter our enemy... But last I hear they were contained... shame, they always made everything more gory.

A virus? Like a bioweapon? Like anthrax or something? And do I even want to ask how they made everything 'more gory'?

No, no. The virus enters the body of the victim and then it circulates throughout the entire body via the bloodstream. From there it adds new DNA to the existing cells, and has them reproduce. It them messes with the assorted hormone glands and so the body begins to grow at a rapid pace, usually infested just get swellings and stuff. Sometimes these contain volatile gas, and they explode! But sometimes, they just get extra eyes on the tumours. However, the virus can form around armour and equipment. I once saw a marine, who's faceplate had grown into his face because of the disease. Looked cool, I wonder what it'd do to the modern Grineer armour... And I'm pretty sure it can occur with larger things, I remember seeing another guy, who fell asleep against a wall after infection. He literally grew into the wall, and we didn't notice him at first because he couldn't detach himself. Scared the willies out of us that hadn't seen such before. And...

No, stop! I don't want to know any more. And that mental image you just sent me has made me want to puke... They are definitely sealed away now, aren't they?

Yup. If they weren't, the whole system would be overrun. The grineer died in droves whenever it got loose, and we saw live un-infested Grineer earlier today. So it can't be loose...shame...

So... How dangerous was the virus? Do you remember?

Well, it generally wiped out a colony or facility before anyone could react. But once the proper authorities were informed, they sent us Tenno in. And I remember hearing of one brother falling to a particularly nasty infested thing, Lephanta-something, but for the most part the fighting is very one sided. WE almost always win, The only exception I recall was the Lephantis. An experimental weapon form made by the Orokin empire, bloody huge one from what I recall. Unfortunately, they forgot to put in a control mechanism and it went rampant.

They FORGOT to put a control mechanism into this giant Lephanti-thingy?!

No. It just obviously didn't work.

And there's definitely no infested around? None at all?

Nope. Why, you wanna meet them?

NO!

Once Awake

"Tenno, we have a problem!" The Lotus' Voice rang sharply through my mind, I still wasn't sure how she could do that...

"How may I serve?" I reply, formally, through the now open mental channel.

"We have intercepted Grineer communications that suggest they are experimenting with some sort of bio weapon, you must investigate."

"Do I have a target?"

"Yes, a man by the name of Dr. Tengus in the M Prime sector of Mercury" The Lotus cut the channel and all was silent.

Ordis, set a course for Mercury

"Right away operator"

ETA?

"7 minutes"

"What. On Ea- On Mercury. Is. That?!" I ask incredulously looking down at the fleshy gunk I have just landed in. It is a sort of grey with luminous red bits and it appears to be stretched over the floor...

My thoughts are disrupted by the manic cackling of my other conscious!

"What?" I snap at him, inside our head "What is it now?"

Well, guess who's having nightmares for a week?

"What?"

Duck

I do instinctively and slash upwards with my one of my new 'Ether swords', which are phenomenally sharp. Sure enough a splash of blood lands on me, but the blood... it is... different, thicker more viscous than any blood I knew. And then I look to see what I killed...

"Is that...?"

Yup, infested. Someone has set them loose. Bloody Grineer, always breaking things...

"Is it possible for me to throw up inside my helmet? Because I'm feeling really light headed right now..."

No, don't even try. Also, keep moving, there are likely more where that came from... hopefully.

"Hopefully?!"

Yup, infested are great. Only enemy that you can go all out on using only melee weapons. And melee weapons means more guts and screaming. From them of course.

"You worry me sometimes... Which is worrying bearing in mind that you're me... so, I worry myself sometimes?"

Relax, we're all crazy in here.

"Please tell me that the infestation can be cleaned out and exterminated, because I never want to see another one. And there's probably a whole base full of them in here from what you've told me about them..."

Yea... They can be completely exterminated. But all it takes is for a single spore to be carried out on one of the clean up crew and the whole thing starts again. Best bet is fire and disposable drones. I wonder, is there a sentinel with a flamethrower?

"NO! I don't trust you with my sanity, let alone a flamethrower!"

I pause, then leap up and balance myself on a bit of stringy flesh as two Grineer approach.

"The scans show a Tenno, he should be around here somewhere..." The first speaker is female, but has the most gravelly voice I have ever heard on a woman. She seems nervous, not very stereotypical for a Grineer...

"Wait" The second soldier, a heavily armoured one commands, before listening to the comm unit in his helmet.

"Dr. Tengus orders, the infested specimens are loose. They take priority, leave the Tenno. It probably doesn't have any idea what it's just put it's foot in."

Nope, we know. It was infested gunk. I'm just glad he hasn't looked down, the footprints are still in the fleshy surface. We landed hard.

Fortunately, the infested charger that had leapt at us has dissolved or something. So there's no trace of it.

"Tenno, did he say 'The infested are loose?" The Lotus' voice sounds a bit higher pitched than usual.

Affirmative

"Then it is more important than ever that you finish your mission. Leave no survivors."

