Alright, so I have finally updated this. I have had a ton off stuff on plate. College, other fics, trying to fit my games into it. It all is a mess. But I'll keep on writing! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 3
The Grineer had become extremely cautious of Nathan. They had all their weapons pointed at him hoping to deter any more violence that he might cause. Of course Nathan had no intention of fighting because inside his head he was screaming.
"What the hell!? Did I just kill him with a punch!? That isn't even physically possible!" Nathan screamed internally.
"Mr. Vahn was it?" The Lotus asked with extreme caution.
"Oh please, call me Nathan." He replied.
"Alright…Nathan, please help me and my Tenno. You obviously have strength that is impressive." The Lotus asked with a smile.
"Um, I'm not really sure how I did that. But I'm pretty sure it might happen again. So everyone, please back off. I don't want to hurt anyone else." Nathan said as he held his hands up.
"He has no idea that he has void abilities?" The Lotus asked herself.
The Grineer began to back away and the Tenno picked up their weapons.
Excalibur and Gara quickly joined their fellow Tenno and began to defend the people from the Grineer. However, the Corpus had the bright idea, to firebomb the entire canyon. This included the small crevice the Lotus had selected.
"Well, it seems the Corpus are going to bomb us since Nathan was too much for them." Volt said as he held his head in his palm.
"I think now is the best time for extraction." The Lotus said.
"You don't say!" Nathan responded sarcastically.
The Lotus glared at Nathan and said, "Now is not the time to joke around. We have to move."
"Where!? Where are we going to go?! We are surrounded and we have no way out of this situation!?" Nathan shouted.
"My Tenno are very capable." The Lotus responded.
"Okay can they take a firebombing head on?" Nathan asked unemotionally.
"No…I don't think we can." Excalibur said as he readied himself for a sprint.
"So we're just going to run?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, but you will have to sprint as fast as you can. If you want I can carry you." Volt offered.
"Considering the fact that I haven't used my legs in ten millennia, I'm surprised I'm even able to stand." Nathan replied.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Volt asked.
"I don't know! I'm confused beyond human comprehension right now!" Nathan snapped as he held his head.
"Enough! We have to go now!" The Lotus said as she looked back to the others they had just saved.
"What about these people, we can't just leave them here!" Octavia said.
"You're right, but how would we do that?" Excalibur asked.
"Couldn't you guys just carry them?" Nathan asked as he pointed towards their arms.
"Not all of them!" Gara exclaimed.
"Like don't you guys have some telekinesis modules or something?" Nathan asked.
They looked at Nathan with blank stares.
"You don't have those?" He asked.
"No, we don't." The Lotus responded.
"Okay, make a portal-" As Nathan said this, a portal made of Void energy appeared in front of them.
"Are you doing this?" Gara asked.
"Am I?" He replied with another question.
"Doesn't matter, Corpus is about to firebomb us." Volt said.
Everyone ran through the portal carrying the people. When they walked into it they found themselves on the Strata Relay. They managed to get everyone out including Nathan, who was reluctant to walk through a portal made out of the Void. One would say very, very reluctant. Excalibur had to practically drag him through. After this, the Lotus decided to interrogate Nathan, despite the protests of her children.
"Alright Nathan, now that I have the two of us alone, I would like to ask you some questions." She asked with a calm and firm tone.
"Shoot." Nathan said with a smirk.
"How did you end up in the Void?" She asked.
"Umm, I…I don't like to talk about that." He responded.
"Please, I must know, it is related to my children." She said as she looked at him.
"Wait…you have children?" Nathan asked with a confused expression.
"Yes, you have already met four of them." She said with a smile.
"Oh, oh wow. That was unexpected." Nathan said with astonishment.
"Will you please answer my question?" The Lotus asked.
"Alright, please just don't hate me." He said.
The Lotus tilted her head to the side in confusion.
She didn't know why he said that. Then Nathan started to explain to her what really happened on the Zariman Ten Zero.
