I sent out as many scouts as possible to examine the building the Grineer had been digging through. It could best be described as a pyramid, specifically one Mesoamerica or Mesopotamian in Origin. Of course, it was significantly more hi-tech in appearance, and had surprisingly little wear on it. Presumably, whatever guarded it was still active, though how the Grineer had managed to get inside in the first place was a mystery.

Of course, they weren't going to be holding onto that piece of real estate for long. I wanted it, and besides, leaving Progenitor Technology in the hands of Space Nazis was an inherently bad idea.

Now let me see if all preparations have been made:

Weapons? Check.

Backup? Check.

Tenno support? Check - Etran really wanted to see how his new frame, which was apparently called Revenant, worked, and he'd also brought a Sentient themed shotgun for this mission.

"My, my, what are you getting so hyped up about, my pawn?"

ROB support: CHECK!

"...What do you mean by ROB support?"

"The Grineer found some piece of Progenitor technology in this universe, now I found where they are hiding it and am going to kick them in the balls hard enough to make em explode to get those shinies back, would like you help with tat, yes or no?"

"What..."

"WILL YOU HELP ME OR NOT?!"

She seemed really surprised by that outburst. "Um...sure."

"Alright, then get some guns and help me steal the Progenitor Technology the Grineer somehow got their slimy hands on."

"...How did they-"

"I'll tell you on the way over."

Melissa just seemed to meekly accept that, though she did appear to be completely weirded out. Good - getting small victories over my ROB was nice.

Really, though, I expected Celm to send one of his subordinates to work out this mess. Having Melissa be the one to do so meant I might not have to worry about mind wipes.

XXXXXXXX

Our insertion went off without a hitch - Etran easily killed off the guards without being noticed, allowing us to sneak in undetected. Once inside, we broke off, each trying to find something that might help explain what this thing did. Melissa stuck with me, a look of surprise, confusion, and unease marring her otherwise good looking face.

What, I can't admire an enemy's looks? She's hot, okay?!

Movement brought me out of my admiration of her features. In front of us was a boy, no older than ten, who had tried to make himself less noticeable against a wall. He was failing, badly. I could easily make out his features, and it appeared he was underweight, and had clear signs of beating on his skin. Fide explained that before I needed to ask: this facility was apparently filed by slave labor, though what, exactly, its purpose was eluded me.

I made efforts to try and get the boy to open up, but he refused. His reactions made it clear he was scared, so I eventually stopped trying to coax him to talk. I did offer him a snack though. Just some trail mix I'd decided to keep on my avatar, nothing too delicious. That seemed to be enough to earn his trust, though, as a moment later, he gestured toward one of the nearby rooms. I made the Tenno gestured I'd learned to associate with gratitude, before ordering one of my guard bots to take him up for evac, while another squad began to explore the area for any other slaves.

Entering the room he'd gestured toward, I found a case containing what appeared to be the remains of a Sentient, though which one eluded me. Acting on a hunch, I teleported the Mask of the Lost One to my avatar. A moment later, my vision went blurry. When it refocused I saw that, once more, a vision had overcome me. I watched as a tiny being allowed itself to be eaten by the Eidolon - Gara, I realized. A moment later, the Sentient was torn asunder, the bomb with the Master of Glass tearing it to pieces. The largest of its remains crashed into Gara-Toht Lake, where most sank beneath the waves. In the distance, something large approached the sea, though I couldn't quite see what that was.

When the vision faded, I found myself being cradled by Melissa, eyes filled with concern. Aw, look, she really did like me! Her face contorted into annoyance after I thought that, more or less confirming she was reading my mind. I brushed off her attempts to question me further, instead focusing on Shard. Examining its container caused a message to play, revealing that this was the fragment of an Eidolon. Additionally, there was also some information on where this had come from - deeper within the pyramid.

Oh, and I'd just received a proximity alert - the Grineer were sending a patrol this way. Time to hurry.

Moving swiftly, we arrived at the heart of the pyramid - a strange gateway of sorts, with a terminal nearby it. Here, apparently, was the source of the shards. Acting on a hunch, I activated the terminal, which caused a portal to appear in the gateway. Wherever the portal went was probably where I wanted to be, so I charged through it, more or less dragging a confused Melissa through it.

As the light overwhelmed me, another vision filled my eyes: this time, I saw the pyramid, now resting on a starship. Nearby, a copy of this building was under construction, and upon its completion, the second was dropped toward an ocean - toward Earth, I realized. As it hit the ground, it whirred to life. Vision now focused on the inside of the machine, I watched as tendrils of light formed in places beneath the portal aperture, tendrils fo light formed, then passed through portals of their own. The tendrils soon grew tense, indicating they now had something in their grip. Soon after, the vision faded, and I found myself being shaken awake by Melissa.

Taking her hands, I too stock of my new surroundings. First off, this appeared to be where the Grineer had sent all their slaves to work, seeing how there were so many in this room.

