The infested... They may be repulsive abominations, but they have a hivemind. They may be disorganised, but only because the constant Tenno attacks keep them that way. We know they are capable of ingenious creation; they can make weapons using biology, weapons that are on a par – if not slightly superior – with Tenno weapons. In the short time since the mutalist strains were released they have created weapons that are as powerful as weapons the Tenno have refined over centuries... now imagine if they were to focus on peace... They could build vast cities of hives, hives that feed their inhabitants with void energy, and they would ensure peace... No-one would rebel because the mass mind would be the perfect democracy...
Hmm, perhaps I should look into this more, I'm sure the infested wouldn't object to having the most dangerous known Tenno in the system working alongside them... Especially if they realised that Tenno's goals were the same as their own...
Shadows of Meridian
It's just a normal mission, or as close to normal as any mission that involves saving Red Veil agents from and army of deteriorating clones can get. The galleon is nothing special, the only reason it has been selected is because it happens to house a detention facility. I do not know its course, only its fate. The Grineer do not believe in second chances, if their soldiers fail, they are more often than not executed. While it won't really thin the unfathomable numbers of the Grineer, it still feels good to be responsible for so many enemy deaths.
I'm about halfway to the holding facility when I begin to notice things that aren't quite right…
I notice there aren't any patrols in this part of the ship, that there are scratch marks and bullet holes in the walls. In one corner I spot the tiniest bit of blood on a wall, and upon inspection I realise that someone – or something – has cleaned away a much larger blood splatter and only missed that one drop. I notice that the machinery is no longer operational, the consoles no longer lit up… This is not good…
Regardless, I have a mission, I continue onwards. As I sneak along, I notice that some of the panels have been put back hastily along the walls and floors, and that some of the lockers and containers are open… As I round the corner I notice two things instantly, there are some sort of drag marks, barely visible leading to a ventilation panel, and that there is a console bent at a very suspicious angle. I approach it, and sure enough, there are wires protruding to form an improvised arc trap. If I had gotten between those wires I would've completed the circuit and it would've likely killed half my shields… I carefully edge around it, keeping an eye open for more traps, and approach the vent panel. With a deft jab of my heat sword I knock it off, and stick my head in. And stare.
Whatever killed the massive pile of Grineer that is hidden in the duct before me, definitely knew what it was doing, it also definitely was not a warframe – a warframe would've dissolved the bodies… Some of the corpses haven't got a single mark on them, others have clearly been strangled or stabbed with something. Some of the wounds are similar to the wounds left by a superheated edge like on Grineer weapons… whatever did this, did it manage to turn them against each other? I jerk around, sword raised, but there isn't anything there… I could've sworn something was sneaking up on me.
I replace the panel and move towards the holding facility, now moving even more cautiously than before. I disable a few more obvious traps, and avoid another I barely saw in time. The cleaver swings harmlessly past me, and I note that whatever tied the cleaver to a piece of string, clearly knew their knots too… Whatever set these traps up, intended to kill Grineer, nothing else would happily walk over a tripwire, and most of the traps are quite easy to spot. That doesn't mean they won't be a threat though. But I continue anyway, there are no signs of life anymore, not even bloodstains on the walls, whatever did this is clearly quite intelligent.
Finally, I get to the holding facility, and after checking around the console several times, I decide to take my life in my hands and try to hack it. I touch the console. Nothing happens. It doesn't even light up… I quickly realise that the power has been cut. I am about to try and trace the wires back, when I remember something Isaac told me; Grineer doors are so hard to open once they're closed because they are held to the floor by electromagnets. Electromagnets which won't work with the power off! I sidle over to the door and, after magnetizing my gauntlets, proceed to lift it. It moves easily, and relatively quietly, but in the absolute silence that envelops the ship it sounds like the loudest thing I've ever heard. I slip under it, and put it back down gently.
I walk quickly forwards, noting that the wardens seem to be gone. I leap up the balcony to the upper level and nearly die of shock. There are all three wardens! I have my sword out before I realise they haven't reacted… I approach slowly, and notice that they are propped up on their own guns. The wardens are dead! I rush to the doors and yank them open searching for the hostage, she is in the second cell I rip the doors off. She looks up at me, completely unsurprised.
"Are the other ones with you?"
"The other ones?" I reply cautiously, this doesn't seem right…
"Yea, the people who were trying to force the door open after the power went off. Weren't they with you?" She sounds a little perturbed now too...
"I know of no other people who could be on this ship… Did you get a good look at them?"
"I couldn't see anything through the door, and when it opened slightly I saw a bit of grey, and then the door slammed shut again. Then the power went out, and I heard whispers. Then you arrived."
"How long ago was this?!" If this is a trap, I am so screwed.
"Maybe 20 standard Earth minutes ago…"
I check my mission timer, I arrived 21 minutes ago. Not good. Whoever it is we're dealing with knew I was on the ship within a minute of my arrival…
"Let's get out of here." I say telepathically, and hand her my kunai.
We both sidle out of the holding facility cautiously, past the warden's corpses. I hold the blast door up for her to go underneath, and she covers me while I manoeuvre under it. Then we sneak onwards. Neither of us speaks. We continue like this for some time. I'm so used to the silence, that when we hear the whisper it sounds deafeningly loud.
