Due to the Tenno's actions, on the orders of the Lotus, there can never be a normal peace. The Grineer hate the Tenno for killing their slaves – in Grineer society one of the most humiliating things is for a soldier to have to work. The Corpus hate the Tenno for killing their civilians, their medical personnel and their innocent technicians – all had families in the colonies. Even the Infested hate the Tenno, for destroying their hives. When a member of a hivemind dies, all members of the hive can feel their pain, their despair, and their sorrow at not being able to protect the weaker forms. The Lotus has made all the factions hate the Tenno. And the Tenno were the only faction with enough leverage and neutrality to broker a ceasefire. Not anymore. Now there can only be one kind of peace: The peace that comes after a war. One faction must prevail, it will cost millions of lives, but it must be done.

The Red Veil (Spectres of Liberty)

"Lotus?" I have tried to open a telepathic channel to the Lotus, but I'm not sure it will work…

"Yes Alpha, what is it?" Ah, it did work. Question time.

"When I spoke to you at the relay, you mentioned I was gone when the 'other Tenno operative', do you mean another literal Tenno? Or just someone who works for us?"

"I meant a Tenno, he is currently on a mission. Would you like to speak to him when he returns?"

"I'd like to request to speak to him. Will he be allowed to know about my… predicament?" I'm unsure of how to behave around another Tenno especially as I have no memory of being one… but I have no intention of letting Beta control my body. I have a lot of questions and I still don't trust him.

"He has agreed. He will come to Larunda Relay as soon as he finishes his mission."

"Thank you Lotus"

Shortly afterwards a second Liset pulls up and docks on the relay's hangar platform. There are many platforms but currently the entire relay is housing only two Liset… The scale of the place is astounding. The relay itself doesn't look so big from the outside, but then again, my Liset doesn't look as big on the outside as it does on the inside…

The airlock spins and a second Tenno steps out, he too wears a warframe, but I can't tell what kind it is.

That? That is a Rhino Warframe. One of my favourites. Very heavily armoured, and it has some very useful abilities…

Ah. Thanks. How do I address him?

Brother. You are equals under the Lotus.

Riiight…

"Greetings, Brother Alpha"

"Good afternoon Brother….?"

"Isaac, my name is Isaac."

"Then good afternoon Brother Isaac. I have some questions, and I was hoping you could answer some of them."

"I will answer to the best of my ability. But no promises" I'm not sure how he manages to convey the friendly laugh over telepathic channels, but he does it well.

We turn and walk to the kneeling pads by the relay window. I think I'm going to get along well with this guy. His mental voice is deep, but humorous and easy going.

"So, I am sure you have questions about being Tenno. Am I correct?"

"Amongst others, yes. I am just generally seeking all the information I can get. I have no memory of being Tenno and my other consciousness is not being very helpful…"

"Ah. You have a cognitive fissure do you not? I was briefed by the Lotus, but I was under fire at the time so I didn't catch all of what she said."

"I think that was what the doctor said. He didn't seem too sure, but let's assume I have. What do you know about it?"

"Very little. It is caused when a Tenno develops multiple personality disorder. In humans, only one personality can be active at a time – which is confusing enough. But since Tenno have a very different brain, any number of personalities can be active simultaneously. So with the correct training, and patience, the disorder can be theoretically turned into an advantage on the battlefield…"

"So my other consciousness is not actually me?"

"Unknown. As with all things psychological there is a 'most common' which is how the disorders are defined, and then there are the fringe cases. It may be that the other consciousness is you, or may only be claiming to be you. Or he might not even be a permanent resident at all."

"So… you're saying, he could be someone else's consciousness which is paying me a visit?"

"Yes, in theory it is possible. It is well known that very powerful psionics can overthrow the native consciousness in a body and take remote control of it. So it isn't too farfetched to suggest you may be getting a visitor from another's mind…"

"So… how would you tell which one of us is the interloper?"

"Well, whichever one of you was in this body in their last memories before you were awakened. If you don't mind me asking, am I speaking to Alpha or Beta? I assumed Alpha, but I apologise if I was mistaken."

"You weren't. I am Alpha, Beta is listening though."

"And which one of you remembers this body in your memories before awakening?"

"I do. Alpha didn't even know what a warframe was when he awoke."

"I assume you are Beta?"

"Correct. I am Tenno, and I have the memories of a Tenno. However, Alpha controls our body."

"I see… is this true Alpha?"

"Yes. My memories are fragmented but the last thing I remember was being punished somehow, it caused public outrage if I recall correctly. I have no memory of being a Tenno."

I am a little scared now. If I am the interloper, then by rights I should be removed to allow Beta to operate as efficiently as possible… Where would that leave me though?