With that the channel closes.

"Does she watch me all the time or something? And isn't that a bit creepy?"

Yes, she does. No-one knows how.

I slash at a pair of chargers that go for my head, and then slash dash through a couple of volatile runners. Fortunately, they don't explode. Apparently they do if you shoot them. I do not want to see that happen...

I sprint towards the third data vault as a large, sinuous infested with tentacles instead of a face steps out and backhands me. From several meters away! The extending tentacle catches me completely off guard and throws me off my feet, then my HUD is flickering and I feel strangely empty.

"What the heck?"

That's an ancient disruptor. It has disrupted you, its what they do. The strange feeling is your body reacting to having absolutely no void energy, it will recover.

"What about my HUD?"

Your HUD has been hit by a magnetic effect. Magnets and computers don't mix! See it's already gone, now kill it. Tentacles and legs are its weak spots.

I step forward, slashing precisely at its legs and what is left of the poor man's face. The 'ancient' howls in pain and then collapses, with a certain finality that tells me it is definitely dead. To confirm my suspicions it glows a sort of orange, and then deteriorates before my eyes! In seconds, nothing is left except a few wisps of infested spores wafting in the air... Time to move, the strange feeling of emptiness is fading fast now, but my energy bar isn't filling up. Whatever that was, I do not want to be hit by one of these things again...

The third data vault yields its information after only a few seconds of my other conscious beating the keys of the terminal. He's getting much better at hacking, he hasn't set off a single alarm, although that may be because these data vaults don't have any alarms to set off...

"It is worse than I thought." The Lotus' sudden appearances in my mind are a bit perturbing, but there's no way anyone else can hope to track them, so for now they will have to do...

"There is a ship headed for a colony, it has infested aboard. You will need to exterminate everything on it. Then we can re-route it into the sun. Cephalon Cordylon and I are still trying to decode Dr. Tengus' Messages. We will be in contact."

I stare into space for a moment in shock. A ship. Filled with infested. Heading for a colony of innocent people who have no defence and no warning... Sheesh, I'm not exactly prone to acts of compassion, but the Lotus is right: That ship cannot be allowed to reach the colony.

"Ordis, we're going straight to that ship, as soon as I reach extraction"

"Certainly Operator" comes Ordis' reply in that equally annoyingly cheerful tone. At least he isn't glitching any more. I need to see about getting his audio output modified, if that's possible...

As I round the last corner I see the extraction point; a set of one-man airlocks along a wall. I also see several Grineer survivors who have formed a shield wall of sorts in a choke-point and are firing into the mass of infested that are swarming on the other side of it. The veritable sea of flesh is writing with waves of blood. Every time an infested dies, it's kin try to use its body to climb up over the shields, but the bodies disintegrate so quickly that all it results in is more chaos and turmoil. I see a figure on the other side of the shield wall, he is commanding the soldiers. He orders two heavy gunners up onto crates so that they can fire over the shield wall, and he has them targeting the volatile runners, stopping them before they can get close enough to be a threat.

"That must be Dr. Tengus..."

Indeed. How accurate do you think you can be while running?

"While running?"

Look behind us

I look, and see several ancients – literally about seven of them insofar as I can tell through the mass of other infested that are pouring into the corridor with them through the air vents – and all of them are heading for me. I can't tell if they're looking at me, because I can't see any eyes on their bodies. Not that I want to, looking into the eyes of a frightened human is one thing (not a disagreeable thing either, I'm nowhere near as sadistic as my other consciousness, but there is a certain feeling of superiority when another fears you so openly), looking into the eyes of a frightened being that used to be human – and is still conscious - as his new form moves without his permission carrying it's unwilling passenger to feed on what may once have been his friends and family... That is just too much. This infestation must be eradicated! This is too harsh a fate even for Grineer...

Regardless, I run. As I approach the shield wall, I leap onto a wall and open fire as I run along it. Tengus' limp body hits the floor with a satisfying thud, a thud heard clearly in the sudden silence. The infested are no longer fighting. The Grineer have stopped firing. Both factions stare at me as I fly past them... and then both factions break ranks and - pouring over each other as they do - run in pursuit of me! That is when I hear it:

Come, Tenno. Join us. You will make us whole again. We need you, we need to consume you! Assimilate!

I quickly block out the infested and their insanity. I have no intention of being consumed, regardless of who it will 'make whole again'... Urgh

I slide into the correct airlock, and as the Liset detaches, I watch as infested and Grineer fly out of the airlock – having been literally sucked out by the sudden decompression – and explode. The lightly armoured Grineer, who's armour isn't vacuum proofed literally have their insides sucked out of their mouths by the vacuum of space. The heavier Grineer are spinning helplessly. Zero-G combat is not something the Grineer really expected to have to use. So it wasn't included in the standard training. The infested... They are only flesh, but they are holding together really well... A few colourful intestine soaked external implosions nearby make me reconsider that statement. My other conscious is crying in happiness, as we watch the last few infested – no longer able to hold their breath against the incredible force of the vacuum – implode in a spectacularly grotesque fashion.