"Tenno, Agent, we mean you no harm!" We both turn at the disembodied female voice.
Both the agent and I take up firing positions, neither of us sure where the whisper came from.
"Tenno, we mean you no harm, please, let me explain."
I remain tense, but lower my Braton slightly.
"Show yourself!" I demand on every telepathic channel
Nothing happens.
"If you mean us no harm, we will not hurt you. Show yourself." Even I am not sure how my telepathic voice has ended up so commanding suddenly. I am not complaining.
After a few seconds a figure drops down from the ceiling, meters away from us at most!
"We mean you no harm" she repeats, her hands outstretched in a placating gesture.
"Who are you?" I ask, as I look up, and see a whole squad of grey-bodysuit wearing figures detaching from the ceiling. The seem to be wearing lighter armour, but it follows the Grineer aesthetic. That is not very trust inspiring...
"We are Steel Meridian commandos; we were ordered to free Red Veil hostages wherever possible to ease the burden on the Tenno."
"You work for the Lotus?"
"No, we serve our own goals, but we will happily work with the Lotus."
The woman who dropped down first, is wearing some sort of hood, and has a crude eye-patch covering one eye. Her commandos are armed with all sorts of weapons, but all of them are Grineer in origin. She has a machete holstered on her back, as well as a marelok pistol on her hip, but other than that I see no hidden armaments on her… I assume her to be the leader.
"I see… Have you spoken to the Lotus?"
"No. We intended to though. Any chance you'd put in a good word for us?"
Her voice is a little harsh, but only due to the cloning degradation. I can see clearly now that every single 'commando' sharing the hallway with us, is actually Grineer… This could be a trap, but the Grineer don't generally bother with traps. And IF this is a trap is it very well executed…
"Why don't you just come visit one of the relays and you can speak to her yourselves?"
"Simple. Those damn things are so well hidden we haven't been able to find them. And you obviously can't trust us with coordinates. So we need the Lotus to contact us. Will you help us?"
"I will ask her… How can she contact you?"
"I don't know… We only really have Grineer technology, so we won't even be able to pick up most Tenno signals…" She sounds a little despondent now, having realised that we might have significant difficulty contacting her.
"Tenno? What is going on? Who were you demanding identify themselves?" I swear the Lotus has either the best timing or the worst. Then I realise that I broadcast that instruction on all telepathic channels. Including the one I use to communicate with the Lotus…
"I have found a group of Grineer commandos who all but did my mission for me… They had hoped to make contact with you, presumably through the Red Veil."
"Please verify Tenno; You have found a group of Grineer commandos who are attempting to make contact with me?" The disbelief is audible in her voice, but she still sounds in control.
"Yes Lotus, that is correct."
"I see… On your liset there is a comms device, give that to them. And tell them they need to get away as soon as possible. Two more Grineer Galleons are heading towards the one you are on."
I beckon for them to follow and we jog through the ship, towards extraction. I'm slightly surprised that they can keep pace with me, but I guess they are commandos…
When we reach my ship, I step into the airlock and quickly locate the aforementioned comms device. I step out of the ship, and hand it to the leader.
"The Lotus says you should be able to reach her through that. She also says you need to leave, there are two Grineer galleons headed for us."
"Thank you Tenno, I hope we meet again." She barely reacted when I told her the Galleons were coming,b ut I can almost sense her brain whirring.
With that she turns and roars something in Grineer at her soldiers, who form an orderly line and then sprint – still in line – towards some other part of the ship. She turns, salutes us, and then sprints off after them in silence. I notice that she has a small combat knife, also with a superheated blade, hidden in her boot. And then I remember that we still have to get off this ship. I motion for the agent to get into the Liset. I follow her, and the Liset accelerates off into space.
"Ordis, stop here and turn us to face the Galleon"
Ordis complies, and both the agent and I look out at the galleon as the viewport opens. The other two galleons are almost on top of it, and then they both begin firing. We can tell by the flashes and the impacts on the hull of the disabled galleon. I really hope those commandos can get clear in time. Anyone who can stand up to the Grineer is worth having on our side, especially if they're as good as those guys. Insofar as I could tell, most of the disabled galleon's crew had died silently. Even I would struggle to do that!
BOOM. We both stare, in numb silence, as the disabled galleon explodes! Explosions in space are not big and not very loud, but they are still lethal. The explosion stuns us, but it absolutely destroys both of the attacking galleons. As we watch, one of the attackers lists to the side, most of its hull incinerated! There's nothing left of the other attacker…
The agent and I look at each other, and then we both silently salute the space where the disabled galleon had been. We both knew no-one could had survived that explosion.
The comm device's receiver crackles and I grab it by instinct.
"Thanks for the heads up Tenno. We got clear just in time thanks to you." A familiarly harsh, but friendly voice surprises us both.
She survived?
"Tenno to Steel Meridian, we copy. Do you require any assistance?"
"Thanks, but no thanks. We set the ship to self-destruct and cleared off, we have everything we need. Time included, you have our thanks. Our scanners didn't even pick up those galleons... if you hadn't warned us…"
"Affirmative. I hope to work alongside you again."
"Same here Tenno, Steel Meridian Leader out."
End of Part 7