Isaac tilts his head and thinks for some time…

"So, the Tenno consciousness is not in control of the Tenno body… But you are, Alpha?"

"Yes… So, what will happen to me now? Will I be removed? Is that possible?"

"No. There is no way that I know of to remove you, or to put you into another body… but even if there was, we wouldn't do it yet. We need to figure out who or what you are…"

"And how would we do that?"

"I do not know… As I said, I have little knowledge of this disorder… And I don't know of anyone alive who would have the training to deal with it…"

"So we remain as we are for now?"

"Yes, I think our first objective however, must be to search for psychological specialists. If there are any left, they will be in cryogenic storage. So we should awaken them. The system needs the Tenno again anyway if the infested are loose…"

"Tenno?" The Lotus interrupts us.

"Yes Lotus?" we both reply in near perfect synchronisation

"I have received an alarming communication. One that may be linked to the group that saved Alpha. I will send it to your inboxes. Additionally, I was able to trace the message back relatively quickly and hack the camera feeds. I have an image of a woman, in a red and black bodysuit as the sender."

The holographic image appears next to us. It is a little blurry, but it is definitely the woman who rescued me.

"That's her Lotus! Definitely the same woman."

"Yep, definitely the same woman." Beta corroborates.

"She is wearing a different bodysuit, the other had more black, but I'm almost certain it is her. Beta, you seem pretty sure as well, can you verify?"

"Yup. Lotus can you rotate the hologram?"

The hologram rotates in front of us, being 3D we can see some sort of reinforcement on the spine of the suit…

"Yea. It's definitely her. I'd bet my life on it!"

"How can you be so sure?" The Lotus asks a little doubtfully

"Easy. I remember thinking she had the most attractive ass I've seen in centuries. And she does, same ass, same girl."

"I'm soo glad to see you don't objectify women Beta." I retort, not even trying to hide the sarcasm and disdain in my tone.

"You are attempting to use the shape of a human's gluteus maximus as a method of identification?" says Isaac in amazement. Probably amazement at our- at Beta's craziness.

"Yep. It's her." Beta is laughing internally, but is doing a fairly good job of appearing genuine to the other people in the room.

"I think we may need more… concrete proof of her identity." The Lotus sounds like she's trying not to smirk. "Alpha, how sure are you it is her? And please justify your assertions with a more… mature method."

"I cannot be certain, but she is wearing the same sort of bodysuit and that odd visor-like thing. To add to that, she does appear to have the same body shape and structure as the woman we saw, so it is not at all implausible. I mean, how many red and black suited women are running loose around the system?"

Beta murmurs something inside our head. I can't quite make out what it is…

What? I ask him.

The message. I was just saying she comes across as pretty assertive. My kinda girl.

Oh, the one in our inbox? Give me a second and I'll read it.

I turn my palm up and the holographic menu springs out. I go to inbox and read the fourth message:

Tenno,

This is Cantis of the Red Veil Resistance and I am asking for your help. You fight the Grineer and Corpus and so do we, that makes us allies. We aren't as strong as you and we don't have your weapons but we've pissed off those bastards just the same. Now they're coming after us, systematically capturing our comrades and holding them hostage – using our brothers and sisters against us. Tenno, will you help us bring them home?

If you do this, you must strike quickly and quietly. If you are seen. The enemy will execute our hostage before you can rescue them. Please, do not give them this chance.

We can't offer you much but we do have a large cache of spectre blueprints. Bring home our people and we will share these with you. Those who go above and beyond will receive a special token of our appreciation.

Thank you Tenno,

Cantis

Oh. Isaac is reading it too in his own inbox, so I wait for him to finish. The Lotus appears to have left, but she is likely ready to return at any point. Isaac finally speaks:

"I see the system has become a lot more complicated since I entered cryosleep…"

"I can't really comment. But it looks like it is getting more chaotic as we speak… We have to help these 'Red Veil' people, especially if they are the ones who rescued me…"

"Yea, we might even meet this 'Cantis' again. I think if we got to know her sh-"

"No. We are not chasing off after some woman just because you like her ass. Especially not when we have to try and free these Red Veil guys, and find a pscyho-specialist for us."

"Awww… you're no fun Alpha."

"When we have saved the Red Veil, got our own sanity sorted out, defeated the Grineer, got the Corpus in check and eradicated the infestation… We might see if we can find her. Maybe."

Isaac had agreed readily to help with the defence of any cryopods we located for the Lotus to awaken, but for the rescue missions he had politely declined. As he pointed out, a Rhino warframe was not exactly designed for stealth and on a mission all about stealth… he would be more of a hindrance than anything. So we were alone, perched atop a shipping container and watching as the wardens patrolled around.