"You're fucking mental!" I growl at the other inside my head. He responds by switching to maniacal laughter. Maniacal laughter that carries on in my head as we reach the plague ship... and continues as I slice and shoot and rip my way through hundreds of the abominations once aboard. His laughter continues even as I step into the airlock, satisfied that nothing on this ship has enough parts left to reroute the ship – away from it's heading of fiery doom. I don't care. The sooner the infestation is wiped out completely from this universe... The sooner I can sleep peacefully.

The faces of the runners I had seen had been terrified – the ones that could still speak had begged me to end them – even as they clawed at my throat! I was glad that most of them had been wearing those boxy helmets. The few that hadn't been would probably give a lesser man severe mental scarring... Come to think of it, I should check if I hadn't received any mental scars from those two missions... But at least the colonists were safe. And the infested threat was stopped... for now.

"Tenno. The threat is not gone. While you were busy, the infested succeeded in getting onto three other ships. They are all headed for the colony" The Lotus did not sound happy. Not because I had done anything wrong, but simply because the problem was rapidly getting too big for one Tenno to handle. Killing machines we may be, but even the best killing machine can only be in one place at one time. And if there were three ships?

"What?! I thought I destroyed all of them at Dr. Tengus' facility..."

"You did. But the spores can spread through the vacuum. When you tore them out of the airlock they sprayed the spores in every direction. We're going to have to do something I had hoped we wouldn't..."

Nukes? I love nukes! All the fire and the screams, the destruction...

SHUT UP! Your Maniacal cackling has been nothing but a hindrance for the past hour!

Aww... But you have to admit. The look on those infested's faces when we sucked them out the airlock was priceless. 10/10 would do again. And again. And again...

My other consciousness is almost childlike in his feigned disappointment. We both know that actually, he would much rather eradicate a colony using a blunt knife than a nuke. Simply because it would be more gory and more terrifying, for them. Oh, and then he'd probably hunt the few survivors for days – enjoying every moment of their fear and grief... But I'm getting distracted.

"Lotus. Would a nuke even work? Would the radiation be enough to destroy the spores?"

"No. We need to use something a little bigger. But I'm afraid It will also kill the colonists..."

"Is there any other alternative?" I ask hesitantly.

"No. It will likely hurt you too... It won't be pleasant." The Lotus is apprehensive. I can tell she doesn't like the idea of putting me through unnecessary pain.

"I don't care. The infestation has to be stopped!"

"Very well. Are you familiar with the concept of a 'cascade bomb'?"

"Never heard of it"

"It charges up and then releases a pulse of void energy. It will destroy all organic matter within a large radius. It will take out all three ships. The colony, and potentially half a fleet of Grineer galleons or so. Unfortunately it is very vulnerable when charging up. You will need to protect it"

"But, if it destroys all organic matter... won't it kill me?"

"It won't kill you, or anything else that is capable of channelling raw void energy. It will however, hurt. A lot. You may be rendered unconscious for quite some time, but your warframe will dissipate the excess void energy relatively quickly."

"OK. What do you need me to do?" A few hours of self induced sleep – painful sleep but sleep nonetheless – seems like a very small price to pay for the extermination of the infestation.

As I cut down the last remnants of the infested's suicidal charge towards the bomb, I ask myself for the millionth time if this is really a good idea. The I answer my own question for the millionth time: If it rids the system of the infestation, it is worth it. No matter the cost. The bomb is nearly charged. I can tell without looking at the timer, because the bomb is positively glowing now. Not in a 'warm and fuzzy' way, more of an 'impending doom' kinda way.

The Lotus is busy trying to divert as much traffic away from the sector. The bomb has a specific radius, but the energy will be amplified by any organic matter it destroys. Meaning, if things go really badly, a chain reaction along a crowded shipping lane could well claim the lives of millions more. Some would be Corpus, or other criminals and cultists - but most would be innocent traders.

The I feel her presence. "Are you ready Tenno?"

"Yes. Do it" I say, determination steeling my voice. I look around the large cavern I am in, and watch, barely surprised, as the infested mass in the shadows in preparation for yet another suicidal charge. They don't seem to learn much...

And then my world goes red. White hot agony arcs through my body, and I try to scream. I fail. The helmet of my warframe doesn't allow jaw movement. But I scream in my mind. Then I recoil in horror as I hear a matching scream coming from my other consciousness, and the throats of every living thing within 700,000 kilometers of the bomb. How?! Only Tenno and infested can access the telepathic channels, yet I can clearly hear the screams of over a million colonists as their cells are torn to pieces by the raw energy the bomb is emitting! I can hear Grineer, roaring in agony. I can hear the infested's screeches and screams of rage and pain. I can even hear the dying moans of some of the larger creatures that live on the terraformed surface of Mercury. Then as all the screams rise to a horrifying crescendo... I black out. Finally!

End of Part 3