Also, there were several Progenitor turrets pointed at us, plus some of their organic creations...uh oh.

The apparent leader of these creations was right in front of us, busy smelling the air around me and Melissa, trying to decide if we were friend or foe. Eventually, it decided to speak. "Who are you?"

"...Commander Flame."

"Why do you carry our maler's technology? Do not deny you possess it - I can sense their nanites in your bloodstream."

That started to put me on edge. "I was made to pilot a Commander."

"By who?"

"Me," intoned Melissa. The creature stared at her, clearly angry, and took a big whiff of her...then suddenly became docile, as a look of surprise filled its face. "Ah, I see, of course, mistress."

"Why are you calling me that? I'm just a being like you - a Xziphid bioweapon, or at least a human-Xziphid bioweapon hybrid."

A look of puzzlement filled the beast's face, before realization seems to come to it. "Ah, yes. You are a Coelohim, like me. You are still a commander strain, though, and deserve respect."

Melissa grinned at that, clearly impressed that it could determine all of that from just one smell. I, however, noticed how it seems somewhat strained to address her as a Command Strain. Was she something else?

Suddenly, something moved above us. Something big. Looking up, I took aim with my laser rifle...and then lowered it, upon seeing what I was up against.

Before me was a giant Sentient. Like, as big as fan art suggested Hunhow was. The giant creature stared at me, Melissa, and Etran, who had jumped theough the petal right after we had.

Then, it roared. It roared the roar of the Eidolons, in fact.

...So, was this Eidolon?

"Heir of my enemy, why have you come? To mock me?"

I just stared on for a moment, confused. "What? No, I only came because I was examining the pyramid."

"I doubt you offer the truth."

"Before I debate you, why am I called the heir of your enemy?"

"You wield the might of those the Orokin called the Progenitors, yet you are not one of them or their human allies, then you must be an heir, willing or otherwise. Do not attempt to suggest you are not my enemy, though - you already destroyed my mask."

So this was Eidolon.

"Hey, don't ignore," hissed Melissa, unhappy at being treated as though she wasn't here.

"Be silent, brood of my enemy. This is not a conversation meant for you."

Melissa took a moment to process that statement. Then she shot the Sentient in what was best described as its gut.

Enraged, the creature tried to charge, only to be restrained by glowing tendrils of energy - the ones I had seen in the vision. The restraints seemed to cause the monster harm, as it began to scream in anguish. Oh, and thenslaves started trying to half off pieces of it.

The scream also caused another vision to overcome me. This one showed a new scene - the Sentient languishing in the netherworld, Which was apparently where we were now. Suddenly, portals opened up, spewing out Grineer to surround the monster. It tried to fight back, but failed. Then the vision skipped ahead some time, to when the Grineer had brought slaves down here. One Grineer would provoke the Sentient to attack it, and when the restraints kicked in, the rest would force the spaces to hack at the beast until pieces had been removed.

Given the amount of scars I saw on the beast when my vision returned to normal, this had happened quite frequently.

Also, Fide was trying to talk to me. I patched her in.

"What's wrong?"

"Grineer akuva And Nightwatch troopers are headed your way. Also, their trying to activate the defense systems in there, presumably as a way to repel you."

"Can't you just hack past them and shit them down?"

"Um, the computers are Progenitor tech ones, and they think I am the enemy, so...no."

"...THE FUCK?!" I'm pretty sure everyone flinched at that statement. "Then how do I deal with them?"

"Marking a path to the control room now. I have two solutions, but you aren't going to like them."

"We'll see if that is true when we get there."

XXXXXXXX

It took us a minute to reach the command room. Once their, Fide highlighted two buttons for me, one red, one green. "Okay, fell me what these do, and why these are not good solutions."

"The green one will destroy the security systems for the building, and actually cause it to self destruct. That should take out the Grineer."

"But it will cost us the facility."

"That, and all of the salves' lives - I'll hav ego teleport you back to make sure you aren't killed, and based on the time it will take to self destruct, plus the blast radius, we'll only have a few of the slaves with us."

"Well that sucks. What's the other plan?"

"The red button will reset the systems, allowing me to hack to guns and set them as under our control, at the cost of leaving everything offline for a moment."

"And the bad thing with that is?"

"Doing so will free the Eidolon, and I think it might allow it to leave this netherworld, so...yeah."

"...Fuck."

Great. Now I had two choices, neither of which I really liked. "Do we have anytime to find another solution?"

"Guns are eighty percent active, and that is only going up, so no."

DAWM IT! Annoyed, I stomped the ground hard enough to cause a tremor (scaring both Etran and Melissa), then looked at the buttons. I could either save the slaves and advance my arsenal at the cost of freeing Eidolon, or I could ensure the Ostrons remained safe while costing myself a possible advantage and condemning many innocents to die.

But which one to choose?

"Guns are now ninety-five percent active."

SHIT SHIT SHIT!

Okay, need to act now.

Taking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and pushed down.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!