They kept to their patrols, they were only brainwashed Corpus after all. If they saw something of interest they would investigate but otherwise they would not deviate from their standard patrols. It seems ineffective but so far we've only seen two potential openings in the patrols. Neither of the openings was particularly ideal… so probably the best way to go about it would be to kill the wardens and then free the hostage and get out before someone wondered why the wardens weren't responding. That might be quite some time, since the Corpus really didn't care much. If the wardens were dead… something had killed them. And if something had taken down the wardens, all of whom were wielding supras (They were a sort of gattling gun, but with only three barrels and the barrels didn't move.), then whatever had killed them would likely kill the reinforcements. Hence, since wasting soldiers and synthetics was unprofitable, it was very unlikely that any reinforcements would be sent. They were a merchant cult after all. Human lives were worthless to them unless they could work.

I swing down, into the container as a warden walks in. One quick stab and he was gone. And then we move, slowly, towards the next piece of cover. The warden's death has opened up a significant gap in the patrols. A gap which we exploit. Our mind is calm, and our senses are on hyper alert. So when the next warden steps around the corner barely a meter from us we are already in motion. Our body and our blade are one. And then the blade enters the back of the warden's neck, just below the boxy helmet. He crumples and our warfame crouches and watches dispassionately as his body dissolves. I'm still not sure how that works, Beta says it is the warframe converting the matter into energy to power itself. I'm not convinced, the warframe doesn't feel any more or less energised no matter how many I kill.

We advance towards the large door of the detention facility, carefully skirting round – outside of the camera's line of sight – moving from cover to cover. Two kunai in rapid succession deal with the cameras. And then we approach the door terminal. Bea takes one look at it and announces

NOPE. We're going round.

Why? Would it not be simpler to hack this and go through?

No. The terminal has a time limit. If I can't hack it inside of the time limit then the alarm goes off. You won't remember the last time we got shot with a supra. I do. It hurts, take my word for it. We do not want to set off the alarms.

Ok. So, how exactly do we 'go around' an inch-thick blast door?

Look around. I bet that vent duct goes in.

The vent duct? The one in the middle of the floor? What kind of moron would design a prison with a vent duct that would allow you to avoid the security systems and the blast door?

It was in full view of both cameras and both the warden's patrol routes. If we'd tried to get into it without killing them we'd have a problem.

Its worth a try I guess…

I sneak over to the duct covering, pull it aside and drop into it – replacing the cover as I fall – all in one fluid motion. Then we set off. I decide to go left of the obvious direction. Even the Corpus cannot be stupid enough to make a direct circumnavigation of the blast door and not put any traps on it.

No. Go the obvious way. It does actually lead into the detention area.

Are here any traps?

Shouldn't be. The Corpus are nearly as arrogant as the Grineer when it comes to security…

And these are the people we're struggling to defeat?

Only because there's so many of them. 2 Tenno and some Red Veil against several trillion synthetics and brainwashed soldiers? Not going to happen fast.

Fair point.

Factor in an almost as numerous and rapidly growing inbred clone military force. And an almost indestructible plague that consumes almost all biomass… And all of a sudden you realise that the level of their security doesn't matter much. We'd get in even if it was state of the art. It'd just cost them more. For a run-of-the-mill hostage, they simply aren't willing to sacrifice that much money. If they remain imprisoned, great. If they don't, it's not a big deal? They probably have several hundred hostages at the very least. One more or one less makes little difference to them.

I reroute and go through the straight passage. I still keep an eye out for traps, but as predicted there are none. I heave myself up onto the floor of the detention area and look around. There appear to be two doors that are locked.

I thought there was only one hostage here?

So did I… The other cell probably contains something nasty…

So which one do we open?

Both. IF there are two hostages, and we leave one… The Lotus will actually show up in person to kick our asses…

Great…

I go for the leftmost door and Beta hacks the console in seconds. Whining about 'The #%$(*&^, who dared to put a timer on a simple lock' and what exactly he was going to do to the guy once he got our hands on him. The door opens, and the startled hostage stares at us for a second before recovering.

"Can I have a weapon? I'll help if I can." His voice is a bit muffled by the suit he wears, but the enthusiasm to hurt his captors is quite clear.

Without speaking we hand him our secondary. The kunai are probably the right size for a human to be able to use. To a Tenno these are throwing knives. To a human they're throwing daggers or short swords. But they should still be usable.

We head to the other door and begin working on it. Beta is going into explicit detail of what he intends to do to the person who invented the timer for consoles. Very explicit detail.

Beta? I'm not sure that last bit is anatomically possible. There's a ribcage in the way.

Give me a blunt knife and I'll cut the guys ribs out an make it possible! Seriously what a *&#"!

