Once again, written by my friend. The next one after this is his as well. Reading through these, I kind of wish we'd finished before he lost interest... Anyway, another chapter down, just a few more to go now.
Conner Woodstock leaned back against the silver-blue wall of the dojo. He was in a small waiting room sitting on a bench with Anya, Tess, and Boreas arranged around the room all in one stage of boredom or another. Anya sat next to him fiddling around with her helmet, Tess sat in the corner reading text that the Thoth cephalon was projecting on the wall while Boreas sat meditating next to her. They were waiting for Reya who was in the next room talking to someone who Stock assumed was Elan, the other clan leader.
They had brought him here to figure out what to do with him. He never did get five tenno to vouch for him, but Reya stated that she was willing to waive the last one due to his being useful. But now it was time to figure out what to do with him. Ira was still adamant that the tenno should launch him out the airlock, while Anya continually countered that argument by telling Ira she would not only shoot the offending Loki out the airlock but drop him into Jupiter's many storms to be burned and crushed. It was probably a good thing that Ira wasn't needed for this meeting. Anya huffed at her helmet.
"Everything ok?" Stock asked, nudging her arm.
"No, this stupid mod won't install correctly. It keeps sitting crooked and it's really pissing me off!" she growled.
"Here, let me see it," he said.
He gently took her helmet from her hands and started fiddling around with the mod. He had never gotten a good look at the inside of a tenno helmet, this was his first. He could see the connection nodes that interfaced with the tenno, and they even had their own heads up display.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you, this whole situation just has me on edge," Anya said, "My own clan that I helped create doesn't trust my word on you. It doesn't help that the mod won't install."
Anya sighed and rested her chin on her hands. They had been spending a lot of time together lately, doing everything from catching up to getting to know each other again. She was unsure how she would do it but she knew she wouldn't stay with the clan if they dropped him off on some rock. He briefly mentioned wanting to go back to Mars to reclaim his family estate and rebuild it. She had seen the footage from Boreas and Talos and knew the place was in shambles. It would take a life time to rebuild and restore to its former glory. Also she was unsure if she could even really settle down like that.
"It's ok, I understand your frustration. I guess there isn't anything we can do about it, well you can, but I can't. I'm only human. I can't jump twenty feet in the air and rain down fire like you can. But you know what I mean, it will work out in the end," Stock said smiling. He had almost gotten the mod in place, it required some work to fit.
"How can you be so calm?" she finally asked. She wanted to ask him why he wasn't scared for his life because there was a chance he could be put to death. The final nail in the coffin was the Orokin Empire, despite it being long dead. There was a chance that Elan had grown cold. She hadn't seen him in a long time and the last time she had seen him, his hatred for the Orokin Empire had been on par with Ira's own hatred for them.
"Well, I don't know," Stock said, "Frankly I am scared. I'm scared shitless. But I know if I was to be put to death, this Eland guy would have had Reya kill me on the trip back. I guess I know there isn't much I can do, and that whatever happens we can figure it out."
"Elan," Anya stated.
"What?" Stock glanced up at Anya.
"You said Eland," Anya smiled at him.
"Whatever. Ok, got it! What does this mod do anyway?" Stock asked, handing the helmet back to Anya. She took it and quickly inspected it before putting it on.
"It's a new mod I'm testing, supposed to increase the zoom of my suit's vision amplification system," she explained, "I figured I'd give it a try since I like to use sniper rifles. I'm hoping that with this mod I might get better accuracy at higher ranges."
The door on the far side opened and out stepped Reya. She had her helmet on so Stock couldn't read her facial expressions. Not that he would have much luck with the helmet off though. She motioned to him before saying, "He wants to talk to you." "Alone," she quickly added when she saw Anya standing up with Stock.
Anya sat down with a huff while Stock walked into the room beyond the doors. The room, Stock quickly realized, was a planetarium much like the one at his home but with Up-to-date maps of the solar system. He even saw specks of light representing ship traffic between all the planets. The walls of the room were made from thick glass that presented a beautiful view of the space beyond along with a view of the northern hemisphere of Jupiter.
Along the walls were several raised platforms with steps leading up to them. Only one was occupied. Reya lead him closer and Stock quickly realized this was the other clan leader, Elan. Elan wore a Volt Prime warframe with a cape that depicted the Clan emblem. He sat facing out the windowed wall with his back turned to Stock. He was sitting in a meditative position with his legs tucked beneath him. Stock turned to look at Reya for instructions but quickly found that she had already left the room. Looking back at Elan he was at loss for what to do and what to say, or how to even address this tenno. No one had instructed him on this, so he did the only thing he could think of. He bowed.
"Why do you bow? You owe no allegiance to me," a deep rumble emitted from the meditating tenno.