—
Flashback
One day before the Zariman Ten Zero Incident
Nathan walked through a door to the engine room, he was about to ask for the status of the engines. Before he could though, he noticed two kids being reprimanded for being in the engine room. Nathan walked up to the two men and said he would handle it.
"Hey, you kids know you shouldn't be back here right?" He asked with a serious expression.
"Y-yes sir…we were just-" The boy started.
"Why don't you just ask for a tour next time." Nathan said with a smirk.
The boy and girl smiled as they looked up at him. He knelt down in front of them.
"So, what are your names?" He asked.
"My name is Arthur, and this is my friend Lydia." The boy said as he motioned towards the girl.
"Ok, my name is Nathan Vahn, nice to meet you two." He replied.
"Now, do you want to see the secrets behind this ship?" Nathan asked.
"Yes!" The kids replied in unison.
Nathan then proceeded to lead them through the engine room and then to the experimental Void Engine that would be used. He told them that he was charged with routine checks of the Void Engine, so they would have nothing to worry about. After a couple hours he sent them back to their parents and he returned to his quarters, where he spent the evening with his fiancee. However, things were about to change the next day.
—
Nathan walked through the door to the room outside the Void Engine containment area. He was wearing his Armor Rig with the helmet retracted. (Note: Kind of looks like the engineering rig from dead space except add some Orokin inspiration.)
"Hey Nathan! I want you to check the Void Engine one last time before the jump. I also want you to stay in the containment room for the duration of the jump." The Head Engineer said.
"Sure thing Jax." Nathan replied as he walked towards the door that led to the Void Engine.
"Opening the lock." A scientist said.
"Alright, let's get this jump started." Nathan said. He checked over the entire Voice Engine. Everything was in working order, there were no faults and all possible situations had been accounted for. The Void Engine had three different functions that it operated simultaneously. It would open a portal into the Void and would draw power from the Void to power the ship and to create a protective shield around the Zariman. When he was done with his check he looked up at Jax and confirmed.
"Captain, we are ready for the jump." Jax said through coms.
"Roger Zariman Engineering. Stand by for the jump." The bridge replied.
The bridge then announced the jump to the entire ship and began to wait for the jump into the Void. When this happened, Nathan noticed that something was wrong with the Void Engine. It wasn't creating a self sustaining shield and it was drawing too much raw Void energy into the ship. He immediately looked at his data pad and was alarmed to see extremely high Void energy readings throughout the entire ship.
"Hey, we need to get everyone to safe rooms and-" Nathan began.
He couldn't finish because everyone outside of the room was holding their heads in pain. The three inch indestructible window to the control room cracked. And that is when it happened. The people inside screamed in agony, and then they began to laugh. They ran out of the control room leaving him trapped inside. Nathan ran to a panel and tried to hotwire the door. After a couple attempts, he was successful. Nathan then ran down a hall and saw multiple people screaming and laughing and all running towards the classrooms. He tried to talk to them. But they only said that they wanted to see their children with smiles that could only be described as evil. Nathan then rushed to the classrooms by using the maintenance route and made it to the classrooms by using the air vents. When he got there, the kids were scared of him, and for good reason.
"W-who are you!? Stay back!" One kid said. Nathan happened to recognize this child from the previous day.
"Arthur? I remember you from yesterday." Nathan said.
"Wait, Mr. Vahn?" Lydia came up and asked him cautiously.
"Yeah kids, don't be scared. I'm here to help." He said with outstretched arms." Nathan said. The children remained cautious for several moments before he told them that they should get out of the classroom. They then told him that they had strange abilities. Nathan then began trying to help the children of the Zariman.
End Flashback
—
"So you're telling me, that you helped teach the Tenno how to control their Void powers?" The Lotus asked.
"To a certain extent…yes I did. You told me that you taught them how to focus it, I taught them how to not kill themselves with it." Nathan replied.
"I would like to hear more." The Lotus said.
"Sorry, I'll tell you the rest later. Mainly because for the first time in ten thousand years. I am hungry." Nathan said with a smile.
The Lotus stared at him for a moment before smiling.