I take it you prefer the Grineer consoles?

At least you can take your time with them!

Now that I can agree with. But you seem to be doing these quicker…

Oh. Don't get me wrong, they are easier to do. It's just there's a lot of pressure because of the timer. Seriously, once this is over we need to find the guy who decided to do this. If you want, I'll teach you some things too.

Oh, like what?

Well, like how much pain the average human can take before they pass out, how to hurt someone without leaving a mark, the basics of acquiring information from an unwilling subject and a bit of anatomy. And a bit of surgery. It'll be a very educational experience.

You know what? I can actually go with that.

Wait, what?

I answered in the affirmative. If we survive, we can hunt down this guy and you can entertain yourself with him.

I… I'm touched. You'd really let me do that?

Yup. The conditions are: you help me as much as possible to survive this mess, and that I don't have to watch. Deal?

DEAL! I'm liking you more already. Now to kill us some Corpus!

Aye. But we only do that when 'this is all over'. That means there is no trace of the infestation in the system. OK?

Yea. I can live with that… I'm still expecting you to say this is a trick…

No. I'm genuine. IF we outlast the Grineer and Infested, and subdue the Corpus, then I will literally help you hunt this guy down and let you torture him to death. If we both have a motivation to survive we will fight better. Your motive may be about as sick minded as they get, but it still works in our favour.

The console beeps in acceptance of the hack, and the door opens… The infested charger is not as surprised as the hostage was, it could smell us coming. It leaps at us, and knocks me off my feet before Beta or I can force our body to react! SHIT.

Fortunately, the charger ignores the hostage and leaps into the vents… Unfortunately, we hear it leap out on the other side, and in its mad bid for freedom it doesn't realise the last remaining warden has seen it. We both flinch as we hear the supra spool up to full fire rate. The charger gives one shriek and then dies under the hail of superheated plasma. We're on our feet now, but it's too late. We hear mag-boots clomping across the decking outside the entrance… and then the klaxon alarms begin. Well… so much for stealth…

Seeing as the warden is reporting the situation into the console right by the door, I slide into the ducts and upon reaching the intersection, take the right turn instead of going up like the charger did. We sprint along it, the hostage close behind, and after a few turns we come out and see the mess. There are a few spores of infestation still lingering, but the supra… The fire from the supra has literally melted holes through the thin steel walkway. Lots of holes. The walkway looks like molten Swiss cheese! I don't even consider going under it, seeing as its still dripping molten metal. So we sprint alongside until we reach a wall, and leap up that. We land, and look up into the robotic face of a moa. We stab it through even before its robotic brain can process the enemy in front of it. The Red Veil hostage climbs up and showers a second moa in kunai before it can open fire. He's good.

We sprint for the door leading to extraction, but then we hear a very unwelcome sound: The sound of the supra beginning to fire! Suddenly, but not unpredictably, the air is full of superheated plasma. We turn, grab the hostage and yanking him off his feet completely, and break into a full sprint towards the exit. The warden clearly has a good sense of drama, and not a very good sense of leading targets. The supra-fire is tearing up the decking right behind us, but none of it actually hits us. Clearly luck is on our side, there's no other explanation for how out of so many shots not one has hit us.

And then I take it back. The first plasma that hits us is just absorbed by the shields, as is the second. The tenth bold of plasma takes off the last of our shield, and then I feel the pain. I'm almost at the corner, and once I'm around it we'll be safe. I keep running. Keep taking hits. It feels like there are holes melted through my body, and its excruciating! I keep running, not caring any more. I blank out the pain, and keep running. The hostage screams, but when I look down, I see that the plasma has only grazed him. Still a serious injury, but he'll live. Finally, the corner. I skid around the corner, bowling over a crewman, and sprint onwards. We must look bloody ridiculous, an Excalibur warframe charging through a corpus facility as every alarm goes off, knocking into crewmen and synthetics alike.

The warden has lost us; he can't run very fast in that obstructive suit that all the Corpus wear… A thing for which I am eternally grateful. I reach the extraction airlock, and put the Red Veil agent into it. It spins, and then I step into it and enter my Liset.

That bloody hurt! It feels like I've been shot right through…

Uhh… Don't look down.

I look down. And regret it. The reason it feels like I've been shot through, is because I have! There are six large blackened holes in the front of my midriff, I was shot in the back! And then the floor comes up to meet me…

"Ordis! Get us to the Relay. He's going to need more than battlefield healing for this…"

"Of course" He chirps "May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Beta, I'm sharing a body with Alpha, your operator. A body which is likely about to fail. Now get us to the relay!"

"En route. ETA is 5 minutes."

End of Part 5