Stock straightened up and replied, "Well, bowing is a sign of respect, and since you can pretty much order my death and haven't done so yet, I respect you for that."
The tenno was silent for a moment and Stock wondered if he had said the wrong thing. He could see electricity crackle along the tenno's arms, and from what he remembered back in his day this was common. The tenno motioned to a spot next to him and instructed, "Sit."
Stock climbed the steps and sat down next to the tenno. He sat cross legged with his hands resting on his knees. Looking to his side he saw that Elan had a nikana sword much like Anya's resting in front of him. The words weren't spoken but Stock still understood it; it was a subtle threat that Elan could still end his life.
"What reason did you have for rescuing Anya? I'm well aware of your actions taken during the period of your awakening and finding our Nova Prime. I just want to know your reasoning," Elan said after a tense moment of silence.
"Other than being threatened with being tortured and eventually put to death?" Stock asked, then decided being a smart ass might not be the correct course of action. "We are close; we were close back in the war. She saved my life, I saved hers. We looked out for each other when no one else would or cared, we made sure that we'd live to fight another day. She means the universe to me," Stock quickly added.
"You are in love with her," Elan said. Stock didn't know if it was a question or a statement, but he answered it anyway.
"Yes," he said.
"Tenno and human biology are incompatible, you know this right?" Elan asked.
"I'm aware," Stock stated back.
"That will be all, please leave this chamber and ask my partner to join me so we can decide what to do with you."
Stock stood up, and walked down the steps, he gave another bow before walking out of the room. Upon entering the waiting room he noticed Reya had taken his spot on the bench and Anya had resorted to pacing back and forth while Tess and Boreas where still in their original spots.
"He said he wants to talk to you," Stock said to Reya who stood up and then entered the planetarium once more to speak to Elan.
Anya rushed over and wrapped her arms around him. "How did it go?" she asked.
"Well I'm still alive. But other than that I have no clue. Elan reminds me a bit of Reya in that he's unreadable. Though he decided it would be a good idea to send me a message by having his sword in front of him," Stock shrugged.
"Sounds like Elan, that's why he and Reya work so well together they have similar personalities," Anya said leading him back to the bench.
They sat in silence for a moment before Stock asked, "You mentioned you helped create this clan?"
"Yeah, during the war with the sentients, Elan, Reya, Boreas, Ira and I, we all fought together so when it came to the rebellion we stuck together," she told him, "During the war with the Orokin various tenno started making their own clans. Well Elan and Reya had decided to follow suit. They asked Boreas, me, and a few others to join as their first clan mates. In return we were given the rank of general."
"General huh? Shit, so this whole time I have been sleeping with a general, I'm sure that is considered fraternization," Stock teased.
"It's not like that kind of general, we are like… the commanders, we only report to Reya and Elan," Anya said softly, "Below us we have the lieutenants, I know Talos is one for sure and then there's whoever else they have since recruited. They are like our main squad leaders, then below them are the Knights, or foot soldiers, they are the main grunts. Below them are squires like Tess."
Tess quickly looked up and scowled, "I'm only a squire for a bit longer then I can take my Knight's Oath and do my assassination mission to obtain the rank of Knight."
Anya laughed before telling her, "Don't worry, you'll get there one day and you will do great."
With that the door to the planetarium opened once more and Reya stepped out. She stood looking at stock for a second.
"We have decided. You will not be permitted to join this clan. But—" Reya started, but was interrupted by Anya who quickly stood up and shouted, "Why not?! He deserves more than to be dropped off on some planet like some piece of trash!"
"Anya! Sit. Down." Reya commanded.
Anya stood for a second longer shaking with rage before finally sitting down next to Stock, still visibly angry.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Reya said looking at Anya, "You will not be permitted to join this clan. But we can't just have you wandering the universe alone. You are the last Orokin, the grineer would kill to get their hands on you to use your genetic makeup to make them whole again. So we will not drop you off on some back water planet. I proposed a solution to this problem and Elan agreed it would be the best course of action. With your agreement I'd like to take you on as a Contractor and advisor on all things Orokin. With that you will be permitted to live on the Harbinger and be considered part of the crew, my crew. You will also be granted a place among us and be welcome as a friend. You will be paid for the missions you advise on or partake in, with this it will allow us to keep an eye on you and satisfy some of our clan mates wishes." The last bit she once again looked at Anya who still remained obviously shaken but was calming down.
"So you're not going to kill me then?" Stock asked.
"No. I have come to find you... useful. You bring a refreshing perspective to some things," Reya said.
"Alright, I'm in," Stock said, "Can I get an upgrade to my room though?"
"We'll discuss it later," Reya told him, "Get back to the ship, we have to head to the relay for a job."
Tess cheered, Boreas clapped and Anya hugged him and then whispered something about something they needed to take care of in private.