"I can arrange something, but I want you to tell me the rest of what happened on the Zariman." The Lotus said
"Alright, by the way, what's your name ma'am?" Nathan responded.
"I am the Lotus, it is a pleasure to finally be able to meet you Nathan." She said with a smile.
"Thank you, but you said that like you already knew who I was." Nathan replied.
"My children have told me who you are." She responded.
"Wait, your children know who I am? How?" Nathan asked.
"They are the same children that you saved on the Zariman Ten Zero all those years ago." The Lotus said.
"Wait…WHAT!?" Nathan exclaimed.
"I am sorry if this comes as a shock." The Lotus said.
"No, it's fine. It doesn't make sense, but then again, nothing makes sense anymore." Nathan replied with crazy laughs under his breath.
"Please calm yourself." The Lotus said with concern.
"Don't worry, I lost my sanity a long time ago. So, I can understand if they are the same kids. But what happened to them? Did the Void turn them into those…machines?" Nathan responded.
"Those are not machines. Those are Warframes. And my Tenno pilot them through transference." The Lotus said.
"Okay, first off, what is a Warframe and what is transference? Second off, why do you keep calling them Tenno?" Nathan asked.
"A Warframe is a person turned into a weapon through a very unethical process. They have powerful void abilities and they were all created by Ballas." The Lotus said. She seemed to seeth at the name she mentioned.
"Wait, when you mean Ballas, you mean the Seven's loyal executioner?" Nathan asked.
"Yes. Also, Margulis, Ballas' lover, created transference."
"Hmm, interesting." Nathan said.
"As for your second question. The Tenno are the children of the Zariman Ten Zero turned into a warrior caste." She said as she stood up.
"Now, I believe we should go see my children." The Lotus said.
"Before we do, I want you to know something." Nathan said with a serious expression.
"Go on." The Lotus said.
"What happened on the Zariman was no accident, it was sabotage." Nathan said as he stood up and walked out of the room.
The Lotus stood there as she pondered.
"Oh Rell, I was so wrong to doubt you." The Lotus said as she thought about the illusive Man In The Wall.
—
Nathan walked with the Lotus and met with the Tenno. Two of them, Excalibur and Gara, stepped forward and two people seemed to walk out of the Warframes. Nathan instantly recognized their faces.
"Arthur? Lydia? How are you…no, I shouldn't even ask that." Nathan said.
Lydia stepped forward and handed something to Nathan. It was his helmet.
"Here, it was because of me you were stuck in the void." She said as she began to cry.
"Hey, that was my decision. It's not your vault kid." Nathan said. Lydia then hugged him.
The Lotus watched this with confusion. Why were they acting like this man was a lost family member that they thought was dead? She was a little jealous. If she could feel that way. She wasn't angry with him though. She couldn't help but feel warm around him. It was a feeling of safety and happiness. Was this what her children felt? She didn't know.
After this exchange of events. The Lotus began to discuss what they should do next. She wasn't sure of it right now. But she had a feeling that the Grinder and Corpus wouldn't let Nathan go without a fight.
—
Rap-tap-tap-tap. I can't hear them anymore. An eerie voice spoke. The walls rung with his voice. He listened for the voices of the Lotus and Tenno. Silence met his ears. He didn't understand. Wherever the walls were, he could hear and see.
Rap-tap-tap-tap. The Void is stirring violently. She is angry, yet, happy. Rap-tap-tap-tap. She sings to me with anguish. She sings of a lost child. I hear one name within the Chorus of Chaos. Nathan. Nathan! NATHAN! Rap-tap-tap-TAP! Oh how she screams in agony and rejoices in happiness. The Void wishes him back, but she knows he must be free. I embrace her wishes. I will take this Nathan back. But not for her. I will do it for me. This child, Reborn of the Void, shall be mine. Rap-tap-tap-tap. The walls fall silent.
Chapter End
—
Well, I hoped you liked this! If you want to tell me what you think, please review. I take any and all feedback. Thanks for reading this chapter. Until next time! The Elder Sprite Knight.